Hearty Dinner Soups - Caldo Verde

Caldo Verde a long standing tradition in Portugal. Its their unofficial nation dish, and I've decided to re-create it for dinner. My version isn't authentic at all more inspired by, but delicious none the less.

INGREDIENTS:

large bunch of collard greens (kale will also do)

1/2 white cabbage 

1 large spanish onion (or 1 & 1/2 small)

8 cups of stalk (chicken, beef, or veg. - or water - I used 8cups veg stalk and 2cups water)

2 carrots

1 large sweet potato 

2 medium spicy beef sausages (chorizo is the best but any spicy sausage would work)

3 cloves of garlic (or more depending on your taste I used 4)

sprig of thyme (I used rosemary - its what I had, but thyme would be even better) 

1 cup Kamut 

2 bay leaves

bunch of parsley 

1 psp smoked paprika 

salt & pepper

olive oil 

Prep: Keep all ingredients separately until cooking. Halve onions, and cabbage and thinly slice. Separate the stems of the collard from the leaves. Chop the stems into little round bites, and roll up the leaves and thinly slice them horizontally to create ribbons. Chop carrots, and sweet potato onto small pieces - the same size at the stems of the chard, also cut sausage into bite size pieces. Roughly chop the garlic and the parsley. For the Kamut boil in water until tender (30-45 mins) and strain. Add to the soup at the end. 

Cooking: I roasted my potatoes with olive oil s&p and some paprika in the oven on 350 for a few minutes before adding them to the soup - I really like the flavor they get this way.  In a large pot heat 1tbs of olive oil add the carrots, and after 2 mins add the onion and garlic. After 1 min add the sausage. When they all start to brown add the collard stems, bay leaf more paprika and pepper. Now add your water/stalk and bring to a boil. Now add your sweet potato, cabbage and shredder collard leaves and continue to boil - once it starts bubbling lower the heat, and let it cook for 20-30 mins.  When ready taste for s&p and spices, you can also add extra chili flakes if desired, but watch out for too much salt. Allow soup to sit for 1 hour. Once its cooled off remove bay leaves, then  take 1/3 of the soup and blend it, or use an emerson blender for a second or two,  that gives it a really hearty consistency - don't over blend you still want chunky pieces. Add the kamut and chopped parsley. 

Soup will keep for 2-3 days. 

Serve with crusty bread a drizzle of olive oil and black smoked sea salt. 
PHOTO: Found

Brunch brunch better then lunch - Tortilla Española otherwise know as Spanish omelette

Tortilla Española is a dish I make all the time at home. My boyfriends family are Spanish and he just loves this authentic dish. Its easy to prepare, and always a crowd pleaser. Traditionally this dish only uses only onions, potatoes and eggs however I like to add a little green either parsley or chive depending on your taste they're both wonderful.

Sunday Brunch: Tortilla Española & Spinach salad with cranberries, toasted almonds and a blackberry vinaigrette.

Tortilla Española - INGREDIENTS: 6 - 8 eggs (eggs should justcover the potato and onion mixture).

2-3 large potatoes or a about 10 small red or yellow skin

1 spanish onion (red onion also works, the sweeter the better) 

bunch of fresh parsley

salt & pepper

olive oil

paprika (smoked)

Pre heat your oven to 350 - 400 degrees.

PREP:Halve the onions and the chop them into thin slices. Cut your potatoes into thin slices as well, or small bite size pieces. Coarsely chop parsley, and beat your eggs with a little s&p.
COOK: In a medium to large pan add 1tbs (or more) olive oil and heat, then add your potatoes. This may take a

while. Toss them with s&p and some paprika - keep

them moving every few minutes so that they don't stick to the pan. When they have softened up a bit - 8 mins or so add the onions and continue to cook on a medium heat until the mixture takes on a golden colour and pieces of the potato start to fall apart. Then take the pan off the heat, add the mixture to the beaten eggs and toss the parsley in as well. Add a little more olive oil to the dirty pan andtransfer the the entire mixture back into the pan on a low-med heat. Let the bottom cook for a few minutes and shake the pan a bit to get everything moving. Then place pan in the oven (*make sure your pan is oven safe!) It only takes a few minutes for the omelette to puff up and cook through. If you find after 5-10 minutes that its still gooey inside turn up the heat to the oven, or even broil for a few minutes - keep our eye on it so it doesn't burn. When the top is firm and golden its done. Cut into triangles and serve.

Friends with benefits

So as I said yesterday I'm sick, I have a damn cold, and I'm cranky as hell. These are the days where I'm the most grateful that I work for myself. I wake up pop a few advil sinus, make myself a cup of tea and crawl back into bed with my trusty laptop. I actually had quite a productive day.
What I was most grateful for today was my friend Chod (obviously that's his nickname). He came by with a container of chicken broth, what a saint totally saved me from eating store bought veggie stock, which really has no healing effects at all. You know what they say about chicken soup - Jewish penicillin.
It was great! I Boiled some carrots and celery and an onion with a bay leaf, and 2 frozen dill cubes. Some black peppercorns and a pinch of sea salt. Once they were tender I removed the veggies, and used the water to boil a cup of Israeli cous cous. I threw everything together with the chicken broth, and voila the perfect sick kid lazy chicken soup.
God I love my friends - thanks Chod.