Fresh pea soup
I’ve never made pea soup before. I’m not even sure I’ve ever cooked with fresh peas before. But I saw the peas in the Turkish market and remembered that my new French cookbook (France: The Vegetarian Table) 
has a recipe for fresh pea soup. Then when I got them home I had a sudden crisis of confidence. Was what I bought actually English peas? Or could they be sugar snaps? I did some research online and determined that I bought the right thing. At the right is the photo from 4.bp.blogspot.com that reassured me. The pea on the left is an English (or sweet) pea. The middle pea is a (very flat) snow pea. The last pea–which is small, fat, and a little pointy–is the sugar snap. Duly reassured, I proceeded to pop the peas out of their pods. Wow, shelling 2 pounds of peas is a lot of work. It took me almost an entire episode of Top Chef Master’s to finish, and my hands were aching by the end. I was praying that that the soup would be worth all the trouble. Read the rest of this entry »
Roasted rhubarb with vanilla and white wine
I’m always looking for new recipe for rhubarb, and I came across this recipe for roasted rhubarb on the blog Orangette. Actually, I’m not sure why she calls it roasted because the rhubarb is cooked in white wine and seems to stew more than roast. Whatever you call it, the recipe is dead simple. You just slice the rhubarb into long pieces, add the white wine, some sugar and a vanilla bean, and bake for about 30 minutes. Read the rest of this entry »
Millet and vegetable pilaf
This recipe is from Peter Berley’s Modern Vegetarian Kitchen and the head note just cracks me up. Berley calls millet a “curmudgeonly uncle” who needs a good deal of “buttering up”. I’ve always liked the dry austerity of millet, but I’m sure Derek would agree with Berley’s description. Read the rest of this entry »
Roasted vegetable tamale pie
Unlike the typical tamale pie recipe, this recipe from Rancho la Puerta does not call for beans. Instead, sliced potatoes are layered on the bottom of a casserole dish, and veggies are mixed with egg whites, cornmeal, pureed corn kernels, yogurt, and a little cheese. Read the rest of this entry »
The captious vegetarian 