Cafe Liz

Black bean soup with citrus

It’s a simple black bean soup, but with a citrus tang — from oranges, kumquats or both. I first encountered a similar recipe about 10 years ago, and while I’ve long since forgotten which cookbook it was in, the mix of flavors has etched itself a place in my mind.

Most such recipes call for orange juice, but I see no reason not to throw in the whole fruit — the zest goes in during the cooking stage, then I remove the white pith, and blend the flesh into the cooked soup. It’s like juice, but with extra fiber.

Kumquats also make an excellent addition, as the sweet little balls of zest are in season, too. I added a few sliced up as garnishes to the finished soup, kind of like fruity croutons, but you could substitute them for the oranges entirely, if you want. Continue reading Black bean soup with citrus…

Coconut curry lentils

Coconut cream makes lentil stew a little bit less good for you, but a lot better tasting. However, I sprouted my lentils, which makes them a little bit better for you — I figure it fully counterbalances the coconut.

Anyway, I’m not seriously concerned about a bit of extra fat. Coconut milk gives this otherwise simple lentil stew a creamy, even sweet taste, and certainly makes it more fun to eat. Continue reading Coconut curry lentils…

Tangy tomato okra soup

If you’re like me, and you don’t see 33-degree Celsius weather as a reason not to indulge in a hot bowl of soup, this recipe is for you. It’s simple, and it doesn’t have too many seasonings. It doesn’t need to — summer’s fresh bounty adds flavor enough.

One thing this soup is not is gummy. One of the excuses people have for not liking okra is the viscous sap. Fortunately, that can be done away with by frying the okra. The okra is fully cooked in olive oil before it is added to the soup, which leaves only the okra flavor, and none of that gumbo-type texture. Continue reading Tangy tomato okra soup…

Authentic Spanish gazpacho

This is another recipe I learned from my time in Madrid, in Sra. Pilar’s kitchen. Summer was at its peak, the days were regularly 40 degrees Celsius, and she’d keep a big, glass bowl of cool gazpacho in the fridge. We’d put a few ladlefuls in a bowl and eat it on the oilcloth-covered table, with a handful of crunchy mini-breadsticks. Simple food.

The key to good gazpacho is in the tomatoes. They have to be rich, ripe and red; otherwise the soup will have no flavor. That’s another reason that gazpacho suits the summer. Continue reading Authentic Spanish gazpacho…

Matzo balls with vegetable soup and Middle Eastern spices

Sorry Maneschevitz, but I see no reason to make matzo balls from a mix — they’re pretty simple to make from scratch. I also think that the whole search for the perfect matzo ball recipe is a bit overrated. Matzo (matzah) balls are basically matzo meal mixed with egg, and everything else is simply a matter of taste. Maybe I’m saying this because I haven’t tried the world’s best matzo ball yet, but until that time comes, I’m happy with my own modest version.

Since there’s no chicken in our kitchen, this soup’s flavor had to come from something else. I put a bit of hot paprika in my matzo balls, and made a vegetable-intensive soup with Middle Eastern spices to go with them. There’s something to be said for matzo balls with a spicy kick. Continue reading Matzo balls with vegetable soup and Middle Eastern spices…

Carrot pumpkin soup with ginger and cilantro

A while ago, while we were eating out at a restaurant that shall remain unnamed, we ordered a soup that was listed on the menu as carrot soup with ginger, cilantro, coconut and peanuts. What we got was carrots pureed with instant soup powder, topped with a token peanut and a cilantro leaf. This was disappointing not only because we’d paid 30-plus shekels for a bowl of baby food, but also because the combination of ingredients promised by the menu had sounded quite good. So I made my own. Continue reading Carrot pumpkin soup with ginger and cilantro…

Pumpkin pepper soup

I was inspired to buy sweet dried peppers after reading up about chili. Mind you, these particular recipes happened to be packed with meat, so I wasn’t going to make them anytime soon, but the peppers in and of themselves seemed like a good idea. So they sat on our kitchen table for a while, and I’ve been randomly adding them to things. Such as today’s pumpkin soup. This is a very simple, mild soup with very few ingredients, and it tastes quite good. Continue reading Pumpkin pepper soup…

Bean spinach soup with a tomato base

I wasn’t going to post another soup, since they all kind of look the same, but this one came out really well. The cinnamon adds a nice touch, and all that spinach adds good flavor. In any case, I think it’s great to show what you can do without soup mix or premade broth — it’d be nice if certain restaurants were to catch on that you really don’t need these things in proper cooking. Continue reading Bean spinach soup with a tomato base…

Lentil vegetable soup

I’m back from my visit to the United States, back to the land of good, cheap vegetables. The first thing I did on the morning after we landed was to visit our neighborhood vegetable shop, the Ibn Gvirol Shook, where they had indeed noticed our absence (it’s nice to be missed, no?). In any case, I came home with an armful of fresh vegetables, for about half of what it would have cost me at that lovely grocery store on the corner of Amsterdam and 74th. I was quite happy. Continue reading Lentil vegetable soup…

Soup with purple cauliflower and blue cheddar

This dish truly takes advantage of the colorful vegetables I’m preparing for my purple vegetable week, with my lovely purple cauliflower: a white cauliflower cream soup, spotted with roasted purple florets. Continue reading Soup with purple cauliflower and blue cheddar…