Soup and Sammy

I was excited to see fresh peas in Trader Joe's, and was trying to think of what to do with them. I remembered I had this awesome soup in a restaurant once. It was so simple - basically just vegetables in broth, but the veggies were so fresh and the broth so delicate that it was outstanding. I think I was pretty successful in recreating it!


Essence of Spring Soup

olive oil
2 leeks, white and light green parts, cleaned well and thinly sliced
5 cups water
1 T "Better than Bouillon" No Chicken broth concentrate*
15 asparagus stalks, in 1 inch pieces
2 oz. tiny pasta (I used stelline - little stars)
2 cups fresh shelled peas
15 fresh basil leaves, torn

Sautee leeks in olive oil until soft but not brown. Add water an broth concentrate and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add asparagus. Cook 5 minutes. Add pasta and peas and cook for the amount of time on the pasta box (for this pasta it was 7 minutes, just the right amount of time for the peas. You want the peas to be just slightly crunchy). Add basil leaves and simmer a few more minutes.

*this small amount of broth concentrate makes for a very delicate broth. This is on purpose, so as not to overwhelm the veggies. You may want more, or you may want to add some salt.

I wanted to have a sandwich similar to a lobster roll, only made with tofu, of course. I turned to the Horizons cookbook for ideas. The author has recreated many seafood dishes that he enjoyed in his youth at the Jersey Shore. Not that they taste like fish, which is a good  thing! They just taste good.





Tofu Roll


1/2 lb. tofu, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 t. Old Bay
1/4 t. curry powder
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 T olive oil
1 t mustard
1 T sherry

Mix all ingredients. Spread on a baking sheet and bake at 425 for 20 minutes. Let tofu cool.
Chop 2 stalks of celery finely. Add tofu to celery and add some mayo to your desired consistency. Serve on whole wheat hot dog buns. Makes enough for 3 buns. (To be really authentic, you would get those weird hot dog rolls with the flat sides, butter the outsides, and toast them on a griddle).