I believe spring is in full swing. If you haven't noticed you will after reading all of my asparagus recipes! I had another bunch to use up and found this recipe online for an asparagus risotto soup. I've been wanting to try a risotto but the last time I tried I kinda....screwed it up. I figured a risotto soup wouldn't be half as hard and I can work my way up to the real deal! I followed the recipe exact except for subbing veggie broth for chicken broth and leaving out the parmesan. I did top my bowl with some Parma though. The soup was really yummy. My friend and I ate almost the whole batch in one night! My only warning is the soup has a heavy broth flavor, so you want to use your favorite veggie broth for this recipe. There is very little seasoning but it has a ton of flavor! No salt needed. Perfect recipe for those cold spring nights when you still need something to warm you up!
For Easter I didn't want to make a ton of recipes but rather focus on one main dish. I have been dying to make a recipe from Kathryn Lovett's blog for a vegan etouffee, and I figured Easter was the perfect occasion! Plus my mom would be there to supervise since it would be my first time making a roux on my own!! Etouffee is a traditional southern cajun dish. It's typically made with a roux and crawfish, or other seafood. A roux is the base of the dish. You make it by heating oil and flour together over the stove and constantly stirring until you reach your desired color, a deep golden brown. It's pretty easy to make as long as you keep stirring to keep it from burning. So if you tire easily have a friend to help stir. I followed the recipe as it states except I left out the vegan andouille sausage. I couldn't find any in my stores and I didn't want to sub for an alternate for fear of messing with the other flavors. Plus I'm not the biggest fan of vegan sausage. It tasted fine without it. Just make sure when making the roux you are patient and let it get a deep golden brown. It's also a good idea to get all of your veggies cut and prepped, measuring spoons out, and cans opened so when you start cooking you have everything ready. Once you make the roux everything is pretty fast after that. You are constantly stirring and you won't have much down time to prep anything. Mine looks a little different than Kathryn's and I think that is because I didn't shred the collard greens. I wasnt' sure exactly the best way to shred them so I just cut them into strips instead. I think I would have preferred them shredded, but again it still tasted fine.
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| Etouffee after done cooking in the pot. |
Honestly I'm more of a gumbo kind of a gal, okay that's more of an understatement, I LOVE gumbo. So I never ate etouffee much before becoming vegan so it's hard to say if this tastes much like the real thing, but either way it was really tasty. It just makes me want to find a good vegan gumbo recipe that much more. I haven't been very successful yet. When my parents make gumbo they've tried taking some out for me before adding the meat but it never tastes right. It's always missing something. I'll have to start experimenting and go from there. Y'all will be the first to know when I get it right. =) Until then the etouffee will hold me over. Thanks Kathryn for the yummy recipe!
I don't have much planned for cooking this week, I'm going to take it more by ear. I'm always open to recipes so keep me in mind if you run across anything! As always, thanks for reading!
Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!
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