easy vegetarian dinner | Itty Bitty City Kitchen

When the chill creeps into the air I start thinking of squash and apples and pumpkins. All fall colors to enjoy and to eat.

But I don’t want to forget about the greens. Those grassy, fresh, vibrant colors and flavors of spring.

This recipe has all the great Springy tastes and colors, but the warmth of a soup so perfect for curling up on these chilly nights. It also utilizes vegetables that are green and springy but in season in the Fall.

You will need

4 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water
2 leeks, cleaned and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 pound of green beans, chopped into bite size pieces
1 can cannelini beans, rinsed and drained
olive oil
salt
pepper

Drizzle olive oil in a large pot and toss in the celery, leeks and garlic. simmer until the vegetables soften. About 10 minutes.

Pour in the stock and the water and let the soup come to a boil. Lower and let simmer for another 5 minutes or so.

Add in the green beans and the cannelinei beans and let cook for an additional 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

We were so anxious to eat it that I didn’t get a picture of the soup nestled in bowls. But you get the idea. Top with some parmesan or a squeeze of lemon.

Keep this one in your back pocket for when the winter blues get you down.

It was great to escape the hustle and bustle of the city this weekend and trade it in for the flash and glitz of the casino.

There’s this sensation in a casino, or state of being maybe is the better phrase, that doesn’t happen anywhere else. There are no clocks, so time doesn’t exist. There are no windows, so day, night, sunny, cloudy, doesn’t matter. And everyone is in the same place for the same reasons – booze, gambling and fun.

It was great to spend time with his family and even better to put a rough week behind us. And I like the occasional night off from cooking.

But all day at work I couldn’t help but be antsy to get back to my kitchen.

It may be teeny, but it’s mine.

After a few overindulgent nights, we needed something light, healthy and vegetarian for Meatless Monday. I wanted fresh, crisp vegetables after so many vodka tonics and greasy fries. I saw quite a few people posting about sweet potatoes on Twitter today. I love sweet potatoes. That got the wheels turning.

I started googling recipes. I came across a sweet potato and chickpea curry. Close. But not quite. That led me to a Moroccan chickpea stew. Again, close, but not ….

Wait a minute!

Why not take the parts from each I like and do a mashup?

This is really the first recipe I’ve completely made up and winged it on.

You will need

1 clove garlic, diced
2 tablespoons shallot, diced
2 sweet potatoes, cubed
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can chickpeas
a few handfuls baby spinach
paprika
salt
pepper
vegetable oil

Drizzle the bottom of the pot with vegetable oil and add in the garlic and shallots, cooking until brown.

Meanwhile, peel the sweet potatoes. Look at that color! So much good stuff packed in there – potassium, Vitamin C. Okay. I’m not all health and nutrition knowledgeable. So I’ll stick to the cooking.

Dice up the sweet potatoes into bite-size cubes and toss them into the pot, seasoning with salt, pepper and paprika ( a lot of paprika).

From this point on, it’s just about layering flavors into the pot. Once the potatoes, shallot and garlic are chopped, there’s very little counter space required. This, like most soups, is a great itty bitty city kitchen friendly dish. Okay, let the potatoes cook for about 10 minutes, stirring once or twice so they don’t stick.

Add the can of tomatoes, juice included, and stir.