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Date: 2010-02-22 11:07 am (UTC)
ext_417449: Atlantis, 50,000 C.E. (The Last Man) (0)


Simple fast dishes for one, ideally healthy and involving vegetables, this I have Thoughts On. Namely that buying a magic wand -- a.k.a. hand blender (http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=289916) -- is one of the best not-very-big investments you can make to help achieve this. My Braun model has been a great help for 6+ years. Do you have a large-ish pan with lid? With it and your hand blender you're pretty much set (for the colder months at least).

Healthy Vegetable Soup
In pan, put:
- several inches of water
- cube or shot of stock base of your preferred flavor (veggie, chicken, beef)
- garlic clove or frozen garlic cube, or bit of sauteed onion if you want to get fancy.
- salt, pepper, other herbs or spices to taste.
- two or three kinds of vegetable you think (would) taste good together, such as pumpkins, carrots, potatoes, or cauliflower and zucchini, or broccoli and summer squash, or..., all cut into chunks of about equivalent size (maybe 1-ish or 1.5-ish inch).
- If one type of vegetable you're using is much denser (slower-cooking) than the other, put it in first, and add the other type of vegetable later (when the first vegetable is almost stabbable with a fork). For example, potatoes, pumpkins, or carrots first, later on add broccoli or zucchini or leafy greens. Root vegetables and dense squashes are okay to cook longer, but leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables (ultra-healthy broccoli) you really want to keep al dente for greatest healthiness.
- With the lid on the pan, cook vegetables until (almost-but-not-quite) tender, usually no more than 20 minutes total, often considerably less.
- Occasionally stir (to make sure there's still enough water in the pan) and test done-ness with fork.
- In the meantime, make sure sink is empty.
- When veggies are done enough, move pan into empty sink, and use hand blender to puree contents of pan into soup. (You may want to wear an apron the first few times as you figure out how to avoid excessive spatter. One trick is to make sure part of your hand blender is always in contact with the bottom of the pan; move it around in slightly tilted circles rather than up and down.)
- If soup is too thick, add more water and reheat. If it's too thin for your taste, let it simmer down for a while (and remember how much water was way too much for next time).
- Put hot soup in big bowl, add sour cream or plain greek yoghurt (Trader Joe's is cheap) to taste, and garnish with grated cheese or pinenuts (also cheap enough to buy at TJ's). Eat with bread or crackers.
- Repeat ad n--I mean, ad infinitum with different vegetables.

(Your hand blender can also come in handy for making smoothies or guacamole/dips, if you like doing that.) Bon appetit!
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