Aragula Soup - Soupe à la Roquette

Aragula ("roquette" in French) is a favorite green in our household. I don't know whether it was already common in the US in the late 80s  but I don't remember eating any in France growing up. Choices of greens for our salade verte were really limited to laitue, feuille de chêne, mâche et frisée (I promise to make frisée aux lardons one day - a favorite of my husband's but not something I ever ever enjoyed (even before I stopped eating meat)!)

Aragula is something I really discovered in the US and have come to love (unlike iceberg lettuce).

We could eat some everyday, especially when the other green options for our daily "salade verte"are iceberg lettuce or another unappealing romaine. 

We eat aragula just plain with a balsamic vinaigrette, or in my home-made improvised mix-greens salad or other salade composée, on a white pizza or in a sandwich! Although it sometimes touches warm food, I had never thought about making it into a soup until I realized a few months ago that, because I was traveling a lot (hence the absence of posts since Feb! Sorry....), we were not going to be able to eat the whole aragula before it would go bad (and yes, it does go bad relatively quickly, even when we purchase it in a clamshell container (I know, I know)), I would have to come up with a soup. It was freezing cold outside (we had a LLOOOOOONG winter this year) and I figured that I could pretty much cook it in a similar way as I do the Soupe au Cresson. 

Easy. Simple. Delicious. And a great success.

To be honest, between watercress and aragula soup, I prefer watercress (if and only if, this is wild watercress (or watercress that actually tastes like watercress! (I have been disappointed sooo many times here...))... but making this aragula soup is a good alternative. Whereas the taste of aragula that can be pungent when eaten raw, it becomes milder in the warm soup - making it an easy alternative for children for instance. 

I also think that this soup, or a slightly modified version of it, will be great served cold this Summer. Until then (I could eat hot soup every day), I know that I can go and purchase more aragula... we'll never run out of ideas (next on my list is aragula pesto (recipe anyone?)) to eat it all... Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (for 4 persons)
- aragula, washed and chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 small onion, minced
- 2 potatoes, skin off and cubed
- salt and pepper to taste
- Olive oil

• In a pot (with lid), over medium-heat, saute the onion, garlic and potato in olive oil.
• Add about 3 cups of water
• Put the lid on and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.
• Immerse the aragula for two minutes
• Blend thoroughly
• Add salt and black pepper to taste .
• Serve with crème fraîche, grated cheese, toasted bread.

Cold Celery-Cucumber Soup

I just came back from two (too short) weeks of vacation in France where we spent time with relatives and friends in rural Normandie, Lozère (that's in the middle of nowhere France) and the French Alps (near Annecy - a city worth visiting both in the Summer and Winter!) Needless to say that we had a great time....

It was really hot (unusually hot for the season), which made us eat a lot of salades composées, generally made up with fresh vegetables from the potager. Spending time with friends who are lucky motivated enough grow their own vegetables in their potager (think fresh lettuce, peas,  tomatoes, fresh French beans, fava beans, zucchinis, eggplants, etc....) reminded me of my grand-mother's silly cucumbers & zucchinis!What I loved about gardening with my grand-mother in the Summer was to watch the vegetables grow and trick us into growing too fast for us to harvest and eat (hence a lot of canning!) My grand-mother got really upset when one zucchini/cucumber would escape her thorough gardening and hide from her to become so big that we could only puree them into a soup...

If you are feeling overwhelmed with cucumbers this summer, here is a quick recipe. I make this soupe froide a lot either with celery or with fennel. The recipe below is vegan (and my husband did say "hmm c'est super bon!!) but you could definitively use cream or yogurt instead of silk tofu and raw cashew nuts. Bon appétit!

Ingredients
- 2 small or 1 large cucumber (skin off but with seeds unless too bitter)
- 1 small celery stalks & leaves
- 1 small red hot pepper (optional)
- 1/4 cup of raw cashew nuts
- About 1/2 lb of silk tofu (250g)
- 2 Tbs of olive oil
- salt, pepper

• In a blender, put the silk tofu
• Add cucumber and celery (cut into small pieces)
• Add cashew nuts, hot pepper, salt and olive oil
• Blend until really smooth
• Add salt and pepper to taste
• Serve cold

My Personal Comments

• In total I have about 7 cups (1750 ml) of ingredients in the blender (loosely packed)
• The trick is to blend the soup longer than you would want at high speed so that it becomes really smooth.
• I would add about a cup (250gr) of plain yogurt instead of the silk tofu.
• If using fennel, two small bulbs would do the work.

Pea Soup - Soupe aux Petits Pois

Our son is now fully recovered from his very bad coxsackie virus; he does have a few scars on his hands and feet but they are steadily disappearing. Pff! What a relief! His case was so bad that I took him for the second time to the pediatrician to request stronger pain relievers to have him start eating and talking  again. He stopped talking!!  (that's when we realized how sick he was!). When she saw him, the nurse's very first words were "I wish I had some students to show them a REAL case of coxsackie!!!" (???!!!!! Although I am totally in favor of teaching-clinics, I did not find this sentence really appropriate to say to a parent who comes desperate to get CARE for her sick child! However it did make me realize that our son did, indeed, developed very serious symptoms! (Apparently the nurse had seen a father develop such symptoms and yes he was MI-SE-RA-BLE!))
Now that our son is out of his misery, we are steadily working our way down his list of "dishes-I-am-going-to-have-when-I-can-I-have-real-food-again": viennoiseries (checked), fish with wild rice (checked),  candies (checked), Pho (checked), bagels (checked)...
While looking for fresh lemongrass at the Asian supermarket to make Moules-Frites, my eyes caught "fresh peas leaves". Since I can not leave a supermarket without trying something new, I decided to purchase (among other Asian vegetables only my relatives in Singapore could identify without hesitation), a small bag and to make a soup out of it. I did not dare to just saute the vegetables in case they would be too bitter.
This reminded me how my grand-mother used to feed us fresh peas (without the leaves though) that were grown by farmers in the two fields surrounding her house in the country. She would go and steal pick small peas... Nothing too wrong with that, except that they were a variety made to feed... cattles! And certainly not grown the organic way!!  She could not care less. She thought that because she was picking them very young, they were not too starchy for us to eat! Anyhow, we survived the few summers that peas were the crop-of-choice in the region!

In order to spice up this soup a little bit, I made a feta-and-parsley (mint would have been a more British version) dip to doll up on top of the soup. This was a real add-on that we all enjoyed very much.
Our children liked having a few round peas in their soup as well... and were asking for more the next day! This would be perfect for very young children (without the feta-dip). One more nice-and-easy soup to make for the winter! Next on the list? Empanadas! Bon Appetit!

Ingredients   - A bag of fresh peas leaves
- A bag of frozen peas
- 2 cloves of garlic

For the optional feta-dip (made in a blender)
- Feta cheese
- 1/2 bunch of fresh parsley (I used curled but flat would have been OK)
- 1 TBs of Olive oil
- A spoon of plain yogurt (if you need more liquid to blend the feta and the parsley).

• In a pot, saute the garlic cloves in olive oil. 
• Add the pea leaves and stir until they shrink (like fresh spinach)
• Add the bag of frozen peas
• Add water and let simmer until the peas are cooked
• Add salt and pepper to taste
• Serve with fresh peas and a doll-up of the feta-parsley-dip

My Personal Comments

• This soup is vegetarian if you omit the feta dip  

• Mint would have been OK instead of Feta

• You could chill this soup for the summer.

Spinach and Chickpeas Soup - Soupe aux epinards et pois chiche

The other day my daughter noted that "on mange beaucoup de soupe" (we a eat a lot of soup..).. Yes. Like it or not. Un peu ou pas trop.This is what happens in our family in the Fall-Winter time (and a little bit before and after that!). It's healthy, it's fast, it's a nice way to feed children plenty of vegetables at once...  so soupe au menu chez nous!! And not just for dinner (I think that I bring soup in my own lunch box about 3 days a week and if I go out, I will first look at the soups!)
I just promised to try to go beyond my usual soupe au cresson, Chinese Soup or just plain soupe de légumes when I have plenty of vegetables left with no inspiration time to make something else...
This spinach and chickpeas soup adapted from Mark Bittman has become one of our favorites and I have been serving it about twice a month (spreading it for a few meals, that is...). My children call it "la soupe verte" as opposed to "la soupe orange" (the Carrots/Sweet Potatoes Curried Soup, which by the way has been very much appreciated among a lot of my friends, relatives and other guests so try it if you have not already!!).  Orange is a sure deal (ie, no "encore de la soupe!!!).. verte is also good because they know that they'll get to eat some raisins and pine nuts with it.  That makes it fun for them and together with a fresh/toasted piece of bread and they are happily fed!
I have yet to work on having them like some of the other soups I made (cauliflower velouté, red lentils soupe, soupe a l'oignon, etc. ) but that never qualified for a "elle est bonne ta soupe, maman!!" And since soup season is far from being over in our family, I have a few more weeks to improve or to improvise! I bought a bag of yellow split peas at the Indian store the other day... that might be part of the next soup chez nous! Who knows it might well become "la soupe jaune"!! Any good colorful recipe/idea to share when it comes to soupe? Bon appétit!

Ingredients
-  1 or two garlic cloves
-  1 small onion, chopped
-  About 3 cups of cooked chickpeas (canned are fine); plus a few to garnish
-  1 pound of spinach (frozen is fine)
-  1 carrot (optional)
-  olive oil, salt and pepper to taste
-  Golden raisins and pine nuts to garnish

• In a large pot, saute the garlic and onion in olive oil
• Add the chickpeas, spinach and carrot and cover with water (about 1 liter or 4 cups)
• Cook until the spinach are fully cooked
• Using an immersion blender, puree; add water if you feel that it's too thick.
• Add salt and pepper to taste
• Serve with raisins, pine nuts and a few chickpeas.

My comments

• I have added curry powder to spice it up a little bit

Gazpacho

As I was driving the kids to school one day, we were behind a camion citerne (tanker) and everytime we are behind one, we play this game of trying to guess what it is inside the tank. I started that game a long time ago, trying to keep my children quiet in the car:  it was also a way to make them aware of how things move from point A to point B depending on their physical form.
Since we have played this game many times now (too many trucks on the Philadelphia highways!!), my daughter knows and start with the usual "orange juice, olive oil, water,". Picking up the game, my son started to say "apple juice, milk"... and then "beer". I started laughing! Soon enough he and his sister were saying "white wine, red wine, pisco!" We all started laughing...I felt that a stranger listening to this conversation could have thought that my husband and I are such heavy drinkers that our kids know all the names of the beverages we drink!! Yes, they tried a drop of Champagne at their christening; yes, they tried a drop of beer and wine; but no, we are not heavy drinkers! We just happen to enjoy a drink here and there (especially on our Friday aperitifs) and my kids just happen to be great observers...

Since it's hot these days, here is a cool non-alcoholic soup for you and your family. My children enjoy eating this gazpacho because they really get to chose the toppings they can eat it with! Worth the extra time to chop extra veggies to put on the table... Bon Appetit!

PS: And for those of you who had never had Pisco (a drink originally from Peru but which we discovered in Chile), here is a NY Times article I recently came across! We generally drink it with just lime, crushed ice and powdered sugar... but who knows, in a few years, my kids might add a few cocktail names to their "tanker list!"

Ingredients:
- 2 large cans of whole peeled tomatoes (good quality)
- 2 fresh tomatoes, skin remove
- 1 cucumber
- 1 red onion
- 1 clove garlic

For garnish:
- Bell peppers
- Onion
- Croutons
- Cilantro/basil/chive
- Cucumber
- Tabasco
- Salt, black pepper

• In a bowl, blend the canned tomatoes (including liquid), the fresh tomatoes, cucumber, 1/2 onion and garlic. 
• Chill for a few hours
• Serve cold.

My Personal Comments:

• If I am able to plan ahead, I refrigerate the canned tomatoes overnight so that they are already chilled when I blend them with the other ingredients.
• If can not plan, put the bowl in an ice-bath while refrigerating it. 
• To peel the fresh tomatoes, drop them for 30s in simmering water.

Carrots - Sweet Potatoes Soup Thai Style

"Hmm, elle est super bonne ta soupe maman" did I get as a compliment when I served this Thai-style carrots and sweet potatoes soup a few weeks ago (honnest, that's what they said!). From both my children! I was surprised because I did not expect them to like it as much (it has fresh ginger after all).. How wrong was I! It has become my daughter's favorite soup. And mine as well these days...(just had some for lunch today actually!)
The first comment my children made was that this soup tasted like their favorite mussels recipe, "tu sais la bonne recette, pas celle que j'aime pas" (meaning "the good one, not the one I don't like") and of course I knew which recipe she liked better than the other when it comes to mussels : just timing how much time it takes them to finish their plate is generally a good indication of a pass/fail test!)
All in all, what they really like is the combinaison of lemongrass and coconut milk...so I might try to cook different recipes with this combo so as to introduce new dishes to them.
This recipe from Mark Bittman is rich : so make sure you don't serve two full bowls of it before a main dish. If it's going to be an appetizer, a small bowl will be enough (well, not enough because you might enjoy it so much that everybody will want a second serving!) At home, I generally serve it "as a main dish" together with bread and a salad or I make sure that my children have a piece of fresh fruit for dessert.
Simple. Easy and "super bonne"! Coming from a 5 1/2 and a 3 year-old, it's worth giving it a try, non? Bon Appetit!

Ingredients:
- 3 stalks Lemongrass

- 10 nickel-size fresh ginger pieces (about 2cm)

- 2 cloves garlic, peeled

- about 1 pound of carrot & sweet potatoes, cut in cubes.

- 1/4 ts Cayenne pepper (more to taste)

- 1 quart Coconut milk (about 2 cans)

- 1/4 cup fresh Cilantro (cut but keep the stems)

- Neutral Oil (grapeseed or corn) or Coconut oil salt.

• Grate about 1/2 inch of each lemongrass stalk and cut the rest of in 1-in pieces.
• Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the lemongrass, the ginger and garlic and cooke, stirring until the garlic is golden (about 5min)
• Add the carrots/sweet potatoes, the Cayenne pepper. Stir to coat with oil and cook for about a minute.
• Add the coconut milk, 2 cups of water, and the stems of Cilantro. 
• Bring to a boil and then lower the temperature. Let is simmer for about 15 minutes or until the carrots/sweet potatoes are cooked.
• Take the Cilantro stems out and puree the soup.
• Adjust seasoning. 
• Serve with  fresh cilantro and lime wedges.

 
My Personal Comments: 

• I tend to keep the cilantro stems in the soup and puree them together with the rest.
• Use good quality  coconut milk and not the non-fat version!
• Since I bought coconut oil, I use it in this soup as well.
• I just eat this soup with a piece of bread for lunch or dinner!

Thai Lemongrass Shrimp Soup - Soupe aux crevettes et à la Citronelle

We got our first snow in Philadelphia last week, which makes me long for warmer days already. Since I don't have a trip au soleil planned anytime soon in my agenda, I can only dream of these warmer spring and summer days... "les jours où on met juste une petite chemise, un short, et hop, on s'en va", as would my daughter say refering to the hot days when she only wears a short and a t-shirt!
Since it's winter, soups are au menu at least 3-4 times a week chez nous. And because I always try to introduce new dishes to my children, I have been making this shrimp version of Tom Ka Gai soup lately. I discovered Thai food while living in San Francisco... and can't get enough of it (and yes, I'd love to take a trip to Thailand to visit this beautiful country and eat more authentic food).  Same with my husband, who does not mind having "just" a Tom Ka Gai soup for dinner (if with shrimp, he is a little bit disappointed!). Same with my children who enjoy it but still prefer la Soupe Chinoise that they request more, especially when I am about to serve du potage aux legumes!
As I was serving this soup the other day, we talked about Thailand and the fact that one of his classmates was going to move back there permanently in a few weeks. H. then said "oh, il va manger de la soupe aux crevettest tous les jours alors?" (he is going to eat shrimp soup everyday then...). I don't know if Thai people eat shrimp/Tom Ka Gai soup everyday in Thailand... but I sure could have some often in the cold days of winter in Philadelphia! Bon Appétit!

Ingredients:
- 1.5 L (6 cups or 48 Fl oz) vegetable (chicken) stock
- 4-5 shrimp per person ( or 1 or 2 chicken breast, cut in thin slices)
- 1 Lemongrass stalk
- 4 keffir lime leaves
- 1 cup mushrooms (shiitake prefered)
- 1 small piece of galangal
- a few fresh red chilies (2-3) (or red crushed pepper)
- 1/2 to one can coconut milk
- 2 Tbs (30 ml) lime juice
- 2 Tbs (30 ml) fish sauce
- Fresh coriander or fresh Thai basil
- sugar (optional)

• In pot, grate the end of the Lemongrass stalk; cut the rest of the stalk and keep it for later.
• Pour vegetable/chicken stock and bring  to a boil. Add shrimp/chicken pieces and mushrooms , reduce heat to medium-high. Cook until shrimp/chicken is cooked. Reduce heat to medium heat.
• Add lemongrass stalk, galangal, kefir leaves, coconut milk, chilies and fish sauce. Cook for about 2-3 mn.
• Reduce heat to minimum, add lime juice.
• Adjust the flavor: if not salty enough, add more fish sauce, a teaspoon at a time; if too sour, add a few teaspoon of sugar; if too spicy, add more coconut milk; if not spicy enough, add more chili peppers.
• Serve with fresh coriander or basil.

My Personal Comments

• I serve this soup as a main course for our family. I add a little bit of rice noodle if I feel that they won't have enough that evening.

Zucchini - Fennel soup

It's not winter yet but I already feel that I want to eat de la soupe. Halloween being around the corner, all the pumpkins and other squash are out and I only want them cooked in soups. You know, soup is my easy dinner option. A nice hearty soup served with bread and cheese, that's almost perfect dinner for me!  While I know I'll enjoy the soup, I also know that my children won't be that thrilled! And that it will take it longer to feed them that evening. Well, c'est la vie! I am not going to change my menu because they don't like soup that much! I do try to make it look more appealing to them by making polenta croutons or roasting purple potatoes on the side. We also play different games to make them eat yet another spoon of soup. One of the games we love to play is the "une cuillère pour...." where we name one person in our family each time we eat a spoon of soup. We start with my children' cousins... and, that's when I am happy to have a large family! By the time we get all the 7 cousins on my side, plus the 3 cousins on my husband's side, plus the additional second-cousins whom we see every summer, we are almost done with the bowl (because let's face it, I am not serving my children super-size bowls of soup!!) Whatever game we play, I generally manage to have my kids finish their bowl of soup. It might take a while but we get there eventually! And if I am lucky, despite the "je n'aime pas la soupe", they might even ask for a second serving!
Being French, I could make soup with pretty much any kinds of vegetables. I sometimes use chicken/vegetable stock but if, like now, I am on my low-iodine diet again and therefore staying away from processed sources of sodium, I just use additional herbs/spices to flavor the soup. One thing I want to make more in this winter are beans soups (any good recipes to share?). Until now, before Fall really sets in, here is a good end-of-summer-early-Fall recipe. Good? Oh yeah, we did not have to play any games to finish it! But we did have polenta croutons! Bon Appetit!

Ingredients:
-  1 large bulb of fresh Fennel, sliced
-  3 small zucchinis, cut into small dices
-  3 small potatoes, pealed.
-  1L (32 Fl oz) of water or vegetable/chicken stock
-  30 gr (1 oz) butter or equivalent of olive oil
-  1 sprig of Thyme (optional)
-  Salt, black pepper to taste

• In a Dutch oven or thick-bottom pot, melt the butter (olive oil) over medium heat. 
• Add the garlic, fennel, zuchinis and herbs. Toss them a few times so as to coat them in butter/oil.
• Reduce heat, cover the pot with a lid and let simmer for 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are really soft.
• Add water/stock, the potatoes cubes and bring to a boil.
• Simmer the soup for an additional 15 minutes or until the potatoes can be mashed.
• With an immersion blender, blend the soup.
• Add salt/black pepper to taste.
• Serve with a dollup of crème fraiche

My Personal Comments:

• You could add carrots if you have some that need to be cooked.
• You could serve this soup to a child starting solid food.

Cold Celery Soup With Purple Potatoes

Soups are regularly on our weekly menu...and there is no exception in the Summer ( and I am talking Northern Hemisphere Summers!!) You see, when we were in the Alpsa few days ago, there were days when we were not taking our fleece away and even my husband who, unlike me, is not cold sensitive was not taking his away, c'est pour dire!.. Too cold.  On those depressing June days, hot soups were more than welcome! Une bonne soupe poireaux-pommes-de-terre with local cheese and cream! Delicious!
On hot days like today (temperatures reaching above 30 C or 86 F), cold soups are de rigueur.
In addition to being a way to feed more vegetables to my family, soups are also a good way to have my children drink extra liquids. Over the past few weeks, I noticed that my daughter was not drinking enough. When she is in school, she generally drinks a bowl of chocolate milk in the morning, then she has a mid-morning glass of water/juice in school and then she drinks from her water bottle over lunch and then again when she comes home at goûter and at dinner. On vacation, instead of increasing her water intake because of heat, she actually decreased it. And if there is something that is not good for anybody, it's not to drink enough. It's even more dangerous with girls as they tend to be prone to urinary tract infections that a lack of water only accerbate. I am now more aware of her need to be reminded that she needs to drink more. I keep telling her to "boire plus".... but as a way to increase her daily water intake in the Summer, I make cold soups as well.
This recipe for Celery Soup can be served both cold and warm. Because celery has a strong flavor, I used a few potatoes in the soup as well. And since celery is not my husband's favorite vegetable either (too many bad céleri rave salads growing up (a salad made of shredded celery roots with mayonnaise that was unfortunately a regular on our school menu)), I made sure to serve the soup with "something else" to make it more attractive. In this case, I used purple potatoes that I sauteed together with extra tiny cubes of celery in olive oil for a few minutes. This was a big hit among both my children and husband. My children had never seen purple potatoes before, so there was something new to eat...but to be honnest, I could have used regular potatoes and it would not have made a difference for them. Who does not like pommes-de-terre sautées? To me, it made a difference because the end-result was joli and appétissant. And that matters a lot, especially when cooking with root celery that is not attractive in the first place! Bon Appétit!

Ingredients
- One head of root celery
- 2 medium potatoes
- Light cream
- A few purple potatoes (optional), cut into tiny dices.
- Olive oil, salt and black pepper to taste

• Start by pealing and cutting the celery roots.  Cut a few dices that will be sauteed with the potatoes
• Peal and cut the yellow potatoes as well.
• Saute the celery and potatoes in olive oil for a few minutes
• Cover with water and simmer for 15 minutes until cooked
• Using an immersion blender blend the soup. If you are serving it chilled, put it in the fridge for at least one hour. The longer, the better.
• About 15 minutes before serving, saute the purple potatoes and celery root dices in olive oil.
• Just before serving (cold or warm), add a few spoon of light cream
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve with purple potatoes and celery root dices.

My Personal Comments

• I like it both warm and cold.
• If you don't want to serve it with purple potatoes, you could serve it with a little bit of fresh chive or tarragon.

Soupe Chinoise - Chinese Soup

Since we started taking our children out for Phõ, they have been more into big bowl of soups. Not the Velouté d’épinards or the Soupe aux Poireaux I tend to make but the big bowls of soup that are Phõ-like. Since I have not looked for a recipe for Phõ yet (any suggestions?), I have been making my own "Soupe Chinoise" as we like to call it. And since while traveling through China once, I saw French cookies that looked nothing like French cookies to me, I don’t mind calling this soup a Soupe Chinoise even if it does not come close to an authentic Chinese soup.

My children love this soup : they like the idea of playing with chopsticks, adding toppings, diving for pieces of chicken (or shrimp), being adventurous and adding a few drops of hot sauce, etc. What they like best though is to slurp their noodles. For once they are allowed to make noise while eating something! And we explain to them that it’s perfectly accepted in some Asian countries to slurp your noodles. “Ohlalala, c’est super,” exclaimed my daughter. My son could not be happier and he would make as much noise as possible while slurping his noodles, which has the immediate effect of making us all laugh. And there is nothing more pleasant than a family dinner with laughter all around. Tant pis if the kitchen table looks like a someone just got out the shower without drying themselves a little bit (it happens often in my family and not just with the younger generation !) Tant pis. Because we all enjoyed a meal together and that’s what’s the most important!

The beauty of this Soupe Chinoise is that you can make it the way you want and build it up for your children. You just need broth (chicken, beef or vegetables), proteins (chicken, shrimp, tofu, beef), Asian noodles (rice or wheat), vegetables (carrots, mushrooms, bean sprouts, Napa cabbage, bok choy, onions), extra toppings (fried onions, chive, cilantro), seasoning (sesame oil, hot sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce) and you are all set. Be creative! Let your children be creative and experiment (even with chopsticks!). Let them slurp their noodles and slurp yours too! It would make them laugh… and chances are your Soupe Chinoise (or whatever you call it) will be one of their favorite dish! Bon Appétit!

Ingredients:

- 6 cups (750ml) of water
- 1 bouillon (chicken or vegetables)
- 2 TB (30ml) Fish Sauce
- 2 TB (30ml) Low Sodium Soy Sauce
- Carrots, pealed and sliced
- Napa Cabbage (or bok choy), cut into small pieces.
- 1 small onion, minced
- chicken breast, cut into small pieces
- Asian Noodles (I prefer wheat noodles but rice noodles would make it gluten-free)
- Chive (for topping)

• In a saute pan, saute the onion, the carrots and onion in Soy Sauce
• Add Chicken and cook until chicken is fully cooked
• Bring water to a boil. Add bouillon and fish sauce
• Add noodles and cook noodles in the stock.
• Add vegetables and chicken.
• Serve in large bowls topped with chive, raw onion bits and raw cabbage.
• Serve with hot sauce/sesame oil, etc...

My Personal Comments:

•  I like to put raw cabbage on top of the soup for crunchiness
•  I personally like the chicken version better than the shrimp version.
•  Don't hesitate to put more fish sauce/soy sauce if you like a stronger taste.

 

My daughter's Tomato Soup

For the last few weeks, my four-and-a-half daughter S. talked to us about her soupe à la tomate. She started the conversation one morning as my husband was taking her to school. She said that she had this super recette and that she wanted to make it. For a few days, she kept talking about her soupe à la tomate... so when my husband went to the market with her, they bought fresh tomatoes and onions to make it. We postponed the actual cooking day because it was never convenient for me to help her make her soupe à la tomate when she was suggesting it. In order to make her accept the fact that we could not make it aujourd'hui, I prompted her about her super recette. "C'est facile (it's easy), she said. "Tu prends les oignons, tu prends les tomates et tu les cuits ensemble et tu les mixes" (you take the onions, the tomatoes and you cook them together and then blend them). "Après, tu mets du sel, du poivre, de la crème, du fromage et des croûtons"(then you add salt, pepper, cream, grated cheese and croutons). Facile, indeed! When we were finally ready to make it, she was in charge of telling me what to do. I was just asking questions to maker her improve her super recette. I made her peal and chop the onions. She was very proud because, unlike me who start crying the minute I chop onion, shallots or even leeks, she did not cry. While we were chopping the onions and garlic, my two-and-a-half son was playing with water in charge of cleaning the tomatoes (they were really clean!!). We talked about sauteing the onions in butter or olive oil (she chose olive oil). She helped cut the tomatoes and then stir them with the onions. I had to convince her that we needed to add a little bit of water to make une soupe. Otherwise, we would have une sauce tomate. From then on, we let her soupe cook on the stove and she helped me puree it with the immersion blender.

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Spinach Velouté

Do you play cards? I love playing cards. My husband does not, malheureusement! He therefore laughs at me when I tell him that I  am seriously considering learning how to play bridge so that I have one thing to keep my mind working and to play with other people when I grow old! (are you laughing too?)  In order to introduce cards to my children so that they can decide for themselves whether they like them or not,  I purchased a few decks of cards in France last time I was there to teach my daughter some of the games I played growing up. One very famous one is Le jeu des 7 familles which aim is to form a family by picking cards out of your partners' hands or in la pioche (the extra pile). You have thousands of versions (animals, music instruments, people, etc, etc.). It's not as dynamic as Mistigri (Old Maid) and Nain Jaune (no translation; you'd have to come and play with us).... but children love playing it. You always start by saying "dans la famille ....., je voudrais le..... (père/mère/fils/fille/grand-père/grand-mère)"... The game is so ingrained in the French culture that, even if you don't play cards (like my husband), you use some of its expressions to describe what you have in front of you. For instance, when my children are throwing a tantrum and I want to defuse the situation, I say, "dans la famille des Comédiens, je voudrais, la fille/le fils". Inevitably, they laugh and resume their tantrum immediately want to play the game again! So we create our own little world of happy families!

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Creamy Mushrooms with Polenta Croutons

France being so close to Italy, we share a culinary heritage. Among the many things we eat on both sides of the border, is Polenta. Polenta, a dish made from boiled cornmeal, did not enjoy a great reputation in France until recently as it was for a long time a peasant dish. My husband's maternal grand-mother spent a lot of time in the Alps (ie, close to Italy) where a lot of Italians emigrated to escape poverty. They brought Polenta with them and as a result, my husband's grand-mother made Polenta a lot. She calls it la polente... and if you ask my husband about la polente, he does not make a happy face (to say the least). For his grand-mother would make a soupe a la polente : she would mix milk and Polenta together and serve it as a liquid soup (yes, I know, I would not make a happy face either!!). In my family, my mother would occasionally make Polenta as we know it today : thick and creamy and we would eat it with ratatouille. This was not my favorite dish but not something I could not eat either.
I had my best culinary experience with Polenta while living in San Francisco. My best friend M. took me out for dinner one evening to celebrate her birthday. I chose Polenta with creamy mushrooms... and it was eye-opening jaw dropping good! To this day, I still think about this dish everytime I have polenta for I have not been able to reproduce it myself (but that's why I am no professional chef!).

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Leeks and Potatoes Soup

I CAN NOT turn down a good bargain on leeks! Leeks (poireaux) are a staple of French diet. There are poireaux in (almost) every potage de legumes that a French family can make; they are a delicious side-dish in fondue de poireaux; when young, we just eat them cold with vinaigrette, etc. To the point that you don't even write them down on your grocery list anymore. It's a given. You purchase leeks automatically. As a result, the basic of supply-demand economics make them very affordable when in season.
My grand-mother, like 90% of French people with a vegetables garden, used to grow some in her potager. Evidemment! And inevitably, she would give us some whenever we were heading back to Paris after a stay at her house. My older brother could not stand having leeks in the car because when kept in a close-and-somewhat-warm environment, leeks don't smell that great (they are related to onions). I agree but it never bothered me that much. It did bother me that it bothered my older brother because it meant that we had to drive with an open window in the Winter cold days so that he could get pass this smell. So me and my younger siblings were shivering in the back because my older brother had a leek-sensitive nose! Merci bien! That said, his aversion for leeks (or their smell, really) was never strong enough to deter my grand-mother to load our car with poireaux (and other less smelly fruits and vegetables.) Certainement pas!We would just leave them by the car and load them at the very last minute!
Moving to the US, it was quite a shock to discover how much leeks cost here.

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Broadening Horizon.... Miso Soup

I love sushi and don't eat enough of them. I used to purchase rolls (yep, I don't make them!) to share with my daughter when she was younger but she was never a big fan of seaweed. I therefore stopped buying them; I only treat myself (my husband likes them but not as much as I do) for special occasions. One thing I enjoyed when going for sushi was having a Miso soup. But then again, it tastes like the Miso soup you pay $$ for is processed. In other words, I could purchase the same (if not better) at a local supermarket and make my own for less money. So, I stopped ordering Miso soup when going for sushi. Then, reading La Fuji Mama blog on Miso soup totally changed my perspective.

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First Bites.... Cauliflower and Carrots Puree - Build Up Recipe

Cauliflower... for some reasons it seems that people have a hard time with it. I know that my husband does not like it in gratin much...and because my children will notice his hesitation when it comes to eating it, I have tried to come up with other ways to prepare it. You know, it's all about my "Eating-By-Example" Theory....
One of the best way to maximize the chances that your children will grow up eating (liking?) cauliflower is to introduce it early to them. And like turnips in my previous post, you hide it in other well-liked vegetables. In this recipe, the orange color of carrots attracts the little one attention who, then are more willing to swallow the mix. I tested it with my two children when they were younger and it worked. It worked again with them when I cooked it recently. My daughter did ask me what the little white pieces were... but when I told her it was cauliflower, she did not care.

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Watercress Soup

This is maybe the easiest soup to make and a real favorite in my family. I was actually surprised how easily my two children ate their first bowl of watercress soup. You know, I was doing the "prep" talk (something like "we are going to have watercress soup tonight; it's really good, both papa and I love it; I was even maybe starting to tell them how I made it, just to keep them interested). I put their bowls on the table with a little bit of apprehension, waiting for their reaction. Part of me was already prepared to push for "at least a few spoons"... but no! My older child looked at me and said "c'est bon". My younger kid could not talk yet but by the speed he was gulping his soup, I could just tell that he was enjoying it! Blessed with this great success, it has become a favorite on my menu list. I also serve it over couscous; it makes a great dinner dish and it's easier (and less messy!!) to serve to younger children.

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Corn Chowder

It all started because I had forgotten that my husband had bought corn ears at the market!!!  The ears were not fresh enough to eat them on the cob, so I decided to make Corn Chowder instead. French people eat a lot of soups but we are not used to eating milk-based soups. I discovered Clam Chowder while working in California for a company based out of Cambridge, Ma. On a professional trip to the East Coast, we had clam chowder and I liked it immediately despite the clams (I eat oysters but somehow don't like clams that much)...

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Carrots and Fresh Mint Soup - "Build Up Recipe"

  

I had carrots (lots of carrots) in the fridge and I did not know what to do with them. It also happened that I had fresh mint available. I thought that I could make carrots puree (mashed carrots) but since it was really cold outside, I felt that a soup would be more appropriate. I called this recipe "Build Up Recipe" because you could feed infants, picky eaters, children and adults without changing the recipe a lot.  Friends of mine have asked me to publish more recipes that could feed picky eaters... and even if my children are not too picky, there are days when I adapt my recipes to make sure dinner will be pleasant for everybody....

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Swiss Chard Soup

My grand-mother used to grow green Swiss chard in her garden. I therefore grew up eating a lot of Swiss chard, mostly au gratin. However, I never eat red or rainbow chard until I came to the US.  They do taste differently that the white-stem chard I grew up with, but all of them are delicious. The only problem with chard is that it is extremely perishable. You have to be careful when purchasing chard and you can't keep it in your fridge for too long...

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