What's Cookin'

Today was a really nice day and I had plenty of things I could have done outside. But the cooking bug bit me this morning as it is wont to do this time of year. I made a vegetable and bean soup based loosely on a recipe I found in Feeding The Healthy Vegetarian Family by Ken Haedrich and a couple of multgrain honey baquettes. Here are the recipes if anyone is interested. Amounts used in the soup are very rough approximations.

Harvest Soup
1/2 pound of dried beans (I used Black Coco, Vermont Cranberry, and Taylor's Horticultural Bush)
1 cup winter squash, cubed (I used Delicata)
a few carrots
a few ribs of celery
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
Bay leaf
3 cups diced tomatoes (canned, fresh, or frozen - with skins and seeds is best, IMO)
Water
Italian Seasoning (Oregano, Basil, Rosemary)
Salt
Black Pepper
Any other seasoning you like (Old Bay is my standby)

Bring the beans to a boil in plenty of water and boil hard for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let stand for about an hour. Drain.
Add squash, carrots, celery and onion to some olive oil in a big soup pan. Saute for about 10 min and add the minced garlic gloves and saute another couple minutes.
Add about 10 cups of water and the bay leaf and some salt and the beans.
Bring to a boil and then simmer, partially covered for about an hour.
Add the tomatoes and the herbs and some ground pepper. Salt to taste but remember the saltiness will concentrate as the soup cooks down.
Simmer for about another 1/2 hour.
Note: If you use black beans, the soup will look like dirty dishwater at first, but will turn a nice brown when the tomatoes are added.

Multigrain & Honey Bread
2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose white flour
3/4 cup 5 or 7 grain cereal
1 cup water (substitute some milk if desired)
1 T honey
2 T butter
1-1/2 t salt
2 t yeast

I did a single rise, then formed the dough into 2 baquettes. Rise to double size then bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

We ate the soup and bread with 2004 Beringer Gamay. Yum.