The Spicy Spatula

When work gets busy as it often does when you work for yourself, you have to make the important decisions such as what in your schedule can be moved around so everything gets done. For me, the first place I look to make room is in the kitchen. I need my workouts because they make me feel (and look) good, plus nothing beats the kind of sleep I get after a nice hard workout. My work and my writing a can’t be rushed no matter what, which only leaves the sporadic chores that need to be done on any given day.

So, the kitchen. It doesn’t mean that I smack together cold sandwiches, although there’s nothing wrong with that. It means that I go for something that I can make for lunch and dinner which can be a casserole, a tray bake or even a soup.

Tray bake recipes HERE!!

The other day my day got unexpectedly busy with a last minute project offering a big fat bonus for a quick turnaround and since I love to travel I calculated where that bonus could take us and then I got busy.

It was a good thing I had a big bag of turnip greens that I needed to use before they started to wilt.

Need more vegan casseroles? Click HERE!!

And put together this vegan soup recipe that was hearty enough for lunch and dinner.

Kitchen Tools:

*Colander or salad spinner
*Cutting board
*Soup pot
*Wooden spoon

Ingredients:

*Onion
*Turnip greens (I also added kohlrabi greens because no one at the store ever takes them and they’re FREE!)
*Barley (or bread)
*Beyond burgers (2)
*Garlic
*Carrots
*Tomato paste
*Turnips
*Fresh tomatoes
*Chopped canned tomatoes

Instructions:

*Give the greens a good long soak, rinsing until the water runs clear and then chop them into bite sized pieces.

*Heat the stock pot over medium-high heat.

*Add the Beyond Burger or whatever vegan mince you prefer and break up into pieces while you cook it. I chose Beyond because they are fatty. Remove the crumbles from the pot and set aside, cover.

*Rinse, chop and weigh the rest of the veggies, divide by cooking time and set aside. I like to give my veggies a bit of a sauté when I make soup but if you like to boil them you can skip the sauté and put them right in the pot.

*Add onions, carrots and turnips to the pot, stir for 2 to 3 minutes before you add the garlic and tomatoes.

*Slowly add the greens a handful at a time and cook 3 to 5 minutes, stirring regularly before you add another batch. Repeat this until all the greens are in the pot.

*Add water or broth as needed to avoid sticking and to get the soup started. Toss in a bay leaf or 2.

*Stir in tomato paste and chopped tomatoes, then add the broth or water. Season with salt, pepper and herbs. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes or longer depending on how big your batch is.

*Serve with bread or barley, or any other grain you prefer. I used bread for lunch and barely for dinner just to switch it up a bit.

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