Roasted Fennel Soup with Walnuts

I was disappointed by the color of this soup; it turned out a little murky. I think the culprit was the homemade veggie broth I used, which was dark in color. The roasted fennel brings out some sweetness, and adds a light fennel flavor accented by the walnuts and walnut oil.

Ingredients
1 large fennel bulb, ~ 1.5 lbs worth
1 large leek, chopped, ~ 1.5 cups
1 stalk celery, chopped, ~ 1/2 cup
3 garlic cloves
two medium potatoes, chopped ~ 1.5 cups
4 cups veggie broth or water
1 tbsp olive oil or Earth Balance
pinch of red pepper flakes
walnut oil for drizzling
lightly toasted chopped walnuts
salt and pepper to taste
optional: 1 cup non-dairy milk or Mimic Cream (Mimic Cream is just a combination of almond and cashew cream...use homemade if you have time)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, cut the fennel into quarters, drizzle with walnut oil and bake in oven until tender.

Meanwhile, saute the leek, celery, garlic, and pinch of chili flake in 1 tbsp oil until beginning to tender. Toss in potatoes and veggie broth. Bring to simmer and let cook until potatoes are tender. Roughly chop the roasted fennel and add to soup. Puree in blender. Return to pot, stir in non-dairy milk if using, and salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, top with chopped walnuts, drizzle with walnut oil and garnish with fennel sprigs.

Fall Garden Leaf Mulch

I was out raking leaves today, which are an excellent garden resource.

For composters, fallen leaves are a good source of carbon for the pile, and this is the time of year to stockpile.

You can use the leaves in compost now or save them and use them later next spring, when green compost materials are abundant, but carbon-based ones less so.




Leaves also make wonderful mulching material, adding lots of good organic matter to the soil. I like to pass them over with the mower once or twice. This chops them up a bit, so they break down faster.




I rake the chopped leaves and grass cutting directly into my side beds as a mulch for winter.

Another plus of leaf mulch is that it provides protection and food through the winter for spiders, red wigglers, and other beneficial insects.

One word of caution: if you have any perennials, be sure to keep the mulch an inch or two away from the stem; mulching too close could potentially cause rot there.





Another cool thing to do with leaves is a layer mulch. You basically cover your garden beds with little compost piles for the winter by layering carbon materials and green/nitrogen materials on top of the bed and covering it up with burlap sacks.

In spring, you take off the burlap and have ready-made compost to work into the soil. This type of mulching is a combination of mulching and composting, and is known as Interbay mulch. I did this last year, but this year I planted cover crops instead...so unfortunately, no pics of this method at this time.




















Leaves really are a wonderful resource for any organic gardener; I'm collecting leaves in my old potato cage:




















And last but not least: goodbye halloween pumpkins, back to the compost pile you originally came from.

Happy Pumpkins Love Compost!

Green Mango Salad with Miso-Mirin Dressing

My friend, Alicia, posted about a miso-mirin salad dressing a couple days ago. Her recipe was inspired by Oraphan at Easy Veggie blog. I used both these recipes to come up with a third variation of my own. Thanks for the inspiration guys.

We often order a green mango salad when we go to our favorite Thai restaurant. That salad is served in a tamarind dressing, but I thought it would be the perfect vehicle for trying this dressing...and it was.

The mango I used wasn't completely green, but rather not yet ripe. The unripe mango has a firmer texture, is more tart, and carries a slight crunch as compared to a ripe mango, and goes well in a savory salad.

Here's a link to Oraphan's dressing.

Here's a link to Alicia's dressing.

And, here's my version:

Miso-Mirin Dressing (makes about 1 cup)

3 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 generous tablespoon mellow miso
1 tablespoon flaxseed oil
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon walnut oil
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1 tablespoon very finely minced shallot
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated ginger (or more to taste)

Whisk all together until well-blended.

For the salad, I used white cabbage, red cabbage, carrots, and green mango topped with toasted cashews.




When combined, the salad has a tangy, crunchiness enhanced by the rich flavors of the dressing. It works as a salad or a condiment garnish.









Ciao for now.