Asian Veggie Soup

Soup is one of those meals that I can't help ordering even if summer is in full swing outside. It is a staple of my diet all year long and I love to come up with some different ideas from standard chicken noodle and the Italian soups like Pasta Fagioli I ate growing up. I have tried to make Tom Yum soup a few times but I always get discouraged because it doesn't taste "right" and it takes so long and uses hard to find expensive ingredients. Sometimes its easier and cheaper just to order take out! This soup is a take on Tom Yum and other south east Asian soups but it uses  ingredients that are easier to find at the ethic market. Since I am a believer in sweating out the heat, this soup base is great for summer time!

I used boxed chicken broth to make this base but please feel free to take the homemade route and either make your own chicken stock or be even more traditional and go for a shrimp stock. If you are interested in making an authentic bowl of Tom Yum check out the directions on Chez Pim.  You can make a million different version of this soup - noodles or none, chicken, shrimp, veggies etc so feel free to add or subtract as you like...one of my favorite treats is pre-made frozen dumpings! The basic broth is really versatile and can pull together all those "why did I buy this?" ingredients that are starting to sag in the crisper drawer.

Click through for the recipe!

Shrimp Po'Boy

Its just about time for the Annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival but with so much to do this summer, a trip down just wasn't in the cards. However we had to find a way to celebrate. New Orleans is know for a few things but Good food and Great music are two of the things that really speak to me. I decided that even though it was a rainy afternoon we didn't have to settle for the same - old lunch, shrimp po'boys are fast to make and since shrimp keep so well in the freeze its easy to keep most of the ingredients on hand.

Without the friend shrimp (or some other seafood), you wouldn't have a po'boy but don't underestimate the power of the bread in this sandwich. For us, we were lucky enough to hit the local store as a fresh delivery of brioche rolls were just being unloaded from the cart. I couldn't resist the soft buttery, flaky pillows of bread even though they are not traditional for a po'boy (a crusty french baguette seems to be favored down in NOLA). When toasted and smeared with a healthy dose of remoulade, pickles and lettuce, the crisp bread is the perfect contrast to the shrimp.

Use the same recipe as the Soft Shell Crab Po'Boy here

Crab stuffed Portobella mushroom cap

Every year my uncle makes a wonderful appetizer for family holidays, it is actually a spin off of something that my grandfather started making.... crab stuffed mushrooms. I decided to take this from an appetizer to main course by increasing the size of the mushroom! Portobello caps make the perfect single serving dinner, you can dress them down with sauce and cheese and make it into a "pizza" or class it up with ingredients like crab. The hearty texture makes it a great substitute for meat, no matter if you are a true vegetarian or just celebrating meatless Mondays. I love mushrooms in just about any form. We are lucky enough to have a great mushroom "farmer" (perhaps cultivator is a better word?) that visits the Union Square Farmer's Market regularly, Bulich Mushroom Farms.

This recipe is quite simple and really no different that many of the crab cakes that I have made before. Since the mushroom cab provides some of the structure I felt that I could leave out the breadcrumbs and make this pure crab-tastic indulgence. I did however make a few "true" crab cakes by adding about 1/2 c of breadcrumbs to the leftovers (I unfortunately only had 2 mushroom caps on hand and the pound of crabmeat quickly dominated them!)

click through for the recipe!