CSA Cooking: Roasted Tomato Chickie Pea Soup

My CSA has been generous with the tomatoes lately. I have more than I need for TLT's and salads. Growing up in a home of surplus tomatoes (my mom runs a seed company: Tomato Growers,) I learned some creative ways to deal with the abundance. I figured I'd roast some with other good stuff: onions, garlic, and herbs from the CSA. What could be bad? I also soaked and slow cooked some chickpeas until quite soft. The result of all these endeavors is this savory soup with some added protein, thanks to the chickie peas.

Roasted Tomato Chickie Pea Soup

• About 4 large tomatoes, roughly diced
• Medium onion, sliced into half moons
• A few cloves garlic, minced
• Herbs of your choice, fresh is best (oregano, basil, rosemary, etc.)
• Sprinkle of kosher salt
• Olive oil
• 1 cup soft-cooked chickpeas, or just canned peas drained and rinsed
• 1 cup broth

Preheat oven to 425. Line a roasting pan with foil, and layer in the tomatoes, onion, garlic, and herbs. Drizzle with a small amount of olive oil, and sprinkle with a bit of salt. Roast at 425 until the tomatoes have released their juice and onions are very soft.

Let cool a bit, and then place roasted mixture in blender with chickpeas and broth. Blend until well combined and at your desired texture. 

Warm on stove in a saucepan, and serve with cracked black pepper. 

Serves 4. Nutritional info: 113 calories, 23 g carbs, 4.5 g fiber, 0.5 g sugar, 4.5 g protein.

CSA Cooking: Eggplant Tomato Casserole Remix

I have a soft spot for those yellow-paged old 1970's vegetarian cookbooks. One of my favorites is The Vegetarian Epicure, given to me by my wonderful Aunt Susan (with the inscription "Bon Appetit! -Susan.") The book includes a recipe for Eggplant Tomato Casserole that was always good for using up the summer surplus. The original version keeps the eggplant fluffy with eggs and tops it off with cheese. My mom and I have talked about veganizing this recipe but never got around to it. Here's my go at it.

1 large eggplant
1.5 tsp salt
3/4 block firm silken tofu
1 T Ener-G (flax would probably work too) + 2 T water, combined
1/3 cup finely diced onion
2/3 cup bread crumbs
2-3 large tomatoes, sliced thinly
2 tsp chopped fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried oregano
* smoked salt
* nutritional yeast
*= Optional but worth it. Trader Joe's just released a very affordable grinder of smoked salt that is quite good.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Peel and dice the eggplant into 1" cubes. Dice tofu into chunks about the same size. Place in a sauce pan,  add 1" water, sprinkle with salt, cover tightly. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cook for 10 mins.

Drain the tofu and eggplant. In a bowl, mash with a fork or potato masher. Stir in bread crumbs, onion, "egg replacer" mix, oregano, smoked salt to taste.

Prepare a deep dish pie plate or 8x8 baking dish by giving a quick coat of spray oil. Lay half the tomatoes in a single layer in the bottom of the dish. Spread eggplant mixture over tomatoes, then top with the remaining tomato slices. Sprinkle some smoked salt and nutritional yeast over the top. Bake for 45 mins. Allow to set at room temperature for at least 20 minutes.

Your friendly nutritional breakdown for 4 servings: 76 calories, Carbs = 8.3 g, Protein = 7.3 g, Fat = 2.2 g