Basque Vegetable Soup

It’s 1982 and my husband takes a position as a Deputy DA in Bakersfield, California. Really, you did? It was the first time I would live a distance from my hometown. It was a unilateral decision that significantly changed the lives of many.

It didn’t take long to establish ourselves in this community. We were within walking distance of our new favorite restaurant, Mama Tosca’s. And in old town Bakersfield we loved Luigi’s, quite a hangout for Bakersfieldians. In this same area of town several Basque restaurants were longtime establishments. Can’t forget the Pyrenees Bakery! Basque is a part of Bakersfield culture. The food is delicious and overwhelmingly plentiful at these family style restaurants. Just ordering the setup was more than enough for our family. This included a vegetable soup, beans, salad, pickled tongue, spaghetti, bread … And was there a salsa?

This soup recipe is very much a taste-alike of the cabbage soup served at one of Bakersfield’s Favorite Basque Restaurants. It’s light yet flavorful … a year around soup. Enjoy!

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Spicy Chickpea Soup

How can this be a Portuguese soup when it’s really a take on Dave Lieberman’s Moroccan recipe? Simple! Many spices and food influences came to Portugal from Northern Africa. To give this recipe more of a Portuguese flare use chicken broth, add an uncooked cubed potato (large) along with other ingredients, and cut back on the chickpeas by 15 ounces. Either way this is an amazingly hearty meatless main dish soup.

Thank you to Will, my oldest, for introducing me to great Dave Lieberman recipes.

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Chinese Mushroom Chicken Soup

When you’re eating late in the day and want something to take the chill away but not leave you feeling heavy and stuffed, try this! So much taste and easily changes up to vegan. Just substitute vegetable both and tofu. Easy! Makes up in minutes!

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Texas Caviar

A Good Luck Dish for the New Year! 

It’s not too late! Goes together in minutes. And it’s darn good! Yep, having this again this year. I love it!!

This is great just as a side salad with burgers too.

 

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Small Batch Chow Chow

 

 

What a great recipe to make with those pintos! Start both recipes from scratch and they’ll be ready to serve together. What do you do when the garden begins to slow down? You throw a collections of vegetables together and make Chow Chow! I just didn’t have enough green tomatoes to follow my cousin Margaret Costa’s recipe. So I pulled together what I had in my garden to fill in. And because I wanted it today I changed the process a bit.

What you can do with Chow Chow is endless. Mix in with rice, add to deviled eggs or chicken salad, serve over meats, beans, black eyed peas, potatoes; or the way I like it …. over scrambled eggs. Just about anything!

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Marinated Reds and Cucumbers

Easy salad goes perfectly with that New York Strip steak! At least that’s the way I had it years ago. It’s amazingly good and the prep is so quick and easy. If you’re into onions, cucumbers and tomatoes this is the salad for you.

 

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Tangy Roasted Vegetables

Lovin’ all these summer vegetables and a few quarters of red potato roasted in a sweet & sour herb marinade. For me this is a main dish when sprinkled with small dollops of cream cheese. This is one of the best tastes in roasted vegetables, guaranteed.

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Guacamole Spread

Just made these amazing Vegetarian Burritos. Yes, they go Vegan easily! With all these veggies in my garden I was thinking Vegetarian at least for the summer.  The burritos can hold their own without this spread but it’s a great option. Why call it a spread? Well, I added a bit of vegenaise, and more spice than the usual guacamole (another recipe here). Leave off the vegenaise, or substitute sour cream or mayonnaise instead. Anyway you try this, you will be hooked. It’s just plain good!

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Vegetarian Burritos

Garden vegetables and the perfect spice combination make this a great meal. A warm flour tortilla slathered with Guacamole Spread and filled with al dente veggies is just a delicious summertime or anytime meal. I’m thinking next time no carrots, maybe add chayote, and fresh roasted poblano & a little fresh diced jalapeño in place of canned green chilies … but this has enough heat as is for most. Not a heavy meal but guaranteed to satisfy the most avid carnivore. And can go totally vegan too!

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