I’m a huge fan of soup and stew. In fact, I make one every weekend with my pickings from San Francisco’s Alemany Farmers Market. A weekly soup is the perfect healthy option for a busy single gal about town like me. I want to eat at home, cheaply, wholesome food, every day. But, of course, I’m running around – there are meetings to attend and friends to see, yoga classes, sunsets. So, I rely on my soup to get me through. Refrigerate a little, freeze the rest. Eat it when I need the nourishment.

Well, my routine changed a bit this week because of two events: the arrival of Spring and my first CSA box from Two Small Farms. I’m sharing the CSA bounty with my neighbor and friend Mike. He ordered it by himself last year and found he couldn’t use all the produce in one week, but liked the weekly fresh veg. This time around we split the goods. Last week he got to pick first (he took the beets) and this coming week I get to first dibs (let’s hope for more beets!).

Back to the soup. I picked the fat parsnips precisely because they are a wonderful addition to any soup – they have a sweet flavor and earthy texture that I just love. And, they became my inspiration. To celebrate the first of Spring I tried to create a light and fresh stew balanced with hardy ingredients like barley and pork (sustainably raised of course).

The following recipe makes about 12 cups of soup. I froze 6 cups. I’m also trying to acknowledge the origin all of my ingredients. But, since I didn’t know I’d be writing about this soup at the time I gathered them, I didn’t record all the individual farmers, but I did note the market. Next time, I promise to remember the farmer. See, I’m learning!

The Ingredients

2 large parsnips, chopped in smallish pieces (Two Small Farms)
Extra-virgin olive oil (Italian, of course)
1 onion, diced (Alemany Farmer’s market)
3 garlic cloves, diced (roomies bought)
2 carrots, diced (Ferry Plaza farmers market)
1 lb pork stew meat (Avedano’s Holly Park Market, from Golden Gate Meat Company)
8 cups water (SF’s finest tap)
1 cup barley (packaged)
2 fresh rosemary sprigs, whole (from Sean and Rachel’s yard)
Fresh parsley torn by hand, (Two Small Farms)
Grey salt, to taste (Sel Marin, naturally harvested unprocessed from Brittany, France)
Freshly ground pepper, to taste (White peppercorns from Ho Chi Min City/Saigon Spice Market– I brought them back to the states myself)

The Preparation

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the parsnips in an oven safe roasting pan (or on a baking sheet), sprinkle liberally with olive oil. Roast for 30-40 minutes or until tender and slightly browned.

In a soup pot, over medium heat, warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sauté garlic and onion until the onions are translucent. Add the carrots and sauté for a few more minutes, five tops. Add the pork and cook for about 5 minutes more or until browned. Add water. Bring temperature to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for as long as possible. Brings out all the fat in the pork. Once the parsnips are ready, add those and continue to simmer. I simmered my soup for about three hours.

Meanwhile, cook the barley (according to directions) separately. Set aside.

Add the whole rosemary about a half hour before serving to infuse the broth with the scent. Add salt and pepper to taste. Then, about ten minutes before serving, add the fresh parsley. Garnish with additional parsley if desired.

Enjoy!

In case you live somewhere where the cold doesn’t rattle your bones, we’re in the dead of winter.  Even if you live in sunny San Diego or Key West, we all are simultaneously experiencing the shortest days of the year.  It is a time of transition, a pause, as the sun just starts to stay a little longer every day and bring warmth and light to our days once again.

In traditional Chinese culture, this has been a time of retreat and introspection.  Between now and the Lunar New Year coming up on January 26, tradition advises everyone to stay at home as much as possible, and to use slow cooking methods when preparing your food.  In early European cultures, the traditional Solstice feast at the end of December allowed the entire community to come together to share foods that could be eaten over several days or even weeks – like the infamous fruitcake of today.

Cooking large pots of soups and stews to eat over several days minimizes the amount of work you need to devote to cooking during this time of year, and the slow cooking style also maximizes the flavors of root vegetables and preserved and dried foods that are the traditional mainstay of the winter months before Spring brings its new bounty.

Here in modern times, this winter-style cooking is a great way to save energy at a time when less is naturally available. Sure, we’ve become accustomed to unlimited and year-round fossil fuel energy, but as that becomes scarcer over the years we’re going to have to marry seasonal energy use as part of our sustainable eating habits.

This simple black bean stew is a marriage of both Eastern and Western traditions.  The black beans and the Mexican oregano (with a similar taste but not related to the European variety) come from the Americas, the sesame seeds and sesame oil originated in India before migrating to China, and the red chili paste is a South Asian favorite.

I love to use a variety of root vegetables in this soup – use what you find at your local market.  Burdock root is an often overlooked root in Western cuisine, and provides an earthly, slightly bitter tone that is particularly valued in Chinese medicine for its purifying properties.  Combined with a combination of parsnips, carrots, and perhaps beets the root vegetables provide an earthy counterpoint to the sweetness of the sesame in this stew.

East-West Black Bean Stew

1 quart black beans, sorted and washed
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 cups mixed root vegetables:  burdock, parsnip, carrot, beets, cleaned, trimmed and diced into ¼ inch pieces
3 Tbs Mexican oregano
4 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
1 Tbs chili powder
¼ cup soy sauce
2 Tbs sesame oil
¼ cup toasted black sesame seeds (white sesame seeds may be substituted)
1 Tbs red chili paste
2 Tbs local honey
Salt to taste
Olive oil
2 + quarts vegetable stock

Soak the black beans overnight in 2 quarts of water.

In a Dutch oven or stockpot sauté the onions in olive oil until they are clear.  Add the root vegetables, the garlic, the chili powder, the sesame seeds and the sesame oil.  Sauté gently for about 5 minutes.

Add the stock, the rinsed black beans, and the soy sauce and bring to a gentle simmer.  Cover and cook for 2 hours, checking occasionally to add more stock or water as needed (if the stew is sticking to the bottom of the pot).  The stew is done when the black beans are soft.  Just before service, add the honey, the chili paste, and salt to taste.

Serve with rice or perhaps some warm bread.

Photo: My French Cuisine