A few months ago, a beautiful little joy came into my family’s life. Maiyar Al-Zoubi, my husband Ameir’s new baby sister, was born in August.

When Baby Maiyar came home, we had to keep the other girls busy, of course. So Maryam and I helped them paint a big, colorful banner that said: “Marhaba Ahlan wa Sahlan Maiyar! Welcome, We Love you!”

We had a great time with the banner – I really recommend doing this when you need to keep six little hands busy. It kept the girls amused and occupied for hours. It was relaxing for Fatimah, who loves art and helped paint a little bit, too. Maryam and I traced out the letters and divided them up equally between the girls (so that there would be no “She got more than me!” fights.) Each girl got one capital letter and several lowercase ones, and Maryam and I did the rest. It was also a great way to teach the girls about mixing primary colors to get secondary colors.

This soup is named after Maiyar, because I took it to the hospital while Fatimah was in labor. I wanted something nourishing and subtle – nothing too overpoweringly flavorful.

This sunset hued soup is smooth and heartwarming, perfect for cold winter days (which seem to be continuing on FOREVER). It freezes really, really well, so it’s perfect to make in advance. I pack it in two-serving sizes in a ziplock bag and lay flat to freeze.

Ameir also calls this “Taiyyaba’s Butternut Squash Soup That’ll Knock Your Socks Off.” The pictures are from when I made this at Thanksgiving (made ahead, frozen, reheated and kept warm in the slow cooker until dinner) and fancied it up with a drizzle of cream on top. There is actually no cream in this soup, but the texture will make you think it does!

Winter Squash Bisque

1 medium or small butternut squash, diced
3 carrots, diced, or enough to make equal parts butternut squash and carrot
1 onion, diced
1/2 – 1 tsp sugar
1 – 2 cloves garlic, minced or diced
1 can canellini beans, rinsed
1 – 2 cans diced tomatoes
about 1 quart of chicken or vegetable broth or stock
1 tsp cumin
1/2 – 1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 – 1/2 tsp cinnamon
salt and black pepper

Put the diced squash and carrots in a big bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and season with the spices. I put much less in this soup than I would for a curried vegetable soup. Originally, it was to give Fatimah (and through her, baby Maiyar), something flavorful but not too spicy – but now I realize that it really lets the naturally subtle flavor of the butternut squash come out. I added just enough so I could lightly smell the spices. The cinnamon adds a beautiful semi-sweetness – I really suggest trying it. Cinnamon is used in a lot of Morrocon dishes with red meat (which is often cooked with pumpkin – so this is a very well-tested flavor profile!)

Spread the carrot and squash onto a lightly oiled cookie sheet and roast at 450F for about 7-10 minutes, then turn over and roast the other side for the same amount. In about 20 minutes total, depending on how small you’ve cut the vegetables, they should be soft enough to smoothly poke a fork through.

At this point, turn the broiler on and give the vegetables some color. This part is not necessary, but it adds another layer of flavor.

While the vegetables are roasting, heat some olive oil in a pan and add the onions. (Just the onions!). For this soup, I caramelize them. Stir to combine the onions with the oil, then spread in a single layer. Cook over medium-low heat for about 5-10 minutes, then sprinkle with sugar (brown or white) and cook for about 20 minutes.

After about 15 minutes, you can add the garlic too, since we’ll need it for this soup. While we’re caramelizing, might as well get some sweetness into the garlic as well! You’ll see the onions start to get golden brown and very soft. Taste as you go and get them as dark as you want (or have time for – truly caramelized onions can cook for an hour or more. See here and here.)

Once the onions are sweet and caramelized, add the white beans to the pot. Also add the diced tomatoes. If you want the soup more tomato-flavored, use two cans. Let the beans and tomatoes simmer till the beans are tender, about 15 minutes.

Add the roasted vegetables back into the pot. At this point, you’ve got a thick stew to eat over couscous, with some grilled steak. Stop here, if you like.

Pour half or more of the vegetables into a blender. Add 1/2 quart of stock and blend until smooth. You can leave it half chunky, or blend it all completely smooth. Add more stock until it is the consistency you like it. I usually end up using the whole quart of stock.

That’s it! Roast veggies, cook onions, cook beans, puree. How easy is that?! I’ve even roasted the veggies the day before and just cooked the rest up the day of serving. If you dice the vegetables beforehand and keep them in the fridge, this soup can be on the table in 30 minutes. Freeze it in ziploc bags for a hot dinner on a cold day. When you reheat, you might need to add more stock, so have a little extra in the fridge (or you could use milk for something creamier).

After a long day, I just want to collapse on the couch and eat pizza. After a stressful day, I often want to cook. Something about rhythmic chopping, sauteeing, using my hands to create a beautiful meal relaxes and satisfies me.

These little gems were the perfect remedy for a cold, stressful day. Chopping turnip and carrots into small pieces is an excellently safe way to get some frustration out!

The recipe for these root vegetable dumplings comes from my new favorite food blog, The Kitchn, by Apartment Therapy. It is a very well-described recipe, so I’ll just mention what I did to make it my own.

The vegetables I used were onion, garlic, carrots, celery, cremini mushrooms, and turnips. This is also a great place for parsley stems, because they’ve got the consistency of celery and give a nice bright kick; they’ll cook down into the mix. Once they started getting well browned and a little dry, I added homemade turkey broth instead of water.

This is what resulted.

This stuff is pure gold. Vegetable caviar. I have so many plans for this stuff. Can you imagine this loveliness rolled into cabbage leaves and braised in a tomato sauce, like a carb-free malfouf (arab-style cabbage leaves stuffed with rice and meat)? How about spread over crusty bread with some ricotta to balance the savory? Made a little saucier and poured over polenta or couscous (*oh my god dreamy sigh*) with some cheese on top. oh. em. gee.

ANYWAYS that’s beside the point for now. Carry on with the dumpling process.

Now, instead of using water to simmer these, I again used turkey broth, simmering the dumplings in batches. I served the broth with the final dumplings as a soup. If you do it this way, be careful to taste the broth before serving it. It may have concentrated from the simmering and boiling, so water it down a little if it’s too strong.

And done! Later on, when the broth was finished, I had the leftover dumplings over some sauteed kale, paired with a fried egg. So. much. good.

I was always destined to be a foodie. My favorite short stories, or favorite parts of longer tales, were always about what food everyone was eating. So naturally, I loved the story of Stone Soup. The story of the old man who started with a rock and some water, and ended up with a mouthwatering stew was entirely enchanting to my child self. I could always taste the savory broth on my tongue and smell the strong aroma by the end of the story.

My mom has instilled in me a desire to never waste food – she’s always repurposing and disguising leftovers into something new and often more delicious. So, I follow my mom’s lead and the moral (or, I should say, the cooking-related moral) of Stone Soup when I make homemade broths. In the same way that the old man made a rich meal from odds and ends that the rich villagers condescended to give him, I make an “Odds and Ends” stock that fills my house with savory fragrance and keeps me well souped and stewed for months.

Every time I make a salad, steam vegetables for dinner, chop an onion for the base of a chili – or at any time use vegetables for any reason, I save the root ends that get lopped off and out of the meal. Instead of throwing them away, I put them into a big ziplock bag and store them in the freezer. In the same way, every time I debone a roasted chicken, or cut the neck out of a bird (who eats that part, really?), I throw the carcass and bones into a separate freezer bag.

Once the vegetable and chicken bags are full, it’s time to make stock!

There are three main benefits I see to this method. First, I never waste the odds and ends of vegetables. Second, the variety of (cleaned) vegetable ends I end up with enriches and adds depth of flavor to the final broth. Third, I rarely have to buy extra vegetables or full chicken parts to make stock. Bones from roasted (or, ohmigosh grilled) chicken make for a deeper broth than raw chicken meat, anyway. Usually, the only “fresh” things I have to add are one onion and one head of garlic.

Odds and Ends Stock

What vegetable scraps end up in my broth? Pretty much anything!
- Tips and bottom ends of carrots, celery, zucchini, turnips.
- Broccoli stalks.
- Mushroom stems (portobella, cremeni, button – whatever).
- The blossom ends of onions, and that first greenish-white layer you take off, but not the peel of the whole onion. The same for shallots.
- The green outer/top parts of scallions and leeks that are too tough or slightly too wilted to cut up and cook, and the sprout/bottoms, too.
- Butternut squash peels and blossom ends.
- The tiny little garlic cloves that you don’t want to try to peel.
- Stems from a bunch of parsley or cilantro.

My rules are relatively simple: I make sure that everything is clean (I do not want dirt in my stock). I don’t add too much of one thing (not 3 whole broccoli stalks, not all onion peels, etc.)

The method is comfortingly easy. A few hours on a weekend afternoon are all you need.

Instructions here:

Put everything – poultry bones and vegetables – into a huge pot. I use only one kind of poultry at a time (turkey stock and chicken stock get made separately) but use bones from any method of cooking (roasting, grilling, tandoori spices, whatever). It’s okay if everything is frozen. I usually add one fresh onion, cut into chunks, and one big head of garlic, cut into half so that the cloves are exposed. No other “fresh” materials are needed.

Throw in some whole spices (cumin, black peppercorns, coriander seeds). I put just a little salt sometimes, not too much since everything will concentrate after a long simmer.

Cover the whole thing with water. If everything is really frozen, I start with a bit of tap-hot water to give it a head start, and then add cold or lukewarm water to cover.

Bring everything to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer this for as long as you possibly can – think of it like steeping a tea bag. The longer you do leave it in the hot water, the stronger it gets.

For the first hour of simmering, skim the gunk from the top about every 20 minutes. Just use a slotted spoon or a mini sieve to get remove foam or oil that starts forming at the top. After that, just let it go for three or four hours, coming back to stir every thirty minutes or so.

After about four hours, I remove all the solid materials. I pour the broth through a colander into a large bowl. At this point, it is still a little weak-tasting. I wash the pot, then the broth back into the pot and bring it back up to a boil. Then, I let it simmer again for another hour or two, tasting every half hour. This final step helps concentrate the flavors (and this is also why you do not need salt).

After an hour, I start tasting the broth until it is as strong as I want it to be. I’ve even boiled it down to be quite concentrated, so I could just thin it out with water to get to the level of flavor I wanted for a soup later.

I pour the broth into a bowl with a big surface area, so it can cool quickly. Now there are two options.

Option 1: measure out the broth by cups and put it into labeled ziplock bags. Lay this flat in your freezer till the bags freeze in a single layer, then stack them and use as you need.

Option 2 (what I usually do): once the broth comes to room temperature, stick it in the fridge. The next day, a bunch of the fat will have solidified at the top. I remove and throw away this. Sometimes, if I’ve concentrated the broth a lot, the rest of the stuff is now kind of gelatinous and jiggly. It’s okay! When it heats up, it’ll be brothy again. If you don’t want it to get to this stage, just boil it less. Now, after I’ve removed the fat, I pack it into ziploc bags like Option 1 directs.

And guess what! You’ve got a rich, golden brown, dangerously savory base for an infinite number of dishes. Once you’ve got the basic concept down, you can shake up the flavors. Make an Asian chicken broth with lime zest, ginger, cilantro, lemongrass, and dried chilis. Swap the chicken for fish bones and shrimp shells and you’ve got a seafood broth. OR forget the meat all together, and put in three or four full freezer bags of vegetables for a luscious vegetable stock.

The possibilities. They are endless.

I got a slow cooker when I got married, but in one year’s time, I only used it once – disastrously. I tried it once when I was home all day to see how it cooked. I attempted to make rice pudding, but I had put in too much rice and too much milk and it overflowed. I had to dump it out into a big pot halfway through.

But somehow, I gathered up the courage to try it again – and in the past month, I’ve used it six times. Hence, I make this proclamation in front of the whole world – I love my slow cooker (and no, Ameir doesn’t consider it cheating, because he gets food out of the deal). I love the taste and texture of the food it produces. I love not having to cook when I get home after long days. I love the smell of deliciousness that greets me when I get home. *dreamy sigh*

I’m highly inspired by Stephanie of A Year of Crockpotting, who used her slow cooker every day for a year. As I make stuff, I’ll link to things that are inspired by her recipes.

This meatball stew was inspired by Stephanie’s adaptation of Simply Recipes‘ Albondigas recipe (meatball soup).

I made some meatballs, seared, and froze them for future use. I used the same basic recipe as I use for spaghetti and meatballs, but I added pureed chipotle-in-adobo to the mix. Just because I had some. I wanted to do frozen meatballs because I thought they’d cook much quicker than root vegetables, so I thought adding them to the slow cooker still frozen would give me more time. It came out to 12 meatballs, so I put half of them in here and saved half for something else later.

Basic slow cooker safety and operation:
– Do not put cold food in a hot cooker.
– Do not put hot food in a cold cooker (put it on warm while you’re preparing).
– High cooking is usually 3 -4 hours. Low cooking is usually 6-9 hours.
– Put vegetables in the first layer, meat on the second (veggies take longer to cook).
– The slow cooker doesn’t lose moisture, so when it’s done cooking, you’ll have either the same amount of liquid you put in, or even more b/c of condensation.

Click for the recipe!

Spicy Meatball Stew
(3-4 qt cooker)

4 baby red potatoes, cubed
Equal amount of butternut squash, cubed into the same size
1 or 2 carrots, chunked
1 can diced tomatoes with chipotle
1/2 – 1 can tomato sauce (depending on how saucy you want it)
2 onions + 4 cloves garlic
dried herbs, if desired
veggie broth, if you want this more soupy

1. Sautee the onions and whole garlic cloves (slightly smashed) over medium-low just until the onions are getting soft and the garlic cloves are getting browned (just this little bit of hot stuff is not enough to need to warm the slow cooker, and remember you’re putting in frozen meatballs later).
2. Salt and pepper the vegetables.
3. Put the vegetables and onions, garlic in the bottom of the slow cooker. Pour over half of the sauce and stir to make sure they’re all coated.
4. Put the still-frozen meatballs on top and pour the rest of the sauce and tomatoes on top.
5. Cook on Low for 7 hours and serve with rice.

Thanksgiving Dumpling Soup

A slightly different way to get rid of Thanksgiving leftovers – This is just going to be an idea more than an exact a recipe. I can’t remember exactly what I used, but I remember the chipotle was a really great kick.

Stock made from turkey bones
Shredded turkey, whatever is left over
One butternut squash, diced (about 4 cups)
Two carrots, diced
8 oz cremini mushrooms, choppped
One can diced tomatoes with juice
Onion, Garlic
2 or 3 chipotle peppers, pureed or diced finely
1 or 2 tsp adobo (from the can of chipotle)
Cumin, salt, pepper

Caramelize the onion, add the garlic towards the end. Add the butternut squash and carrot, saute till almost soft. Do the same with the mushrooms a few minutes later. Add the shredded turkey and mix it around with the other flavorings. Add the cumin, salt, pepper, chipotles and adobo. Mix in the tomatoes and broth and let it simmer until the squash and carrots are soft.

Dumplings – these were a bit hard, so I’m open to suggestions for another method.

1 cup flour, 1 egg, dried herbs, salt, pepper

Mix the egg and flour and seasonings till it forms a sticky, eggy dough. Break of little rounds of it and drop it into boiling broth. They’ll float to the top when done.

Ohh, this was a good one! The chipotle peppers give this soup a smoky smooth flavor. It’s a nice departure from the normal corn chowder. But, beware. The first bite of the soup isn’t spicy, so you might be tempted to add more chipotle. Be ye warned – it gets progressively spicier as you eat it. In the end, I felt feel somebody kicked me in the tastebuds. And I liked it.

The fish tacos couldn’t be easier. Why? They’re made of fish sticks! Gasp! Cheating! I know. Fish tacos from frozen fish sticks? What? But they taste so good, and they’re so quick. All you have to do is fancy them up a little with some salsa.

Recipe here:

I based this soup on this recipe, but added more corn and chipotle peppers.

Chipotle Corn Chowder

4 cups frozen corn
2 cups milk
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups chicken broth
4 chipotle peppers (from a can)
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
Salt, pepper
Pat of butter, olive oil

1. Melt some butter and olive oil in a soup pot and saute the onion and garlic until soft.
2. Add the potatoes, salt, and pepper and let it cook for a few more minutes (this will make it cook quicker later). Add the corn, stir well. (Maybe leave the corn out for a few minutes before this so it doesn’t go in frozen).
3. Pour in the liquids. Let the mixture come to a medium boil, then bring it back down to a simmer.
4. Puree the chipotle peppers and a couple spoonfuls of the sauce (or mince finely) and add it to the soup.
5. Simmer the soup for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.

Fish Tacos

Oven-bake fish sticks as directed on package. On a warm tortilla, spread shredded lettuce and four fish sticks. Top with salsa, chopped avacado, tomatoes, cilantro, sour cream – whatever you want!

This is a very hearty, scoop-it-into-a-bowl-and-get-some-crusty-bread stew which can be made completely vegetarian or a little different by adding lamb or beef. I got it from Elise at Simply Recipes. I think it tastes best when the eggplant, tomatoes, mint, and peppers come from your own garden (or your father-in-law’s).

This stew, as Elise explains it, is beautifully layered, and when each layer of flavor stays in tact, you get different punches of flavor as you eat. You serve it in the same dish that it cooks in, to preserve the layers. However, it also works well layered into a big pot and then just scooped into bowls to serve.

Eggplant Lentil Stew with Pomegranate Molasses

One 1 1/2-pound eggplant (or enough eggplants for 1 1/2 pounds)
1 cup lentils and enough water to cover
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 long green chilies or jalapenos, coarsely chopped
2 tbs chopped mint leaves
1 tbs tomato paste
2 tbs honey
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses

1. Partially peel the eggplant so it has lengthwise purple strips. Quarter it lengthwise, then cut those long strips into three or four pieces. Salt it all over well, then place it on a baking sheet laid with paper towel. Let it stand for one hour. (This is a good first step to making anything with eggplant. It takes out some excess liquid and the kind of bitterness that an eggplant can sometimes have.)

2. In a saucepan, cover the lentils with two inches of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer until lentils are soft (about 15 min). Drain the lentils – I don’t drain them all the way, because a little liquid is helpful in getting the rest of the stew started.

3. In a bowl, mix together: onion, garlic, tomatoes, peppers, mint, tomato paste, crushed red pepper, 2 tsp salt, and honey.

4. Coat a small or medium enameled cast-iron casserole with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.

5. Rinse the eggplant and pat dry. Cut it into smaller chunks.

6. Start layering – 1/2 of the tomato mixture, 1/2 the eggplant, 1/2 the lentils. Repeat. Pour a little bit of the lentil cooking water or broth on top (helps it get going, but not necessary).

7. Pour the rest of the olive oil on top and around the sides of the vegetables. Drizzle with pomegranate molasses. (This stuff has a bit of a sour-bitter kick by itself, but the honey cuts through that)

8. Bring the stew to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat until the eggplant is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

In the meantime, I wanted to share this beautifully misspelled menu item for sale in Medina. There’s not much to be said about it – the picture says enough. Want some?

This is a simple, homey soup with just some basic flavors – not a lot of fancy herbs or spices, just the basics. Onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and the vegetables. And with a simple shortcut, its super quick.

Leeks look like an overgrown scallion and have a mild oniony taste, so you don’t have to start by sautéing onions for this soup…unless you just really like onions. Leeks are a little quirky to work with – the bottom part of a leek, the white part, is grown underground, so the dirt gets inside the layers. With leeks, you cut first, then submerge in water and rinse very well to get the dirt all out.

I used leftover mashed potatoes that I had frozen to make this. The mashed potatoes had spinach and mushrooms in a buttermilk alfredo sauce (this one), so if you wanted to make it the full “Potato, spinach, mushroom, and leek soup” (which I highly recommend), just sautee the mushrooms and spinach along with the leeks.

Recipe here

Potato and Leek (and Spinach and Mushroom) Soup

- Three cups of mashed potatoes
- Two leeks, sliced and washed
- Two cloves of garlic, diced
- Two cups of chicken broth, or as much to make it as liquidy as you want
- Salt, pepper

- Heat some olive oil in a soup pot. Saute garlic for a couple of minutes.
- Add the leeks, salt them well, and saute until soft. (spinach and mushrooms too, if desired)
- Add mashed potatoes (in my case, spinach and mushroom mashed potatoes).
- Add chicken broth to thin out to desired consistency. Check seasonings and add more salt and pepper as needed.
- When the soup is hot, ladle into bowls and garnish with croutons.

Also known as “Why Is It So Cold In The Spring In NC” Soup or “We Just Had A Huge Barbeque on Saturday, What Will I Do With All The Leftovers” Soup.

This whole week is rainy and cold. It doesn’t make sense, so I decided to make stew. Yes. Stew solves all problems, including what to do with all of the leftovers from Ameir’s graduation barbeque. These will all be very imprecise measurements, since I was working with leftovers from the fridge. The stew is a combination of guacamole, roasted corn, tomato sauce, chicken broth, and shredded leftover chicken. It came together so quickly, in less than 20 minutes! It also stores well and tastes better the next day.

Recipe here:

Roasted Corn and Chicken Soup

Three or four cups of guacamole (made by your dad), or
—-Four avocados, diced or mashed by your sweet little sister-in-law Aishah
—-Four tomatoes, diced
—-One onion, diced
—-Two jalapenos, diced
—-Juice of half a lemon and one lime
—-Salt, pepper

Three cups diced or shredded leftover chicken
Five ears of corn, roasted on the grill and kernels cut off
Two or three cups tomato sauce
Three cups chicken broth, or more for a more liquidy soup
Fresh cilantro, diced
One large or five baby carrots, diced
Quarter of a large onion, diced
Salt and pepper to taste

– In a large pot, sautee the diced onion and carrot until soft.
– Add the guacamole, corn, tomato sauce, and chicken broth. Stir well.
– Let the soup simmer for 5 minutes while you dice or shred the leftover barbequed chicken
– Add the cilantro and diced or shredded chicken, let it simmer until warmed through.

For an easy garnish, cut up some garlic bread into cubes and pan-toast it with some olive oil until browned all over. Ameir calls them “crispies.”