Another Beefy Soup and Omelete Roll

I made this soup in honnor of St. Patrick's Day.  Ok, let me back up.  This soup showed up on the menu because of all the Irish themed recipes that popped up EVERYWHERE on every food blog that I know.  It seemed inevitable, then, that I would be making some version of vegetarian corned beef soup.  I just go with the flow... anyway, it turned out to be very delicious, but I had a hard time tasting the soup because it was so hot.  Not the spicy kind, but the steaming hot kind.  I think there was still steam comming out of my bowl even when I had finished... but, from what I gathered, it was quite good.  Caraway seeds really add so much to soups, and I just happened to spot the jar of them when I was digging through the spice cabinet, so in they went.  I think that this soup would have been even better with fake beef- not fake mutton.  But that was not to be, because none was in the freezer. 

About the omelete roll- it was fabulous.  Like, really, really fabulous.  I rarely eat eggs anymore, mostly because I would rather get protein from fake meat and beans, but I need to make a bento box for a school project, and this was one of the recipes that I had wanted to put in there.  Although the directions seem to be really complicated, it's not really, and totally worth the ten minutes to put together, because the eggs have an excellent, slightly sweet flavour.  I think next time I would roll up a few veggies inside of the omelete, too, which would jazz it up even more.

Sweet and Simple Egg Rolls

Serves 2

 Adapted from Chinese and Thai 400

2 eggs
1 tbsp sugar
½ tbsp soy sauce
A drop peanut or veggie oil

Lightly beat the eggs. Mix together the sugar and soy sauce and then add to the eggs.

Wipe a small frying pan with oil, and bring to a medium heat. Pour ¼ of the eggs into the pan to create a thin layer. When the edges have just set, fold the egg in half towards you, lifting it up with a spatula. Pour 1/3 of the remaining egg into the frying pan, and let it run under the cooked egg. Once the new egg has set, roll the omelet away from you, and lift it up again. Add in ½ of the remaining egg and let it run over the bottom of the pan, and do the same thing as before: roll the omelet in the opposite direction, towards you. When that has set, repeat with the remaining egg. Once all the egg is cooked, roll the entire thing up, and slice in half. Serve

hot.

Corned “Beef” Stew

Adapted from I Eat Food

Serves 8

 

1 large onion, diced, or 12 oz frozen pearl onions

5 carrots, chunked

½ small green cabbage, chopped

5 cloves garlic, pressed

12 oz fingerling or regular potatoes, cut in half if large/diced
5 cups water plus vegetarian beef bullion
¼ cup tomato paste, or 1 can tomato sauce
A bit of apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp caraway seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

Salt and pepper, to taste

Chili sauce, to taste

2 bay leaves

3 cups vegetarian beef, cut into bite-sized pieces

3 tbsp corn starch mixed with water

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium high heat, and add the onions and carrots. After sautéing for 2 minutes, toss in the cabbage and garlic. When the cabbage is tender, add in the remaining ingredients except “beef” and corn starch, and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Add in the “beef” and corn starch, heat through, and serve.