Original Recipe: Soup for AmyKay

Good friends and good food are so vital in strange times. Boy, are these strange times. And man, this soup AND my friend AmyKay are so GOOD. I'm on spring break from my high school art teaching job, and imposing a self-quarantine with my partner Lance. I've already been flitting between Netflix, following the virus news, yard work, and cooking in my kitchen studio. AmyKay is a vegetarian, and I've been cooking lots of vegetarian dishes, or at least plant-forward dishes. After cooking over a year often and intensely for my business and my home, I can say this is truly the first successful recipe I've created from scratch. And all from items I had in the pantry!

An original recipe is a really big deal, and has been a goal of mine for awhile. Cooking is a different bird than visual art; there's a huge premium on originality and it's not cool to do more than "study" other artists if you're exhibiting your work. In cooking, it's common for several blogs and cookbooks to have almost the exact same recipe and post every way possible. Cooks adapt recipes they find, and that is acceptable, and that is wonderful. Enjoy my recipe! Bon Appetit!

AmyKay's Soup

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, diced

3 small carrots, cut into coins

3 stalks celery, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

8 ounces portobello mushrooms, stalks removed, sliced

6 cups chicken broth (homemade is best)

1 can coconut milk

1/4 white cabbage, chopped

1/2 cup dry moghrabieh (Lebanese couscous) or small pasta

4 ounces edamame, shelled

4 ounces pesto (store bought is fine)

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Instructions

In dutch oven or heavy-bottomed large saucepan, add olive oil, onion, carrots, and celery. Sweat until slightly tender. Add garlic, stir and cook one more minute. Add mushrooms, stir and cook 3-4 minutes. Add broth and coconut milk. Bring to a boil. Turn down to simmer. Add cabbage, couscous, and edamame. Cook until cabbage is tender and couscous is fully cooked. Stir in pesto. Salt and pepper to desired seasoning. Top with chives or green onion. Serve with crostini.