But, thanks to a wonderful husband, I got an awesome camera for my birthday, so now I get to photograph all my cooking adventures! And I'm back to being home, so I have more time to cook!
Right now, though, I'm concentrating on a specific type of recipes for the next few days - Low Iodine Diet cooking - because I'm on a low iodine diet in preparation for thyroid cancer treatment.
We've also moved since last I posted, and now live in a suburb of New Orleans! Fodder for so very much foodie fun!
Anyway, today's foray is LID Friendly Veggie Soup.
One of the problems with the Low Iodine Diet is that there is iodine hidden in so many places that no one would even think of, it can make meal planning quite difficult! Add to that the fact that, when you're on the LID, you're usually in a place mentally and emotionally where you just can't think creatively, and it can make the diet seem just unbearable.
This is the third or fourth time I've had to do the diet, and admittedly, the first time I have even attempted to make it enjoyable. The first couple of times I just couldn't be bothered, and lived off of homemade biscuits with fresh tomatoes. This time, though, I wanted to find some things my whole family would eat so I wasn't always eating alone, or eating something completely different. Granted, most meals I still have, but there have been a few nights that I've gotten share dinner!
The weather has turned a bit cooler here in NOLA, so I decided yesterday to get a bunch of veggies - fresh and frozen - so I could make some veggie soup. Admittedly, part of the reason I'm making it, too, is they discovered that the cancer has returned, and I just want comfort food. When my Granny was alive, she made the BEST canned vegetable soup, and it was my favorite thing when I was unwell, physically or emotionally. I wanted to make something that would taste like that.
So I took out my dutch oven, heated up a little olive oil, then cut up an onion. Threw that in the DO with some chopped garlic, sauteed with a little coarse Kosher (allowed! Yay!) salt until just translucsent. Then I put in a bag of frozen sliced okra, and sauteed that for about five minutes (sauteing the okra without liquid helps keep it from getting slimy). Next, I quartered about four or five "on the vine" tomatoes (kinda small little guys, between a Roma and a "real" tomato), keeping them big to preserve as much of their liquid as possible. Sauteed all that for another couple of minutes over medium heat.
Next, I added some baby carrots (fresh, halved), lowered the heat to med low and put my lid on my DO to "sweat" the veggies to help them create a broth of their own. Let simmer for about 20 minutes. Gave it all a stir, added a bag of frozen cut green beans and half a bag (because it's what I had! LOL!) of corn, a splash of white vinegar and a pinch of Kosher salt. Put cover back on to let it all cook some more....
Now I'm just going to let it all simmer for an hour or two, giving it a stir periodically. About an hour before I want to eat it, I'll peel (because potato peels aren't allowed on LID) a red potato and a white potato, chunk them, then throw them in and cook until tender. Should be super tasty for dinner with some LID approved biscuits!
