Source:  Alison Roman's recipe

Ingredients

• 1 large bunch (or 2 small bunches) broccoli rabe or kale, thick stems separated from the leaves
• ¼ cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 1 medium red or yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 to 3 tablespoons harissa paste
• Three 15-ounce cans large white beans, such as cannellini, butter or great Northern, drained.  Try a mix of all three if you can.
• 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 preserved lemon, thinly sliced, or 1 fresh lemon, halved, for squeezing
• Mix in 1 cup of chopped parsley, leaves and tender stems
• Serve up, sprinkling each bowel with some crumbled feta or other salty cheese, such as queso fresco or pecorino.

Method

1. This recipe does not use the crisper tray.
2. Tear broccoli rabe or kale leaves into bite-size pieces and set aside. Chop the stems into about ¼-inch pieces; set aside.
3. Set Speedi to sear/saute Hi5.  You will maintain this heat for the whole cooking process. 
4. Cook onion in pot with ¼ cup of olive oil the until onions are transparent.
5. Add garlic, and pepper.  Stir occasionally until the garlic and pepper are fragrant, 1-2 minutes
6. Add harissa paste  and stir to coat in the oil. Cook until the harissa is a nice brick red color, the sugars start to caramelize and the oil turns a nice vibrant fiery orange color, about 2 minutes.
7. Take 1/2 cup of the white bean mixture and mash them in a bowl.
8. Add mashed and whole beans to the pot.
9. Add the broth and reserved broc rabb stems. Bring to a simmer and cook for ten minutes.
10. Add brocc rabb and preserved lemon (or lemon juice).  Stir.  Cook 10 minutes or until the greens are wilted.
11. Add broccoli rabe or kale leaves and preserved lemon or lemon juice, and stir to wilt the greens. Season with salt, pepper and more red-pepper flakes if you want it spicier.
12. Serve with crumbled feta and parsley, and with sliced, hard-boiled eggs, if you like.  Drizzle on some more olive oil.  

Notes

2002-02-20:  This is my first attempt at this recipe, and I made the following changes.

• I'm cooking for Julie, who does not like bitter greens, so I used broccoli instead of broc rabb.  Yup, I did chop the stems up into quarter-inch rounds.  Yes, in step 9 I added the sliced broccoli stems since they take time to cook, and then in step ten I simmered an additional 10 minutes so that the broccoli crowns were fork tender.
• I didn't have harissa paste, so instead I used two tbsp of ground harissa and three tablespoons of tomato paste.  Alternatively one could use 3 tbsp of tomato paste plus red pepper flakes to taste.
• The store didn't have butter beans, so I substituted a can of garbanzos.  When I did the mashing step, I didn't include the garbanzos, just the white beans.
• This came out good the first time.

Haven't tried this yet.

Ingredients

2 cups broccoli florets
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup of sharp cheddar cheese, plus extra for topping [freshly grated]
1 heaping cup of regular gouda cheese [freshly grated]
1 cup fresh carrots
2 small white onion
2 large cloves of garlic
1 cup half and half
3 Tbsp all purpose flour
3 Tbsp butter
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp dried basil
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp salt
dash of ground black pepper, to taste

Method

1. Dice the onions, mince the garlic and shred the carrot.
2. For the broccoli :
3. Chop 2/3 of it into tiny florets and then take the remaining 1/3 and give it a rough chop so you have a few large pieces to add to the soup.
4. Place chicken broth, broccoli, onion, garlic, carrots, and bay leaf to a pot and cook over medium-high heat 8-10 minutes or until mixture comes to a boil.
5. Cook 4-6 minutes more or until broccoli is tender.
6. Once the broth is done, start your roux:
7. In a large pot, melt 3 tablespoons of butter on medium heat, whisking constantly.
8. Once melted, slowly add 3 tablespoons of flour as you continue to whisk.
9. Remove from heat and pour in the broth-veggie mixture and slowly stir in 1 cup of room temperature half and half.
10. Place on very low heat, uncovered.
11. Remove bay leaves from the pot and season with the above herbs and spices.
12. Add the cheddar and gouda cheese a handful at a time, stirring to melt the cheese after each addition.
13. Serve immediately in bowls or bread bowls.
14. Steam reserved broccoli in your microwave.
15. Garnish the soup with the reserved broccoli florets and a little extra grated cheddar.

Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients

• 14 ounces coconut milk
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 2 teaspoons sriracha
• 1 teaspoon salt

Mix everything in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Reduce to simmer for 10 minutes.

Results

I really liked this dressing. It had a tiny bite to it that would probably be light enough for people not used to spicy foods. It is meant to be served over Thai chopped salad, but I served it over steamed cauliflower, which worked pretty well. It would also be a good sauce for a simple curried chicken dish. Probably wouldn't work with steamed brocolli, but it might with steamed cabbage.

Here's another variation:

• 14 ounces coconut milk
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon Mae Ploy green curry paste
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries

2014-12-03: Now I have used this stuff as a condiment for steamed brocolli. It worked great. The curry I used in this case was a tablespoon of Mae Ploy green curry paste, a spice of the gods if there ever was one, and I added a quarter cup of dried cranberries in the cooking process, forgetting the other ingredients, which turned out to not be necessary when using Mae Ploy. Using that same version I have also used it as a dressing on a spinach only salad. It rocks. And then I drank it from a small bowl simply as a soup all by itself. Even that way it rocked.

Here's another variation:

• 14 ounces coconut milk
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon Mae Ploy green curry paste

2014-12-13: You can't make a sauce much simpler than this.

Once again I'm returning to a recipe I found at Simply Recipes. Here's today's variation.

Ingredients

• Two 27-oz cans of El Mexicano canned whole tomatillos
• Garlic, 8 cloves
• Pork shoulder, 2 lbs
• Olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• Chicken stock, 2.5 cups
• One cup of diced, canned green chiles
• 1.5 tsp of oregano
• Salt, pepper

Procedure

1. Cut pork into chunks. Salt and pepper generously. Brown in small batches in Dutch oven with olive oil. Put aside.
2. Broil five unpeeled cloves of garlic. Remove from oven. Peel.
3. Put chopped onions and three cloves of raw garlic in frying pan. Fry till soft.
4. Drain the cans of tomatillos. Reserve the brine.
5. Put tomatillos through blender with broiled garlic. Pour into Dutch oven. Add meat, chicken stock, oregano and green chiles. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat so that it simmers/slow boils uncovered for three hours or until pork is fork tender.
6. As necessary, heat up remaining brine and add to Dutch to maintain liquid. If you cook only three hours, you probably won't need it. If longer, you might.

This is the first green chile experiment I've been really happy with. The secret, it appears, is in the canned tomatillos, which are in a spiced brine that gives a fruity savoriness to the recipe that using fresh tomatillos simply doesn't. The word "brine" is potentially deceptive. It has very little salt, although it tastes as though there is some vinegar in it.

Today I tried the green chile and pork suggested in "Special Mexican Dishes: Easy and Simple to Prepare" as a filling for burritos on page 65. In this case you simply take pre-cooked pork and mix it with sauce.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of cooked pork
• 1¼ cups broth
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup diced green chiles
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. black pepper
• 1/8 tsp. garlic powder

Mix it all together and simmer it on the stove for 15 minutes.

This made a perfectly adequate green chile, but nothing special. The meat was too dry. I found myself missing the savory mix of long-simmered spices.

I'm attempting to make green chile, and I decided on this recipe. You will notice the quantities of chile. It was only after I was half way through chopping the green chiles that I realized they probably meant canned green chiles, not fresh, so this time I'm really doing it quite differently than the author probably intended. So here's today's version.

Ingredients

2 pounds pork, diced
1 cup onion, chopped
14 oz. chicken broth

1½ teaspoons garlic powder
2 ½ tablespoons chicken stock
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon cumin
½ tablespoon jalapeno
10 oz. green enchilada sauce
27 oz. green chili, fresh, chopped
8 oz. green chili, fresh, skins sweated off, pureed
1 teaspoon salt
Habanero hot sauce as needed

Procedure

1. Brown pork and drain Add onion & chicken broth (will not cover meat). Simmer 1 hour, stirring often.
2. Add spice mix and a cup of hot water. Add chopped green chiles. Simmer 1 hour stirring often to avoid sticking.
3. Add green enchilada sauce and stir. Simmer ½ hour.
4. Add 8 oz. Green chili, pureed. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Wow, despite my mess up, this turned out great.

Next time definitely use canned chiles. Although the un-roasted, unpeeled green chiles produced a nice flavor, the remaining bits of outer membrane are not ideal for texture.

I originally started making cauliflower soup from the recipe at Becks & Posh. One complaint: too much salt. Now I've tried it a couple times and concluded that the maximally simple recipe is the best recipe. I've added 1/8 tsp of freshly ground pepper, reduced the salt to 1 tsp. Here's the complete recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 lb of cauliflower, separated into florets
• 1 small white onion, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 3 cups of hot water
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1/8 tsp of freshly ground pepper

Procedure

1. In a heavy pan (that has a lid), melt butter over low heat
2. Add onion and cook gently until softened, not brown, 15 minutes
3. Add Cauliflower, salt and 1/2 cup of water.
4. Raise the heat to medium-low, cover tightly with a lid and cook for 20 minutes
5. Remove lid, add remaining water and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes more
6. Leave to cool sightly before blending until super-smooth
7. Return to the pan to heat before serving, thinning with a little more water if the soup is too thick for your taste.

2012-01-22: I made this recipe again tonight. It is without a doubt the best cauliflower soup I have ever had. It's not an overwhelming taste. It's the simple taste of the vegetables and the butter gently blended together.

2013-02-03: I made this recipe again last week. It is still without a doubt the best cauliflower soup. This time just before throwing the mix in the blender, I added half a teaspoon of ground chipotle; that's right, the chipotle powder didn't cook in the pot. Awesome.

Here's my next attempt at chile. First I made a puree of chile pods and garlic per Amalia Ruiz Clark's book. Then I fried up some onions in olive oil, then added the chicken along with ½ cup of water. Removed the chicken. Chopped it up. Added the puree and the rest of the ingredients. Simmered it until it had the desired thickness.

Divided into four servings, that's 378 calories apiece. Not bad for a reasonable diet.

In terms of taste, this is not canned chile. It's a different flavor entirely. Not bad, but definitely different than one might expect.

The day before yesterday on the “Quick Fix Meals” with Robin Miller I saw a recipe for chicken and andouille gumbo with okra. Sounded like a good recipe. I love gumbo. So I downloaded the recipe, made up my shopping list and went to the store. Not only did they not have andouille sausage, the butcher I asked had never even heard of it. How the heck can you be involved in food and still not have heard of andouille? I was raised in freakin' Arizona and I know what it is, and I'm no food professional! And the frozen section also did not have okra.

Hmph. Time to adjust. Instead of andouille, I picked up some generic hot sausages. Instead of okra, I picked up some frozen brocolli. Aside from that I followed the recipe and threw it in the crockpot for the quick cook version. The calorically significant ingredients I used were:

Divided into four the recipe yields 239 calories per serving.

Tasty! I now realize that a flavor in gumbo that I had previous thought was file powder was actually thyme.

Follow-up: the next day the soup was even tastier.

Tonight's version:

That made 4 cups of chile by volume. A one cup serving will have 272 calories.