separate ways

I'm taking Matty out for dinner tomorrow. I think my ambition to cook more coupled with my need to keep my diet vegetarian is making me grasp desperately at recipes without really thinking about how they'll taste or how they'll go together. I need to reset my mental palate, and I think going out is the way to do it. Kinda shake myself from this little cobweb of overachievement.

The sum of tonight's meal was not greater than its parts. Which is a shame because all the parts were quite good on their own.

I started with the Falafel "Meatballs" - so delicious when everything minus the egg was in the blender. Great nuttiness, lightened by notes of lemon. Then I went to add the egg, and a) I immediately made it non-vegan, and b) I think it contributed a little mealiness to the overall texture of the finished meatball. Your ordinary falafel doesn't use an egg, rather flour, to bind it - I think that's the way I'll go next time.

The soup (pureed cauliflower and spinach) was amazing. I think I'll have to make it coming out of my next juice cleanse. It's creamy, rich and satisfying without any cream, and without even any potatoes. I forgot to get veggie broth, so I just used water, and it was still magnificent.

But I underestimated the thickness - I didn't think it would be substantial enough for dinner as just soup and meatballs, so I decided to make some parsley'ed pasta - just tossed with a little salter butter and the parsley suggested for the soup's garnish. The pasta didn't end up swimming in the soup as I had envisioned (although obviously I could have thinned the soup out with more water or broth), and then the whole thing took on a life of its own. A life that reminded me I don't really like parsley. I would have felt much better about cilantro in this dish.

So the leftovers all got refrigerated separately - pasta, falafel, soup. And that's how I'll eat them - separately.

Falafel "Meatball" Soup
adapted from Food52
Serves 4

For the falafel
1 small onion, diced
1 T. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
10-12 sage leaves, minced
1/2 c. walnut pieces
1/2 c. panko
one 15-oz. can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
zest of 1 lemon
1 large egg (or to keep the recipe vegan, add a couple T. of flour to bind)
salt and pepper

For the soup
3 c. water
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
2 large handfuls of spinach
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper
cilantro for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Heat the olive oil in a 10-inch skillet. Add the onions and saute until translucent. Add the garlic, sage, walnut and panko and saute until the panko becomes golden.

3. Place the contents of the skillet into the bowl of a food processor. Add the garbanzo beans, lemon zest, and process until finely ground. Add the egg and process into a paste-like consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Form the paste into 16 equal meatballs and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes or until firm and golden.

5. While the meatballs are baking, bring the water to a boil in a large pot. Add the cauliflower, cover and simmer until very tender. Add the spinach and stir through to wilt.

6. Pour the contents of the pot into the jar of a blender. Add the lemon juice, and taking extreme caution with the hot liquids, blend until smooth. Return to the pot and re-warm, if necessary. Salt and pepper to taste.

7. To serve, ladle a few spoonfuls of soup into a shallow bowl. Top with 4 meatballs and garnish with cilantro.