By Evelyn Heis, Film Editor and Oscar Ross, Music Editor
The Croft Magazine// We know that it seems like the rainy days are long gone as we officially enter spring...but this is England we are talking about. In case of the inevitable rainy days, we have got you covered! For this Plate X Playlist, Evelyn provides two cozy and warm recipes (Sopa Casera and Lentejas) that reminds her of home and Oscar curates an extra long playlist which perfectly encapsulates the pathetic fallacy of the ever so cumbersome British weather.
The Plate- Evelyn:
Anyone who lives in Bristol will wholeheartedly agree that this Winter has been remarkably cold and wet (that’s what she said). Particularly on these days, there’s nothing I want more than to curl up on the sofa with a blanket and a bowl of a warm, hearty meal that reminds me of home.
The recipes I turn to time and time again are the ones that were passed down through the generations of women in my family. My home was always filled with these appetising aromas, loud chatter in the kitchen, and festivities that celebrated food, and we shared with one another. It’s no surprise that when I’m feeling particularly blue that I return to these comforting meals, albeit my way of cooking and the ingredients I have access to here have led me to implement changes that make these foods more of my own, though the blueprint stems from my mothers’ and grandmothers’ recipes.
These two plates feel like a hug in a bowl, and are the best cure for any melancholy, sickness, and rainy day dilemma. In fact, these are good recipes if you’re looking to clear out your fridge and cupboard, while ensuring that you’re still getting a meal full of nutritious goodness. Without further ado, I present you with my go-to comforting meals.
Sopa Casera
This is a recipe that was integral to my childhood. I have vivid memories of having a bowl of sopa at my great-grandmother’s house on Sundays, dipping chunks of freshly-baked bread into the leftovers. There are many variations to the ways you can make sopa, but the recipe I’m presenting you with today is the one I have on a weekly basis. It’s hearty, delicious, and ensures you’re getting most of your five a day in one plate alone. This sopa can heal absolutely anything, and it is the perfect pick-me-up. Alternatively, if you’d like to add a bit more to it, it’s customary in Spain to add fideos (small, thin noodles) to the broth too.
Ingredients:
3 cloves of garlic
1 large brown onion, or 2-3 small ones
2 or 3 celery sticks
1 leek
5 to 7 carrots
6 small to medium potatoes
1 chicken stock cube
½ a lemon
1.5L of water
A splash of sunflower oil
A handful of spices: rosemary, parsley, thyme, pepper, chili flakes, peri salt, mixed herbs
300-500g of chicken thighs or breast (entirely your preference!)
Prep Time: 20-30 minutes to peel, cut, and start cooking your veggies before adding the broth. 45 mins to boil the potatoes and chicken.
Preparation:
1) Preheat your pot to a medium-high setting and add a splash of sunflower oil to sauté the vegetables in. I like to start with this step as I cut and dice the veggies, adding them to the pan as I go along. This makes it quite an organic process, influencing the rest of the preparation and the order of the ingredients.
2) Dice or thinly chop the three cloves of garlic and add them to the pan.
3) Peel and slice the brown onion and add it to the pan alongside the garlic. Make sure to stir the garlic and onion in the oil regularly so that they’re cooking evenly. Depending on how hot the pan is, you can choose to sauté them until they’re golden or a little bit chargrilled if you’d like some extra flavour.
4) Peel your carrots and chop them up into medium-sized rounds. I tend to use about 5-7 carrots for this soup, but the beauty of this recipe is that you can add more or less to your liking!
5) Once the onions are golden and starting to sweat, add in the chopped carrots. You should be smelling some wonderful aromas at this point! Make sure to regularly stir the ingredients in the pan to ensure they’re not sticking to the pan and cooking evenly.
6) Peel the initial layer of the celery rib and dice them into medium-sized bites. I added three small sticks, but if you’re not a huge fan of celery, one or two will suffice.
7) Trim the outer layer of the leek, cut the root end, and chop up the leek into medium-sized discs. If you haven’t prepared leek before, aim to preserve the tender green and the lower white parts as they’re the most flavourful.
8) Add in the chopped vegetables and stir, stir, stir. At this point, your pot should be bright and radiating wonderful colours and smells!
9) While your main veggies are sautéing, take this opportunity to peel your potatoes and cut them into decently-sized triangles and cubes. I like to cut them into shapes that won’t make it hard for the potato to boil all the way through, but will also be easy enough to eat later on.
10) When your potatoes are sitting pretty on your chopping board and your vegetables are juicy and golden, add 1.5L of water to the pan (feel free to top up if you like your soup to be runnier). Straight after, I add in the water that I like to crumble a chicken stock cube into the pot, ensuring to mix it thoroughly before adding the potatoes.
11) Add your potatoes to the pan and lower the heat to a medium-low setting so the vegetables can boil and simmer. You should be seeing all the juiciness of the sautéd vegetables come through now, and the smell is simply indescribable.
12) In this house, we like to season our food. So, it’s at this step that you should add in a handful of your favourite spices. I always add ½ a teaspoon of parsley, thyme, rosemary, and chili flakes- but you can increase or decrease the amounts to your liking. I really recommend adding pepper, salt, and mixed herbs at this point so your vegetables absorb all this goodness.
13) While everything simmers, I take the time to trim the fat off the chicken breast (although it does give it more flavour) and remove the tendon. I also cut the chicken into medium-sized strips that won’t get lost in the soup for when we have to shred them later on. If you’re using chicken thighs, you can add them directly to the pot.
14) Place the chicken into the pot about 10-15 minutes after the potatoes have already been boiling. Make sure to submerge them so that they cook thoroughly, and place the lid to speed up this process.
15) Around 40-45 minutes after everything has been simmering in the pan, your vegetables should be soft, but not mushy. If your chicken is cooked thoroughly at this point, collect all the pieces, place them onto a bowl and shred them using two forks. I like to shred mine pretty thinly and then I add them back to the soup, stirring evenly.
16) Now the soup is ready to eat! I like to add a dash of lemon juice to the bowl I’ve poured for myself-- this is a special step in my grandma’s recipe, and the acidity of the lemon works brilliantly with the sweetness of the soup. I urge you to try it for yourself.
17) Add in some extra pepper, parsley, thyme, and even a squidge of honey if you’re feeling particularly adventurous, and dig in to your very own comforting, sopa casera.
Lentejas
This is an absolute staple for any Spanish household. Juicy, full of iron and rich in flavours, this lentil stew is my favourite Sunday and Winter meal, guaranteed to make me feel good on the rainiest of days.
The authentic dish is always paired with chorizo, and while it’s not as flavoursome as the kind you get in Spain, the UK has some available in most supermarkets if you’re looking to recreate the original rendition of this dish. Due to my dietary restrictions, however, I replace the chorizo with some diced beef, which ensures I’m still getting some protein.
The beauty of the lentejas, sopa, and guisos in general, is that they taste just as good without any meat, so this step is entirely optional. In line with my previous recipe, I have made some changes from the traditional way my mum and grandma make it at home, particularly due to the different spices and ingredients the UK has to offer. I would say, though, that I have managed to recreate the recipe to the best of my availability and simultaneously made it my own.
Ingredients:
3 cloves of garlic
1 large brown onion, or 3 small ones
5 large carrots
5 to 7 potatoes (depending on the size)
1 to 2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon of sweet paprika
1 beef stock cube
A handful of spices: pepper, salt, rosemary, thyme
A splash of sunflower oil
470g of green lentils*
250g of chorizo or diced beef
*If you don’t feel up to washing and soaking your lentils 8-12 hours before you’re planning to cook, a cheap and timesaving alternative is to get your hands on pre-soaked tinned green lentils. (Tesco sells some for 60p!)
Prep Time: 20-30 minutes to peel, cut, and start cooking your veggies before adding the water. 45 mins to boil the potatoes and add the lentils.
Preparation:
1) If you’re skipping the lengthy washing and soaking of the green lentils, then the recipe begins with preheating your pot to a medium to high setting. Add in a splash of oil as the pan warms up to sauté the main ingredients. Like the previous recipe, we will be cutting and adding our veggies as we go along.
2) Dice or thinly chop the three cloves of garlic and add them to the pot.
3) Dice the onion into small squares and add it to the same pot. Make sure to stir the garlic and onion in the oil regularly so that they’re cooking evenly. Depending on how hot the pan is, you can choose to sauté them until they’re golden or a little bit chargrilled if you’d like some extra flavour.
4) Peel your carrots and chop them up into medium-sized rounds. I tend to use about 5 large carrots, but the beauty of this recipe is that you can add more or less to your liking!
5) Once the onions are golden and starting to sweat, add in the chopped carrots.
6) If you’ve opted in to have some chorizo or beef, cut it into medium-sized bites, and add it to the rest of the pan. You don’t want the meat to cook all the way through as it will cook in the broth later on, but the light external crispiness adds some more juicy flavour to the recipe.
7) Sprinkle the paprika onto the sautéing veggies and protein of your choice, ensuring to regularly stir everything in so that it’s cooking evenly. Add in a handful of your favourite spices. I always add ½ a teaspoon of thyme and rosemary, but you can increase or decrease the amounts to your liking. You should be smelling some wonderful aromas at this point!
8) While your main veggies are sautéing, take this opportunity to peel your potatoes and cut them into decently-sized triangles and cubes. I like to cut them into shapes that won’t make it hard for the potato to boil all the way through, but will also be easy enough to eat later on.
9) With all the ingredients now coated in these wonderful flavours, add in 1L of water to this juicy concoction. It’s straight after I add in the water that I like to crumble a beef stock cube into the pot, ensuring to mix it thoroughly before adding the potatoes.
10) Add your potatoes to the pan and lower the heat to a medium-low setting so the vegetables can boil and simmer. You should be seeing all the juiciness of the sautéd vegetables come through now, and the smell is simply indescribable. I really recommend adding pepper, salt, and mixed herbs at this point so your vegetables absorb all this goodness.
11) Stir everything through and add 1-2 bay leaves, before putting the lid on and letting everything simmer for 15 minutes.
12) At this point, your potatoes should be on their way to becoming soft, but not yet cooked all the way through. It’s at this stage that you want to add in the lentils so that everything comes together at the same time.
*If you’re using pre-soaked lentils, you should boil them for 5-10 minutes as they’re already cooked and will just require heating up. If you’re using your own lentils, you will want them to cook through for 40-45 minutes.
13) Remove the bay leaves and stir through the lentejas. Most of the water should have been absorbed, and so you should be left with a thick stew-like consistency.
14) Pour yourself a plate of lentejas and dig into the delicious dish that tastes like a hug in a bowl.
Click here for last month's Plate x Playlist by Isabelle and Oscar- Plate X Playlist: Joy
The Playlist- Oscar:
We all know that although it's spring, the weather in UK is very unreliable. For those unreliable and rainy days of overcast, I have curated an extra long playlist to match the somber-ness and coziness of staying in. A perfect accompaniment to slow cooking cozy dishes to in your kitchen.
Featured Image by Evelyn Heis
What's your go to Rainy day meal?
