Spring Potato-Leek Soup from Carbivore + Freaked My Week Faves
New Designers Sans Algorithms, When Your Body Hates Garlic, and more!
This week, a Freak My Week from me and a recipe from my bud Phoebe Lapine’s newest masterpiece, Carbivore!
Get to it!
P.S. We had to cancel our event at Blue Bicycle for Phoebe’s book tour stop in Charleston. Our apologies! If you were planning on going, reply to this email and will give you the scoop on the latest.
The Things That Freaked My Week
Trusted Kitchen
If your body hates onions and garlic (sensitive or allergic), this brand is amazing!
ALL allium-free seasoning blends and dips. I bought the variety pack and am loving them.
1GRANARY’s Designers To Hire
I’m really into this series. An incredible way to find fashion designers doing super inspiring and different things void of ads and algorithms. Hooray!
Thigmomorphogenesis
This is a concept I learned about last week in school, and I can’t stop talking about it (also because I feel proud I know a very big word).
Thigmomorphogenesis is the practice of stimulating a plant to alter its growth pattern. It was widely used back in the day in greenhouses (by brushing plants) to make sure plants stayed compact and didn’t get leggy (compact plants are more sellable / easier to ship). But when chemical growth retardants were introduced to the trade, thigmomorphogenesis became less widely used.
The cool thing is that there are more and more organic greenhouses / gardeners out there that are embracing non-chemical practices to control to the height of their plants - using thigmomorphogenesis (brushing and air stimulation) and temperature control. I love the return to these lo-fi practices and am using them myself in my little plant-shed this season.
How to Grow Old Like Isabella Rossellini via NYT
“How do I fulfill the rest of my life? That question came to me very clearly at 45, and I didn’t have an answer.”
Great read.
Spring Potato-Leek Soup with Asparagus from Carbivore by Phoebe Lapine
Next Tuesday is the day! Phoebe Lapine’s latest book, Carbivore is here!
A little about the background of the book…
“Diet trends come and go, but over the last decade, no one food group has been vilified and misunderstood as much as carbs. A hundred years ago, our relatives got more than 50 percent of their nutrients from carbs, and yet the chronic conditions we grapple with today were rare. The good news is that carbs don’t have to be the enemy of your blood sugar or hormone health, nor are they the secret agents of inflammation.”
If you’re struggling with carbophobia and just burnt on Keto/Paleo/etc, this book is gonna help. Phoebe brings the science, talks blood sugar and gives you 125+ amazing recipes. Including pasta recipes (that aren’t just zoodles covered in tomato sauce)! And if you embrace carbs, you’ll really love this book, too.
I got my copy in the mail last week and was so excited about how many plant-based options there were! I’m so ready to start cooking from it. Also want to mention that Ina Garten is a fan. She has a little blurb quote on the cover…Ina-approved is always a good thing.
P.S. If you’re g-free, all the recipes are g-free (which you might not think when a book is called Carbivore).
Spring Potato-Leek Soup with Asparagus
Makes 4 servings
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 fennel bulb, sliced
1 large leek, thinly sliced (see headnote)
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced, white and light green parts separated
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound russet potatoes (about 2 medium), unpeeled, cut into 1-inch cubes
6 cups vegetable
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 pound asparagus
2 cups packed baby arugula or watercress
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ cup Anise-y Pine Nut–Almond Crunch (if you get the book, this is on page 77)
In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over a medium-high flame. Add the fennel, leek, and white scallions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and starting to lightly brown, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another few minutes until becoming golden.
Add the potatoes, stock, and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the potatoes are soft enough to pierce with a fork, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, trim the asparagus by removing the tough bottom inch, or any section that is thick, white, and hard to cut through, and discard. Roughly chop all but 4 aspara- gus spears. Finely chop the remaining spears and set aside for garnish.
Once the potatoes are tender, stir in the roughly chopped asparagus and all but 2 tablespoons of the green scallions. Cook for 2 minutes until the asparagus is al dente and vibrant green.
Off the heat, stir in the arugula and lemon juice, stirring until the greens wilt. Care- fully transfer the soup to a high-speed blender, or use an immersion blender, to puree until smooth. Taste for seasoning, and add more salt, as needed.
Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with the reserved scallions, raw asparagus pieces, a drizzle of oil, and the pine nut crunch (if using).
Excerpted from Carbivore: 130 Healthy Recipes to Stop Fearing Carbs and Embrace the Comfort Foods You Love by Phoebe Lapine. Copyright © 2024. Available from Hachette Go, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
If you’re new here, some other great guests and recipes to check out from the archives…
Seared Broccoli And Capers + Old Tweets
Veggie Burgers + Applied Empathy’s Michael Ventura
Chocolate Eggplant Brownies + Small Tomatoes + Scandals
Post Instagram-ish + Crate + Barrel's Content Director, Merritt Watts
Salsa Verde + Botanica’s Emily Fiffer
And some books by me:
One Part Plant: A Guide to Eating Real One Meal At a Time
Know Your Endo: An Empowering Guide To Health + Hope With Endometriosis