Creamy potato and onion soup
CONCORD, N.H. — Once the shock of learning I had begun the nine-month countdown to becoming a father wore off, it quickly was replaced by joy and, of course, utter and complete horror.
As the chef about the house, I am daunted by the thought that what I feed my wife I also feed my child-to-be.
My conscience is heavy with the knowledge that not enough of this or too much of that could cost Inkling (as the thus-far gender-neutral child has come to be known) those crucial IQ points that would have assured entry to Oxford.
So, gone are the carefree nights of tossing together whatever strikes me.
Thankfully, there are any number of books aimed at helping vegetarian dads-in-the-making navigate the critical prenatal culinary landscape.
Sadly, I have yet to find one that doesn’t 1) cause even more fear by detailing ills that will befall my child if even one meal is unbalanced, 2) require a degree in nutrition and nine months of study to master, or 3) subject my wife to horrible meals.
One book included suggestions that pregnant women avoid raw meat, seafood that isn’t fresh and foods that don’t “smell or taste right,” guidance I always had assumed good for anyone.
Another book, this one intended specifically for vegetarian women, included the helpful advice that sniffing glue was bad. I urged my wife to lay off the craft projects.
Yet another book took a moralistic approach that includes dire warnings for anyone so callous as to ingest seemingly even a single refined grain. Pregnant or not, my wife won’t live on brown rice alone.
Five months in to this culinary adventure, I’ve learned some valuable kitchen tips not often found in cookbooks or the roughly 9 million glossy pregnancy-related magazines.
First, too much of one thing is bad.
At the start of her pregnancy, my wife was on the road a great deal, sometimes for 18 hours a day with little access to healthy food. Being a caring husband, I made her a delicious trail mix of nuts, seeds and nearly a dozen different dried fruits.
Being a picky and easily bored, I mean, wonderful wife, she eventually objected to the virtual saddlebags of munchie mix I would try to send her off with each day. Variety is key.
Second, just because it’s good one day doesn’t mean it will be the next.
Did I mention my wife is a picky eater? Pregnancy has intensified this. We went through a bout of trying to concoct an acceptable recipe for a smoothie high in fruit, calcium and protein. This wasn’t a pretty (or inexpensive) process.
No matter what protein powder I brought home, they all invariably were fine the first night but chalky the next. This despite the addition of whole milk, bananas and even ice cream. We eventually gave up on smoothies.
Third, pregnancy is no time for experimenting with new foods.
In my defense, I’d never had fiddleheads before. Here in the Northeast there is only a short window during which they can be found at the grocer, so not trying them now meant waiting another year.
Let’s just say they didn’t sit well on a certain pregnant stomach. So much for being over morning sickness…
Chocolate still reigns supreme, especially after a recent study suggested consuming it while pregnant might help produce happier children.
So what do I feed my pregnant, mostly vegetarian wife? Other than chocolate? My apologies to Atkins addicts, but carbs seem to be the universal language of the pregnant woman.
Pasta is big. Mashed potatoes are popular. Did I mention chocolate and ice cream?
To demonstrate just how thoughtful I am, I let my wife select the recipe for this story. Not surprisingly, her first choice was mashed potatoes. We compromised with a soup that uses them as its base.
Creamy potato and onion soup, from Rose Elliot’s “The Vegetarian Mother and Baby Book” (Pantheon Books, 1996), is deceptively simple, yet quite delicious.
Though the recipe calls for a combination of butter and olive oil, vegans could use just oil, or substitute soy margarine. Those who don’t mind the dairy might consider stirring in a bit of cream at the end for extra richness.
Elliot doesn’t provide amounts for the seasonings. Those indicated are what I found worked well, but measurements should be adjusted to taste. Fresh dill stirred in at the end would be a nice variation.
Creamy Potato and Onion Soup
(Preparation 45 minutes)
1 pound peeled potatoes, cut into medium chunks (about 5 potatoes)
4 medium onions, peeled and roughly chopped
4 cups water
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Salt (1 1/2 teaspoons)
Freshly ground black pepper ( 1/4 teaspoon)
Nutmeg (1/8 teaspoon)
Combine the potatoes, a quarter of the onions and the water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then cover and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the butter and oil in a skillet. Add the remaining onions, cover and cook over a low flame for about 15 minutes, or until very soft.
Transfer the potato mixture, including water, to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Add the onions and butter to the puree.
Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and heat another few minutes over a low flame.
Makes 4 servings.