Two Seasons: Quinoa soup and Garden wraps

The colors at the farmers' market are getting brighter, richer, and more diverse as we move into fall. Root vegetables and ten different kinds of squash, purples and yellows and oranges and blues are everywhere. But today, the air in West Philly feels unseasonably warm, soft, and freshly-scrubbed. It feels like springtime outside.

So let's have a a look at a festive, summery food, and then I have a nice soup for you. First, and I know you may be getting tired of pastry wraps but I'm not out of them yet (told you, that $1.39 is stretchy) so, here' s one more thing you can do with them.

A garden wrap.

This one has green lettuce, tomatoes, portabella mushrooms, cauliflower, and onion, and it's seasoned with olive oil, salt, and lemon pepper. It would be great to have some spinach, kale, turnip greens, or other interesting greens.

You don't have to heat or cook the filling, just cut everything up like a salad, only finer. Spoon it onto the wraps, fold, and fry in olive oil. Here are some finished ones cooling while I'm prepping some more to go into the oil. What you see in the background on the plate are blue potatoes.

A closer look at the veggie mix that goes inside the pastries:


If I looked at the mix and didn't know what was in it, I would think I was seeing chicken or tofu or some "meat substitute," but what that actually is is the portabella mushrooms. We usually buy two giant caps at the market on Saturday, and they last us throughout the week, just slicing pieces off for stir-fries and things like this.

Now. Want something good for lunch, that will keep you full throughout the afternoon and rush hour? Something good and cozy for fall? Something to help you fight colds and the flu and the cold-weather blahs?

Quinoa soup.

Quinoa is incredibly rich in protein, fiber, and iron. Because of its high protein content, NASA thinks it would be a good choice for its Controlled Ecological Life Support Systems for long space flights. And that's kind of our situation here on Earth. We're here for a long time, and we don't have enough space to feed all of us the way some of us currently eat. Quinoa could help.

Now, Mark made this soup/stew (I'm not sure which it is), so it has a lot of ingredients. It contains: quinoa, carrots, cauliflower, corn, mushroom, black beans, Great Northern beans, and onion, and was made with our homemade vegetable stock and seasoned with garlic, salt, lemon pepper, and a Season All mix.

Two kinds of beans, plus quinoa, will fill you up. This soup is a nutrient-fest and tastes like it cures what ails you. I brought it for lunch two days this week. You don't need to bring much.

I like to have this soup with a slice of rye toast with strawberry jam. Any type of heavy food makes me feel like I need a nice piece of toast and jam to lighten it up. I'm a little childish about heavy foods. I feel like I've accomplished something when I eat something heavy, and I want a treat for that. Fortunately, the same woman who grows our spices also makes jellies and jams.

Happy fall, happy Friday, and I hope it's as lovely where you are as it is here.