Recipe of the Week: Chorba (Moroccan Vegetable Soup)

Another post about food. 

I promise we do other things around here other than stuff our faces! 

Zach has been busy with setting up his new studio space downtown. He's also starting a new mural class tomorrow. Since the theme of the mural is art and music, we're looking to see if anyone in the area has old and unwanted instruments to donate. So far we've received a couple of guitars, a banjo, cymbals, some drums and drumsticks (thank you, Dave!) and would love to have some more brass and string instruments. Please get in touch with us if you have something we can use! 

As for me ... I am still working on my dissertation, pretending to be a history detective and struggling hard to stay motivated and excited even though the writing and researching has taken years and years. When I first started my research, Norman Lewis was still a relatively unknown painter and my task was to write him back into the history of American Abstract Expressionism, alongside the biggest names of the era (Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, etc.) Since then, similar projects have been written about by other scholars and I've had to re-investigate and re-think my direction. I love Lewis' work and I still want to do something with him. I just have to figure out what works best. I guess I'll write another post about my progress when I'm ready to share more. For now, here's the recipe of the week:

If you like vegetable soup, here's a recipe with an interesting and delicious twist ...

this week's recipe via EatingWell.com

Ingredients
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1lb beef stew meat (or lamb, if you prefer) trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 medium onion, diced
2 small turnips, peeled and diced
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 large zucchini, peeled and diced
8 sprigs of cilantro
12 sprigs of flat leaf parsley
pinch of Saffron threads
6 cups beef broth or water
1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup whole wheat orzo
2 tsp tumeric
salt and pepper



Directions
Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and turmeric; stir to coat. 
Add meat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is tender, 4 to 5 minutes. 

Add broth (or water), tomatoes and their juice, turnips, carrots, celery and saffron. 

Tie parsley and cilantro sprigs together with kitchen string and add to the pot. 
Bring soup to a boil. 
Cover and reduce to a simmer. Cook until the meat is tender, 45 to 50 minutes.

Stir in zucchini and cook, covered, until soft, 8 to 10 minutes. 
Add pasta and cook until soft, 4 to 10 minutes, depending on the type of pasta. 
Discard the parsley and cilantro sprigs. 
Season with salt (start with 1 tsp if using beef broth; add more if using water) and pepper. 
Serve sprinkled with parsley and/or cilantro leaves, if desired.