A Happy Dump-and-Throw Accident: Spicy Carrot & Sweet Potato Soup

This is truly a happy dump and throw accident. I had these sweet potatoes, you see. And a handful of CSA carrots, a few baby red potatoes (too few for a serving) and some ginger root that needed to be used up. Hmm.

What I didn't have was any vegetable soup stock. But I did have some frozen butternut squash soup from last season. So…here we go…

Spicy Carrot & Sweet Potato Soup

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
5 large carrots, peeled and chopped
5 baby red potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 red onion, chopped
ginger root, about two thumbs worth, pealed and chopped
1/2 stick butter
2-4 cups vegetable stock
Spices…all to taste:
Ground cardamom
Cayenne powder
Turmeric
Cinnamon
Ground black pepper
Sea salt

• Melt the butter in a sauce pan and add the onions.
• Saute until onions soften
• Add spices…start with small amounts and add more 
• Saute in the butter…they will start to be very aromatic
• Add vegetable stock, or in my case. butternut squash soup and stir until onion and spice mixture is mixed thoroughly into the stock.
• Raise heat until liquid begins to boil
• Add chopped vegetables and cook for 5-7 minutes in the boiling stock
• Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until vegetables are cooked all the way through. 

Now, here is where I made a happy mistake. I didn't taste. I got out the immersion blender, blended the cooked vegetables until the mixture was nice and creamy and removed it from the heat.

THEN I tasted. And practically choked because, clearly, I was pretty heavy handed with the cayenne. Like, wow.

So, back to the pantry cupboard where I fortunately found the secret mystery ingredient…a can of coconut milk. THANK GOODNESS.

I added the full can to the soup, and creamed it with the immersion blender again.

THIS, ladies and gentleman, is an excellent soup. Still spicy, but now tempered with the creaminess of the coconut milk and the inherent sweetness of the sweet potato, carrot and butternut squash.

Which all goes to show you…measuring is highly overrated.

Bon appétit.

Chick Pea Crusted Baked Tofu

Last week, I tried a second version of veggie burgers, using canned chick peas, onions, egg and a host of garlic and oregano spices. The flavor was wonderful, but like my prior attempt at veggie "burgers", the texture just wasn't there and the mixture wouldn't hold a shape.

So, today, I tried something different. I crumbled the remaining chick pea mix onto a cookie sheet and lightly toasted it into a breadcrumb-like texture.

Then, I drained and sliced some firm tofu, bathed it in egg and dipped it into the chickpea crumbs.
Next, I baked it on a cookie sheet at 475 for 35 minutes, flipping it once.

Here's lunch today:

Chick Pea crusted Baked Tofu, roasted beets and kale chips.

The Traditional Christmas Eve Taco Salad

This is a variation on Mama Bish's Taco Salad (thanks, Mary!) that we've adapted as a multi-purpose flexitarian meal. This is suitable for meals where different people like different combinations of veggies and flavors. 

1 box Zatarain's Red Beans and Rice

1 head romain lettuce, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 jalapeño pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 avocado, chopped

1 pound ground turkey

1 package taco seasoning

1 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded

your favorite salsa

Taco shells

Start with three things on the stovetop: 

1. Cook a box of Zatarains Red Beans and Rice. Follow the directions on the package.

2. Saute an onion, a red bell pepper, a green bell pepper, a jalapeno pepper and two cloves of garlic in one pan. Cook till the onions are translucent.

3. In another pan, brown one pound of ground turkey. Cook till it starts to brown, then add one packet of your favorite taco seasoning and a half cup of water. Mix, and cook till the meat is throughly cooked and the water has evaporated.

4. For people who like tacos in taco shells, they can add ingredients as desired.
5. For people who like salad, you can mix all the ingredients in a large bowl.
6. Toss the romain lettuce, avocado, red and green pepper.

7. Add shredded mozzarella and salsa.

8. Add the ground turkey.

9. Mix well and serve.

10. Enjoy!

Catching Up...

So, anyway, I went to China a few times this year. 6, in fact. A total of 16 weeks. I'm back now and still catching up on all sorts of things including remembering how to cook for myself and how to eat something other than rice. It's a long story. 

Meanwhile, I'm on a mission. While I was gone, riding out a Category 5 Typhoon from the 20th floor of my 4 star hotel (see, I *told* you it was a long story!), my husband was weathering a 4-day power outage and trying to save the summer's worth of meals I had cooked and stored in our second freezer. Luckily he was successful. He also ate well whilst I was gone and I'm now on a mission to restock our freezer for the winter. Since there is no snow yet, ski season has not come into full swing, I'm back in the kitchen wreaking havoc. 

AND, I have new inspiration!! Mary gave me this for my birthday: 

It's a collection of recipes from 7 different areas of the world, all vegetarian and all can be done in the crock pot. And, well, if you're going to get out the cutting board and the good knife, you might as well chop everything you can get your hands on. Right now, the Lebanese Eggplant Stew is simmering in the crock pot. Recipe below.

And my own bastardization version of the Potatoes and Peas in Red Curry Sauce is on the stove. As you can see in the picture below, there are no peas, and the curry is Yellow. Ok, so I improvised. Recipe below. 

Lebanese Eggplant Stew

1 eggplant, cubed
1 zucchini, cubed
3 tomatoes, quartered
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt to taste
1 cup Aunt Tobi's homemade tomato sauce, or water

• Combine all ingredients in slow cooker, mix well, cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours. 

Potato and Chick Pea Yellow Curry

1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 inches of ginger root, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cans chickpeas, not drained
2 cups carrots, chopped
2 cups celery, chopped
2 cups potatoes, cubed
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil

1 can coconut milk
1 large sweet potato, baked, then mashed
2 heaping tablespoons Yellow Curry Paste
1 teaspoon cumin
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

• In large pot, heat olive oil, onions, garlic, ginger root and peppers. Saute till onions become translucent. Add small amount of salt. 
• Add potatoes, carrots and celery. Mix well and turn heat to low. 
• Add chickpeas. Stir.
• In separate bowl, combine coconut milk, mashed sweet potato, cumin and yellow curry paste. Stir till well-mixed and smooth. 
• Add curry mixture to vegetables. Stir well to mix.
• Add chopped cilantro.  
• Cover and cook on low till potatoes are soft. Stir occasionally. 

Pumpkin Chowder

Tonight on my stove is a large pot of pumpkin chowder,  adapted from Country Living Magazine. This is a great soup to use those odd squashes from the farm co-op box that you just don't know what to do with.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 leeks, trimmed of green tops and chopped

3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 medium green bell peppers, chopped

2 1/4 pounds pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2 by 1 inch thick pieces

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh marjoram

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 bay leaves

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/4 cups frozen corn

6 cups vegetable broth

Directions

• Heat olive oil in large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.
• Add leeks and cook until very soft, about 5 minutes.
• Add garlic and cook for about 2 minutes.
• Stir in green peppers and reduce heat to medium-low until peppers soften, about 8 more minutes.
• Add the remaining ingredients and cook until pumpkin is tender, about 30 minutes.

Notes from my kitchen:

• Tonight, I made this with no pumpkin at all, but sweet potato, acorn squash, delicata squash and zucchini. 
• I usually add a cup or so of chopped carrots, some celery and a cup or 2 of chopped baby red potato to the above, adjusting the vegetable broth to make sure everything cooks through.
• Sometimes I throw in some chopped kale. Tonight, I added some chopped swiss chard. 
• Also, I've substituted onions for leeks, and red bell pepper for green, based on whatever I have in the fridge.
• I add more corn than the recipe calls for, for a total of 2 cups or so. We like our chowder with lots of veggies.
• As you might guess from reading any of my other recipes, I increase the spices...sometimes by 100% or more. We like our spice around here and the marjoram makes for a nice, robust peppery chowder (not piquant, just peppery).  
• I cook this waaaay longer than 30 minutes - usually for several hours on simmer with an occasional stir, but you could probably cook it in 30 minutes over a higher heat if you needed to.
• Great served with buttermilk bisuits!