This one looks great.  I won't use the crab. of course, but will use some marinated tofu instead.  And one can get vegetarian fish sauce.  

Spicy Thai Pumpkin Soup with Crab And Cilantro

In lieu of pumpkin pie, try this soup, ripe with flavors of citrus, ginger and coconut.

8 servings

Equipment: A blender or a food processor; 8 warmed, shallow soup bowls.

3 shallots, peeled and finely minced

2 tablespoons Thai yellow curry paste, preferably organic

3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

1 pound (500 g) pumpkin or butternut squash, cubed (or 2 cups; 500 ml canned pumpkin puree)

One 28-ounce (765 g) can peeled Italian plum tomatoes in juice

3 cups (750 ml) Homemade Vegetable Stock or Homemade Chicken Stock

1 cup (250 ml) coconut juice, preferably organic

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice

1 tablespoon Vietnamese fish sauce, preferably Red Boat brand

7 ounces (200 g) fresh crabmeat

Fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish

1. In a large saucepan, combine the shallots, curry paste, and ginger and cook over low heat until the shallots are soft and the mixture is well combined, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside 1 tablespoon of the mixture for garnish.
2. Add the pumpkin, tomatoes (with juices), and vegetable or chicken stock and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender. Transfer to the blender or food processor and puree.
3. Return the mixture to the saucepan and add the coconut juice. Stir to blend. Bring back to a simmer. Stir in the lime juice and fish sauce.
4. Place several tablespoons of the crabmeat in the center of each soup bowl. Pour the soup all around the crabmeat. Garnish with the reserved curry-ginger mixture and a sprinkle of cilantro leaves.

Make-ahead note: Complete the recipe through step 2. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Complete at serving time.

From Beth Wellington's blog...

From Beth Wellington's blog...

Leek, Potato and Spinach Soup

Photo from Janice Feuer Haugen's blog post of 12/2/11.

*


When I was growing up one of my mom's favorite soups was vichyssoise,  her fancy name for canned Campbell's cream of potato, served chilled, topped maybe with a dollop of sour cream and some chopped chives from my father's garden.

The traditional vichyssoise includes leeks, cream and potatoes and Julia Child says that its origins--despite the name--are actually American (see her landmark Mastering the Art of French Cooking, page 39.) 


My version is served hot and uses Yukon gold potatoes which are so creamy in texture that you will need no milk or cream if you puree part of the soup and return it to the pot. I usually use onions, but since the October 29 expected farm share from Glade Road Growing includes leeks, I thought why not fancy it up in honor of Julia Child.  And, as we're also expecting spinach, I decided to add some, to brighten up the look of regular recipe. I like nutmeg with my  spinach, so I added to my usual recipe.   Alternatively, you could use a bit of cumin, cardamom, coriander and  turmeric, if you prefer a more curried taste.

If you'd like for this recipe to serve as a main course, it's good with the addition of 3 cups of cooked white beans--navy, great northern or cannellini. Those who love meat may want to toss in some cooked sausage or chicken instead. 

BTW, other expected items in this week's farm share are carrots and butternut squash:  add apples, orange juice--and some prunes, if you're traditional--and that could mean tzimmes.

*

Serves 6

Coarsley chop the white and pale-green parts of leeks (you can save the dark green parts to make a veggie broth)


Smash, peel and coarsely chop 2 cloves garlic

Coarsely chop 3 stalks of celery

Cut 3/4 # of Yukon gold potatoes into 1-inch cubes

Coarsely chop one packed cup of fresh spinach 
 


In a cast iron skill coated in extra virgin olive oil, saute leeks, celery and garlic over low heat, stirring until leaks are tender, about 10-15 minutes.  Transfer to 3 quart stainless steel pot with a heavy bottom and a steamer top. De-glaze skillet with a bit of water and add enough water to make 6 cups. Add 2 bay leaves and 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Bring to boil and steam potatoes for 10 minutes.  Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

In a blender or food processor  puree 1 cup of potatoes and 1 cup of  soup mixture (without bay leaves) and add to pot, along with remaining potatoes and cook a bit more until it thickens.  If you are serving this as a main course, stir in cooked beans or meat and warm through.  Stir in chopped spinach and cook until wilted.

Divide the soup among bowls and dust with nutmeg or a mixture of 1/8 teaspoon each of ground cumin,  cardamom, coriander and  turmeric.

You can top the soup, if you'd like, with a dollop of Greek yogurt or vegan sour cream and chopped chives or green onions and  cilantro.

No. 8.  Thanks to Jessica Bennett--this one looks really good!

http://globaltableadventure.com/2013/05/17/recipe-syrian-lentils/

http://globaltableadventure.com/2013/05/17/recipe-syrian-lentils/

Soup No. 2.  From Gina.

3/4 cup lentils. 
3 TBS oil
2 carrots -chopped
2 stalk celery - chopped
1 small onion - chopped
1 clove garlic, whole
1/2 jalapeno pepper finely chopped 
1/4 head of cabbage - chopped
6 cups water
2 TBS barley
a potato for flavor
1/3 - 1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 TBS small whole wheat soup pasta (like acni de pepe or ditalini)
1 to 1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Cook carrots, celery, onion, garlic and jalapeno in oil till crisp, about 7
minutes. Crush the garlic with a fork. Add water, and the rest of the
ingredients and simmer for 1 hour.

optional - When served put a little bit of finely chopped raw onion and/or
jalapeno in the bowl. Crusty garlic bread on the side would go
well with it.

Number 6 will be the Thai curry.  here's the recipe.

Saute a block of tofu (preferably Twin Oaks tofu), cubed, in some coconut oil.  Or bake it at 350 for 30 min or so.  You can saute it with onions and garlic.  And cubed potatoes and sweet potatoes.  Take all that mixture, which could have been baked and a t this point would be added to the onion mixture.  Add a half can or so of curry paste (I get it at a good Asian market, but you can find it, more expensive and in jars, at a regular supermarket).   More if you want it hotter.  Red or green.  One is supposed to be hotter than the other but I make everything super hot (unless I have guests) so I can't really tell.  Add a can of coconut milk and enjoy watching it turn red or green.  Add a couple of tbs of vegetarian fish sauce and a couple of tbs of sugar/sweetener.  Let taht simmer for a bit, then add some frozen peas or green beans (or fresh, just let them cook longer of course).  Add fresh chopped cilantro when almost finished cooking.

No. 5, from Geoffrey.  Great idea for a basic vegetable soup, including making the stock.  I love this idea.  Been a while since I've done it, but I look forward to doing it again!

Gee, I'd just go for a simple vegetable soup. First I'd make a soup stock. Brad, that's easy. Get good tasting water, some salt, pepper, your favorite herbs (you can use some of mine) plenty of veggies you like but not tubers, chop 'em up, boil 'em down for around 4 or 5 hours in a 5 qt pot or so, occasionally adding water to keep it from going dry. Then let it get to about half height or a little more. Filter it through a colander or cheese cloth an squeeze out some more juice. That's your stock. (If you want sweet, put in a beet or two also but carrots, onions and garlic add sweetness).

Adding any veggies to it, including potatoes, in part or whole, for the soup, with about equal parts water, cooking it day of for an hour or two and you should have a nice vegetable soup. Add noodles if you want 10 or so minutes before it's done. 

Your stock can be kept in the freezer in gallon bags and you can take it out one at a time to have stock for many months to make soup.

Of course, I do this with chicken but you'd not want to do that.

No, I don't.  :-)

And No. 4, from Rob.  If I were invited to eat with any two people, my choices would be with Rob and Gina.  Not only for the friendship and quality of conversation, but they are incredible cooks!

Masala Dal

Cuisine: Indian
Serves: 4 people

Recipe Ingredients

1 1/2 cups	355ml	Yellow split peas
1/3 teaspoon	1.7ml	Turmeric
2 teaspoons	10ml	Salt
1/2 cup	118ml	Ghee
1 tablespoon	15ml	Cumin seeds
1 1/2 cups	93g / 3.3oz	Finely chopped onions
1/4 teaspoon	1.3ml	Red pepper
2 tablespoons	30ml	Chopped coriander leaves

Recipe Instructions

Wash peas well. Place in a bowl, cover with hot water and let sit for an hour. Drain. Place in a large pot, add 4 1/2 cups water and throw in the turmeric. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium low, partially cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove from heat, beat with a wire whisk until the mixture is finely pureed. Stir in salt and set aside. When ready to serve, simmer puree over low heat until piping hot. Heat ghee in a skillet over medium high heat. When very hot, add cumin seeds and fry for 10 seconds. Lower heat, add onions and fry for 20 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Stir in red pepper and immediately pour in to the puree. Garnish with coriander. Serve with a potato dish, rice and bread.

Another one from Gina. Wow.  I'm going to be eating really great!  Number 3.

Here is another all time favorite. 
Indian Black-Eyed Peas Stew: 

1/2 pound black-eyed peas -- soaked overnight
4 cups water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon cardamom seeds (taken out of the pods as)
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 
1 medium to large onion chopped
4 cloves garlic -- finely chopped
1 14oz can of diced tomatoes (don't drain!)
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice. Bottled is fine

Drain the soaking water. Bring the beans and 4 cups fresh water to a boil. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes or until the beans are tender. 
Meanwhile, put the oil in a frying-pan and set over medium-high heat. 
When hot, put in the cardamom seeds and cinnamon. Let sizzle for5 -6
seconds. Add the onions and garlic and stir and fry until the onion
pieces turn brown at the edges. 

Now add the tomatoes, ground coriander, cumin, turmeric and cayenne 
to the frying pan. Stir and cook for a minute. Cover, turn heat to low 
and let this mixture cook for 5 minutes. 

Add the contents of the frying pan to the beans and water mixture. Add 
the salt and black pepper. Stir to mix and bring to a simmer. Simmer, 
uncovered, on medium-low heat until the beans are cooked just right. 
Stir occasionally. Add more water if needed. Add the lemon juice a 
little before it's done. Serve with bread to soak up the juice.

11/20/2013

Another one of the 10.  From my friend Gina, care of Madhur Jaffrey.  I know it'll be one of the 10 because everything she (Gina) does is first rate.

Just made this.  I used frozen spinach, two 12 oz bags, so it is wonderfully spinach-y. I used coconut oil for the saute. When sauteing the onion and garlic, I put in a whole jalapeno, chopped.  Glad I did--this is wonderfully hot.  I know Gina really likes the taste of jalapeno, and so do I.  Then I put in some frozen carrots before the last simmer, as much for color as anything.  but they also have a really nice sweetness. Yep, this one is in the rotation.

I served it over basmati, first time I've had basmati in a while.  Forgot just how special it is!

This is an old tried and true I make all the time. I just use a package of frozen spinach. I bet it's really good with fresh turnip greens or maybe even mustard greens. 

Lentils with Spinach:
1-1/4 pounds fresh or frozen leaf spinach 
1 medium-sized onion, peeled 
5 T. vegetable oil 
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced 
1 cup dried lentils, picked over, washed, and drained 
1-1/2 to 1-3/4 t. salt 
1 t. ground cumin seeds 
1/8 t. freshly ground black pepper 
Separate the fresh spinach leaves and wash well. Do not discard the pinkish roots. Wash them as well. (They will taste very good when cooked.) Bunch up a few leaves at a time and cut them crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide strips. Cut each root into 2 to 3 pieces. If using frozen spinach, cook according to directions, drain and chop coarsely. 

Cut the onion in half lengthwise, and then cut the halves into fine half rings. 

Heat the oil in a heavy, wide, casserole-type pot over a medium flame. When hot, put in the onion and garlic. Stir and sauté for 2 minutes. Now put in the lentils and 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat and simmer about 25 minutes or until lentils are just tender. Add the spinach leaves and roots, salt, and cumin. Stir to mix and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer another 10 to 15 minutes or until spinach is tender and well-mixed into the lentils. Stir gently a few times during this period. Put in the black pepper and mix again. This dish may easily be made ahead of time and reheated.
From World of the East Vegetarian Cooking" by Madhur Jaffrey

11/20/2013

So haven't posted in a while.  Thnking about food and health, and the relationship, as is common here.  Today I made a wonderful Indian rajma, or kidney bean stew.  Basically, I put a sliced jalapeno whole in the cooking water after soaking a cup of kidney beans overnight.  Then I cooked them until they were nice and still a bit al dente.  I sauteed some onion and garlic with cumin (whihc can take the immediate heat of sauteing in a way that other spices can't), then poured in the beans with their thickened liquid. I don't measure, but maybe a tbs of cumin.  (Not rounded though.)  Then added turmeric, coriander (tsp), cardamom (half tsp), cinnamon (quarter to half tsp), and a couple of tbs tomato paste.  Then just let that simmer for an hour, on very low heat, covered.  Oh, I added another jalapeno in with the sauteing onions and garlic.)  Twoard the end I added some frozen peas and carrots, for looks as much as anything.  I would have added a handful of chopped cilantro, but didn't have any.

Served over rice with turmeric and cayenne.  Heaven, right here in my house.

I want to put together 10 basic recipes for the coming winter that are vegan and healthy.  Just rotate them and that will be pretty much all I eat.

Thanks to the Hare Krishnas in Tallahassee, who many years ago taught me to use these spices well enough that I don't have to measure them.  They make it a lot easier to be vegan (which, by the way, I'm not, yet).

One recipe I have for my 10 is a basic Thai curry, using one of those cans of curry paste and coconut milk, with some (vegetarian) fish sauce.  I use the really good Twin Oaks tofu, which is to the stuff you get in supermarket what a free range chicken is to the ones from Tyson.  Try it if you can find it.  I saute that with sweet potato cubes, carrots, regular potatoes, and then add green beans.  This is pretty excellent. Cilantro at the end.

I don't do hummus regularly now, adn might have lost my skills, but my hummus used to be famous.  I will bake fresh bread through the winter, so one dish is just hummus on fresh bread.  I usually eat the whole loaf (not at one time!) with butter, but that's not vegan. Need to get some of the Earth Balance stuff.  Or jsut use olive oil with some balsamic and herbs.