Corn and Cilantro Chowder

Corn and Cillantro Chowder (no cream)
* recipe adapted from summer harvest chowder recipe in Rebar Modern Food Cookbook
* photo from unknown source

Ingredients:

• 8 cups vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp olive oil or butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 tsp salt
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 4 small red potatoes, diced
• 3 jalapeno peppers, diced (optional)
• 2 red peppers, diced
• 4 cups corn fresh or frozen (about 3 cans of corn)
• 3 ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• fresh lime juice to taste
• 1/2 cup chopped basil or 3 tbsp of pesto

* optional - top with bacon bits

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil or butter in a soup pot and saute onion with 1 tsp salt, until soft and golden. Add garlic,cracked pepper, oregano and half of the basil; saute 5 minutes. Stir in potatoes, jalapenos, red pepper, corn and remaining salt. Saute briefly, then add stock to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender.
2. Add tomatoes, remaining basil and cilantro. Heat through, season to taste and serve.

lentil soup

Lentil Soup
*photo from 101cookbooks
 recipe adapted from 101 cookbooks

4 cups of vegetable or mushroom broth
2 cups of water
2 cups green french lentils
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 cups water 
3 cups of a big leafy green (chard, kale, etc), rinsed well, deveined, finely chopped

Bring 4 cups of broth and 2 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan, add the lentils, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until tender. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a heavy soup pot over medium heat, then add the onion and salt and saute until tender, a couple minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, lentils, and water and continue cooking for a few more minutes, letting the soup come back up to a simmer. Stir in the chopped greens, and wait another minute. Taste and adjust the seasoning if need be. Ladle into bowls, and serve with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream.

Variations:

- You can serve it with a poached egg on top,
- or crunchy, fried shallots,
- with a drizzle of chive infused cream,
- or with chunks of tiny pan-fried butternut squash cubes.

- Make a thicker version by using just a bit of water, and then spoon it over an omelette in the morning.

- Have some cooked farro or wheat berries around? Toss some faro, wheat berries or millet might be good too.

- You can finish the soup by adding your favorite spices or spice blends. Smoked paprika, crushed chiles, toasted cumin, would all work nicely.

Coconut Red Lentil Soup

Coconut Red Lentil Soup

* Picture from 101 cookbooks

* Recipe adapted from 101 cookbooks

1 cup yellow split peas


1 cup red split lentils

7 cups / 1.6 liters water


1 medium carrot, cut into 1/2-inch dice


2 tablespoons fresh peeled and minced ginger


2 tablespoons curry powder


2 tablespoons butter 


8 green onions (scallions), thinly sliced


1/3 cup golden raisins chopped

156 ml  tomato paste
 (or one mini can)

1 14-ounce can coconut milk


2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt

2 tbsp honey

1 ½ cup cooked quinoa

1 can of diced tomatoes (398 ml)

one small handful cilantro, chopped

cooked brown rice or farro, for serving (optional)

Give the split peas and lentils a good rinse - until they no longer put off murky water. Place them in an extra-large soup pot, cover with the water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add the carrot and 1/4 of the ginger. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the split peas are soft.

In the meantime, in a small dry skillet or saucepan over low heat, toast the curry powder until it is quite fragrant. Be careful though, you don't want to burn the curry powder, just toast it. Set aside. Place the butter in a pan over medium heat, add the green onions, the remaining ginger, and raisins. Saute for two minutes stirring constantly, then add the tomato paste and saute for another minute or two more.

Add the toasted curry powder to the tomato paste mixture, mix well, and then add this to the simmering soup along with the coconut milk, salt, honey, cooked quinoa, and diced tomatoes. Simmer, uncovered, for 40 minutes or so. The texture should thicken up, but you can play around with the consistency if you like by adding more water, a bit at a time, if you like. Or simmer longer for a thicker consistency.

You may enjoy big ladles of this soup over ~1/2 cup of warm farro or brown rice would be good as well. Sprinkle each bowl with cilantro and green onion.

Kabocha Squash French Lentil Soup

Kabocha Squash French Lentil Soup
*Photo from 101 Cookbooks
*Recipe adapted from 101 cookbooks

1 kabocha or buttercup squash 1 1/2 lb

1/2 cup water


1 tablespoon olive oil


2 tsp sea salt
(divided)

1 cup green lentils, rinsed


5 coins ginger, 1/8-inch thick


1 whole star anise


8 cups water


2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste


1/4 cup / 60 ml olive oil


1 yellow onion, medium dice


1 leek, sliced into

1/4 moons


1 fennel bulb, medium dice

1 tbsp cinnamon

2 tsp nutmeg

2 tbsp sugar

Sour cream (optional - topping)

Croutons *see below

Preheat oven to 425F, with the rack in the top third of the oven.

Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. Oil and salt the squash and roast cut side down (in a rimmed baking pan) with the 1/2 cup of water poured into the pan. Roast until tender, about 35 to 45 minutes. When cool enough, scoop out cooked squash and set aside.

In the meantime, in a medium saucepan, combine the lentils, ginger, star anise and water. Simmer until tender, about 30 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon salt.

In a large stockpot combine the olive oil, onion, leeks, fennel, cinnamon, nutmeg and 1 tsp salt. Cook covered over low heat until vegetables soften, about 7 - 10 minutes.

Remove the star anise and ginger coins from the lentil sauce pan, then add the lentils, lentil broth and squash to the vegetables in the stock pot. Add 2 tbsp sugar. Stir well and cook for another 15 minutes or so, allowing the flavors to blend. Taste and adjust the seasoning here with more salt / cinnamon/ sugar if needed.

Serve as is, or topped with sour cream and lots of garlicky homemade croutons.*

*For the croutons I simply rip up the remainder of a day-old loaf of bread into tiny shreds, douse it in olive oil, garlic, and a bit of salt, and toast it in the oven until golden and crunchy - set the oven to 375.

fall vegetable pesto soup

fall vegetable soup

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion 

2 leeks

5 garlic cloves

2 beets (roasted and sliced)

2 tomatoes (chopped)

1 1/2 cups of crushed tomatoes

1 apple (grated)

2 carrots (grated)

1 can of black beans

2 cups of cooked or canned lentils

3/4 cup of pesto or chopped basil leaves

4 cups of vegetable broth

2 cups of water

Salt and Pepper to taste

1) Slice beets in half and roast in a 350 F oven until tender (30-40 min). Cool, remove peel and dice.

2) Dice onion, garlic and leaks.  Saute in soup pot with 1 tbsp of oil.

3) On medium heat - Add diced beets, tomatoes and crushed tomatoes.

4) Add grated apple, grated carrots, black beans, lentils, pesto, vegetable broth ( I used organic mushroom broth).

5) Add salt and pepper to taste.

6) Add approximately 2 cups of water - assess consistency, add less if you would like a thicker soup.

7) Turn heat down to low and simmer for 30-45 minutes.

Thai chicken soup

Thai chicken soup
4.5 cups of coconut milk (3 cans)
6 cups of chicken stock
2 pieces of frozen galangal root (optional)
1 tbsp of grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp sugar
rind from 1 lime
3 tbsp thai red curry paste
1 lemongrass stalk (cut into 1 inch pieces)
3 cups of of shredded cooked chicken
3 cups of mushrooms
1/4 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
4 carrots, julienned or grated
2 red peppers, sliced thinly
2 cups of fresh cilantro, chopped
3 cups of cooked rice

In a large soup pot, bring coconut milk and stock to a boil.  Add galangal root, ginger, lemon juice, fish sauce, sugar, lime rind, thai red curry paste, and lemongrass.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Add chicken mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, red pepper, cilantro and rice.  Simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Taste and add more lemon juice, sugar, fish sauce, curry paste as needed.  Garnish with cilantro.

carrot fennel ginger soup

Carrot Fennel Ginger Soup
~ recipe by me

Olive oil
1 large fennel bulb (thinly sliced)
12 carrots (diced)
5 garlic cloves (sliced)
6 cups vegetable broth
1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice + pulp (2 oranges squeezed)
3/4 cup coconut milk
4 tbsp fresh ginger - grated
2 tbsp lemon juice
sea salt
pepper

In a large pot warm 2 tbsp of live oil over medium heat.  Add chopped fennel and stir until softened.  Stir in diced carrots and sliced garlic and cook for a few minutes.  Add vegetable broth, orange juice.  Cover and cook over medium heat for 25 minutes or until carrots are soft.
Remove from heat and puree with handheld blender or in food processor.  Once puréed put soup back on low heat and add coconut milk, ginger and lemon juice. Simmer for 10 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.