Soup Time - Indian Inspired Potato-Chard Stew

Since it is still cold here,

(I know.... it's California, but when it rains, it is cold....to us!)

we are still eating a lot of soup. And for those of you that know me, you know I LOVE my soups. This soup recipe was modified from Toni Fiore's book Totally Vegetarian. If you haven't seen this book, you should at least check it out from the library and see what's there. I have raved about Toni Fiore before - but, I do love the fact that 1) she makes killer vegan food, 2) it's fast and easy - and I usually have everything to make her dishes in my fridge - which means no special trips to the store just to try a recipe, and 3) she's Italian!! :) Not that the Italian part matters all that much, but she does put an Italian spin on A LOT of vegan dinners. The best thing about her food is that you.will.not.miss.the.meat. With my non-vegan Mr. No-No, that is something I love.

I modified this recipe slightly because I didn't want it to be too spicy for my little Miss No-No. This recipe is great because it's slightly spicy, slightly Indian-inspired, and so creamy that it's hard to believe that it is truly vegan (but, believe me, it is!). BTW - the creamy goodness comes from the coconut milk (which, I believe, would temper a pinch of cayenne a bit, if you added it for extra kick).

Toni Fiore's (slightly modified) Potato-Chard Stew

2 - 3 T olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

salt

1 medium sweet potato, cut into 2-in pieces

1/4 red pepper (raw), diced

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1/2 T ginger, grated

1/2 t ground coriander

1/4 t turmeric

1/2 can (full fat) coconut milk

1 bunch of swiss chard (center stems removed), chopped

1/2 lime, juiced and rind grated (and reserved)

chopped cilantro, for garnish

In a saucepan heated over medium-high, add oil. Add onions and sprinkle with a little bit of salt to make them sweat. Cook, stirring constantly, until translucent, approx 7 minutes. Add potato, pepper, garlic, ginger, and spices and cook, stirring, for 1 - 2 minutes. Add coconut milk and approx 1 cup of water and boil. Immediately, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add swiss chard and cook until wilted, approx. 10 minutes. Serve soup in deep bowls with a bit of lime juice, some grated rind, and a sprinkling of cilantro or parsley.

I took this to work the next day for lunch and it was still deeeelicious! :) 

Miss No-No also found this soup to be delicious with bread to dip into it!

Thanks to everyone for their comments on my last post. Turns out that Catherine from Our Village is a Little Different likes Target, too - for all their little gifts that she can get for her little ones! :)

What are your favorite kinds of soups? What other kinds of things do you usually serve to your family when the weather is cold and rainy?

Stay warm!

More later! :)

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Soup Time - Curried Lentil

It has been coooooldd!!! brrr!

We made a Curried Lentil Soup to warm up! I was worried about this soup, I will admit. Mr. NoNo does NOT like anything - and I mean anything - with curry...I only made half of this recipe, but next time, I will make the whole 10 serving pot! It was delicious.

I got the recipe from the PCRM website - they have a lot of information on keeping kids and families safe, healthy, and happy! I modified the recipe slightly, just so that I could make this quickly on a weeknight.

Curried Lentil Soup
Makes 2-1/2 quarts or 10 1-cup servings

1 cup dry lentils, rinsed

1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced

4 garlic cloves, mined

1/2 tsp ground cumin
8 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup dry couscous
1 cup crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
salt to taste
handful of baby spinach, optional

In your pressure cooker, combine lentils, cumin, and broth. Bring up to pressure and cook until the lentils are slightly soft, approx 12 minutes. (You will continue cooking, so don't over cook the lentils right now!)
In a saute pan, combine onion, celery, and garlic and saute for 5 - 10 minutes, until the onion is translucent and soft.
Once the lentils are ready, quickly de-pressurize by running the cooker under cool water in your sink. Dry the pan off and put on the stove top. Over medium heat, stir in cooked onion mixture, couscous, tomatoes, curry powder, and black pepper. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the couscous and lentils are tender. Salt, if needed.
To up the nutrient content a bit, I added in some fresh baby spinach into the bottom of each bowl and then added the soup on top, stirring the soup and spinach to let the heat of the soup wilt the spinach a little.
It was warm and filling!
More later!! :)

Quick Middle Eastern Dinner

We went to Vegas over Labor Day Weekend! Yay! I am still in my vacation mode, so dinners during the week after had to be quick and easy, but good tasting!!! :) I found this recipe here and decided to adapt it a little bit and then test/taste it out. It came out great and even my non-Middle Eastern-food-loving Mr. No-No enjoyed it. It's called Enjedra and it's quick and easy, especially if you have the brown rice (instead of couscous) already made. Additionally, it's really made with spinach, but I had fresh, organic Swiss Chard so I steamed that up and used it instead. This is how I made it for maximum quick-ness on a busy weeknight. I made it for three, but next time, I will make it for six and freeze the leftovers for easy lunches.

Enjedra

1/2 onion, diced
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tsp ground cumin
3/4 Tsp salt
2/3 cup dried whole wheat couscous
1/2 cup dried red lentils
1 bunch Swiss chard, or other greens, roughly chopped

Take diced onion and put into a dry skillet over medium heat, sprinkle cumin and salt over and stir to mix well. Let cook for a minute or two and then add olive oil and cook over medium/medium low heat until onions begin to brown / caramelize. (I let them go until they were dry and the added a little bit of water and let them go a bit longer).
Meanwhile, heat up water for the greens, couscous, and the lentils (yes, three more sauce pans - sounds like  a lot, but everything is done at once and makes it easier). In the saucepan for the couscous, add broth powder (or use broth instead of water). When the water comes to a boil, add lentils in one pan and simmer over low heat - the lentils will need to cook for approximately 20 minutes total (If you use brown lentils, the dish comes out just as good, but will need to cook for a minimum of 45 minutes). In a pan fitted with a steamer basket, add the chopped greens and cover to steam. In the last pan, add the couscous, cover, and turn the heat off.
When the onions are ready, drain some water off the lentils and pour over the onions. Turn the heat to low, cover and simmer for about 10 more minutes, adding water when/if needed.
To serve: fluff the couscous with a fork and put on a plate (in a circle form), put the onion/lentil mixture over the couscous (making another circle, smaller then the first so that the couscous can be seen), and then cover with greens on top creating a small tower.

More later! :)

Indian Dinner

Made a cool Indian style dinner this week, again from EatingWell.com - I am so impressed with this website (and shocked that I didn't discover it sooner). Everything we have had so far has been delicious - even SN has commented on how good the food is, including the recipes here - and everything is quick and easy to make. I think that most things can be made in 1/2 an hour or 40 minutes which is cool. This week, I prepped and pre-made nearly everything ahead of time (on Sunday), so dinners have been hassle free and easy during the week (ahhhh! reminds me of the way I USED to be organized with dinners and meal planning).  So the Indian-style Dinner started off with an Indian Stew (I made a few modifications - adding in zucchini and two kinds of potatoes, I have to say the fingerling potatoes worked better than the red potatoes, and extra water, used fresh tomatoes instead of canned and used regular carrots (and extras) in place of the baby carrots. We had it with brown rice and the Insalata Mista (is that Indian???) - again with a few modifications - extra Vegan mayo and soymilk with a little lemon juice instead of buttermilk. The dressing was easy - Miss M whisked it together while I got the carrots ready to throw on the top. Delicious and quick!

More later!   :)