Ok, so I’m a huge fan of soup. I love eating it. I’d eat it every day. However, I’ve always felt like there are not enough soup options out in the public for people like me. Sure there are plenty of delicious vegetarian soups out there especially if you live in a big city, but I’ll bet that the majority of — let’s just single out a common one — potato soup for example served in restaurants across the States include bacon or ham, and most likely a chicken stock. And what about the “veggie” minestrone soups with little beef shreds floating around in a beef stock? None of this matters though to a girl like me because every one of those soups are prepared with onions! Yes, you’ll have an extremely difficult time finding a soup prepared by someone else that excludes onions completely. Even if they didn’t put onions directly in the soup pot, the stock they used was surely prepared with them. So, if you’re sensitive to onions you’ll know they’re in there and you’ll regret having it — even if it tasted wonderful. Luckily for me I know to avoid soups outside of home and I happen to love preparing it myself anyway. So, my life will never lack soup… and today I’d like to share a bit of cauliflower magic with you…

Just the other day I was craving a cauliflower soup, we haven’t had one all year. I wanted it to be creamy, a little cheesy, and subtly curried. I came up with a recipe that was exactly that. I usually think my soups turn out to be pretty tasty, but this one… I’m still thinking about how delicious it was. It was a perfect comfort soup on a cold February night. We dipped peasant bread in it too, even better ;)

Ingredients used:

1 average head of cauliflower, when chopped about 5 heaping cups
6 cups vegetable broth
1 celery stalk
2 big carrots divided
1 heaping cup chopped mushrooms
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 heaping cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Begin by preparing all of your ingredients.  Measure out your spices and salt. Chop the cauliflower into small pieces, 1 carrot, and celery. You can wait to cut the other carrot and the mushrooms if you want, they will be added after the soup is blended.

In a large soup pot splash about a tablespoon of olive oil and heat over medium heat. Add turmeric and cumin seeds, and salt. Once the cumin seeds begin to brown toss in the asafoetida, stir the spice blend together and add the 6 cups of vegetable stock to the pot. Add carrots and celery, bring to a boil. Add cauliflower and simmer for about 20-25 minutes or until all ingredients are soft and ready to be blended. During the simmer prepare the carrot and mushroom pieces, chop them to a comfortable size to spoon up in the soup.

Blend with an immersion blender or a regular blender if that’s what you have. Create a smooth blended consistency and taste for spice adjustments.  Add vegetables and cook until they are how you like them. I prefer them to be a little firm, but not quite crunchy. Slowly stir in a heaping cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese, mix until well combined.  Ladle into soup bowls and enjoy with your favorite bread.

A soup made with ingredients on hand; this hearty lentil stew is a warm and filling meal perfect in the cold months of Chicago’s winter. The recipe can easily be modified to fit whatever the ingredients you have and is designed with leftovers in mind.  Made for two tonight with plenty for tomorrow’s lunch.

Recipe :
1 1/2 cup lentils soaked for at least an hour
8 cups vegetable stock
2 large carrots chopped
1 stalk celery chopped
5 cups kale (bite sized pieces)
1 tablespoon chopped jalapeño
1 1/2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida
1 teaspoon turmeric

Sort through the lentils making sure that there are no foreign objects  in the mix (stones or anything else you wouldn’t want in your soup), rinse thoroughly. Pre-soak the lentils for about an hour or more, this will allow them to soak up some water and soften up a bit before you add them to the soup.

Prepare your ingredients; chop the carrots, celery, and mince the jalapeños. Remove the stems from the kale and tear the leaves into bite size pieces.

Warm your soup pot over medium heat with a splash of olive oil, add jalapeños and fry for a moment. Toss in black mustard seeds and cook until they begin to pop, add cumin, turmeric, & asafoetida. Once cumin seeds begin to brown, add vegetable broth. Be careful, as the pot is hot; it will steam and hiss as the stock pours in.

Add lentils and bring to a boil for 5-10 minutes. Include carrots and celery and return to a boil. Add kale and simmer until all ingredients are cooked to the desired tenderness. Salt to taste and enjoy.

Week 4 of our organic produce delivery was delivered on September 2, 2009.  The contents of the box included – 1 head of broccoli, 1 large local beet, 2 local cucumbers, 3 local nectarines, grapes, 3 local apples, 5 carrots, 2 bananas, 1 local green pepper, green leaf lettuce, and local kale.

That night we decide to make a simple improv meal with a main course using mung beans, carrots from our box, and serrano peppers from our garden.

Ingredients used : 1 cup whole mung beans, 3 cups of sliced carrots, 2 serrano peppers, 2 teaspoons black mustard seeds, 2 teaspoons cumin seeds, 1/8 teaspoon asafetida, kosher salt to taste.

Begin with cooking the mung beans; cooking time will vary if you are using split mung beans.  We used whole mung beans.  Bring 1 cup of mung beans in 3 cups of water with a dash of salt to a boil, covered and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour until the water is absorbed and the mung beans are tender.

In the meantime prepare the rest of your ingredients.  Peel and slice your carrots into thin rounds, seed and slice your serrano peppers and have your spices ready.  We used 2 serrano peppers from our garden; they were extremely spicy and I was not sure if adding both would be give much heat, but combined with the rest of the ingredients it was not very spicy at all. I would consider adding more next time.

Once your mung beans are ready start cooking your vegetables.  In a large wok over medium heat add a splash of olive oil, add one serrano pepper and 2 teaspoons of black mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds begin to pop add cumin seeds, asafetida, and 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt.  Stir in carrots and the other serrano and cook slightly until desired tenderness.  Add cooked mung beans, salt to taste and eat.

This meal was made on the fly; it was tasty and very filling.  Mung beans are a hearty addition to any meal, they can take the place of rice or be used in addition.