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.

I love soup! Whether it’s creamy, brothy, hardy, vegetable, lentil, or noodle, it most likely is nutritious and delicious. Within the past few years I have discovered just how lovely a hint of lemon can be in a soup. I notice it to be a common element in several of my top choice soups. Lately our local produce markets have had beautiful inexpensive bundles of asparagus available. We have been keeping a fresh stock of it at home and have been enjoying it in many meals. This asparagus lemon soup recipe is a must try; I have been making similar versions of it for a couple of years now and have never been disappointed. I think I’m finally ready to settle on this as the solid recipe, one to share.

2 lbs fresh asparagus (2 bundles)
5 cloves garlic crushed
¼ teaspoon asafoetida
4 cups vegetable broth divided

2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons salt
pepper to taste (about ½ teaspoon)

2 cups soy milk
1 cup yogurt
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

grated parmesan cheese and sour cream optional

• Prepare 4 cups vegetable broth.

• In a 4 quart soup pot, pour 1½ cups of the broth and set the rest (2½ cups) aside. Add crushed garlic, chopped asparagus, asafoetida, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until pieces are tender. The broth may not completely cover all of the asparagus, be sure to mix it up while simmering.

• Use a blender to puree the mixture until it’s completely smooth, take extra caution if you are blending it while hot; allow steam to escape.  Set aside.

• In the same pot melt butter over low heat, sprinkle flour, salt and pepper.  Stir continuously- do not let it brown or burn.  As you gradually add the flour to the butter it will become pasty and thick, add a small amount of the remaining stock to finish mixing the dry ingredients in.  Try to eliminate any flour lumps and include the rest of the broth.  Stir to a boil.  it will get thicker as it heats up.

• Stir in asparagus puree and soy milk.  mix together, add yogurt then lemon juice.

• Serve with a dollop of sour cream and parmesan cheese if you like.

Indian inspired foods and flavors are some of our favorites.  Samosas are an absolute treat; whenever I have the chance I order a few and love them!  So, why not make them at home? Experimenting with Indian flavors is definitely something we love to do at our house, whether we are making curries, breads, or snacks.  Samosas can be surprisingly easy especially if you make them as we do (and cheat a little bit). I think the hardest part of making authentic style samosas is rolling out the dough, so we skip that step to make it easier! The recipe varies from batch to batch as we add new and different amounts of flavor each time. I will post modified recipes as new variations are made. For now, try these delicious little snacks. The secret ingredients to our style are edamame and wonton wraps – that’s right, wonton wraps!

:: what you will need ::

4 cups potato cubed
2 cups edamame (just the bean)
1 pack of wonton skins (50-60)

2 tablespoons ghee
1 teaspoon minced ginger
3 fresh green chilies
(or 2-3 teaspoons chili paste)
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon asafoetida

1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon fenugreek
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon coriander powder

2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon salt

oil for deep frying

•Take time to prepare the ingredients before you start cooking. Peel and cube potatoes, boil until soft and drain.  Then, thaw and warm edamame and set both aside. Mince the ginger & chili; if you don’t have fresh green chilies you can substitute them with a chili paste (we often use this chili garlic sauce).   Measure out cumin & asafoetida.  In another small bowl measure out the powdered spices :: turmeric, fenugreek, cinnamon, & coriander.  Have the salt and water ready to go.  It’s always best to have all of this taken care of before you begin cooking to avoid feeling too rushed or missing ingredients, especially when you’re cooking with a lot of spices.

• Heat ghee in a large stir fry pan or whatever you have that will fit 6+ cups of ingredients.

•add chili and ginger, allow it to cook for a moment just until they begin to brown, add cumin and asafoetida and heat until the mixture is browned.

• Add powdered spices, then water and salt, stir together until spices are mixed.

• Add potatoes, stir, then add edamame.  Stir for about 3 minutes over medium heat. Cover with a lid over low heat stirring occasionally until all pieces are tender enough to mash.

• Cool slightly and mash until potatoes are broken down. I use a hand masher. Don’t worry about mashing the edamame completely.

• Fill wonton wraps, fold into triangular shape. Have a cup of water and a plate for your work surface. Set one wonton skin on the plate and scoop about a tablespoon of filling on to it closer to one corner. If the samosa has too much filling it will be more difficult to fold. Dip your finger in the water and run it along the edges of the wrap to help seal it. Fold diagonally into a triangle and press edges, crimp with fork for extra seal, fold edges over and crimp again to ensure that the samosa does not open while frying. I have also folded them like mini egg roles, which is a little bit easier to do, but the triangles are nice because the edges get a little crispy and they look more like samosas. I don’t have a pictured step by step right now, but I winged it the first time I tried and it worked out just fine… so, I know you can do it too!  The first couple might look sloppy, but you won’t know the difference once they’re fried!  You’ll have about 60 tries to get the hang of it ;)

• Deep-fry. I use a small pot so I don’t have to waste too much oil, fill it up about an inch and a half, enough to cover what you are frying. Heat the vegetable oil on high heat, test if it’s hot enough by throwing a corner piece of a wonton skin (from the one that accidentally ripped – you’ll probably have a couple of these) into the oil; it should fry up to the top and brown.

• Once it’s hot enough to fry use a slotted spoon or a utensil that will allow oil to drip through; be sure to choose one that will not melt and will not transfer heat to the handle. It will get very hot! Place the raw samosa on the utensil and lower it into the oil. I always leave the spoon in the oil underneath to minimize dripping hot oil as well as being cautious to not start a fire!

• Once the samosa turns brown you can remove it from the oil and place it on a plate or cookie sheet with paper towels to soak up extra grease.

• Because we use such a small pot to deep fry we can only fry about three at a time, by the time we get to the end most of them have cooled down.  This is why we put them on a cookie sheet, warm up in the oven before serving if desired.   Enjoy.