Monday, September 26, 2011

Roasted Eggplant Soup - A link

I haven't been as diligent as I should be the past couple of weeks; extended work schedules and out of town trips have sabotaged a lot of my cooking and produce-buying plans. But I hope to update with a couple of recipes soon.

Meanwhile, some links instead.

Roasted Eggplant Soup, from Smitten Kitchen, adapted from Bon Appetit. I further adapted this by omitting the cream (which is totally uncharacteristic of me, but once I smelled the soup and saw its texture I felt cream was entirely unnecessary), serving with feta rather than goat cheese, and adding a handful of Israeli couscous to make it a little more like a main dish soup. The couscous got mixed reviews: my husband felt it made the dish, but I was never quite convinced and would like to try the soup without. Still, a really flavorful dinner soup. My only complaint is that the eggplant seeds caused some texture issues, but I think that's more about the age of my eggplant than the quality of the recipe.

Also, if you've never been to Fat Free Vegan Kitchen, head over and search her recipes. I can't single out one to highlight right now because there are so many I've tried over the last several years. I don't think I've disliked any of them.

Ta-ta for now. I'll try to post my Cold Taco Salad recipe in a few days!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Curried Butternut Soup

It finally rained this week for the first time in I don't know how long. I was so excited I nearly went out and danced in it. The temperature plummeted and the rain came down for two days straight, and Alabama is green again for a little while.

In honor of the weather I made soup. My recent discovery of the yummy lentils, butternut squash and pear combo -- along with the fact that I had fresh pears and squash from the farmers' market Saturday -- made it easy to decide what kind of soup to make. A few years ago I fell in love with this recipe for Gingery Sweet Potato Soup, and my curried butternut builds on it.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup
3 TB oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground clove
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp cayenne
2 small butternut squash, peeled, seeds and pulp removed, cubed
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 medium pear, peeled, cored and chopped (could easily use more)
5C vegetable broth
1/4C dry lentils
2/3C coconut milk

Saute onion and garlic in oil until onion is translucent. Add spices and stir to coat. Saute for about 30 seconds more.
Add squash, sweet potato, pear, vegetable broth, and lentils. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer until vegetables are tender - took me about 20 minutes.
Remove in batches to blender or food processor (or use immersion blender) and process until smooth. (I left some chunks in mine for texture.
Add coconut milk and heat through. Serve immediately with warm, crusty bread and salad.

That's good stuff.