Curried Carrot Ginger Soup

Tags

carrot, curry, food, foodie, garbanzo, Garbanzo beans, ginger, meal, onion, recipe, soup, vegetarian, yogurt sauce

I’ve stated many times before that Hubster is not a soup fan. I however cannot get enough of it, especially during the snow squalls and is bitter cold. The restaurant where I worked during grad school served a ginger carrot soup that was sweetened with brown sugar. However, I believe that carrots are sweet enough as if and need a lil’ added kick.

Curried Carrot Ginger Soup

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. butter, 1 small onion diced, 5 large carrots (peeled and chopped), 2 Tbsp. grated ginger, 1 Tbsp. minced garlic, 1 c. cooked garbanzo beans, 1 c. vegetable stock, 1 c. coconut milk, 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice, 1 tsp. curry, fresh ground sea salt,  fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:
At the bottom of a pot, sauté onions in butter. Add garlic, ginger, curry, salt, pepper and warm. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Blend soup in high power blender. Garnish you chopped cilantro, yogurt sauce, curried pecans, and/or red pepper flakes.

Notes:
I look forward to trying yellow carrots in this recipe, one I grow my own.
For Hubster, I added chunks of chicken and many curried pecans to curb his meat cravings.
For a vegan version just swap in olive oil for the butter.

What soup has warmed you up recently?

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Minestrone

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carrots, celery, Garbanzo beans, minestrone, recipe, red kidney beans, shell pasta, soup, tomatoes, vegetable soup, vegetarian, vegetarian recipe, vegetarian soup, zucchini

Hubster asks how can I eat hot soup in the summer? With fresh vegetables at fingertips length, how can you not make a minestrone?

The zucchini was fresh from my neighbor’s garden.

Minestrone

Ingredients:
2 zucchini, 4 carrots, 3 celery stalks, 3 tomatoes, 2 c. dark red kidney beans, 2 c. garbanzo beans, 1 bag fresh spinach, 2, Tbsp., butter, 3 Tbsp. minced onions, 1 tsp. dried sage, 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp. thyme, pepper, salt, 1/2 lb. small shells, 6 c. water

Directions:
Dice the tomatoes, chop celery and slice carrots. Sauteé vegetables with butter. Add minced onions, herbs, bay leaves, salt, pepper and water and bring to a boil. Cut zucchini into half moons. Remove bay leaves and add zucchini and spinach to soup and continue to slowly boil until zucchini is tender. Add beans and pasta and boil for 10 minutes.

Top with fresh grated pecorino romano cheese and serve hot.

Serve with homemade crackers or bread. Mmm…

What hot dishes do you still like to enjoy during the summer?

Beans & BPAs?

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bean recipe, beans, bulk beans, canned beans vs. dried beans, chick peas, dried beans, dried beans vs. canned beans, Garbanzo beans, how to cook dried beans, kidney beans, recipe

Canned Bean Convenience for Dried Bean Benefits
My mother always cooked dried beans for her recipes. They taste better than the ones that come in a can and they have no added sodium. The canned beans are very easy and practical and when I make a recipe (with calls for beans) on a whim, canned were easier. Until Melissa d’Arabian gave a great tip: Cook the beans when you get home from the supermarket and freeze them in zipper bags, you can divide them into portion sizes you prefer (I think 2 cups = one can). The beans are then already cooked and ready to pop into your favorite recipes. Apparently my mom and my sister already knew this, but no one filled me in on the trick.

Dried Beans

My first attempt to cook beans was a mess, the package instructions must have been jumbled during the English translation. Now, I think I got the hang of it.

How to Cook Dried Beans:
Rinse and sort dried beans. Cover with several inches of water. Bring to a boil and allow to cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let soak for about 3 hours. Drain and rinse beans. Add fresh water (about 2 inches above beans), 2 bay leaves, minced garlic or minced onions to beans and bring to a boil. Cook beans on a slow boil for about 2 hours. Drain beans and prepare for recipe.

Five Reasons to go Dry

1. Better flavor

2. Less sodium

3. No preservatives

4. No BPAs       So we all know that plastic water bottles and such contain BPAs, so it’s best to get a BPA free reusable bottle. Until recently I didn’t know that tin cans have a lot of BPAs in them.

5. Save money

What is your favorite bean recipe?

How about Ham & Three Bean Soup, Chick Pea Curry, or White Bean Brownies.

Chick Pea and Cauliflower Curry

Tags

cauliflower, chick peas, curry, curry vegetables, ethnic, ethnic cooking, ethnic cuisine, Ethnic Food, Garbanzo beans, Indian cuisine, Indian food, tomato, vegetarian, vegetarian recipe

The past few weeks I’ve been on a hiatus due to a much-needed vacation. Originally, I planned to leave a few posts in the queue, but pre-vacation preparations left me with very little time. Also, since I seem to be the queen of camera trouble, my camera battery is completely drained, I have to order a new one, so it may be a while until I have more photos. At least my parents are visiting for a few days, and they’ve been kind enough to share their camera with me. So this month is lacking in posts…

I have a new Butter Chicken recipe I’ve meant to try, but there’s just not enough time to prep it the night before so it can marinate. At a new supermarket I found Butter Sauce in a jar, and thought I’d give it a whirl. Unfortunately, it wasn’t what I was hoping. It serves me right for not making it myself. I served it with seasoned lentils over rice, chick pea and cauliflower curry and puppodums.

The winner of the night was my chick pea and cauliflower curry. My curry vegetables were delicious! My recipe below is an estimate, since I usually eye things better than measuring them, when first creating a recipe.

Chick Pea & Cauliflower Curry, Butter Chicken, Rice with Lentils

Chick Pea and Cauliflower Curry Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. butter, 1 Tbsp. minced onions, 2 tsp. ground ginger, 1 Tbsp. ground cumin, 2 large tomatoes, 1 can Garbanzo beans, 1 bag frozen cauliflower, 2 Tbsp. curry powder, 1 Tbsp. tomato paste, 1 c. water

Chick Pea and Cauliflower Curry Directions:
Over medium-low heat, melt butter with ginger and cumin and soften onions. Cut tomatoes into thin strips and add to butter. Allow tomatoes to completely soften (about 8 minutes). Add cauliflower, chicken peas, tomato paste, curry powder, and water. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer covered for 15 minutes. Serve hot.

*If you like it spicier, add more cumin.

There were no leftovers of my curry. I didn’t get my fill, I might make another batch tonight.

What is your favorite curry dish?

CousCous Curried Chicken

Tags

chick peas, chicken, chicken curry, CousCous, cumin, curry, dinner, edible violets, ethnic, ethnic cooking, ethnic cuisine, Ethnic Food, Garbanzo beans, recipe

Last night was the first night all year, that Hubster and I both got to come home from school at the same time. He’s working on his final projects for his graduate courses and took a few days off of his extra-curricular jobs (today will be the only other day we have this time). We finally get to enjoy dinner together at a reasonable time… I decided to play around with a new recipe.

Curried Chicken, Cauliflower, Chick Peas with CousCous

Ingredients:
2 c. dry CousCous, 1 Tbs. butter, 2 Tbsp. olive oil, 1 lb. chicken thighs, 1 (16 oz.) bag frozen cauliflower, 1 (15 oz.) can Garbanzo beans, 4 tsp. vegetable bouillon, 1 Tbs. curry powder, 1 Tbs. ground cumin, fresh picked edible violets

Directions:
Cut chicken into chunks. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken until no longer pink, do not drain juices. Add cauliflower, Garbanzo beans, 1/2 the bouillon, curry, cumin and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or so. Bring 2 c. water, butter and remaining bouillon to a boil. Remove from heat, stir in CousCous and cover. Let stand 5 minutes then fluff with a fork.

To Serve:
Place 1 c. cooked CousCous on plate, spoon curry mixture on top. Garnish with fresh violets.

Curry is one of my favorite spices to use.

What is your favorite spice to cook with?