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I am so happy it's finally soup weather! Picked leeks and spuds for a vegan corn chowder and made enough to feed an army.

Potatoes are Kennebecs, which hold their texture extremely well in a soup
Recipe is here: https://veganhuggs.com/vegan-potato-leek-corn-chowder/ #veganhuggs

cauliflower and kale chowder

 All 6  of the orange cauliflowers matured at once (seemingly overnight!) and with a LOT of kale in the yarden, it was necessary to google kale + cauliflower and was happily surprised to  find a plethora of recipes that incorporate both veggies!


 I decided on kale  and cauliflower kale chowder from Tomato boots: http://www.tomatoboots.co/cauliflower-kale-chowder/



I had some homemade broth in the freezer ( I try to always have it in there just for this reason!) I added potatoes to thicken the chowder instead of using flour, and put the cauliflower in at the end with the kale as it cooks so quickly.  Served with some lime, green onion, cornchips and cheese, it is delicious!

I really love the orange colour of these 'Sunset' cauliflowers - seeds were purchased through West Coast Seeds: https://www.westcoastseeds.com/shop/vegetable-seeds/cauliflower-seeds/coloured-cauliflower-seeds/sunset-cauliflower-seeds/

back to work lunches!

I received this cookbook as a gift and have been waiting to get back to work so I can try some lunch recipes! The first recipe I'm trying is the Chimichurri Pumpkin Bowl:

This is the photo from the cookbook!

lots of cilantro and parsley go into the sauce:2 cloves garlic, 1/2 cup pepitas, 2 cups parsley and 1 cup cilantro, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 1\4 cup water, 1 Tbs olive oil, 1 tsp salt, 1\2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes.

I strained the sauce as it was a bit watery

my version! I used squash instead of pumpkin

I've had this cookbook for many years, and it's an old standby - I usually make the Greek lentil soup, but thought I'd try the pea soup for a change....

It is a nice, thick soup for a cold, Winter's day - I used some leeks from the garden!

My garlic didn't grow very well this year - next best thing is buying organic, locally grown wonderful garlic - I got these from the store down the street:http://thelocalgeneralstore.ca/

adding some roasted beets makes......

A gorgeous pink hummus!!!

 

 

This week's lunches will help make going back to work more pleasant. I will be sharing the pink hummus so we'll all have garlic breath together!

fall colours

Fall colours for borscht! just picked veggies make the best soup

First fennels of the summer

 First Fennels of the Summer

 Homegrown coriander seeds

 Fresh bay leaves

 

 The Bay tree loves the heat!

 Broccoli leaves

Fennel soup made with red lentils: http://www.sonisfood.com/2013/04/lentilcabbage-and-fennel-soup-indian-inspired.html

New Year's Day Soup: Quinoa Corn Chowder

There are a few hardy leeks suriving the cold out in the veggie patch - so I decided to gather up a few and make a chowder for New Year's Day - this is a vegan chowder, but you could use regular milk, if you like. Recipe is from the Vegetarian Times -( you can sign up for their weekly recipe which will be sent directly to your email !) http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/9694?section= I also like to add fresh rosemary to most soups I make - rosemary makes almost everything taste amazing! and it is another one of those herbs (along with sage and thyme) that make it through our relatively mild winters. I didn't use the quinoa I grew for this recipe, as it is very bitter, and needs a day to soak. I am going to sit by the fire, read seed catalogues and eat this hearty, quinoa corn chowder - may your gardening year be fruitful and fantastic!

Thrifty, Hearty King Tut Soup

The King Tut peas from Annapolis seeds http://www.annapolisseeds.com/index.html were made into a hearty soup this afternoon - these peas are green when picked, but turn brown as they dry - they give a marvelous peppery flavour to soup but they take much longer to cook than regular split peas. They took about 2hours. This is what Annapolis says about the King Tut pea: "One of the most unique peas I’ve grown. Tall, striking plants produce pink flowers followed by short purple pods filled with large tan peas. Plants need support as they grow up to five feet. A dry pea that looks somewhat raisin-like when dry and is great used whole in soups." 2 cups of peas produced about 8 cups of soup ~ a very thrifty dinner with a few garlic croutons thrown on top. This is the recipe I used: http://www.theveggietable.com/recipes/splitpeasoup.html I did add some thyme and basil leaves, and garnished with a little olive oil and paprika.

Fall Garden Soup

Picked the last of the Kuri Squash and made a roasted veg and bean soup - the beans are dried Stevenson's Blue-eyed beans from Annapolis seeds - threw in some leeks, garden tomatoes, fresh herbs, and chopped kale. http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/kale_and_roasted_vegetable_soup/

Harira

This is a vegetarian version of Harira, a lentil and chickpea Moroccan soup usually made to break the fast at Ramadan. I made this soup in order to use up some stewed, frozen tomatoes I'd made at the end of the Summer. The recipe is from "Bountiful Vegan: Soups and Stews for Every Time of the Year" by Nava Atlas: 2 T. olive oil 1 large onion, finely chopped 3 celery stalks, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 3/4 cup dried brown lentils 1 tsp turmeric 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp freshly grated ginger 1/2 tsp cinnamon 6 cups of water or veg broth 2 cups tomatoes one 16 oz. can chickpeas rinsed and drained juice of 1/2 lemon(slice remainder for garnish) 1/4 cup chopped parsley or more to taste salt and pepper heat the oil and sautee the onions 5 minutes, then add celery and garlic to saute until the onions are golden. Add lentils, spices and water. Bring to a rapid simmer, then lower the heat to simmer gently until the lentils are just tender, about 30 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and chickpeas. Adjust the consistency with more water if needed, and adjust the spices to taste. Simmer for 15 mins longer over very low heat. Stir in the lemon juice and parsley, season with salt and pepper. garnish with lemon slices. So put on your Berber dress and enjoy your soup!

Rainy day comfort food

It's a gray, rainy day - perfect for making soup! I have a couple of tomatoes, Thai Dragon peppers, fresh thyme and oregano and some coriander seeds from the garden, plus the last 2, precious bulbs of Sooke grown garlic to use - I'm making a roasted garlic and squash soup with tomato and pepper salsa. Here's the recipe: Roasted garlic and squash soup with roasted tomato and chili salsa: 2 garlic bulbs, outer papery bits removed 5 Tb. olive oil lots of fresh thyme if you have any, otherwise 1 tsp dried 1 large butternut squash, halved and seeded... Read more 2 onions chopped 1 tsp ground coriander seeds 5 cups veg. stock 3 T. fresh oregano and marjoram, or 2 tsp dried salt and pepper for the salsa: 4 large tomatoes halved and seeded 1 red bell pepper "" "" 1 large fresh red chili "" "" 3 T. olive oil 1 Tb. balsamic vinegar preheat oven to 425, place garlic bulbs on foil, pour over 1/2 oil add thyme and wrap in the foil , brush squash with 1 T. oil and place on a baking sheet with the tomato, pepper, and chili. Roast 25 mins then remove the tomato, pepper and chili, continue roasting squash and garlic 25 mins longer until the squash is tender. In a soup pot, heat remaining oil and saute onion and coriander. Skin the pepper and chili and process in a blender with tomatoes, add 2 T. oil, blend, stir in vinegar and s & p to taste. Squeeze garlic into the cooked onions. Scoop squash out and add to the pan. Add stock, salt and pepper, bring to a boil, simmer 10 minutes. Stir in 1/2 fresh oregano, then cool the soup, blend it, reheat (don't boil) top with salsa and fresh oregano. yummmy ♥ freezes well, too :-)