Soup with Yams, Apples and Cream

The following soup was meant to be served at my nephew's daycare. But he and all the other 2 year olds had one spoon full and spit out the rest. I chalk it up to undeveloped taste buds.

The soup was, however, enjoyed by me!

1 small onion

3 medium yams

1/2 apple

olive oil

curry powder

salt

vegetable broth

1 tbs cream or crème fraîche

Sauté onion very gently in olive oil until translucent. Add the cubed yams and apple and cook for a few more minutes. Sprinkle with a little curry powder and stir. Add enough broth to barely cover the vegetables and simmer until soft. Let cool for a few minutes and blend in blender or puree with a hand blender. Season with salt and add cream just before serving. Drizzle with olive or walnut oil.

Sweet Pickles!!

Here is something fun and easy to make. I found this recipe in an United In-Flight magazine, imagine that! I have made this with little tiny green and yellow cucumbers that I bought at the Farmer's Market and then quartered them lengthwise. I have also used the little Persian cucumbers from Trader Joe's. Next, I will try it with radishes, why not? Pickles are in....

Raw vegetables

1 cup water, piping hot out of the faucet

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

6 tb sugar

2 1/4 ts kosher salt

Combine water, vinegar, sugar and salt and stir until sugar has dissolved. Pack the vegetables tightly in a quart container or any glass container you have laying around. Pour brine over vegetables, cover, and refrigerate. Let sit for 3 or 4 days at minimum, or a week for optimum flavor. Should be consumed quickly!

Simply Quinoa

Quinoa is such a great accompaniment to pretty much anything. I love that the Incas grew it so long ago. They knew even then that quinoa is high in protein, calcium and iron, a perfect food! They even fed their army with it.

The most important thing is to rinse the Quinoa in water before cooking to remove its bitter coating. I really urge you to do it, it makes all the difference.

My sister-in-law Renee has given me this wonderfully simple recipe which serves 4:

1 tb Virgin Coconut Oil (the one with the coconut flavor) or to taste

1 garlic clove, minced

1 cup Quinoa, rinsed

2 cups vegetarian broth (cubes are fine)

Melt the coconut oil in a pot, add the garlic clove and toast until fragrant. Add rinsed Quinoa and stir adding the broth. Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 20 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. Serve warm and enjoy!

A Nice Little Lentil Soup

I haven't posted anything in a while, but I thought the lentil soup I made today deserves a little air time. I don't have a recipe as such, but here it goes:

I cook tiny black organic lentils in vegetarian broth until tender, maybe 30 minutes or so. In the meantime, I cut half a red onion into small dice (use only a quarter if onion is big) and sauté it in olive oil with a few shakes of red pepper flakes. Then I add 3 tbs or so tomato paste and a few pinches of curry powder and continue sautéing until fragrant. Now I pour in some filtered water until the mixture has a nice soupy consistency. I toss in 2-3 cups of the cooked and cooled lentils and let it simmer until the flavors come together. I season the soup with sea salt and serve with a little chopped chives sprinkled on top, that is it!

Enjoy......