Curry soup

I opened my fridge yesterday and noticed a drawer full of produce that was on the edge of being too ripe. Sarah had been talking about making soup on Saturday, so I thought why not? My problem though was my produce wasn't exactly soup friendly. I had in my possession: small acorn squash, yellow squash, handful baby carrots, two very small yellow potatoes, 1 green pepper, 1 yellow pepper and 1 orange pepper.

Oy.

So first I cut up (except the peppers), sprayed them with cooking spray, sprinkle of salt, and roasted them until they were all soft. Once they finished, I added them to my dutch oven that had 4 cups of vegetable stock simmering. The green pepper never made it because when I opened it up, I found a grub type worm baked inside. Soooo gross.

Anyways, I let all this simmer away on med-low with the lid on, occasionally mashing them. I decided I wanted to have this thick base which, if I had an immersion blender, would have been easy. Once everything was happily mushed, I decided on a curry soup because I had those things on hand. I added a can of coconut milk + 1/2 can water, 1 can organic pumpkin puree, 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes and about a cup of dry brown rice. I seasoned liberally with curry powder then added a little salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic and cayenne pepper. Let it all simmer on low with the lid on for about an hour, just until the rice had softened.

It turned out well. I wish I had lentils instead of the rice but still pretty good. At work I found a red pepper that was about to go, so I chopped that up and added it to the top. Made a huge pot, so at least I'll have lunches all week.

Stats: makes 8, per serving: 224 cal, 28 gm carbs, 11 gm fat, 4 gm protein

Curry

One of my weaknesses is Indian food. I love it. What I love most now about Indian is so much of it is or can very easily be made vegan. Last weekend I went to visit some lovely ladies, so as a big thank you to my roommates for keeping an eye on my Whitney, I made dinner. I wanted to replicate the amazing pumpkin curry I ate in San Francisco, but I couldn't find any pumpkin, so I worked with what I had.

It was great. I super super loved it. I ended up making so much that I froze some, and it thawed nicely. The coolest part to me is that I just winged it as I went. It was really nice over some rice but just as good without. I don't have a picture but trust me, it was beautiful (but I'm biased) =P

In other news, I moved to Owings Mills and I started school at UMBC on Thursday! So exciting! I feel so happy where I am in life and I hope 2011 continues being awesome. Hopefully 2012 will bring a new career as a teacher and not the end of the world in December (although looking at my school debt that might be good for my financial state).

Butternut Squash Curry

1 onion chopped

3 or 4 garlic cloves chopped

2 parsnips cleaned and chopped into bite sized pieces

2 smallish red potatoes chopped

1lb chopped butternut squash (I found it in a container already cleaned and cut up)

1/2 package extra firm tofu pressed until the liquid is mostly gone and chopped

1 can coconut milk plus 1 can almond milk (more if you like your curry a little on the runny side)

2tbs red curry

1 tbs curry powder (if you have it)

1tbs cumin

red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onions and garlic in a dutch oven over med heat for a few min. Add the rest of your vegetables and tofu, milks and seasonings (mix curry paste with some of the milk then pour into your pot). Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer away until the vegetables are soft, roughly 30-40 min. Serve with rice or naan.

Because you are adding potato, you might need to up your salt and spice, so really make it to taste. I know when I finished, I added hot sauce.