Kale, Barley and Red Lentil Soup

Soups are my favorite lunch, especially in winter. There is something to be said about sipping warm, cozy, delicious soups. This recipe is adapted from here

Ingredients:
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, diced
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 bunch kale chopped
1 cup red lentils
1/4 cup barley
2 Roma tomatoes chopped and processed in food processor (or 3 tbsp tomato paste)
4 cups water or vegetable broth
1.5 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin powder
salt to taste

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add chopped shallots and fry for 5 minutes until translucent. Add minced garlic and fry for a minute. Rinse and add barley, paprika and chilli powder and fry for a few seconds. Add broth or water. Add tomato paste. Bring to a boil and let simmer in medium low for 15 minutes until the barley is tender.

Rinse the red lentils and add to the pot. Continue cooking for another 15 minutes until the lentils are cooked. Fold in the chopped kale.

Serve warm with some toasted tortilla chips…

Soothing… on a frigid, chilly day!

A. Soup. A. Week. Creamy Cannelloni Beans, Potato and Kale

Fennel seeds are aromatic and flavorful. I have often eaten them raw as a mouth refresher after a meal. You most often find them in Indian restaurants, sitting in a bowl along with toothpicks.

When I saw this soup posted last week by Somer on VegedOut, I thought it would be a perfect entry for A. Soup. A. Week. I did make some small changes: mostly excluded some ingredients that I did not have or used the replacement choices offered on her blog. I am a lifelong vegetarian and rarely crave the meat substitute products available such as vegan sausages or other meat substitutes.

I thought the fennel seeds gave this soup a very refreshing flavor.

January and February are busy months getting research work done and abstracts submitted to conferences, so did not end up taking more pictures! Here’s how I ended up making mine.

Ingredients:

1 cup cannelloni beans
2 medium potatoes cut into cubes
2 cups kale chopped
1 medium onion chopped
1 carrot chopped
2 celery sticks chopped
2-3 garlic cloves minced
1 tsp italian spices
2 tsp fennel seeds
a few red pepper flakes
salt and fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup cashews
4-5 cups water or broth

Soak the beans for 6-8 hours.

For the cashew cream, blend cashews with 3/4 cup water and set aside.

Heat a little oil in a large dutch oven. Add onions and garlic and lightly fry. Add carrots, potatoes, celery, fennel seeds and Italian spices and lightly fry. I pre-cooked the beans in a steam cooker.  Add beans and 3-4 cups broth or water. Bring to a boil and reduce flame. Let simmer for 30-40 (or as needed based on how long the beans take to cook especially when using raw beans) minutes. Add chopped kale and cashew cream, salt and fresh ground pepper and simmer for an additional 5-10 minutes. As always serve warm.

A. Soup. A Week. Roasted Tomato and Garlic

This week, the weather outside had been too cold for comfort. Artic chill with below freezing temperatures. This soup is delectable and spicy and the perfect remedy for a cold winter’s day!

To me, tomato is the most refreshing, juicy, colorful, luscious and  delicious vegetable out there.  You can add it to  any dish,  and only enhance the flavors. Garlic is my favorite too… Mix them together and you got me hook, line and sinker!

This is the best soup I have made so far during A. Soup. A. Week.

It was so tasty, I just couldn’t stop eating it.

I came across this recipe a while back and have been wanting to cook it. After all the beans I ate last week during the Green Smoothie Challenge, this was a perfect non-bean soup to try this week. The original recipe that this is based on was wholly vegan. So you can make it vegan or use dairy like I did.

Ingredients:
2 lbs roma tomatoes (about 10-12)
1 large onion
1 head of garlic
1 can of coconut milk
1/2 cup cream (or just use more coconut milk)
1 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp  tomato paste or I used two crushed roma tomatoes
a little olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups water or broth

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Prepare a baking pan. Slice onion and lay out on the baking pan. Cut the head of the garlic, drizzle some olive oil and place in aluminium foil and cover. Place the garlic on a baking dish. Wash and slice the tomatoes and lay out on another baking dish. Lightly drizzle the onions and tomatoes with oil. Sprinkle some salt and pepper. Bake all three in the oven. Each takes different times so monitor. In my case the garlic and onion was done in about 40-45 minutes. Depending on whether you slice the tomato in half or smaller slices the time for baking differs. It can take an hour to hour and 10 minutes.

Transfer the onions, tomatoes and as much garlic as you want ( I used 3-4 roasted cloves) to a large pan. Add coconut milk and water (or broth) and tomato paste or crushed tomato and bring to a boil. Add garam masala, salt and pepper. Always adjust salt and spices by personal preference. Reduce flame and let simmer for 15-20 minutes. 5 minutes before removing from the flame, I added 1/2 cup sour cream. Use a hand blender or food processor to gently process for a second or two. Enjoy warm!

A. Soup. A. Week Chickpea Soup for the Soul

It has been a dismal week. Cold, cloudy and gloomy. Even days forecast to push temperatures into the 60s proved false. Cold and flu season is rampant. This week’s soup is simple and soothing for the throat and the soul.

I rarely use chard greens, so when I came across this recipe I thought it would be a perfect addition to my A. Soup. A Week. Also this was the week I went almost vegan to follow the VedgedOut Green Smoothie Challenge. The recipe for this soup with some slight modifications perfectly fit the parameters of the challenge.

Ingredients:
1 cup raw chickpeas
1-2 cups of chard greens
1 carrot diced
1 celery stick diced
1-2 garlic cloves minced
1 jalapeno pepper thinly sliced
1 shallot minced
a piece of ginger
1-2 roma tomatoes
some lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 cups water or broth
1 tsp dry parsley

If using raw chickpeas, soak overnight or for at least 8 hours. Pressure cook and set aside. If using canned chickpeas, drain and rinse chickpeas.

As I was doing the challenge, I did not use any oil. But you can saute the vegetables in oil. Add onions, garlic, ginger, carrots, celery, and tomatoes to a large pan or dutch oven. Add broth or water and bring to a boil. Add chickpeas. Reduce flame and cook for about 20 minutes. Add chard greens. Add salt, pepper, lemon juice and parsley. Cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until the greens wilt.

Serve warm. Makes 3-4 helpings.

This is adapted from Eat Live Run. Oh…. I let the Chicken out 🙂

A. Soup. A. Week. Black Eyed Peas for Prosperity in the New Year

Eating black eyed peas and greens for luck and prosperity on the New Year’s day is a tradition in the Southeast. Keeping with the southern tradition, here’s this week’s A. Soup. A. Week made with black eyed peas for prosperity, kale (greens for luck and wealth), peppers (my substitute for pork to represent positive motion).

Ingredients:
1 cup black eyed peas
1 cup greens (kale or mustard greens)
1 cup try-colored peppers chopped (or sliced)
2 celery sticks chopped
1/2 onion chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
2 medium tomatoes
6-8 cherry tomatoes sliced in half
2 tbsp chipotle hot sauce
a few pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp olive oil

If using raw, dry black eyed peas, soak in water overnight or for at least 8 hours.

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add chopped onions, garlic, peppers and celery and fry lightly for 3-4 minutes. Meanwhile blend the tomatoes in a food processor. Add the blended tomatoes to the pan. Rinse and add black eyed peas. Add salt and bring to a boil. Reduce flame to low and continue cooking for about 90 minutes.

Add chopped greens, sliced cherry tomatoes, red pepper flakes, chipotle sauce and fresh ground black pepper and continue simmering for an additional 30 minutes.

Garnish with some spring onions and serve warm with a piece of rustic artisan bread. Delicious!

I am glad 2012 is done. A healthy dose of luck, positive motion and prosperity must amount to something… Here’s hoping for a better 2013!