Sprouted Mung Bean and Thai Green Curry Soup

The Thai Flavored, Sprouted Moth Bean and Vegetable Soup was delicious, so this time I decided to try a theme of green curry. This gets even more green than my Green, Green Soup!

As usual, I made this up as I went. To me, Thai green curry  is not complete without coconut milk, baby corn, bamboo shoots and green curry paste. And of course broccoli, Brussels sprouts, celery and kale bring out the green in the soup!

I ended up using more coconut milk that I originally envisioned, so it ended up a lot more creamy. The flavors are mild enough that it can be eaten as soup or serve with some warm Jasmine rice.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup sprouted green gram
3-4 green onions, chopped
2 cups of vegetables: broccoli florets, sliced Brussels sprouts, baby corn, chopped celery, and sliced radish.  Can also use snow peas, zucchini, asparagus, lemon grass, dried lime leaves, green or yellow bell pepper.
1 cup chopped kale
2 cups coconut milk, I used 1/2 creamed coconut and 1/2 lite coconut milk
2-3 tsp Thai green curry paste
salt to taste
1-2 tsp red chili in oil (optional)
2 cups water
some fresh chopped basil leaves
dash of lime juice
dash of sugar
salt to taste

Bring coconut milk, water and green curry paste to a boil. Add in sprouted green gram and continue to cook for 15-20 minutes. Add in the vegetables, except kale and continue to cook for 15-20 minutes. Season with salt and some sugar. Add in kale, fresh chopped basil and red chili in oil (optional) and cook for 5-10 minutes until the kale is wilted.

Drizzle some lemon juice and serve warm, with some fresh bread, bowl of Jasmine rice or with some crispy spring rolls!

Cauliflower, Kale, and Chickpea Curry Pot

I love one-pot meals, and coming across this blog and recipe, I was all for trying it out. Considering, I had all the ingredients, it was a no brainer.

Ingredients:

1 small cauliflower, washed, trimmed and cut into florets
4 tomatoes, crushed
1 cup chickpeas, soaked for 24 hours and steamed
1 onion, chopped
1-2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 jalapeno, minced (de-seeded if you prefer)
1 in piece of ginger, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 cups chopped Tuscan or Lacinato kale
1 tbsp curry powder
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
lemon juice (optional)
cilantro or parsley to garnish
1-2 bay leaves
1-2 tbsp coconut oil

Soak chickpeas for 16-24 hours. Rinse and steam with double the quantity water, in a pressure cooker. Set aside.

Heat oil in a large pan or dutch oven. Add bay leaves, onions, garlic, jalapeno and ginger and fry till lightly brown about 5-7 minutes. Add potatoes and cauliflower and continue to fry for 1-2 minutes.

Meanwhile, process tomatoes in a blender and add to the pot. Add steamed chickpeas. Season with  curry powder, salt and fresh ground pepper and mix well. Add 1-2 cups broth or water, and  bring to a boil. Reduce flame and let simmer for 30-40 minutes.

Add chopped kale and continue to cook for another 5-6 minutes. Adjust seasoning as desired, garnish with cilantro or parsley and serve warm with rice or bread.

Black-eyed Peas and Greens with Navrattan Spices to start the New Year

Happy New Year!

The southern tradition of cooking black-eyed peas and greens for luck and prosperity dates back to the Civil War era. The last few years, I have been enjoying following this tradition by trying a new recipe to cook black-eyed peas and greens.

Following a west meets east, I decided to use a blend of 9 different spices in this year’s recipe.

Ingredients:

1 cup dry black-eyed peas
2-3 celery stalks, sliced
2 carrots, peeled and cut
1 onion, chopped
4 Roma tomatoes
1/2 bunch kale chopped
1 jalapeno, cut
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 in piece of ginger, peeled and minced
1-2 bay leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 anise star
1 small cinnamon stick
5 cloves
1/2 tsp poppy seeds
2-3 cardamon seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
dash of turmeric
1-2 tbsp coconut oil
cilantro to garnish
juice of lemon

Soak black-eyed peas for 12-16 hours. Rinse and cover with twice the amount of water and cook in a pressure cooker. If you skip this step, you just need to simmer for longer time period later on.

In a large pan, add coconut oil and dry spices and lightly cook for a minute. Add ginger, garlic, jalapeno and onion and continue to cook till the onion becomes translucent. Add carrots and celery and fry for a minute.

Blend tomatoes in a blender and add the juices to the pan. Add two cups water and bring to a boil. Add cooked black-eyed peas and continue to cook on medium low for about 30 minutes.

Add kale and continue to cook for another 10-15 minutes. Drizzle some lemon juice and garnish with cilantro and serve warm with rice or bread.

Roasted Root Vegetable Soup with Kale and Lentils

Chill is in the air. The last few days, the Polar Vortex dipped low, bringing an early freeze to the Mid Atlantic and the South. Some parts of the country even saw some snow.  It is way too early for snow!

While salads are refreshing during the hot summer months, come fall and winter, I love to try new soup recipes.

During such chilly weather, I like to turn on the oven to bake cakes, muffins, bread or roast my vegetables. Nicely warms up the house a degree or two as well. Not to mention the aroma that fills the house.

There are plenty of root vegetables out there in fall. You can pretty much mix in your favorite root vegetables to make this soup.

Ingredients:

1 Turnip cut into rings or 1 inch pieces
2 carrots, sliced into rings
3-4 small golden beets, sliced into rings
1 Daikon (winter radish) sliced into rings
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 bunch green onions, cut into 1in pieces
2 cups chopped kale
2/3 cup brown lentils
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp curry powder
juice of one lemon
a few red pepper flakes
salt and fresh ground pepper
fresh or dry cilantro
6 cups broth or water

If using dry lentils, soak for 6-8 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Toss all vegetables except kale, with some olive oil, salt and fresh ground black pepper. Lay out on baking sheets and bake for 30 minutes.

Transfer to a dutch oven, or large soup dish. Rinse and add lentils, spices, 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce flame and let simmer for an hour. Add kale and continue cooking for another 10-15 minutes till kale wilts.

Drizzle lemon juice, season with cilantro and red pepper flakes and serve warm!

Croutons or crusty bread on the side wont do harm 🙂

Kale and Lentil Soup

This is loosely based on this recipe.

Ingredients:
1 cup dry brown lentils
3 carrots, chopped
3 celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 bag of chopped Organic Tuscan kale
1 tsp fresh basil
salt and fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
a few flakes of red crushed pepper
1 tbsp of olive oil
a drizzle of lemon juice

Soak dry brown lentils for 8-12 hours.

In a large pot, on medium low, add oil. Add onions, carrots, and celery and fry lightly. Add soaked and rinsed dry brown lentils. Add tomatoes. Add 3 cups water and cook on medium low for 20 minutes. Add chopped basil, and fresh chopped kale and mix well. Continue to cook for another 10-15 minutes. Add salt, fresh ground pepper, paprika, and crushed pepper flakes.

Remove from flame and cool.

Using a hand blender or food processor, blend soup in batches.

Optionally, drizzle some lemon juice and serve warm!

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!

Caldo Verde

Caldo Verde (“green broth”) is a popular Portuguese soup. This recipe is adapted from the 21 day Tummy Diet.

Ingredients:
1 turnip, peeled and cut into 1 in pieces
1 red potato cut into 1 in pieces
3 medium tomatoes cut into 1 in pieces
3 cups loosely chopped kale
3/4 cup cooked lentils
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste

Heat the oil in a dutch oven. Add potato, turnips and tomato and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add salt and cayenne pepper and cook for another minute. Add 4 cups water (or broth of choice), lentils and kale and bring to a boil. Reduce flame and cook for 30-40 minutes.

Drizzle some lemon juice and serve warm with a lemon wedge. Makes about 4 servings.

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.

Super Green Smoothie to Jumpstart the New Year

Happy New Year!

Health and fitness is always a major priority for me. But lately I seem to have hit rock bottom. So this year I wanted to double and treble my effort and over come this slump.  I still had some fresh kale and parsley in my patio garden and all the other ingredients necessary for it.

It is adapted from the latest Prevent Magazine. I added the additional protein boost.  Each serving without the boost is 160 cal (3g protein, 39g carb, 5g fiber, 0.5g fat 56 mg sodium). After a good workout at the gym this was a refreshing and energy boosting smoothie.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup fresh kale
1 1/4 cup fresh or frozen cubed mango
2 celery sticks
1/4 cup mint
1/4 cup parsley
2 cups fresh orange juice
1 scoop whey protein boost

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Pour into 2 chilled glasses. Tasty and refreshing!

Cheers!

Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad

I woke up Friday morning with the intent to start another 3-day Body Clock Reset Diet. I did this earlier this year with some good results. Each year one of my resolutions is always related to health and fitness. This year, I wanted to get head start before the New Year.

As is normal I checked Eat, Live, Run website in the morning and saw a recipe for a Kale and Brussels Sprouts salad. And my lunch menu changed. Kale and Brussels Sprouts? Yes I dig them. But I wasn’t sure about the dressing. Searching around I found a galore of salad recipes with that combination. So here’s how I made mine.

Ingredients:
2 cups chopped kale
0.5 cups sliced Brussels sprouts
Some shredded parmesan cheese
some sliced almond

Dressing:
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 clove garlic minced
1 small shallot minced
salt and fresh ground pepper

Whisk together all the dressing ingredients.

In a large bowl mix salad ingredients. Drizzle dressing. Add fresh ground pepper as needed.

Remember this tries to mimic a meal following the prevention diet plan for a 3-day body clock reset diet of fixed calories and fixed portion size. I totally forgot to add the cheese. But still it was crunchy, delicious and filling!