the cooked and the raw

‘Blogging-wise’ I’ve been rather lazy in the past few days (more than one week, actually) …but I’m finally back with a recipe for an easy late-winter, early-spring comforting soup. This has a smooth, velvety texture that many I’m sure will like… Cauliflower and carrot are sweet vegetables that provide an excellent contrast to the spicy, fresh ginger.

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:

½ medium onion, finely chopped

1 medium sized cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces

5 carrots, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces

1 tablespoon fresh, minced ginger (and some more for garnish)

1 cup unsweetened soy milk

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

whole sea salt (to taste)

fresh parsley, for garnish

Place the bite sized pieces of cauliflower and carrot in a steamer fitted over a saucepan, add enough water to come just below the bottom of the steamer and sprinkle some salt over the vegetables. Bring to a boil and steam just until crisp tender (it will take about 15-20 minutes, over medium heat). In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or wok over medium heat, add the onion, ginger and sea salt and sautè until fragrant, for about 5-10 minutes. Add the soy milk, reduce the heat and cook for about 5 minutes. When the vegetables are crisp-tender, remove them from the steamer (but keep the cooking water), add them to the soy milk and onion mixture and sautè for a few minutes. Remove the vegetables from the heat and transfer them in the bowl of a food processor, add about half a cup of the cooking water you saved and process until smooth. Add some more water for a runnier soup. Adjust seasoning as needed, stir the soup into serving bowls, drizzle some olive oil onto it and garnish with fresh parsley and fresh, minced ginger.

Is there anything more hearty and restorative than a bowl of soup, especially in the colder months? The other day I was really pleased to find plenty of pumpkins at my local, organic grocery store. Of course, I couldn’t resist: pumpkin is certainly one of my favourite foods in the world. I bought two really cute, medium sized pumpkins, one of which tuned into this soup.
I think carrot and pumpkin go well together. As I had never combined them in a soup before, I thought it was time to give it a try.
This curried pumpkin and carrot soup has a (any guess…?!) wonderful, vibrant colour. Besides the colour or the aesthetic pleasure I derive from looking at this soup, what I like about it is that it tastes of naturally sweet vegetables with a hint of spice and a lovely coconutty flavour. I hope this recipe will satisfy any pumpkin lover…

Ingredients (makes 4 servings):

½ medium red onion, finely chopped

1 medium sized pumpkin, peeled, seeded and diced

4 carrots, peeled and thickly sliced

1 ½ cup unsweetened soy milk

3 tablespoons dried shredded coconut

2 teaspoons medium curry powder

4 teaspoons coriander powder

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

whole sea salt (to taste)

chives (I used fresh chives), for garnish

coriander leaves (I used dried leaves but fresh ones are much better), for garnish

Place the pumpkin and carrots in a steamer fitted over a saucepan, add enough water to come just below the bottom of the steamer and sprinkle some salt over the vegetables. Bring to a boil and steam for around 20-25 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large pan or wok over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, a pinch of salt, the curry, the coriander powder and the dry coconut flakes and sauté, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Add the soy milk, reduce the heat and cook for about 10 minutes. When the pumpkin and carrot are crisp-tender, remove them from the steamer (save the cooking water), add them to the soy milk/onion spicy mixture and cook for a few minutes. Remove the curried vegetables from the heat and place them in the bowl of a food processor, add about 1 cup of the cooking water you kept and puree until smooth. Add some more water for a runnier soup. Adjust seasonings and stir soup back into the pan or into serving bowls. Garnish with chives and coriander leaves.

PS: as you might have guessed…this soup was made with organic ingredients.