Work in Progress: Beet Soup

I love, love, love beets. One of my other loves is the soup served at Les Caves in Corvallis, my favorites being their beet soup and anything that includes parsnip. And, the chicken paprikash...and... Ok, let me get back to my soup.

I had some lovely beets and thought I would use Les Caves as inspiration. I made a roasted beet soup with parsnips, onions. garlic, and spiced with garam masala and fresh ginger.

Note: The beets on the left are golden beets, while the other beets are traditional red.

Something isn't quite right in my combination. I added a trio of strong flavors: parsnip, ginger, and garam masala. Three is too many, I need to cut one out; I have a feeling the ginger doesn't belong. I would like to try this soup again with just the parsnip and garam masala, or perhaps a different type of curry that isn't so cardamom-heavy. 

Do you have a favorite beet soup recipe I should try? Or any ideas of how to make this recipe work???

Peanut and Yam Curry

Occasionally, trying out other cooks' recipes will inspire me further. Such was the case with Autumn Sweet Potato Soup from The Shiksa in the Kitchen. I thought the soup was great but couldn't get the idea of turning it into, what I would call, a curry. I took my favorite flavors from the soup and added what is my standard spice quintet: turmeric, smoked paprika, garam masala, cumin, and coriander.

The spices and veggies in this recipe are standard for me. I have created many delicious and varied meals from these ingredients. But this particular combination, with the addition of the peanut butter and ginger created something truly special. I have to say, this is one of the best recipes I have made.

I ate my curry with millet but rice or another grain would work well. I have an idea for a fancy millet that might go great with this. But I should try it first before I share it.

MAKE THIS and enjoy!

Yam and Peanut Curry

by Ace Nation

Keywords: vegan peanut butter vegetables

Ingredients (serves 3-4)

• 1-2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 red chili peppers, such as Italian frying pepper
• 2 small or 1 large yam, peeled and diced
• 2-3 cups kale, chopped
• 1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 15 ounce can red beans (about 3/4 cup)
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Cayenne pepper, to taste

Instructions

In a large high-sided skillet, heat oil over medium heat.

Add onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 8 minutes.

Add shallot chili peppers. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions begin to brown, about 3-4 minutes.

Add yam and kale to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

Add turmeric, smoked paprika, ground ginger, garam masala, cumin, and coriander. Toast about 30 seconds, no longer than 1 minute.

Add tomatoes, red beans, peanut butter, and water. Combine ingredients and bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and allow to simmer gently until beans are warmed through and the sauce has thickened.

Season to taste with kosher salt and cayenne pepper.

Serve with rice, millet, or couscous.

Enjoy!

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Toor Dal Soup

Oh, yellow split peas! They are cheery, miniature suns. It makes me smile just to look at them. Yellow split peas, otherwise known as toor dal, is the one food that reminds me exclusively of the home and life Z. and I have created together. I think this has to do that all my memories of toor dal involve Z. and sharing a meal with him. Well, until this soup, he has made all every meal that has involved toor dal. It's not that I'm lazy or not trying, Z. really likes to cook Indian food and is really good at it.

I am on vacation for the week so I thought I should make myself a pot of soup that could be my lunch for a few days. I was looking through my the soup edition of Cook's Illustrated for inspiration. I thought their Creamy Split Pea sounded yummy (I would never have thought of adding lettuce to a soup!) but there weren't green split peas in the pantry and I didn't have butter lettuce. There were yellow split peas, though! I used Z.'s dal as a jumping board and played with the spices. I thought it turned out very good! The sweetness of the toor dal balanced nicely with the cutting spiciness of the Serrano and savoriness of the garam masala.

A few notes on this soup:

• This soup took some time to make. The onions take awhile, the dal has to simmer for about 45 minutes, and then allowing it to cool enough to put in a blender or food processor takes time, as well,  but is worth it.
• I used two cups of toor dal. This is a lot compared to the amount Z. uses in our dal. For the same amount of soup, I am pretty sure 1 1/2 cups of dal would work just great. 
• Don't bother using stock or broth! Save that for another time. Water works just fine for this.
• Cook the onions until they are very brown. Z. has played around a lot with how much he cooks the onions in his dishes. We have found, the browner the onion, the tastier the dish. Getting the onions really brown can take awhile. I think my onions cooked for about 20 minutes before they were the color I wanted.
• Because I blended the soup, using whole spices wasn't a problem at all.
• Dal freezes very nicely. We have found that when possible, we like to freeze our leftovers in a ziploc freezer bag and flatten it out so you can stack multiple bags on top of each other. 

Leftovers ready to be put in the freezer.

Toor Dal Soup or Yellow Split Pea Soup
Canola oil
1 1/2 -2 cups yellow split peas
8-10 cups water, more as needed
1 onion, chopped finely
1 Serrano chile, finely mined
1 inch ginger root, finely minced or grated
4-5 cloves garlic (or to taste), finely mined or grated
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin or cumin seeds
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon coriander seeds or ground coriander

1. Look through split peas and remove any stones or any other debris.
2. Heat one tablespoon canola oil in large soup pot over medium heat, add onions, cook until browned, stirring occasionally.
3. Add Serrano chile and ginger. Cook about 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Turn down heat slightly. Add more canola oil if needed. Add garlic and cook for about 3-5 minutes, until garlic is cooked.
5. Have some of the water ready to add to the pan. Add spices to the vegetables and mix thoroughly. Do not leave the pot. Toast spices for about 30 seconds then pour in water. 
6. Add the rest of the water and yellow split peas. Bring to a boil then lower heat and let simmer gently for about 45 minutes, until the split peas are spot.
7. Be very careful when blending warm food in a blender or food processor. Let yellow split pea and vegetable mixture cool slightly. In batches, process soup in a blender or food processor. Add 1/2 cup of water at a time if needed. Return blended soup to a pot and reheat gently over medium low heat. Serve and enjoy!

Price Breakdown

.03 canola oil (purchased on sale with coupons)
.46 yellow split peas  (.52/lb)
.15 onion (.33/lb)
.04 Serrano chile
.14 ginger
.10 garlic
.15 spices (purchased in large quantities from the local Indian market)

Total: $1.07 or $0.18 per bowl 

Dinner for One: Roasted Cauliflower and Garbanzo Beans

Not only is Z. out of town for work, again, leaving me to my own devices, yesterday was my dad's birthday. I couldn't make dinner for my dad since he is in Wyoming, so the next best thing was to make a dinner for myself that he would have liked. When my parents made the trek out to Oregon for my college graduation a few years ago, Z. and I made an Indian feast. Not only was this the first time I had made Indian food for my dad, I think it was the first time my dad ever had curry. He loved it! I knew I wanted to use some of my Indian spices that he enjoyed so much in his/my birthday dinner. While I was pondering what to make for dinner I kept coming back to a few recipes that I had seen in the last few weeks. One recipe was Bon Appetit's Spice-Roasted Chickpeas. Another recipe I had in mind when I was planning my dinner was this recipe from Orangette. I combined these recipes with my own tastes to create Roasted Cauliflower and Garbanzo Beans. Happy birthday, Dad! I love you!!!

A portion of the chickpeas and chopped cauliflower

It was such good looking head of garlic that I thought it deserved its own picture.

Clockwise from top left: garam masala, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, red pepper flakes

Spice covered veggies and beans waiting to be put in the oven

Dinner! I know, I need to figure out how to make food on a plate look pretty.

Roasted Cauliflower and Garbanzo Beans (for 2-3)
1/2 medium head of cauliflower, chopped into bite-size pieces
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
garlic to taste, peeled and smashed
2 tsp garam masala *
3/4 tsp (1 tsp for me) cumin seeds *
1/2 tsp coriander seeds, optional
1/4 tsp red pepper flake (1/2 tsp for spicy)
2-3 tablespoons olive oil **

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Toss cauliflower, beans, garlic, and spices with olive oil in a large bowl. Spread in a single layer on a sheet pan. Place in oven. Bake about 12 minutes then stir. Bake another 10 minutes or until cauliflower is tender.Enjoy!

* I love garam masala but my spice blend for this recipe doesn't focus just on the garam masala. If you want a stronger garam masala flavor, I would reduce the amount of cumin. I love cumin seeds so I went heavy on them.
** I tossed the vegetables with two tablespoons of olive oil. When I stirred them, I thought the veggies looked a little thirsty so I drizzled approximately 1/2 tbs over them.