Hey it’s a meme no one will remember by the time this posts!
Anyway, today is Fall Colors day, and that means yellow squash, orange sweet potato, or red beets. I made borscht because I don’t think I have before and it’s very, very red.
Above: Chunky.
Like, very red. The red that turns everything it touches red, including the potato and carrot also in this soup. But I did use a stick blender to make the broth a bit thicker. I didn’t puree everything, just some of it.
Above: Less chunky. Also dill.
Oh, also, there’s some cannellini in there because it makes it more of a meal, I guess? But so does a nice swirl of almond yogurt, a sprinkle of fresh dill, and a slice of seeded rye.
This was pretty tasty, and I didn’t use any particular recipes. First, I tossed a bunch of cauliflower florets and rough-chopped onion with olive oil, pinch of salt, mustard seeds, and curry powder and roasted it at 400 F until everything looked browned and cooked well through (maybe 30 minutes?). Then I took out a few smaller florets and set them aside (for garnish/texture later) before dumping everything into the Vitamix with a can of lite coconut milk, some leftover vegetable broth (maybe ½ cup), a little tomato puree (again, not measured, but maybe 1/3 cup), and a healthy chunk of chopped fresh ginger. I put this back on the stove to simmer (with a little extra water, a little lump of coconut oil, and another pinch of salt), and seasoned with lemon juice just after turning off the heat later.
For the chickpea fry, I pan-fried the bulbous part of a small red spring onion, sliced thinly, with some mustard seeds and red pepper flakes, then added a can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed) with about a teaspoon each of cumin and coriander, and let it cook in the pan for a few minutes before adding a dash of tomato puree to coat. I let this cook down for a while before adding a handful of baby kale to the pan and covering to let the tender leaves wilt. After they did, I mixed them with tongs and added a splash of lemon juice.
I ladled the soup into the bowl first, then some of the chickpeas and kale, then a couple cauliflower florets and fresh spring onion greens. Yum.
White bean and sweet potato soup with kale and spices
The boyfriend is sick, and it’s finally fall, so I figured it was a soup night. Here’s what went in the pot:
1 big yellow onion, minced
1 fat green jalapeno, minced
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½" pieces
½ red bell pepper, diced (leftover from yesterday’s stir-fried noodle dinner)
Heaping spoonful of ground coriander and cumin, half a teaspoon of paprika, and a pinch of allspice
4 cups of water – let everything cook until the sweet potato is tender
3 ladles of cooked white beans (I don’t remember the variety, it’s somewhere between pinto and cannellini)
Half a bunch of lacinato kale, roughly chopped
Nub of fresh ginger and three cloves garlic, microplaned right into the pot at the end (this is one of my favorite things to do; it often helps the garlic really pop vs. cooking it from the beginning with the onion)
Splash of tamari and pinches of salt, to taste
To garnish:
Several sprigs of cilantro, rough chopped
1 stripey heirloom tomato, diced
Juice of half a lime
I’m pretty pleased. It’s warm, a bit spicy (though not that much), colorful, comforting.
