Raw Tomato Soup

Adapted from here!

Ingredients:
2 tomatoes, seeded
1/4 c sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in warm water for 10+ minutes
1 clove garlic
1/4 large red onion
2 T olive oil
6 basil leaves
a handful of spinach
1/2 t red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

a handful of grape tomatoes, cut in half (optional but I like something to chomp on)

Directions:
Puree in a food processor or blender and garnish.

This is not an all local recipe but all ingredients can be bought trash free. For Ann Arbor residents:
-Spinach and basil can be bought locally right now at the AA farmers' market.
-Herbs can be bought unpackaged at Sparrow Market.
-Onions, garlic and tomatoes can be purchased packaging free.
-Red pepper flakes, sun-dried tomatoes, salt/pepper, olive oil can all be bought in bulk at the People's Food Co-op.

Pumpkin Pie in a Bowl

From Natalia Rose

With a piece of raw cinnamon toast.

2 c carrot juice
1 cup raw sweet potato (about 1/2 of medium one), peeled and cubed
4-6 dates, pitted (depends on how sweet you like it)
1/2 avocado
Pumpkin pie spice or a dash of cloves, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg to taste

Blend ingredients in a food processor or high speed blender until smooth.

This is not an all local recipe but all ingredients can be bought trash free. For Ann Arbor residents:
-All produce can be purchased packaging free.
-Spices can be bought in bulk at the People's Food Co-op.

-Dates can be bought in bulk at Whole Foods

Garlic and Greens Soup

I have a hard time making recipes more than once because I always want to try something new (maybe this is some sort of weird subconscious worry that that I am missing out on something amazing...) but the recipes I have made lately may change my mind! I have been unabashedly devouring the Millet Bake, Carrot-Zucchini Bread, and Red Lentil Soup.

This soup is absolutely no exception. Just exceptionally tasty.

(Adapted from The Vegan Table)

Ingredients:
2 bunches of kale (any leafy green will do!)
1 head of garlic, peeled and minced
4 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 T umeboshi plum vinegar (or rice vinegar)
8 c water
1/4 c tamari (or soy sauce)
2 T oil (I used coconut oil)

Directions:
Destem kale, tear into bite-size pieces and chop stems.
Heat the oil over medium high heat in a large pot.
Add onion and stir until softened.
Add the water, sweet potatoes, chopped stems, tamari, and garlic and bring to a boil.
Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for about 20-25 minutes until the potatoes are cooked.
Remove from heat and stir in greens.
Cover for a few minutes to allow greens to wilt.
Add vinegar and salt/pepper to taste.

I was curious about the nutritional information of this recipe because it has some powerhouses in it (i.e. sweet potatoes, kale and garlic) so after crunching some numbers, here's the break down:

Per serving (1 cup):
Calories: 165
Calcium: 12% of recommended daily intake
Vitamin C: 138% (No scurvy, hurray!)
Vitamin A: 500% (This is why sweet potatoes are rockstars.)
Iron: 10%
Fiber: 5g
Fat: 3.5g

Sweet Potato, Swiss Chard, and Red Lentil Soup

Really really really amazing soup. Perfect amount of spices and different textures. A great (and obvious) continuation of my Indian kick... From Cheap Healthy Good.

Ingredients:
2 onions, chopped
1 1/2 t cumin seeds
1 t black mustard seeds
2 t oil
1 T fresh ginger, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
8 c water
3 c dried red lentils, rinsed (Any kind of lentil or split pea would do)
1 T mild curry powder
1 bunch Swiss chard

Directions:
In a large pot, heat 1 t oil and cook onions until translucent, about 5 minutes.
Move onions aside in pot and add second teaspoon of oil and whole cumin and mustard seeds.
Stir seeds with spatula for about 30 seconds.

When mustard seeds begin to pop, stir together spices with onions.
Add ginger and garlic and cook for about 1 minute.
Add water, sweet potato, lentils, and curry powder and stir.
Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about an hour or until lentils are tender.

Wash and chop Swiss chard and set aside. (I rolled up leaves and cut them to make long ribbons. Also, I chopped the stems separately)
Stir dal occassionally to prevent sticking and burning.

When the dal is tender, turn off heat, remove lid, and stir in Swiss chard.
Replace lid and allow chard to wilt for 5–10 minutes.

Carrot-Ginger Soup

Carrot Ginger Soup
Basic root vegetable soup for those cold, winter days. Or in my case, breakfast!

With a healthy dollop of sauerkraut on top ;)

Ingredients:
2 T oil (1)
4 cloves garlic, chopped (2)
1" ginger, sliced
1 celery root, cubed (this and the kohlrabi just happened to be in my fridge so we tossed 'em in!) (2)
1 kohlrabi, cubed (2)
9 medium carrots (3)
6 cups water
6 T soy sauce (1)
1 T maple syrup (1)
1 t pepper (1)

Directions:
Heat oil, 2 T water, ginger and garlic in soup pan. Saute for a minute or two.
Add remaining water, soy sauce, pepper, honey, celery root, kohlrabi and carrots.
Bring to a simmer.
Cook until vegetables are soft and easily pierced by a fork, about an hour.
Remove pan from heat and allow soup to cool a bit.

In small batches, blend soup in a blender or food processor until smooth.
Spice to taste, I added some ground ginger and more pepper.

(1) Bulk section of the People's Food Co-op
(2) Labelled "Local" at the People's Food Co-op
(3) Left over from Snowtest

Miso Soup

The People's Food Co-op got new bulk miso! For the past two years that I have been buying miso from them, they have had white miso in bulk. White miso is much milder than other misos and is sometimes called sweet miso. This is really good for making dressings but I definitely prefer a darker full-flavored miso.

This past Saturday my world got flipped upside down. Red Adzuki Bean Miso:

Basic Kombu Dashi
Dashi is a basic Japanese soup stock that can be made with kombu, bonito flakes, sardines, and/or dried shiitaki mushrooms. Here's a recipe for the kombu one. Kombu is a type of sea vegetable (can be bought in bulk at the People's Food Co-op).

Directions:
Soak kombu in cold water for 30 minutes in a pot.
Bring water to an ALMOST boil.
Remove kombu from water right before it boils.
Done.

Miso Soup (with Daikon, Carrot, Mushrooms, and Wakame)
There are a bajillion ways to make miso soup. You can put just about anything in it as long as you end with adding miso in. Here's my miso today!

Ingredients:
dashi (recipe above)
3 daikons (1)
greens from 1 daikon (1)
1 carrot (2)
a handful of dried mushrooms (3)
a handful of wakame (4)
4 T red or brown miso (amount depends on how much dashi you start with) (4)

Directions:
Soak dried mushrooms and wakame separately in water to rehydrate.
Heat dashi to a simmer.
Cut daikons in half length-wise, thinly slice into half moons and drop into simmering dashi.
Thinly slice carrot and drop into simmering soup.
Once daikon and carrots are cooked (soft to the touch) add in wakame and mushrooms.
Remove daikon greens from their stem and drop into simmering soup.
Allow to cook for a couple more minutes and then remove from heat.
Dilute miso with an equal amount of water.
Add miso to soup once it cools a bit.*
Enjoy!

*Letting the soup cool before adding the miso is an important step. Miso is a fermented bean paste so if you add it to simmering water, you will kill all of the happy bacteria that is so good for you!

(1) From Whole Foods Market, labelled as "Local" because they bought it from a farm in MI
(2) Left over from making snowmen yesterday :)
(3) I dried these myself from the fall. I believe I bought them from Tantre Farm originally...
(4) Bulk section of the People's Food Co-op

Coconut Dal

Last night Poonam and I decided to hold a snowman protest. What's this you ask? Well we built a bunch of angry looking snowmen on the U-M diag holding signs protesting global weirding.

My sustainability soulmate.

Some notable signs:
Climate change is getting worse. And you still won't get a snow day.
Sustainability is common sense. Do you lack it?
Yo! My snowballs are freezing!
Your lack of concern is giving me blue balls:

We spent about 2 hours in the snowpocalypse, making about 20 angry snowpeople (some a bit too anatomically correct...). A special thanks to all of the friends and random passerbys that helped in the building process! It was pretty satisfying seeing just about every person walking through the diag whip out their phone and take a picture of our semi-inappropriate demonstration ;)

Ultimately, I trudged home with wet pants, socks, gloves and feeling awful. After passing out for 2 hours I awoke famished and yearning for something warm. Enter:

Coconut Dal

From Open-Ended Question.

Ingredients:

1/2 c coconut oil

1 c dried coconut flakes (1)

1.5 T brown mustard seeds (1)

1.5 T cumin seeds (1)

2 t ground cumin (1)

2 t ground coriander (1)

2 t ground cardamom (1)

1 t turmeric (1)

1/4 t cayenne (1)

1/2 c fresh ginger, minced

2 large onions, diced (I only had 1 onion but it turned out good still!)

3 green chilis, seeds removed & finely sliced

5 cloves garlic, minced (3)

2 large tomatoes, diced (2)

2 c split red lentils (1)

9 c water (divided)

2 tsp salt (added after dal is cooked)*

Directions:

Melt coconut oil over medium-high heat in a large pot.

Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and dried coconut.

Cook until seeds are sputtering and fragrant, stirring frequently.

Add dry spices (not salt) and stir until well mixed (Add small amounts of water if spices begin burning/sticking to the pot.)

Add garlic, ginger, onions (and chiles if you have them) and cook until onions are translucent, 5-7 min.

Add tomatoes and 1 cup of water and simmer for 10 minutes, until tomatoes are broken down.

Add lentils and remaining water and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat until simmering and cook until lentils break down and become mushy, about 45 min.

Add salt and garnish with chopped cabbage, carrots or cilantro!

*Do not add salt until after lentils have cooked. Salt interrupts the cooking process of the bean.

(1) People's Food Co-op bulk section

(2) Locavorious

(3) Tantre Farm

Spaghetti Squash Soup

Spaghetti Squash Soup
Based off of Vegan Yum Yum recipe.

Ingredients:
1 Spaghetti squash, halved (1)
1 kabocha squash, peeled and cubed (2)
1 head of garlic (1)
1 small onion, chopped (3)
3 c vegetable broth
oil
salt
1 t dried thyme
cayenne pepper and ground ginger
Garnish
1/4 c spaghetti squash
a handful of roasted squash seeds

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450F
Place spaghetti squash cut side down in a baking dish.
Fill dish with about 1 inch of water.
Make an envelope/pocket-like holder out of aluminum foil and dump in kabocha squash cubes.
Cut off the top of the head of garlic, drizzle with oil and wrap in aluminum foil.
Put squashes and garlic in the oven and roast until soft, about 45 minutes.
Scoop spaghetti squash and squeeze garlic from their skins.
Reserve about 1/4 c of spaghetti squash for garnish.

Heat 1 T oil over medium heat and saute onion until soft.
Add in veggie stock and bring to a boil.
Reduce to a simmer and add in roasted veggies.
Simmer for another 5-10 minutes.
Puree soup in a blender or food processor in batches (so that it doesn't overflow)
Salt and season to taste.

Here's the fun part: garnish time!
Heat 2 T oil over medium heat in a saute pan.
separate strands of reserved spaghetti squash and drop into pan.
Fry until golden brown, stirring constantly.*
Transfer to a dish towel to drain excess oil.
Place on top of individual bowls of soup along with squash seeds.

I fried at too high of heat so mine ended up a liiittle too brown for my liking... But they still tasted good (what fried thing doesn't taste good though?) and looked pretty.

(1) Tantre Farms
(2) From the Ann Arbor Farmer's Market but I didn't catch the name of the vendors :(

Miso for Breakfast

A couple of weekends ago I ventured north of campus to spend the morning and make breakfast with a dear friend of mine, Darshan Karwat. Darshan is a really cool guy, doing really cool things. For one thing, he's getting a decent amount of press for his current commitment to living a zero waste lifestyle. Yes, that's right, zero waste.

This commitment began in March and so far he's created about 2 pounds of trash. Let's compare that to the "average American" who produces about 3-4 pounds of trash PER DAY.

Darshan has been collecting all of the trash that he creates, not including TP or food scraps (which he composts). So this includes a straw that a waitress brought to him with his glass of water one night at a restaurant and every sticker on every piece of fruit he eats. For him, every piece of trash now has a story and evokes a memory.

One main way that Darshan has significantly lowered his trash is by buying local and in bulk. Therefore he's very familiar with both the Ann Arbor farmer's market and the People's Food Co-op. Also, he has become very open about his lifestyle choice at restaurants. Explaining to the waitress what he is doing and asking for no straws, disposable silverware, or napkins, etc.

Please visit Darshan's blog, Minimizing Entropy, to read more about what he is doing. He has tips and recommendations for how to reduce your waste. He also challenges readers to collect all the trash that you produce in 1 day, week, month, etc. and carry around with you!

Darshan has written an article for the Michigan Daily here.

He has also been featured in:

Lansing State Journal

Annarbor.com

Fosters

So anyways, it was waaay too early on a Sunday morning. Therefore, I felt obligated to capture the mood of the very grey, very misty morning. (I think that the fact that I am judging myself for posting these pictures is a very bad testament for the fact that I AM posting them...)

Annnndddd I hope that whoever lives here, sees this. Yes, yes I am creepin' on you...

The kind of unconventional breakfast that was decided on was Miso Soup! And gosh do I love Miso. Miso is essentially fermented soybeans. Salty and delicious. So anyways...

Miso Soup

Wakame. Mmm, you know I love sea veggies.

Darshan's onion choppin' in action.

Ingredients: (and oh gosh, these are an estimate)

8 c + 4 T water

1 c wakame, rehydrated in 1 c water

1 onion, sliced

2 c dried shitake mushrooms, rehydrated and chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 handfuls of spinach

4 T miso

Why yes, chop sticks are keepin' the asian moood.

Directions:

Bring 8 c water to a boil.

Reduce to a simmer and add in onions and carrots.

Add in wakame and mushrooms.

Add in spinach.

Once all ingredients are cooked through, softened, add in the spinach.

Dissolve Miso in 4 T water.

When spinach starts to wilt, pour Miso mixture into soup.

Remove from heat, garnish and serve.

Garnish options:

chopped scallions

toasted sesame seeds

fried soba noodles

garnish of choice!

And yet it does not end there. This day was a day of new experiences for me. Tea-wise. Everyone knows the words "Earl Grey." But I doubt that many know what those words actually mean... (And I will allow you to explore (google?) as you wish).

Working at a cafe, one would think that experiencing Earl Grey tea would be assumed of any employee. But there were no assumptions for me. And no Earl Grey... Until now.

My first Earl Grey experience!:

So beautiful. But still not... my cup of tea... (Yes, I am embracing that pun). And I am not a black tea fan. But that's personal preference. I can totally see a black tea  lovah to loving Earl Grey. However I am not there yet.

Celeriac Pear Soup

Celeriac Pear Soup

Adapted from a BBC Good Food recipe.

Celeriac (AKA celery root) at the farmer's market means more soup for me! The combination of the salty goodness of vegetable stock and the warm sweetness of pear is intriguing in the best sort of way.

Pre-exam sustenance

Ingredients:

oil

1 large onion, finely sliced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1" of ginger root*, finely chopped

1 celeriac, peeled and cubed

4 Bosc pears, peeled, cored, and cubed

4.25 c vegetable stock

handful of chopped parsley for garnish

Directions:

Heat 1 T oil over medium heat in a large saucepan.

Add onion, garlic and ginger and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add celeriac, pear and stock and bring to boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer and do so until celeriac is softened, about 30 minutes.

Puree in a food processor or blender until smooth.

Garnish with parsley and enjoy!

As always I froze the extra in a muffin pan for easy future thawing.

*The last of my fresh ginger! What a sad day. Now I have to turn to powdered ginger which JUST ISN'T THE SAME!

Pumpkin-Sweet Potato Soup and Crispy Rosemary Flatbread

Pumpkin-Sweet Potato Soup
Adapted from gluten-free goddess' recipe

Rosemary flat bread too!

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 t ground ginger
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t curry powder
1/4 t cayenne
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups of pumpkin puree (or a can of pumpkin)
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
6 c vegetable broth (or 6 c water + 6 T soy sauce)
3 t white wine


Directions:
Heat oil over medium heat.
Add onions and saute for 5 minutes, until soft.
Add carrots and celery and stir in spices.
Reduce heat and cook for about 10 minutes (don't let the onions brown!)
Stir in pumpkin, sweet potatoes, vegetable broth and wine.
Cover and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, until veggies are tender.
Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
Ladel soup into food processor or blender (do not fill more than halfway or else you will be seeping soup)
Puree until smooth.
Adjust seasonings to taste.
Spoon into a bowl and garnish with rosemary flat bread (below).

I spooned the leftovers into muffin tins and froze to prevent the insufferable 1 L frozen block of soup.

Frozen soup muffins!

Crispy Rosemary Flatbread Adapted from smitten kitchen, a blog that I recently ran across and deeply fell in love with.
This was a very satisfying recipe to make because of the ease of putting it all together. Plus, I would choose this crispy treat over a softer bread any day. I'm really looking forward to make it again with other spices; thyme, cinnamon and sugar for a little somethin sweet, cayenne for a little kick...


Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups spelt flour (I think any flour will do)
1 t dried rosemary
a few shakes of garlic granules
1 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
1/2 c water
1/4 c olive oil plus more for brushing

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450F with a baking pan inside.
Stir together dry ingredients in a bowl.
Gradually stir in water and oil.
Knead dough a few times.
Divide dough into 3 sections.
Brush top with a bit more oil and sprinkle on a little rosemary and salt.*
Slide round (still on parchment paper) onto preheated baking pan.
Bake about 8-10 minutes, until golden brown.
Remove flatbread from oven and parchment.
Reuse parchment for the next 2 rounds (whaddup waste reduction!)
Break into pieces and devour.


*I regret not lightly pre-cutting the rounds before baking. The breaking process was a bit messy and resulted in many crumbs. 

Homemade Vegetable Broth

This weekend was a weekend of soup for me. And I couldn't be happier! Tis the season for warm things on the stove and in my stomach.

I have been meaning to make veggie broth for a while now since it is a base for so many recipes (and not just for other soups: grains and stuffing and roasted mushrooms, oh my!) so I turned to my girl, Lolo, for a way too simple recipe.

Definitely check out the original recipe at veganyumyum.com (she has the best photography) but here are my actions just to show my sheer delight in following the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach.

Homemade Vegetable Stock
Basically boil some vegetables in a pot and add some salt and you're good to go!

steamayy

Ingredients:

3T oil

2 large onions, chopped

3 stalks of celery, chopped

about 10 carrots, not peeled but chopped

3 cloves of garlic, left whole

1 bay leaf

10 peppercorns

(and here's where I go frugal)

broccoli stalks

celeriac greens

2 dried shiitaki mushrooms

2 c frozen tomato puree*

a few sprigs of thyme

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and start dicing the onions.

Once the onions are diced, move on to the next item on the list and start chopping that.

Keep chopping and adding until there is no more to chop.

Add 1 gallon (16 cups) of water, cover and bring to a boil.

Reduce to a simmer and leave it alone for an hour.

Add 1/4 c tamari and 2 t of salt (adjust to taste).

Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

Strain vegetables out in a large pot.

At this point you can really do what you want with your homemade, (hopefully) locally-sourced, organic, delicious vegetable broth!

Personally, I ladled 1 cup amounts into glass cups (ice trays or muffin tins would have the same effect) and froze em for easier measuring in the future. It was a bit of a pain trying to get the frozen broth free from the cup, I kind of felt like some sort of archaeologist ice picking an ice-age specimen out of a glacier (is that weird??), but applying pressure to a knife in between the broth-block and the glass eventually worked itself out.

*I did this back in September to preserve some summer lovin. And now I have about 4 gallons of that lovin ch-ch-ch-chillin in my freezer for who knows what recipe!