sweet potato, corn & jalapeño bisque

Soups are one of my favorite meals. They are quick and simple to make and you can usually find something in your cupboard to throw into the pot. Variations are endless and they make for an affordable meal. My husband, as it's been well documented here on this blog, is a soup-hater. As much as I try to bring him over to the soup-side, it ain't working.

I'd love to tell you that this amazing beautiful bowl of perfectly spiced orange velvet, helped to win him over. But that would be a lie. There is no conversion in this story, no "ah-ha" moment (oh my god, did I just quote Oprah?) . And I'm okay with that because it means there is more of this soup for me to love.

I served this as part of my contribution to our Thanksgiving dinner this past Monday and it is definitely guest-worthy. Calling it a bisque rather than a soup makes it seem fancier than it really is. After all, a bisque is just a smoothly pureed soup and this soup is smoooooth. Did I mention it's like velvet? It is. The texture is amazing and the flavours are well-balanced. Spicy from the peppers and a hit of sweetness from the root vegetables and a tiny hit of maple syrup. It's autumn in a bowl and I couldn't be happier eating up the leftovers. Sorry, husband, but there's going to be a lot more of this soup in our future.

As for the recipe, I doubled the basic recipe and just subbed in maple syrup for the molasses. I also decided not to double up on the maple syrup, since I was using part yams which are so much sweeter than sweet potatoes. Let your taste buds be your guide! The recipe below serves about 6 people.

sweet potato, corn & jalapeño bisque
(adapted from The Wednesday Chef)
1 T canola oil
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 medium yams, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
6-8 c vegetable or chicken stock
2 jalapeños, seeded and finely chopped
1 c frozen corn kernels
2 T maple syrup
1/2 T kosher salt
1/4 t ground cayenne
1/4 t black pepper
pinch ground cinnamon

In a large soup pot, heat oil over med-high heat and add in garlic and onions. Let them sweat for a bit until fragrant, then add in the yams and sweet potatoes. Stir around a bit and then cover with stock - just enough so that the vegetables are covered. Put a lid on, and let things bubble away over medium heat.

About 30 minutes later or so, the vegetables should be soft. Get out your immersion blender and whizz away, pureeing until every last chunk has been pulverized. Add in the jalapeños, corn, maple syrup, salt, cayenne, pepper and the tiniest pinch of cinnamon. Stir well, taste and adjust for seasoning. Ladle into bowls and get ready to find instant happiness (or, if you are like my husband, just grin and bear it).

tired of take-out

I'm once again working away from my home office during the day and catching up on freelance work at night. I don't have much time for cooking or blogging and everything seems like a bit of an effort. Don't even ask me about doing the dishes! But after a bad bout of salty, MSG-laden Chinese delivery, I decided I couldn't live with take-out horrors any longer. I had to make something simple and try to make use of the bits and pieces left in the cupboard and fridge. This was last night's dinner and the results were not only delicious but so simple to prepare. You could easily substitute any vegetable you had on hand as this recipe lends well to improvisation. I'd eat this over bad take out any day!

roasted vegetables & chickpeas over couscous
*Make sure all the vegetables are similar in size to help even out cooking time.

1/2 tin of chickpeas, drained
1/2 onion, diced
1 large potato, diced
1 large yam, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 head of broccoli, broken into florets
2 T olive oil
1/2 t Hungarian sweet paprika
1 t cumin
1 t coriander
salt & pepper
2 handfuls of raisins
2 handfuls of chopped walnuts
1 c couscous
1 1/2 c water or vegetable broth
feta cheese (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, mix the chickpeas, onion, potato, yam, celery, broccoli with the oil and the spices and combine well. Dump in a roasting pan and heat until the vegetables are fully roasted, about 30 minutes or so. Remove from oven and add raisins and walnuts and mix well.

2. Boil water or broth in a saucepan, add couscous, turn off heat and cover. Wait 15 minutes.

3. Serve couscous in large bowls topped with the roasted vegetable/chickpea mixture. Sprinkle with feta cheese, if desired.

my lunch is better than your lunch

I just made the best lunch ever. There is no photographic evidence of lunch since my camera batteries died. You'll just have to take my word for it. This recipe should make quite a few burritos and I've got lots left over and looking forward to eating the leftovers.

roasted veggie vegan burritos
(No cheese & still so tasty...but feel free to add cheese if the mood strikes)

1. Dice up 1/2 onion, 2 potatoes, 3 yams into large chunks & put into a bowl. Add 1 T of olive oil, 1 t maple syrup, 1 t chipotle powder, juice of 1/2 a lime and some salt. Mix & dump into baking sheet & put into 450 degree oven. Half way through cooking (about 15 minutes in), add 1 zucchini chopped into half moon shaped thick slices. Remove from oven when soft & roasty looking.

2. Heat up some refried beans and spread a large spoonful of the beans onto a flour tortilla. Add a large spoonful of the roasted veggies and top with fresh salsa and some cilantro leaves. Eat.

thanksgiving

Last night I had a few friends over for a Thanksgiving meal. It was potluck and there were a couple of vegans there, so I figured I'd wait before making my ham in coca-cola recipe. Everyone brought loads of food and even more loads of wine. I'm proud to say, thanks to Ibuprofen and lots of water, I'm up early with no sign of a hangover. I don't know if I can say the same for Cornelius.

It certainly wasn't a typical Thanksgiving meal, but for me, as long as the meal employs the use of cranberries (check!), brussel sprouts (check!) and yams (check!), Thanksgiving it definitely was. Pam brought over a salad made with organic greens, sprouts, cherry tomatos and walnuts. She also brought over Amy's Goddess Dressing which was so tasty! Dan made Martha Stewart's decadent macaroni and cheese and Ryan and Kristen brought over some vegan tofu lasagne (so good!) and a vegan chocolate cake (which is from a recipe I passed onto her that is a wartime recipe sometimes referred to as "wacky cake"). Yum!

As an appetizer, I decided to make some garlicy /lemony beans. I used only 1 lemon this time and yellow beans instead of green ones, but it was a great snack before dinner. Next up, I made my most favorite soup ever from the rebar cookbook. I used all the yams required but also threw in a bit of leftover canned pumpkin since I had some in the fridge. Delicious!

african yam & peanut soup

8 C veggie stock
2 T vegetable oil
1 large onion, diced
6 T minced ginger
4 cloves garlic
1 T cumin
2 T coriander
1/2 t cayenne
1 t paprika
1 red bell pepper
4 chopped yams
1 can pineapple, with juice
3 chopped tomatoes
5 T peanut butter
1 bunch cilantro
2 limes' juice
hot sauce

1. Warm the stock
2. Saute the onion and some salt, until translucent
3. Add garlic, ginger, and spices, and saute until soft
4. Add red pepper, yams, and more sal until things start to stick.
5. Add enough stock to cover, boil, and simmer until the yams are soft.
6. Add the pineapple with the juice, tomatoes, PB, and the rest of the stock and simmer for 30 minutes
7. Puree until smooth.
8. Simmer for another 10 minutes
9. Add cilantro, lime juice and hot sauce to taste before serving.

Next post, I'll put up my cranberry chutney recipe and Cornelius made a chocolate chip pumpkin cake! Recipes and maybe a picture to come.

couscous & yam salad

last night i made a yam/couscous salad recipe that i found here and modified to suit my tastes. it was so awesome that i'm sharing it here. My notes are at the bottom.

2 medium-sized sweet potatos (or yams), cut into smallish chunks
2 carrots, chopped into chunks
1 green pepper, chopped into small sized pieces
1/2 of red onion, finely diced
1 cup couscous
1 lemon
olive oil
ground cumin
maple syrup
salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 450. put the sweet potatoes & carrots on a cookie sheet and smoosh them around with some oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper over top and bake until soft on the outside, crisp on the outside -- around 30 minutes or so. Meanwhile, chop the green pepper into small pieces and dice the onion finely. Prepare the couscous to the one cup of couscous according to the instructions on the pack. I used veggie broth instead of water.

When the vegetables are out of the oven, make the dressing. Squeeze lemon into a small bottle, add some olive oil, a teaspoon of cumin powder, and a bit of maple syrup and shake the mixture until well combined. The amounts in the dressing depend very much on personal taste - this is quite lemony, and you may want to increase the cumin, maple syrup and the oil. After tasting, you may want to add some salt & pepper. I did.

In a large bowl, combine the couscous, roasted veggies and green pepper. Pour the dressing, and stir in with a fork. Eat up.

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Next time I might add some raisins and walnuts into the bowl just because i like salads with raisins and nuts and I definitely think the texture and sweetness would go well with this salad. If i was feeling flush, i might also add some crumbled feta over top, but that would be just like showing off.