Recipes: Curried Cauliflower and Chickpea Soup with Coconut Milk

Having made this soup just last night, I still sort of remember the recipe! Pretty impressive, right? Since I never follow recipes, and am bad at writing ingredients down for all of my own recipes, I often find myself at a loss for what, exactly, I put in that dish when it comes time to share it with others... But, I'm working on getting better actually-writing-recipes-down habits!

Curried Cauliflower and Chickpea Soup with Coconut Milk

• 2 medium onions, diced
• 1/4 cup each of finely diced celery and carrots
• 2-3 garlic cloves, smashed and finely diced
• 1 whole head of cauliflower, tough core and any tougher stems removed, sliced and diced into nice small pieces. You want this to really combine with the broth, not just float around in big chunks
• A bit of veggie oil
• 1 19 oz/540 ml can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 4 cups veggie broth
• About 2 cups water
• About 1 cup coconut milk
• About 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 2 tablespoons fresh (or frozen) grated ginger
• About 2 teaspoons turmeric powder
• 1/2-1 teaspoon ground coriander
• About 1/2 teaspoon black (or preferably multi-colour mix) pepper
• A dash of ground cinnamon
• A dash of hot pepper flakes or cayenne pepper
• Salt to taste
• Honey or ginger syrup (we always have Ginger People's ginger syrup on hand, which I love to use, but I recognize that this is not a pantry staple for most people!)

Add cumin seeds to large pot, toast lightly dry or add oil right away (toasting dry gives a better flavour, I believe, but if you're prone to burning things just add seeds and oil at the same time). Once seeds have toasted a bit, add onions, celery, and carrots, and salt lightly. Cook until softened nicely, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook for a couple of minutes more, then add all other spices, continuing to fry another minute or so. Add cauliflower, stir to coat, then add broth, and 1-2 cups water (depending on how thick you want your soup to be. You can always add a bit more water later!). Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes. Add chickpeas, more salt, and a bit of honey or syrup, cover once more, and continue to simmer until cauliflower is very soft. Once it's completely softened, stir in coconut milk, and enjoy!

Supper Ideas: Cleaning Out the Fridge...Of Veggies, At Least

When my mother and I decide that there are a lot of veggies in the fridge that have been sitting there for too long, we really know how to use them well. This was the meal we created.

Starting on the left, going clockwise: Sweet and smoky beans (with chipotle peppers and maple syrup), molasses rye cornbread, maple glazed roasted carrots and parsnips, buttery sautéed kale with onions, and roasted sunchokes (also known as Jerusalem artichokes) and garlic.

Salad Ideas: Cucumber, Apple, and Walnut Salad in Sweet Dijon Vinaigrette

I keep not posting because so often I don't have pictures of the food I make (since my beautiful and much loved digital SLR died last year, I haven't had a camera that I actually enjoy using), and it only feels like a proper food post if I include photos. However, I'm going to try not to let that stop me from posting, though I do also hope to start using my father's very nice camera in the immediate future, and get a new camera for myself this coming year. But for now, I wanted to share a tasty salad I made tonight, without pictures!

Salad

• 1 large cucumber, sliced in fairly thin rounds
• 1-2 stalks celery, sliced thinly
• 1 apple, cored, halved, and sliced thinly
• A handful of walnuts

Dressing

I don't have amount for this one I'm afraid, but I can still give the ingredients!

• Grapeseed oil or other mild tasting oil
• Red wine vinegar
• Seedy dijon mustard
• Ginger honey (alternately ginger syrup, or honey and some freshly grated or powdered ginger)
• Salt

Mix dressing, toss with salad, and enjoy! This was a success with all salad eating family members, and my dad who usually isn't as into salads actually came back for thirds, never mind seconds.

I feel like lots of people have the idea that salad is boring, and approach it with a grudging attitude of getting through this annoying healthy thing as soon as possible. But with a little bit of creativity, there are SO many really tasty things you can do with salads. Salads are cool.