Weekly Lunch: Easy Pumpkin Red Lentil Soup

I opened a giant can of pumpkin puree in order to make my savory pumpkin curry granola bars, so I wanted to incorporate pumpkin into my lunch this week.

Here's a quick and easy soup for those times when you want a hot lunch without a lot of work. The pumpkin doesn't really stand out in this soup, but adds a small amount of sweetness and lots of vitamin A. The tahini makes the soup very creamy - a tasty, vegan, high-protein alternative to actual cream.

Easy Pumpkin Red Lentil Soup
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1 cup red lentils
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 tablespoons tahini paste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Toasted pumpkin seeds (for topping)

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium pot and cook the onion, carrot and celery for 8-10 minutes until well softened. Add the garlic and spices and cook for 1-2 minutes.
2. Rinse the lentils and add to the pot along with the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 20-25 minutes until lentils are very tender.
3. Add the pumpkin puree and the tahini and heat through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve soup with pumpkin seeds sprinkled on top.

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Question: What is your favorite thing to make with pumpkin puree?

Weekly Lunch: Curried Sweet Potato and Chickpea Soup

You may know by now how much I love chickpeas in salads. Fortunately for me, chickpeas are also great in soups, whether left whole or blended to add creaminess. I like making blended soups as an excuse to break out the stick blender, which I love but only use once a month or so.

This week's lunch features garnet yams, chickpeas, coconut milk, onion, garlic and ginger. It is spiced simply with a Madras-style curry powder, amped up with white pepper and cayenne.

There were many vegetables to chop.

But once you're done chopping, most of the work is done. Everything needs to simmer for half an hour or so.

When the veggies are very tender, blend them to a smooth consistency. It takes a few minutes.

When you're done blending, add the coconut milk and blend some more.

This was a great warming soup for a cold day. And tons of vitamin A!

 

Curried Sweet Potato Soup

Makes 4 quarts

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil (or butter, or ghee)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1" piece of ginger root, peeled and minced
• 1 tablespoon Madras curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 pounds garnet yams, peeled and diced
• 4 -5 cups vegetable stock
• 15 ounces unsweetened coconut milk

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and celery and cook for 8-10 minutes until well softened. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 1-2 minutes, then add the spices.
2. Add the yams and the vegetable stock and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes until yams are very tender.
3. Puree the soup with an immersion blender (or in a regular blender, in batches). When very smooth, add the coconut milk and blend together. Heat for 5-10 minutes, then serve.

Weekly Lunch: Spinach Salad with Tofu, Avocado and Tangelo

Tangelo. Tangelo. Tangelo! What a fun word. I love fruit with weird names. Tangelos are a hybrid of tangerine and grapefruit, and they're one of my favorite citrus fruits.

I've been talking with LauraJayne about sugar detoxing this week, and I think it's time to take the plunge. I'm still working out the details of my plan, but basically I'm going to cut out all white sugars and wheat for a couple of weeks. I'll still use things like honey and brown rice syrup, but I'm going to try to get most of my sugars from fruits rather than added sweeteners. I've been having headaches lately (I rarely get headaches) and some digestive issues (sorry for TMI), so I am looking forward to experimenting with my diet and seeing if I notice any changes.

So, this week, while I research and prepare for this "detox," I am already cutting out sugary foods and eating simpler, healthy meals.

In this week's lunch:

• Baby spinach
• Red cabbage, thinly sliced
• Hard boiled egg
• Baked tofu (storebought)
• Avocado
• Tangelo slices
• Sesame seeds (both white and black)
• Rice wine vinegar and walnut oil

 

I love all of the contrasting flavors and textures in this salad! The fresh orange, crunchy cabbage, savory tofu and sesame seeds, and buttery avocado all come together really nicely.

Carrot Sunflower Dip

OMG, my first berry-free post!!

I saw this recipe on the Front Burner and decided to try it myself. Made some adaptations, adding harissa paste and losing the fresh ginger, cilantro, Bragg's/soy sauce and a couple of the spices. Call me lazy, I will agree with you.



It may look like a thick, pasty barf, but it is really quite good, and something different for those tired of the usual hummus/tapenade/spinach-artichoke dips. I enjoyed it with cucumber slices, blanched green beans, and sesame crackers.