Our Veggie Kitchen

I went into the kitchen today with a plan to roast some squash. I decided I'd roast the squash and aromatics and decide from there what flavors were talking to me. The blended squash had a sweet and roasty flavor and was screaming for mustard. I sizzled some mustard and ginger in oil and blended in the last batch. This is an easy soup to make and the sweet squash with subtle hints of ginger and curry powder are perfect for a rainy fall day.



Roasted Squash Curry Soup
Roasted Veggies:
3 tbs vegetable oil
1 large butternut squash (about 3 lbs), cubed
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic
Other:
15 oz can chickpeas, drained
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp amchur (dried green mango) or 1/2 small lemon, juiced
Tarka*:
1 tbs vegetable oil
1 tbs brown mustard seed (yellow is fine too)
1 tbs ginger, roughly chopped
1 tsp curry powder

Roasted Veggies:
Add the vegetables and squash to one or two 9x13 casseroles and drizzle with vegetable oil.  Cook in an oven preheated to 400 degrees.  Bake until the the veggies begin to carmelize in places.  Remove from the oven and add the can of chickpeas to the veggies.  Blend in batches with enough water to keep the blender going.  Pour into a soup pot.

Tarka*:
Heat 1 tbs of vegetable oil in a small frying pan.  Add the mustard seed until it sizzles, then add the ginger.  Fry just until the ginger becomes aromatic.  Remove from heat and stir in the curry powder.  Add to the blender with some of the pureed soup.  Pour some water into the fry pan and swirl to get the last bits of spice.  Pour into the blender.  Blend thoroughly.

Add the salt and amchur or lemon juice to taste.  Heat to a boil, remove from heat and serve.

8 Servings:  337 cal (9g fat, 67g carbs, 8g protein)

Note:  a tarka is a cooking method used to flavor Indian dals.  At the end of cooking, spices are fried in oil, then folded into the dal.  This worked great for this recipe.  You can adjust the flavors by adding bits of the last blended batch at a time until you get the flavor you want.

Last weekend, I bought a big hubbard squash.  I made a batch of squash casserole, chopped some more up for the freezer and saved some for a curry this weekend.  I thought the sweetness from squash and sauteed onions would go perfectly with hot, pungent curry spices.  I ended up a bit pressed for time and just used plain ole curry powder, but it turned out really good, and, in the end, a pretty simple meal.   My favorite use of tempeh is simmered in coconut curry, so it was a natural complement to the squash.



Squash Curry
2 tbs vegetable oil
2 medium onions, halved & sliced into half rings
1 tbs ginger, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups winter squash (hubbard, butternut, etc), peeled & diced into large chunks
12 oz tempeh, cubed
1 small can (5.5 oz) coconut milk
3 cups water
1 1/2 tbs curry powder
1 tsp hot chili powder (I used 3/4 tsp chili powder & 1/4 tsp cayenne)
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick cinnamon (3-4 inches)
4 cardamom pods
1 cup soy yogurt

Heat the oil over medium-high heat. Saute the onions, stirring frequently until they have browned. Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute, until aromatic. Pour in the coconut milk, water and spices. Add the squash and bring to a boil. Then, gently stir in the temeph. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally (gently), for about 20 minutes, until the squash is tender. Stir in the yogurt and bring back to a boil. Remove from heat and pick out the cardamom pods and cinnamon stick and serve, poured over rice.

5 servings:  370 cal (22g fat, 32g carbs, 18g protein)

The best thing about Thanksgiving is the stuffing. It always has been, always will be. Last year, I made mushroom stuffing with chantrel, shitake and cremini mushrooms and stuffed it into small pumpkins. Earlier this year, I veganized my mom's Italian Sausage Stuffing (a personal favorite). This year, in a kind of seat-of-my pants manner, I cobbled together a squash stuffing.

OK, I had enough forsight to buy some pumpkin ale, but, really, I just bought some stuff that I thought would go well together. I had an acorn squash, and added some zucchini, fresh spinach and, of coarse, good quality stuffing cubes. I still have oregano and thyme in the garden and oregano goes so well with squash, it was a natural fit. Next time I will use a butternut or a pumpkin, something sweeter and more colorful. Aside from that, I was contented. It really captured the essence of Thanksgiving stuffing.



Squash Stuffing
4 Cups winter squash, diced
2 zucchini, quarered lenghtwise and chunked
1 tbs vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs oregano, minced (or 1 tsp dried)
1 tsp thyme, minced (or 1/2 tsp dried)
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
8 oz spinach, chopped
12 oz pumpkin ale (or any beer or veggie stock)
1 cup vegetable stock
12 oz dried bread cubes

Saute the onion in vegetable oil until soft. Add garlic, oregano and thyme and stir. Saute for about a minute longer. Add the celery, squash, spinach, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently until the spinach wilts. Stir in zucchini. In a separate bowl, pour ale and stock over the bread cubes and toss until the liquid is absorbed. Combine with the squash mixture and toss until thoroughly mixed.

Pour into a 9x13 casserole, pressing stuffing with a wooden spoon or spatula. Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. Remove the foil for the last 10 minutes.

8 Servings: 260 cal (4g fat, 49g carbs, 8g protein)