Curried Split Pea Soup

I'm posting slowly lately. Its not for lack of things to post, though. At any given time, I have a backlog of 5-10 drafts just waiting to be finished and posted. My problem is that I've been spending too much time in cyberland. Yes, my friends, I am an internet addict. I have had to pull back and only get on the computer just a little here and there. Its hardly given me time to get my posts up! Oh well. Its all about balance, isn't it? I'm working on that balance.

This recipe is a wonderful and unique split pea soup recipe. Its from one of Lorna Sass' cookbooks (I don't remember which one, since I checked it out from the library ages ago). Anyway, she specializes in pressure cooking. Some of her cookbooks are vegan, some are not. This particular recipe is vegan (though I added a dollop non-vegan sour cream on top of mine).

I use the recipe as a guideline and vary it as I need too. For instance, it calls for butternut squash, but if I don't have any on hand, I'll use carrots instead. The picture I took has a little sumac sprinkled on top for color.



Curried Yellow Split Pea Soup

1 tablespoon oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons grated ginger
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced
1 1/2 lbs. butternut squash, crubbed, seeded, and cut into chunks
2 cups yellow split peas, rinsed
1/3 cup raisins
6 cups water, or broth
1 tablepsoon + 1 teaspoon mild curry powder
3/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
bay leaf
1 teaspoon sea salt

1. Heat oil in pressure cooker and saute the onion and ginger for 2 minutes. Stir in all remaining ingredients except salt.
2. Lock the lid into place. Over high heat, bring to high pressure. Lower the heat just ehough to maintain high pressure and cook 6 minutes. Reduce pressure with a quick-release method. Remove the lid, tilting away from you to allow excess steam to escape.
3. Add salt. Remove bay leaf, and simmer a few moments. Stir well, and thin with water if necessary.

Curried White Bean and Kale Soup

Oh, great. I made this a few weeks ago and now that I'm finally getting around to posting about it, I can't remember the recipe.

Usually when I make up a recipe for the blog, I'll make sure I draft a post and record at least what I put into it! That way, when I get around to posting it, I have a guideline for writing out the recipe, even if its been a few weeks. Apparently I didn't do that this time. All I have is a picture.

I do remember that I really liked this soup!



Curried White Bean and Kale Soup

Ok, so this is what I probably did:

I had some white beans on hand that I cooked earlier in the pressure cooker.

I sauteed some onion, garlic, and maybe celery. After the vegetables were soft and fragrant, I added some curry powder, maybe a teaspoon or so. At this point, I pureed the sauteed veggies with a can of chicken broth (or vegetable broth) and beans in the food processor. I wanted a thick soup with pureed beans and whole beans, so I only pureed about half of the beans. I returned everything to the pan. Then I added about 1/2 cup of canned pumpkin (I had made pumpkin bread earlier and I had some left over), and the rest of the beans. I probably used about 2 cups of beans.

After all this, I added a cup or so of chopped kale and simmered gently for a few minutes to soften and lightly cook the kale.

Teriyaki Beans and Rice

I was all "eh, what am I making for dinner...do I really have to cook???" Apparently the family expected it or something.

This is what I came up with, and it was actually quite good! I should have made more.




Teriyaki Beans and Rice
This was a throw together meal, and I didn't measure. So keep in mind that all measurements are approximate and can be adjusted as you please.

1/2 lb mushrooms, chopped
stalk broccoli, chopped
1 1/2 cups navy beans (probably equivalent to 1 can)
2 tablespoons fresh garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
1/4 cup Soy Vay Teriyaki Sauce
tablespoon rice vinegar
2 stalks green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Saute the mushrooms and broccoli in the teriyaki sauce. Add the garlic and ginger. Saute for a few minutes more. Add beans, rice vinegar, green onions and cilantro and cook until heated through.

Serve with rice.

Falafel

Ok, I'll have to admit that I was very nervous about trying falafel again. I had made it before, and never met with any success. It always just fell apart when fried. It was a complete failure!

So, I decided to give it a try again, this time with the help of internet research (yeah, the last time I tried was probably 10 years ago, pre-internet).

So, prepared with what seemed to be an authentic recipe, I gave it a try, and was I ever happy!! It was a beautiful sight to behold!

See for yourself!




Ain't she purty?

So, I used a recipe from a Syrian website. When I had tried to make falafel before, I used cooked chickpeas and mashed them, adding spices and such. Well, this is a recipe for disaster. The cooked chickpea mass just falls apart when it touches the hot oil. For a perfect falafel mixture, the key is to only soak the chickpeas. No need for cooked ones in this recipe! A food processor is really essential for this recipe. The website says you can also use a meat grinder. I don't think a blender would be able to do the job very well, though.
For the Falafel Mix:
*500 mL (2 cups) dried chick peas (absolutely not canned)
*1 medium onion quartered
*2-3 cloves garlic
*2-3 slices stale bread
*50 mL (1/4 cup) parsley (I also added the same amount of cilantro)
*110 mL (2 tsp) salt
*3 mL (3/4 tsp) black pepper
*10 mL (2 tsp) cumin
*10 mL (2 tsp) oregano
*10 mL (2 tsp) ground coriander
*5 mL (1 tsp) red hot pepper flakes
*20 mL (4 tsp) flour (I used whole wheat)
*10 mL (2 tsp) baking powder
*50 mL (1/4 cup) water

Directions:
Pick out foreign matter from between the peas. Place in a large bowl, cover generously with water and soak overnight.
Drain peas. Add onion, garlic, bread, parsley, and red sweet pepper. Run through the fine blade of a meat grinder. (You may process in food processor until mealy.) Add spices, flour, 10 mL (2 tsp) baking powder and water. Mix well. It should look like this:

For Forming the Balls:
*5 mL (1 tsp) baking powder
*125 mL (1/2 cup) water
*vegetable oil for deep frying
In a small dish mix the remaining baking powder and water. Use it to moisten the palm of your hands and form balls of the chick peas mixture the size of walnuts, then flatten a bit. It should look like this:

Deep fry in oil at medium high heat until golden brown. Serve piping hot.
Arrange in halved loaves of pita (Arabic bread), topped with salad vegetables and tahina sauce. Some people love it topped with sauerkraut, wedges of tomato and tahina sauce. Hot pepper may also be sprinkled on top.
I made a sauce to accompany the falafel. I chose to do a yogurt based cucumber-tahini sauce. You can also eat it with plain tahini, or hummus. We sprinkled a little Sumac on it also.

Falafel Sauce
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons tahini
1/4 cup grated cucumber
1 clove minced garlic
juice of one lemon
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
If you like it richer, more like a whole milk yogurt, add a little cream, or substitute sour cream for all or part of the yogurt.

Mix all ingredients and allow to sit for an hour for flavors to blend.

Tostadas

This is basically like tacos, but actually a little easier to eat, lol! No need for a recipe, just use what you have/like.

I like having refried beans for the first layer. It helps all of the other toppings hang on.

If you have a pressure cooker, then you can have refried beans in no time at all. I put the dry beans in the cooker, add water and a little oil, and bring to high pressure. Cook at high pressure for 10 minutes and then turn off heat and allow pressure to drop on its own. Once I can open the cooker, I fill the food processor with beans, a little olive oil, and a clove of garlic. Process until smooth (adding water to thin as needed), add salt to taste, and there you go! The whole process takes about 1/2 hour.