Coconut Curried Red Lentil & Sweet Potato Soup

Two weeks ago it was in the mid 80's... and now it ain't. 

I want to eat salad, and peaches and drink sangria and mojitos on the front stoop gawking at the crazies on my block.

I want to sit in the park for hours, sipping on a mason jar filled with iced tea.. eating cherries, reading and soaking up the sun.

I want to go swimming in a lake and dig my feet into a sandy beach.

But....

Instead, I sit inside, curled up under a blanket eating soup and toasted buttered baguette.

Where the hell is summer??

Luckily, this soup is awesome and will make you feel good until you can comfortably dance in the streets in your bikini.

Boom, Boom, Pow....


Coconut Curried Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup (serves 2-4)

1 1/2 T. coconut oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 c . carrot, peeled and chopped
2 c. sweet potato, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2" piece ginger, peeled and chopped
6 c. vegetable broth
1 c. red lentils
2/3 c. coconut milk
1/2 T. curry powder
1/8 t. cayenne
3/4 t. sea salt
black pepper, to taste
1 T. fresh squeezed lemon juice

Heat the coconut oil in a large heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook 3-5 minutes, until softened. Add the sweet potato and carrot, and cook an additional 2-3 minutes. Stir in the garlic, ginger, curry powder and cayenne and cook for another minute or two. Add the lentils and vegetable broth. Cover and simmer until the carrots and sweet potatoes are tender and the lentils soften, about 20-25 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender until creamy. Stir in the coconut milk, lemon juice and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Serve hot.

Butternut and root vegetable soup

It may look like baby food.

It's not.

It's soup.

Soups are one of my favorite fall/winter time dishes.  Throw a bunch of vegetables/ beans in a pot. Add some stock. Cook it while you snuggle on the couch, drink wine and facebook stalk people from your past.

In no time you'll have a bowl of piping hot deliciousness. 

This soups has fall written all over it.  Look closely.

Butternut squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips... some stock and a little onion and thyme.

The great thing about soups is that they can be made with whatever you have lying around the house.  I just happened to have all of these vegetables on hand. Don't like parnips, leave 'em out. No broccoli, so what.. I just added it to bump up the nutritional content.

Butternut and root vegetable soup (serves 2-3)

2 c. butternut squash
2 medium sweet potatoes
1 large parsnip
1 medium potato
3 medium carrots
1 small onion, diced
1 c. broccoli floretts
vegetable stock (or broth)
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 t. dried thyme, or more to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

Peel the carrots, potato, sweet potato, parsnip and butternut squash and cut into 2 inch pieces.  Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat.  Add the onion and sautee 3-4 minutes.  Stir in the carrots, sweet potato, potato, parnip, and butternut squash, thyme and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add enough vegetable stock to just cover the vegetables.  Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables can be easily pierced with a fork (about 20 minutes). Add the broccoli, turn off the heat and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes.  Scoop vegetables, along with a little bit of the cooking broth into a blender and blend until creamy, adding additional broth if the soup seems to thick.  Pour into a separate soup pot, and repeat with the remaining vegetables. You may not use all of the broth, depending on how thick you like your soup.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and reheat if necessary.

grilled salmon with roasted sweet potatoes and mango red pepper salsa

You got all that?
So.. this is supposed to be a vegetarian blog.  Once in a blue moon I get an intense craving for fish, be it some seared tuna on a salad or some really good sushi, or some beer battered haddock.
This was one of these times. So, whatever.  Vegetarian food 97.2333% of the time.
I picked up some wild alaskan salmon and got to work.
I was up at the camp and wanted some simple sides, nothing that would require more than twenty minutes of prep time. 
Sweet potatoes are delicious roasted.. I cut 'em up, tossed with some extra virgin olive oil, chipotle powder, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper.

I threw 'em on a sheetpan and roasted at 450 degrees for 30 minutes. Done.

Mangos were on sale at the asian market so I decided to do a quick fruit salsa. This goes great with fish, but is equally tasty with some tortilla chips or eaten straight out of the bowl with a spoon.

Mango Red Pepper Salsa

I mango peeled and diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 small jalapeno, minced
1/3 c. red onion, diced
1/4 c. cilantro, chopped
1 lime, juiced
salt, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.