Creamy Coconut and Red Lentil Soup

I came down with a cold recently, and I was craving soup. As much as I love a fragrant, brothy soup like pho when I get the sniffles, my body wanted something more substantial (i.e. something that wouldn’t leave me hungry in two hours...does pho do that to anyone else but me?). Also when I’m sick, I go from having no appetite at all to suddenly wanting to devour everything in sight. Thank you, robust and raging immune system. I wanted soup, and I needed it fast.

Red lentils to the rescue. They cook in 20 minutes, take minimal effort for my cold-fighting body to breakdown, and they’re full of fiber and protein that keep me satisfied. I also tossed in coconut milk for added oomph, vitamin-rich carrots because I believe veggies of any kind are instant healers, and warming spices for extra comfort. A little apple showed up for a tart-sweet flavor and because we all know that vitamin c is a force when it comes to conquering illness.

I served it with brown rice, but any hearty bread would do. It also freezes well, so make a big batch and save some for later!  

To get the recipe, head over to Anthropologie’s blog. It’s a beautiful soup, but I must say it looks even prettier in their fancy bowls.

Black Bean and Quinoa Chili

One pot meals. How beautiful are they? They save time, stress, time, water, time, and counter space. See a theme here? This chili, loaded with black beans, quinoa, and sweet potatoes, is becoming a go-to in my house as the temps drop and I find myself with fewer and fewer hours in my day. It's delicious by the bowlful, but it's also finding it's way re-purposed into a slew of meals (stuffed into tortillas with plenty of avocado for a hand-held version and ladled over roasted potatoes for a chili-fry combo). Versatile and easily adaptable. For more spice, add in a diced jalapeno as you saute the onions or throw in a chili in adobo sauce. For a richer flavor, toss in a little chunk of dark chocolate and a touch more cinnamon, stir until the chocolate melts. If you're in the need for more greens, toss in a handful until it wilts. Get comfortable with the basics, then try your own.

Did I tell you it was also nutrient-dense? Black beans, quinoa, and walnuts pack lots of healthy plant-based protein. Sweet potatoes are not only look pretty in it, but they offer plenty of good-for-you nutrients like vitamin A and fiber. It's a one pot meal that's filling, satisfying, and It freezes beautifully. As I mention below, it thickens as it cools, so if you'd like it thinner, add a little water, a teaspoon at a time, until your desired consistency. Avocado, a sprinkling of cilantro, a squeeze of lime, and a little red onion or scallion sprinkled on top makes it a chili suited for company.

Black Bean and Quinoa Chili

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon chili powder (ground chipotle pepper for a kick!)
1 tablespoon cumin powder
¾ teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼-½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, depending on preferred spiciness
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
5 cups water or vegetable stock, depending on preferred thickness
1 medium sweet potato, chopped in ½-inch pieces
2 15.5 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup dry quinoa
½ cup chopped walnuts
Salt and pepper, to taste

Optional toppings: fresh cilantro, avocado, lime, minced red onion or scallion

Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute 5-7 minutes or until golden. Add garlic, tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, ground coriander, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper and cook 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add tomatoes, water or stock, sweet potato, black beans, quinoa, and generous pinch of salt. Bring mixture to boil, and then reduce to simmer and allow to cook for 15 minutes. Add walnuts, stir, and allow to simmer until quinoa and potatoes are cooked and mixture has thickened, about 7-10 minutes more. You many want to add more liquid as it cooks if chili is becoming too thick for you. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, top with chopped cilantro, avocado slices, and lime. Serves 6.

**Mixture will continue to thicken as it cools. Add a few tablespoons of water when reheating if a thinner consistency is preferred.

Peach and Tomato Gazpacho

We’re in full-swing summer here. If the heat didn’t remind me everyday, the farmer’s market sure does. Peaches, tomatoes, cucumbers..you could make a whole meal out of these alone. So that’s just what I did.

I riffed off my sister’s gazpacho staple- the one she makes every summer with her unending supply of tomato and freezes for easy dinners later in the year. She literally makes gallons of it. While I love appreciating tomatoes in other ways, I did find this gazpacho was perfect for a particularly unbearably hot, humid, and languid weekend. I modified my sister’s recipe slightly, adapting it to what I bought at the market and what tasted balanced. I had purchased too many peaches I could physically eat, so I had sliced the leftovers and frozen them, planning to use them in smoothies. Then I found out they make the perfect addition to this gazpacho, adding a welcome sweetness to acidic tomatoes. Plus, they kept the mixture cooler as it whirled away in the blender. Of course, feel free to use fresh peaches. I recommend cooling the mixture in the fridge for an hour or so for the most refreshing soup.

The cilantro pesto is optional, but delicious. It lends a fresh, spicy flair, but you could forgo it entirely for a sprinkling of chopped herbs or a swirl of basil pesto--whatever you have on hand!

Peach and Tomato Gazpacho

4 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 cup sliced peaches, fresh or frozen (about 1 ½ peaches)
1 cucumber, seeded and roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves
⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 slices whole grain bread, torn into pieces
½ lime, juiced
Salt and pepper to taste
Cilantro and Pepita Pesto, optional (or fresh cilantro, chopped, or basil pesto)

In blender of food processor, process tomatoes, peaches, cucumber, and garlic until pureed. Add bread and lime juice and blend again. Slowly stream in oil as motor is running. Add a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Taste to adjust seasoning. Drizzle with pesto, if using, or sprinkle with chopped fresh herbs. Serve immediately, or chill in refrigerator prior to serving. Serves 4 as a light meal.

Zucchini and Basil Soup

The heat of the summer has been wearing me down. My skin is sticky, lips are parched. I find myself feeling dehydrated, no matter how much water I drink. You may be wondering why then, I have decided to make soup. When we think of soup, we think of warm, comforting goodness. A bowl that heats us from the inside out while nourishing us from within. Lucky for us, there is a whole other world of soup possibilities out there, especially in these dog days of summer.

Cold soups are a godsend when you can’t eat another salad- even for veggie-loving me, that can happen, but you need something hydrating, something that does just the opposite of those rich winter stews- that cools you from the inside out. This cool soup was loosely inspired by cucumber dill soups I had eaten a few times growing up in sweltering North Carolina. We’re in zucchini season, so my fridge is loaded with them. Basil is my essential summer herb; I always need to have a little bit on hand, just in case I stumble upon a perfect tomato or need a little something to make a summer dish really sing. And sing this soup does.

Many cold soups begin with raw ingredients and end with raw ingredients, only getting a quick puress in a blender- tomato gazapcho, for instance- but I found that a quick cook of the vegetables makes for a softer flavor that allows the lemony basil and earthy avocado to standout rather than play second fiddle to pungent onion, sharp garlic, and grassy zucchini. This makes one serving, two if you're serving it as a starter, made more filing by avocado and edamame. It's perfect for when you come home, hot, ravenous, with no one to feed but yourself. It can be eaten warm, cool, or cold, but I find the flavors are most robust when just cool. It is easily doubled or tripled, so it’s the perfect way to make use of that zucchini surplus.

Zucchini and Basil Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
¼ cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ cup frozen edamame or canned chickpeas
1 pound zucchini, chopped
¼ cup water
1 lemon, juiced and ½ zested
generous handful fresh basil leaves
½ avocado, divided
1 tablespoon chopped toasted walnuts, optional
salt and pepper to taste

Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil over medium heat in a medium pot. Add onion, and saute 3-5 minutes or until soft. Add garlic, edamame (or chickpeas), zucchini, ¼ cup water, and a generous pinch of salt. Bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer and cook for 7 minutes or until zucchini is tender. Remove from heat and allow to cool 5 minutes.

Transfer mixture to blender and add lemon zest and juice, basil, ¼ avocado, and remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil. Blend until smooth, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. If mixture is to thick to your liking, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time. If you would like to cool the mixture down and reduce thickness, add 1-3 ice cubes and blend. Cool in refrigerator prior to enjoying or eat warm. Garnish with remaining ¼ avocado, chopped, walnuts, and basil chiffonade. Enjoy! Serves 1 for main course, 2 for starter.

Lucky Pinto Bean and Beef Chili with Kale

I wish I did not believe in luck or was superstitious. But I do, and I am. My reasonable, rational self knows that it is not only a bit silly, but that I am also in a sense surrendering my agency to some outside force. When I was younger, I thought that if I watched my favorite athletes perform, they would lose. Thank goodness for replays because that is how I watched Tiger Woods play golf and the Duke Blue Devils play basketball. For exams, I never liked to break from my routine of having three mechanical pencils at-the-ready because that is how I had always taken tests and had done well. If I did not score well, it was not the pencils' fault, it was mine,  but if I did do well, it was because I had three mechanical pencils. Even to this day, if someone talks about how wonderful the weather is or how smooth the traffic is flowing, I have been known to get absurdly upset, like stomp-my-feet-and-cross-my-arms-upset, because I am convinced that their very words will jinx us into a torrential downpour or into a stop-and-go traffic pattern.

When I really think about it, the idea that I think what I or another person could say or do could impact something so far removed from me is selfish. I must think of myself as really, super-duper important if my watching Tiger Woods play golf will impact his play or that having two pencils instead of three will cause all of the material I studied to just go poof! from my little brain. 

Despite my observations and my rational sensibilities, I still cling to luck and superstition. This especially comes to those things that I have less control over, like sports games. Which brings me to the Superbowl.

I have no real vested interest in the Superbowl until Superbowl Sunday. I usually pick a team and root for them for some arbitrary reason, unless it is the Green Bay Packers, and then I am obligated by my Wisconsin-born side of the family to root for them. This year, I already know who I am rooting for given that I am from North Carolina, and we could use a professional sports win. Go Panthers, go!

Now I cannot control how the team actually plays, but I can eat this chili, chock full of lucky black-eyed peas and fortuitous green kale. As I see it, I am doing my part to win this Superbowl, now they have to do theirs. It takes all of 35 minutes to come together if you are in a rush, but it can also simmer for up to an hour to allow the flavors to meld a bit more. I highly recommend making a big pot of it the day before you plan to serve it and let the flavors come together even more overnight. I give some suggestions for serving, but get creative. Top a baked potato or baked sweet potato with chili, make chili fries, or serve it alongside brown rice or another favorite grain.

For those of you who have been reading my blog for a while now, I rarely post meat dishes but I do eat them on occasion. When I cook them at home, I try to source meat from local farms, without antibiotics or hormones, and if possible, free-range and/or grass-fed. I encourage you to find the best quality ground beef you can find for this, and then go get your Superbowl cheer on.

Lucky Pinto Bean and Beef Chili with Kale

1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 pound lean ground beef (90%), preferably local and/or grass-fed
1 medium onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ancho or chipotle chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
pinch of cinnamon
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 1/2 cups chicken stock or water
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
2 cans (15 ounces each) pinto beans, drained
1/2 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
Optional toppings: sour cream, sharp cheddar cheese, green onions, avocado, cilantro, crushed tortilla chips or cornbread

In a large pot, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil over medium-high heat and brown beef for 5-7 minutes, breaking into small pieces as it cooks. When cooked, remove beef to bowl and add remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil to pot. Add onions and garlic and cook over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add chili powders and cumin, pinch of cinnamon, and generous pinch of salt and pepper. Cook 30 seconds or until fragrant.

Add tomato paste, cooked beef, stock or water, diced tomatoes, and drained beans, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 25-30 minutes or until flavors have melded, stirring occasionally. Make sure you stir to the bottom of the pot! If you can cook a little longer, cook for up to 45 minutes. Stir in kale and cook for 5 minutes or until wilted. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve with desired toppings. Enjoy! Makes 4 servings.