Curried Kabocha Soup

This is perhaps the easiest soup to make EVAH. I oven-roasted a kabocha squash the other night. Although the skin is edible, I peeled most of it off for today’s soup. All told, prep was 10 minutes. And because I use a vegetarian “chicken broth” from New Leaf, the soup is vegan. Jim likes it anyway.

You may be tempted to substitute butternut or another winter squash for the kabocha, but the soup will not taste the same. IMHO, there is no substitute for kabocha. Try it and you'll see why.

Curried Kabocha Soup
Ingredients
1 medium kabocha squash
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, diced
1 red onion, diced
1 can coconut milk
1 fat teaspoon of powdered curry spices
4 cups broth

Directions

1. Roast the squash until tender. Let cool. Peel and remove seeds.
2. Saute the onion, pepper and spices in olive oil.
3. Add the broth and squash and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Puree with immersion blender.
5. Add coconut milk.
6. Serve.

We had leftover country potatoes from breakfast -- also seasoned with curry and red onions -- so I tossed those in.

Jim’s words: “oh man, this is incredible.” That's an understatement.

The Only Granola Recipe You'll Ever Need

I've been using the same granola recipe forever.  The first time I tasted granola, it was this recipe, which I got from Janis.

Granted, I've made minor tweaks over the years but the proportions are consistent. I used more oil and sugar in my first batches; now I substitute apple puree, as David Liebowitz does, and maple syrup. In today's batch, I used ground flax seed, unsweetened coconut chips, and dried cherries. This makes the best yogurt topping.

The Only Granola Recipe You'll Ever Need

Ingredients

Dry Mix

2 - 3 lb. rolled oats/grains (mine: oats & barley)

2 c. wheat germ or flax seed

1 - 1 1/2 c. brown sugar

2 c. whole almonds

1 t. salt

Wet Mix
1/2 c. oil
2/3 c. water
1 c. maple syrup
1/2 c. apple puree or unsweetened applesauce
1 T. vanilla

After baking
1 1/2 c. coconut -- pick your poison: unsweetened flakes or shredded sweetened
2 c. dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, cherries, apricots...mangoes, pineapple. you name it)

Directions

1. Combine dry mix.
2. Pour wet mix and stir until dry ingredients are evenly moistened.
3. Spread on baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, stirring every ten minutes.
4. Right after you’ve taken the granola out of the oven but while it’s still hot, stir in the dried fruit and coconut.
5. Let this cool completely before packing in glass jars. I refrigerate any that I'm not going to eat in the next couple of days.

Makes the perfect gift.

Steak Pizza on Cornmeal Crust

Lazy dinner tonight. The natural food store in town carries pre-made cornmeal olive oil crusts. I like to have a pack on hand for nights we want a home-cooked meal but lack ambition. I've not tried making cornmeal crust myself, but there are plenty of recipes on the internets.

Tonight's pizza is tres simple. I sauteed crimini mushrooms with red onion, garlic, and sun-dried tomatoes (marinated in olive oil). Diced the leftover steak. Covered the crust with a soft bed of parmesan, added the veggies, piled on the steak, topped with more parmesan and blue cheese, and added a few sliced olives for good measure.

Bake in a medium oven, around 350 degrees, rather than the typically hotter temp you'd bake a pizza, since you want the cornmeal crust crispy and the toppings well melded. Check in 15 minutes. If the crust needs to brown more, turn off the heat and let it cook two more minutes.

There, that's the recipe. Beats Round Table.