sweet potato soup recipe

i've been playing with my new immersion blender (thanks, ali!), and last night created my first homemade soup recipe. if you try it and have feedback, please let me know!

becca's sweet potato soup

serves 2-4 (4 bowls of soup)

ingredients
2 lbs sweet potatoes
1 can light coconut milk
1-2 teaspoons concentrated vegetable broth or bouillon cubes
1 tablespoon Earth Balance or similar
1-3 cups original flavored oat milk
2 apples (pink lady or similar), cored and diced (leave skin on)
curry powder
fennel seeds
ground cloves
ground cinnamon
salt


directions
preheat oven to 450 F.

wash and poke holes in sweet potatoes.
place directly on rack in oven until thoroughly cooked through, about 40-50 min.
remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.

place coconut milk in large pot and stir in broth/cubes.
place lid on pot and heat over medium heat.
when simmering, turn off heat.

turn oven up to "broil", or turn oven off and broiler on.
place diced apples on a pan and broil for 8-10 min, flipping halfway through, until warm and puffy.
remove and put aside.

de-skin potatoes. compost or toss skins.
place potatoes and Earth Balance in pot with coconut milk.
using immersion blender, puree until smooth.
the soup will be very thick. add in oat milk and puree until a thinner consistency (whatever you prefer).
toss in approx. 2 teaspoons curry powder, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, 1/8 teaspoon cloves, 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. puree one last time.
taste and add spices to taste. stir in with a silicone spatula.
place pot back on stove over medium heat and reheat.
add additional salt if desired.
place diced apples in bowl and ladle soup over it. serve!

sand witch bored

someone at bistro gambrinus, the new bar/pub around the corner, is really trying to screw with my mental spellcheck.


exhibit one
borstch: for $6/bowl, you should be getting something authentic, like borscht. or borsht. or barszcz. or borshch.

exhibit two
hand maid: women's hands for dinner. eek.

exhibit three
avokado: is gud spelling supposed tuh bee a sekret?

exhibit four
vegiterian: well, then. i'm too vegit, too vegit to quit (hay haaaaaay!).

the perfect multi-tasker

cool giveaway notice! river over at wing it vegan is hosting a giveaway for the healthy chef 4-in-1 kitchen appliance. lexen product's healthy chef is a food dehydrator, rice cooker, steamer, and yogurt maker all in one. pretty nifty! now go enter.

the shopping cart song

while waiting to check out at whole foods the other day, i mentally composed a grocery-related rap. song. rhyming thing.

i got 'chu egg to the plant, some leeky leeky leeks,
some mush in the rooms, no potatoes- they go squeak
when you heat them in the oven
check it-- two kinds 'a tofu dogs
a bottle of tasty EVOO
and some yellow popcorn
[pause to review receipt and tap foot: 1-2-3-4]
gotta toast the israeli couscous over *bang* low heat.
then warm up some buns
made of honey whole wheat.
four meals for three* plus today's vegan soup lunch
add in some staples,
it came to seventy bucks.
not too bad
not too shabby
maybe now my tummy won't
be so crabby.

*me, todd, and his other appetite.

like warm rhubarb pie

when i was younger, my mom would make this amazing rhubarb pie. in our house, pie was the only respectable profession for rhubarb. no pickles, no breads, no stuffing. just pie. last week we got two stalks of rhubarb in our veggie box, so i whipped out my mom's recipe for rhubarb custard pie. originally, it called for 4 cups of rhubarb, but we only had enough for 2, so i substituted 2 cups sliced strawberries. next time, i think i'll make it 3, just for kicks. make this for a spring bbq or a loved one. or yourself.

strawberry rhubarb custard pie, a variation on martha's simply rhubarb custard pie

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
salt
3 eggs
2 cups 1-inched sliced rhubarb
2-3 cups sliced strawberries
2 pie crusts (dethawed)
2 tablespoons butter, chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix sugar, flour, nutmeg and a dash of salt. Add to 3 beaten eggs; beat smooth. Stir in sliced rhubarb and strawberries.

Prepare pastry for 9 inch lattice-top pie. Line 9 inch pie plate with pastry. Fill with rhubarb mixture. Dot with butter. Adjust lattice top and seal. Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes. Let cool at least 30 minutes prior to eating.

is that a banana in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

our bi-weekly veggie box arrived, and inside along with cherry tomatoes, peaches, green beans, summer squash, celery, and bing cherries comes the largest cucumber i've ever seen. insert your own cucumber joke here.

at least i'm not a vegan

i'm mentally prepping for the trip to ohio. every time i talk with my maternal grandmother, she asks what i can eat. now, this shouldn't be too hard, right? it's not like vegetarianism is all new or anything. and so i explain that i eat anything that isn't meat. or made w/chicken stock or beef broth. and then she says "so you'll eat turkey." um no, that's meat. "so you'll eat fish?" no. that's meat. the meat of a fish. "what in the world do you eat, then?" let's see, there are grains, vegetables, fruits, and chocolate. and i'll eat some cheese. "what can i possible make you for dinner?" what, do breakfast and lunch not exist? perhaps this is some mid-western thought that you MUST have meatmeatmeat as your mealmealmeal. or else you'll die. right there. at the table. kersplaat. and then no more dinner for you.

so before i go, i may have to put together a makeshift vegetarian's guide to foreign travel because while ohio is technically part of the united states, most of the ideas are rather foreign. or else most of our foreign ideas have yet to penetrate the confused state. for example, one page may look like this:

= NO







= NO









= NO









= NO












= NO








= Ding Ding Ding! YES!

another veggie tale

this week's veggie box included two of my least favorite vegetables, leeks and rutabaga. it's not that i don't like the taste, but there's not much you can make with them. sure, you can put leeks on a salad or in a pasta sauce... and that's it. and rutabaga? you can puree them. or broil them. or saute them. but what goes well with rutabaga? not leeks. there's a huge lack of recipes out there for the root vegetable. but they're sort of like turnips, vegetables that have been forgotten by today's tomato/carrot/other veggie peoples. they also have a slightly bitter taste, and also just look... different. but i must say, leeks and rutagaba kick brussel sprouts ass!

holy roman empire of good for you vitamin c

behold the fractal brocolli, aka romanesco broccoli. sort of looks like a stegasaurous. or what i would imagine one to resemble if it were green and all horny. as in tusks, not anything sexual. really. and now i have to eat it.

if only i had fresh squeezed orange juice

breakfast this morning included morningstar "bacon," potato pancakes with apple sauce, tofu scramble, and grapes. yum.

to make tofu scramble:

• saute your choice of veggies (today mine had sweet potatoes, peas, broccoli, sweet peppers, and kale).
• when cooked, add crushed/mashed firm tofu and saute.
• add a little bit of cumin (for flavor and scrambled egg color) and a pinch of curry powder.
• mix in a little bit of shredded cheese and stir until melted.
• serve with ketchup if desired.

sqawk squawk gobble gobble

this thanksgiving, why not save a turkey instead of eating one? farm sanctuary's adopt-a-turkey program can provide your saved turkey with a happy life instead of a burial on your dinner table. and if you still want a turkey-like edible thing to adorn your feast, why not try an unturkey or a tofurkey or field roast's celebration roast? that is, something without any meat products in it. it'll be good for you, and even better for the turkey.

something smells a little fishy

i'm still recovering from the marketing conference. while interesting, a lot of it was common sense. plus, it was held at fisherman's wharf, so i'm still trying to get over the influx of tourists, overpriced nicknacks, and trying to avoid fish for meals. in fact, the first night of the conference, they held a dinner where they offered three main course options. three, you say! what choices! yep. beef, chicken, and fish. where's the veggie option? i asked the conference head and he said "fish." um. no. fish isn't a vegetable. it's got eyes, a skeleton, produces eggs that give way to more little fishies, etc. just because salmon is orange and carrots are orange, this doesn't not equal salmon with carrots. the associative property or whatever it is doesn't work in this instance. so i feigned a sinus headache to get out of it. whew.

what's in your lunch box?

today marks the beginning of a whole new era. no, not one where i join the cult of scientology. or quit my job and join the peace corps. or skip to work instead of saunter. no, today i begin bringing my lunch to work in this nifty little container. it's called the "laptop lunchbox," and there are little sections for each piece of my lunch. today i've got vanilla yogurt with blueberries and raspberries, edamame tossed with soy sauce, half of a tofurkey sandwich on whole wheat sourdough, and vanilla joe joe's. Oh, and some dried fruit and nuts along with string cheese for a snack. i'm hoping my inspiration will continue; maybe i'll start eating better, instead of just a sandwich or finding some oversized (and overpriced) burrito or pizza or coconut curry noodle bowl on the haight. i got my inspiration from this blog, where the writer posts the (vegan) lunches she makes for her son everyday. now that's dedication. if i had 35 free hours everyday, sure, maybe i'd do this for my child. or maybe i'd find something better to do with my time like rescuing hamsters from the local university and then letting alphie chase them around the apartment or planting a vegetable garden (and then killing it with my green thumb) or organizing my black shoe collection in some random order like heel width. but making a full vegan meal from scratch (and a different recipe every day) for a kid to take to school and chow down on in 10 minutes? give me 15 years or so to warm up to the idea.

an-i-mal. an-i-mal!

i heard ingrid newkirk, the president and founder of peta, speak yesterday at the veg festival. she's a moving speaker, and she cemented my reasonings on why i'm a vegetarian. at the beginning of her speech, she showed an instense video. the images are graphic, but very telling, and i encourage everyone to watch it. you can also check out the new martha stewart video on why not to buy or wear fur. fur's not a good thing, but the video is.

it's a good thing

we went to minako for dinner on saturday night, and once again, great dinner. this time i brought my camera along.

mmm. sake. gulp.

the miso is homemade, and there's no fish broth used. this version had mushrooms, sprouts, and leafy greens. it was so good, we sipped it down before i could take a picture.

we got a complimentary lotus root appetizer. it tasted sort of like a finer water chestnut, and it came tossed in a sweet sauce.

we decided to branch out and try the lightly battered eggplant with teriyaki sauce. delicous.

this is the avo (as in avocado) tempura roll.

two different rolls: the closer one is the green river, which has veggie "eel" and other veggies w/spinach and avocado wrapped along the top. the back roll is the arlee roll. veggies inside, but wrapped in inari, carrots, and spinach.

complimentary dessert. they do lots of different vegan gelatins, all accompanied with organic mint from the chef's garden. this gelatin is sweet potato.

that's right. delicious sushi (veggie and non-veggie) all at minako. be there or be hungry.

you are no hamburger helper

note to readers: don't recount all the details to a vegetarian about the "delicious" pulled pork you're cooking, the "succulent" leg of lamb you're roasting, or the" juicy" steak you recently chowed down on. ew. ick. blech. that mound of flesh on your plate used to be a cute little furry/feathery/swimmy little animal who frolicked around the farm all happy and golucky or was kept in a cage/pen/enclosed area until his dream of being a grandfather four-legged friend came to a halt so that you could eat your antibiotic/hormone-filled dinner. trust me, your comments are not appreciative. plus, i'll retaliate and tell you all about the great sweet potato burritos i munched on. so please keep your animal-eating details to yourself. thanks and peace out.

A Veggie Tale (minus the religious connotations)

my mom has had a few boyfriends in the past year, the latest being a great guy with a dry sense of humor and a big heart. one day a few years ago, i asked her how she met these guys. i thought through friends, at a bar, maybe the gym, and her response was online. my mom picked up men on the internet! i imagined her on aol where she'd im someone saying "hey sugar, wanna meet up? i'm 53, blonde, and i drive a honda." ok, so that's probably not how it went down. after many prodding questions, i found out she's more of a match.com and jdate person. no craigslist for her; she's a lot more technologically savvy than us city people. with these dating boards, she's got some serious background information right at her fingertips like amount of hair remaining on head and favorite childhood pastimes.

so i was thinking about this last week because i went to fill out my ballot for the veggie awards (don't ask, just nod and smile). one of the categories was "best veggie website," and it listed veggiedate as one of the choices. so i was expecting a great website. a best of the best of the best. not the best of the best of the worst of the best. i went to the website, not for a man, as i have a great (and veggie) one already, but to see what it was about. maybe i was missing a great place to meet veggie people and learn more about how i should be protesting outside of neimans or not eating honey and cheese (separately or together). veggiedate, though, was pretty simple; i could enter age preferences (up to 90 yrs old), height requirements(4''8" up to 6'8"), and type of vegetarian level (vegetarianish-at-home, whatever that means, to raw). so, just for the fun of it, i entered some basic data and got a list of my matches... and they looked scary. or old. or both. the man with a receding hairline to his neck cannot be 28! i don't know what i can deduce from this. maybe the good looking (or even semi-good looking) veggies must have all found each other, created a natural/nuddist colony, hooked up already, and removed themselves from society. perhaps they know how to socialize with others and don't need a low-budget website to meet people. or they haven't seen veggiedate yet. or they're all asexual, thereby having no need for dates. or they're too busy passing peta leaflets out. or they've all been jailed for trying to free willy.

Baa ram ewe

I became a vegetarian mainly because of animal rights issues. Call me a quack, but I don't think we should be gnawing on things that can't adequately fight back with the proper artillery like large metal swords and nukes. I'm not a vegan though, although I try to live a compassionate lifestyle (Matt & Nat bags are great). But I don't go overboard like some people. For example, the Yahoo! veggie email list I belong to has lately been debating whether or not plants have feelings. And today on the bus, a girl was reading Poultry Behaviour and Welfare, and it came with a CDROM. Sure, Fast Food Nation was a great, informative, and enjoyable read, but the welfare and treatment of roosters in Britain while on the bus? And if I were a vegan, I'd miss honey and S'mores and silk and Asics. Once, when I'm positive I was tipsy, I told Todd that I couldn't be vegan because then I'd have to give up wool. What was I thinking? Wool doesn't come from dead sheep. They get sheared!

ADDENDUM: Ok, now that Todd has revisited the conversation, maybe I said I'd have to give up cotton (and not wool) because of those cute little furry sheep. This comment highlights why I should not be allowed out in public after 9PM on a school night, and also why bars and restaurants with bars should include decent vegetarian appetizers on their menu (no, a plate of twigs and berries is not enough). If this overflow of vodka along with lack of veggie nourishment continues, tipsy vegetarians will be making ludicrous statements all over the place! And yes, I know that sheep are not the source of cotton. Fruit of the Loom is.