Vegetarian Lentil Soup with Spinach, Tomatoes, and Cumin

(Makes about 6 servings, recipe slightly adapted from The Sugar Solution Cookbook.)

1 T olive oil
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds (not ground)
1 large onion, chopped small
4 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 T minced garlic)
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 tsp. paprika
1 1/2 cups brown lentils
4 cans chicken broth or water (about 7 cups, original recipe called for 5 cups water)
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes with juice
2 cups chopped spinach (tightly packed)
salt to taste 

Put olive oil and cumin seeds in large heavy dutch oven and cook over medium heat until fragrant and starting to pop, about 3 minutes. (Stir a few times so they don't burn.) Stir in onion, minced garlic, ground coriander, and black pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are softened, about 4 minutes. Stir in the paprika and cook about 1 minute more.

Add lentils and chicken broth, reduce heat, and simmer uncovered about 30-40 minutes, or until lentils are quite tender.

Add diced tomatoes and juice and chopped spinach and simmer uncovered 20-30 more minutes, until soup ingredients are well blended and lentils are starting to break apart. Season to taste with salt and serve hot.

Baked Curry Sweet Potato Fries with Yogurt Dipping Sauce

By Joy the Baker

Makes 1 potatoes worth of fries.  This recipe is easily multiplied

1 plump sweet potato/yam/orange-fleshed potato, peeled

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/8 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Yogurt Sauce:

1/3 cup Greet yogurt

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon olive oil

salt to taste

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Peel sweet potato and slice off the top  and bottom points of the potato.  With potato positioned north to south, use a large knife to slice potato into 1/3-inch potato planks.  Stack planks in two piles, and slice, north to south, into 1/3-inch sticks.  Fries!

Place potato sticks onto prepared baking sheet and toss with olive oil.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, add oil curry powder, cumin, turmeric, and crushed red pepper flakes and whisk to incorporate.  Pour the mixture over the potato sticks and gentle toss to coat the potatoes.

Place in the oven and bake to desired doneness and crispiness, my fries took about 40 minutes.  While the fries bake, stir together yogurt, cumin, olive oil and salt.  Place in a small serving dish.

Curried Lentil Sprout Sala

This dish is a favorite at our annual Block Party. It's a pretty decadent dressing,
but ooooh, it is really, Really Good!

Sprouts to Use

Peasant Mix

Any and All Lentils:

Crimson Lentils

French Blue Lentils

Green Lentils

Red Chief Lentils

etc.

Ingredients

Serves 1 as main course or 2 as a side

1 cup Lentil Sprouts or Peasant Mix
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbs. ketchup
2 Tbs. olive oil
1/4 tsp. dill weed
1/2 smallish red onion - diced
1/2 - 1 Tbs. curry powder
salt + pepper to taste
1 tomato - diced

Preparation

Chop veggies.
Mix all ingredients (except tomato) together by tossing gently.
Sprinkle diced tomato on top.

Serve

With pride.
Be sure to watch some of the folks first reactions when they taste this,
 and prepare yourself to tell them about it. They will be asking.

Notes

If this recipe doesn't prove that you can do ANYthing with sprouts, I don't know what will.

Feel free to substitute yogurt for the mayo and another tomato based product for the
ketchup -it is your kitchen after all!

We triple or quadruple this recipe for our parties. It is extremely popular.

Red Curry Soup with Rice

by IsaChandra

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced medium
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
3/4 cups basmati or jasmine rice, rinsed
6 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon salt
2 to 3 tablespoons red curry paste
1 large sweet potato, peeled, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1 can lite coconut milk
1 tablespoon agave syrup
Juice of one lime

Optional: fresh chopped cilantro to garnish

Preheat a 4 quart soup pot over medium heat. Saute onion in oil with a pinch of salt for 5 minutes or so, until translucent. Add garlic and ginger and saute a minute more.

Add rice, vegetable broth and salt, cover pot and bring to a boil.

Once boiling, lower heat to simmer. Mix in 2 tablespoons curry paste. Add kale and sweet potatoes. Cover pot and let simmer for about 15 minutes, until sweet potatoes are tender.

Add coconut milk, agave and lime. Taste for salt and flavor. Add more curry paste if you like.

Remove from heat and serve immediately, or even better let it sit for 10 minutes to give the flavors a chance to meld. Top with fresh chopped cilantro if you like.

White Bean Rosemary Soup with Jumbo Croutons & Fresh Basil

White Bean Rosemary Soup with Jumbo Croutons & Fresh Basil

White Bean Soup (in foreground)

This soup is captivating, with olive-oil drizzled croutons that soften slowly into a mellow, rosemary infused soup.  Recipe is from eat, drink & be vegan.

1 - 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup onions, diced
1 1/2 cups celery, diced
4 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dry mustard
3/4 - 1 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
6 cups cooked white kidney (cannellini) beans (see note)
3 cups vegetable stock (I use Harvest Sun brand)
1 1/2 cups water
2 tsp fresh rosemary, Chopped
2 - 2 1/2 tbsp lemon Juice
1 batch "Jumbo Croutons" (p.82, or below)
1/4 cup fresh basil, sliced in thin strips or chopped
1 -2 tbsp olive oil (for finishing)

In a large pot on medium heat, add oil, onion, celery, garlic, dry mustard, salt, and pepper, and stir to combine. Cover and cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 4 cups beans, stock, water, and 1 1/2 tsp rosemary, and increase heat to bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 15 minutes. With a hand blender, puree soup until smooth. Stir in remaining 2 cups beans, remaining 1/2 tsp rosemary, and lemon juice. Season with additional salt and pepper if desired. Sirve in individual bowls, topped with a handful of Jumbo Croutons, sprinkle of fresh basil, and drizzle of olive oil if desired.


Serves 5 - 6.

Note: Since this soup uses a lot of beans, I prefer cooking the white beans from dried rather than canned because they taste fresher, but certainly canned work fine too.

Jumbo Croutons
5-6 slices bread (your choice, can use artisan, multigrain, kamut, spelt)
1 1/2 - 2 tbsp olive oil
1/8 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut bread slices into 1 inch squares.  In a large bowl, toss cubes with oil.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and transfer bread onto sheet, then sprinkle with salt.  Bake for 9-12 minutes, tossing once or twice throughout, until lightly browned.  For crunchier croutons, bake for 2-3 minutes longer.

Sweet Potato Lentil Chili

Recipe from ed&bv. 

1 Tbsp (15 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
1 3/4 cups (425 mL) onions, diced
1 cup (250 mL) celery, diced
2 - 2 1/2 cups (500 to 625 mL) orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in 1 in (2.5 cm) cubes
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp (5 mL) sea salt
Ground black pepper to taste
2 tsp (10 mL) chili powder
1 tsp (5 mL) paprika
1/2 tsp (2 mL) freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp (2 mL) cumin
1/4 tsp (1 mL) cinnamon
1/2 tsp (2 mL) crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1 1/4 cups (310 mL) dry red lentils
2 1/2 cups (625 mL) water
1 - 28 oz (796 mL) can crushed tomatoes
1 - 14 oz (398 mL) can black or kidney beans, rinsed
1 bay leaf
3 Tbsp (45 mL) freshly squeezed lime juice
Lime wedges (for serving)

In large pot on medium heat, add oil, onions, celery, sweet potatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, and spices, and stir through. Cover and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally; reduce heat if onions are sticking to bottom of pot. Rinse lentils. Add to pot with water, tomatoes, beans, and bay leaf, and stir to combine. Increase heat to bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes or until sweet potatoes are softened, stirring occasionally. Stir in lime juice and serve portions with lime wedges.
Serves 6.

Cooking Note:  If you only have whole or diced tomatoes, use a hand blender to 'crush' them:  first pour off some liquid from can into pot, then use a hand blender to puree tomatoes directly in the can.

Mellow Lentil Soup

From 

Dreena's Vegan Recipes

MAKES 5–6 SERVINGS. WHEAT-FREE

1–1½ tbsp olive oil
1½ cups onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced
¾ cup carrots, diced
3 large cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
¾–1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp paprika
¼ tsp dried thyme
2 cups dry red lentils
3 cups vegetable stock
4–4½ cups water
2½–3 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped (see note)
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

In a large pot on medium heat, add oil, onion, celery, carrots, garlic, salt, pepper, curry powder, paprika, and dried thyme and stir to combine. Cover and cook for 7–8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Rinse lentils. Add lentils, stock, and water and stir to combine. Increase heat to bring mixture to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 12–15 minutes. Add rosemary and simmer for another 8–10 minutes or more, until lentils are completely softened. Stir in vinegar, season to taste with additional salt and black pepper if desired.

Cooking Note: Fresh rosemary is exquisite in this soup, but if you don’t have it, you can use dried. However, add it at the beginning of the cooking process, along with the other dried spices, and use less—about 1 tsp.