recipe #13 - Roasted Red Pepper, Red Lentil, Zucchini and White Bean Soup

It's officially soup season! I cannot believe I haven't posted my most basic soup recipe. This is a take off on Canadian Living's Quick Vegan Potato Lentil Soup. I made that soup or variations on it last winter at least ten times.

Ingredients

-1 tbsp sunflower oil
-1 tsp thyme
-1/4 tsp cumin
-1 or 2 pinches of cayenne pepper (I usually do 2, I like spicy)
-1 pinch of red pepper flakes
-1 onion; chopped
-4 gloves garlic; sliced into thinly (I really like garlic)
-1 zucchini; chopped finely
-2 mushrooms; chopped
-2 roasted red peppers (I cheated, I used bottled)
-1 cup of red lentils
-1 box of stock (I generally use vegetable)

1. Add sunflower oil to large pot, saute onions, zucchini, mushrooms, red peppers and red lentils.
2. Stir frequently for five minutes, add in garlic, spices, beans and stock.
3. Bring to a boil and than turn down stove and simmer for 20 minutes or so.

Dinner!

*I had some wonderful leftover Art-is-In Dynamite Potato, Caramelized Onion & Fresh Dill bread that I toasted. If you haven't been to Art-is-In do yourself a favour and go now!

recipe#6

This winter I've been trying my hand at homemade soups. This one is a take off of one from Mamma Grazzi's. Some friends and I went Friday for dinner and I forgot how much I love their Minestrone soup. It's really the pesto that stands out for me. I decided I could make something similar.

ingredients:

-1 tbsp olive oil

-3 cloves of garlic; minced

-1 tsp of cornstarch (not sure if it really made a difference in thickness)

-1 can of red beans

-3 tbsp pesto (i cheated and used frozen pesto, but I would like to make my own next time)

-1 onion; diced

-1 stalk of celery; chopped

-1 carrot; diced

-1 box of stock (i happened to use chicken because it was on sale, i usually stick to vegetable stock but could not find any at my local grocery store)

ingredient fail - I forgot to include the stock and olive oil but there is a orange monkey peeler

instructions:

1. Add olive oil to large pot, saute onions, carrots and celery.
2. Once onions are slightly transparent add in garlic, beans, pesto and stock (this is also when I added the cornstarch).
3. Bring to a boil and than turn down stove and simmer for 20 minutes or so.
4. Optional - This is when I made my grilled cheese to go along with my soup for a perfect pairing.

dinner is served

soup!

amazing grilled cheese with olives, feta, kraft single on onion bread with garlic powder and red pepper flakes

There you have it my dinner from tonight.

Current playlist:
1.  LCD Soundsystem - Dance Yrself Clean
2.  The Clash - Death or Glory
3.  LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock you Out
4.  Matt and Kim - Cut Down
5.  The Strokes - Gratisfaction

I promise my next update will not be a month and a half away