Two weeks ago, Josh and I headed south to Ft Collins, Colorado for a workshop. We spent the day learning about mobile slaughter units. I know, weird. Place yourself in a big chilly room, full of livestock producers, thinking about a better way to process animals, and see us sitting there wondering how we’ve found ourselves in the scenario. This is all part of our coming to an understanding with what it means to know where our food comes from.

So you can understand how all we really wanted after the workshop was to eat a meat free meal, heart and comforting. We made it to Ft Collins amazing vegetarian restaurant, Tasty Harmony. I don’t eat meat when we go out anyway, so it was a luxury to be able to go somewhere with endless options. We’ve been cutting back on the alcohol in our lives, and this place was ideal with its gazillions of fresh juices and amazing and satisfying non-meat dishes. Just what we needed after a long day spent contemplating the reality of the world we’ve chosen!

We started our meals with ginger juices and soups. Josh ordered this perfectly flavored squash curry soup. It was filling, delicious, and left us wanting to re-enter into our Indian food habits. I called the next day, asking if they would be oh-so kind and share the recipe with me. I spoke with the chef, who had created the soup based on what he had around, without a recipe. He did the best he could to share the ingredients and steps.

We tried the soup out last night and it was just as satisfying at home as it had been at that wonderful restaurant.

Winter Squash Curry Soup

One large squash (we used butternut), roasted with salt. pepper, and olive oil, and cubed
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
1 onion, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
2 grilled red peppers, chopped
Vegetable stock or bouillon (or chicken)
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
Basil, Turmeric and Curry
1-2 cinnamon sticks
Half of a squeezed lime
Some coconut oil
a bit of cinnamon
Toasted almonds and black sesame seeds

First, roast that gi-normous squash. We chose a butternut squash, quartered it, brushed it with olive oil, seasoned it with salt, pepper, and bit of curry, then placed the pieces face down on a baking sheet. We roasted the squash at 325 degrees for about 45 minutes.

Roast the red peppers. We stuck ours in the oven on broil, turning them so that they charred on all sides. After charred, put in a covered container so the peppers sweat. This should release their skins. Ours were stubborn, so I left the skins on. They still worked beautifully.

Sautee the onions, celery, and roasted red peppers with some salt in coconut oil.

While these are cooking, toast your cumin seeds on the stove in a heavy bottomed pan. Once they smoke a bit, remove from the pan, grind the cumin into a rough powder, and toast briefly with the curry and turmeric.

Mix these together and then add all spices including the basil to the sauteeing veggies. At this point it’s probably a good idea to add a bit of liquid to keep the spices from burning. We used homemade chicken stock, but veggie bouillon in water or just water would work as well. Let this cook down a bit, adding liquid as needed.

Take this mixture and puree most of it (and prepare to accept all pureeing equipment to be stained glowing turmeric yellow). Return to your soup pot, and then add your cubed and roasted squash along with a cinnamon stick or two. Add more liquid until you start to have a soup consistency. Cook this and allow the squash to start to breakdown. In the end you’ll want to have the soup thicken quite a bit from the squash, and still have some whole pieces remaining.

Taste the soup and add any needed spices. We added garam masala and some salt at this point. Squeeze in about half of a lime, stir in a little coconut oil, and sprinkle a bit of cinnamon in until the aromatic mixture makes your stomach grumble. Again, test for flavor.

Top with toasted almonds and blackened sesame seeds.
Just plain excellent.

And it all ended with my eyes closed and breathing rythmic… sleep sleep sleep come to me. I must go to bed, but before the inevitable crashing of my bones, I want to relay a wonderful soup recipe that Josh prepared last night to eat today. Also I must elatedly bombard you with this really exciting news:

We are now partial owners of a really beautiful red jersey cow!!! Josh was able to meet her today while I started my first day at my new job as Farmer’s Market Manager in Ypsilanti. I’ve been reading and dreaming and wondering over raw milk for many months, almost reaching the category of years, and finally the desire crossed paths with reality.

So here are the three things I think you must know about the good life of cold December Michigan….
1) this recipe, Coriander Orange-Scented Red Lentil Soup, that Josh overheard on the Splendid Table (NPR) and then made for dinner. It’s really quick, really easy, and perfect for sweet and spicy teeth.
2) this delicious raw milk, more descriptions to ensue
3) the new workplace at a non-profit called Growing Hope, with more info to come hopefully sooner than later

It’s true that I stalk the blog, Wednesday Chef, and have written many a post about a recipe that she has documented and I have tried. This week I tried her Cranberry Bean, Lacinato Kale and Pasta Soup that she found in an article written by Amy Scattergood of the LA Times. This soup made me feel normal after a week of eating (and drinking) at the pub. I spent a lazy afternoon preparing it, knowing full well that I still had a 10 hour shift that I was going to have to go in for early evening.

The soup was finished just in time for me to slap it in a big ball jar, layered and beautiful, and run out the door leaving a pile of worthy dishes. It was as though I left the dishes there to tell a story in case I never returned. Nonetheless, I returned home to piles of dishes at 3am, the story left untold. Josh and I did the dishes together in the morning, neither of us once regretting the soup or its efforts.

The soup works in layers, the broth being some vegetables and beans that boil for almost two hours complacently on your stove until the beans are tender. These go into a bowl along with a handful of al dente cooked chunky pasta, topped with a bean blend, similar to hummus, that works as a thickener. Stir it up in your bowl and finish it with a sprinkle or downpour of parmesan cheese, whatever you prefer.

We made a stop by the library yesterday to return some overdue videos. We decided to embrace the cold and walk. I always leave the library with twice what I’ve just returned, and yesterday was no different. Here we were, bundled against the cold, gritting our lips together, cradling 8 books a piece. It was a silly struggle but so worth it. One of the books I brought home was a Jamie Oliver cookbook called Jamie’s Kitchen. I don’t know a whole lot about him seeing as we don’t own a TV and therefore miss all Food Network shows, but from what I’ve read I like him. This book is also the name of his non-profit restaurant in London that brought in 15 London kids to learn about food and cooking.

I only made it through the first 30 or so pages before I was hungry and ready to make food. Watch out. No cream or bacon in this recipe. This recipe consists of a bunch of raw foods, all perfect right now in November, that are tossed together like notes in a song that all come together. We made plain couscous to eat with it, fried some haloumi cheese, and had roasted chicken on the side. They mingled and met and all really liked each other on our plate. We barely looked at each other as we ate, Josh and I. We were too enamored with how something so simple and raw could be so good.

Here it is, adapted from Jamie Oliver’s book:

moorish crunch salad

Finely slice into matchsticks 1 1/2 c. carrots, slice thinly 6-8 radishes and 2 small or 1 large crunchy apple. Put these into a medium to large bowl and add:
+some raisins (I used golden)
+handful of fresh parsley chopped (freshly frozen in our garden and retrieved not a moment too soon!)
+handful of fresh mint chopped (also freshly frozen in our garden!)
+3 TB red wine or sherry vinegar
+6-8 TB olive oil (I used the lesser amount)
+1 TB tahini
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (I’m just realizing that I forgot this in ours!!! And it was still so good….)
Toss like happy friends on the playground, and then add some toasted sesame seeds sprinkled on the top, about 2 TB.

Like I mentioned above, halloumi cheese fried and eaten in conjunction is just such a treat. And maybe why we didn’t exactly need salt on the salad. Jamie Oliver suggests this with some chili sauce also. Maybe we’ll try that with our leftovers tonight.

Another vegan recipe to come! But the next one is cooked, a soup smooth and sultry for your winter palate…. I’ve obsessively been thinking about it since it was made. This is the kind of food that makes me find a reason to appreciate winter. yum.

Lots of contrite worries these days, it seems. I’m in the process of making job changes. Our days are filled with unsettling financial news. And October 13th, I quiver just typing the date. But Alice Waters brings it home again with her recipe for Tortilla Soup, the scent of warmth wrapping my worries in it’s aromatic blanket. I didn’t think I was hungry last night after ferocious grazing all day, but once I smelled the chicken cooking down and the onions and garlic traipsing throughout the house, I couldn’t help but anticipate my very own bowl of Tortilla Soup.

At market on Saturday we picked up radishes, kohlrabi, an anaheim pepper, garlic and onions. I think we might need to go back, bundle all these ingredients together, and freeze them so we can make this soup any day that comfort is craved.

Simmer 1 1/2 quarts of chicken broth. Then add 1 chicken breast half, preferably with skin and bones. Continue to barely simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, transfer the breast to a plate, and let cool. Remove and discard the skin and bones and shred the meat.

Using an 8-inch heavy-bottomed skillet, heat on med-high 1/2 cup peanut or vegetable oil. Then add 4 corn tortillas, cut into 1/2 inch strips. Fry in small batches until golden brown and crispy. Drain on paper towels and season with salt.

In a large heavy pot, heat: 2 TB olive oil, add 1 Anaheim pepper, seeded and thinly sliced, 1/2 medium yellow onion thinly sliced, 2 garlic cloves thinly sliced, salt. Cook until soft about 5 minutes. Pour in the hot broth, then add: 2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced, or 3 small canned whole tomatoes dice and with juice.
Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

Add the shredded chicken meat and heat through, but do not boil. Taste for salt and adjust as needed. Serve the soup with the crispy tortilla strips and bowls of these possible garnishes:
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
6 lime wedges
4 ounces crumbled queso fresco or grated monterey jack
1/2 cup peeled and shredded jicama (we substituted local kohl rabi peeled and cut into matchsticks)
1 cubed avocado (our avocado never made it to the table- it was one of the things I grazed on throughout the day).

We have plenty for lunch today, too.
We also made a Hopi Blue Cornbread to accompany the soup. The corn meal, which is truly a dynamic stormy sky blue color, came from Jennings Bros. Stone Ground Grains in Nashville, Michigan.

Here’s the recipe:
1 1/2 cups Hopi Blue Cornmeal
1 TB baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup white flour
Combine these four ingredients in a large bowl. Then mix the following in a medium bowl:
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 TB olive oil
1/4 cup chopped jalapeno pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green peppers
1/2 cup whole kernel corn
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
Mix these wet ingredients into large bowl of dry ingredients until moistened. Pour into pan and bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes.