The Taste Traveller

red lentil ginger coconut soup

Bring on the soup. It's cold! There's nothing like a hot bowl of soup on a cold day. But even in hot climates a bowl of soup can hit the spot. I remember getting quite used to a bowl of chicken, vegetable and noodle soup while backpacking around Thailand. Simple streetfood at its best. Here I've taken a recipe from Vegetarian Times, this one from 101 Cookbooks, and referred to a recipe for a red lentil soup I previously made that was very similar to this. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (250 ml) red lentils, rinsed thoroughly
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) sea salt
• 1 cup (250 ml) diced tomatoes, all or a portion puréed
• 1 to 2 tablespoons (15 to 30 ml) fresh ginger, minced
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of coconut, olive or vegetable (coconut and olive being the healthiest)
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced or finely chopped
• 1 x 15 oz can of coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) turmeric powder
• 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) curry powder
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) cinnamon
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 6 cups (1420 ml) water
• 1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped

Method:

Add rinsed lentils and salt to 6 cups of water in a large saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. 

Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for about 20 minutes. 

Blend lentils roughly with a whisk or spoon or purée. 

Purée tomatoes and ginger until smooth. You may prefer to leave a portion of the diced tomatoes not puréed for a chunkier soup. Set aside.

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic, then the onion, carrot and celery. Cook until they begin to soften, stirring often. 

Add the tomato and ginger mixture to the coconut milk and spices and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. If you want to smoother texture, you may want to purée this mixture so the onion, carrot and celery are blended too. 

Add the cooked lentils and simmer for another 15 or 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add a little cilantro on top. Serve. 

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summer vegetable soup (gazpacho)

This is one of those dishes that just tastes like a bowl of summer. I don't think I'd want to eat it in the middle of winter anyway and it's just so refreshing when the temperatures are hot (finally) more than not and the farmer's markets have lots of great ingredients that are perfect for this. 

The first time I had gazpacho and really one of the only times I can remember having it, was the summer of 1994, when I was backpacking around Europe. I spent three months going all of the place, moving every few days and I'm so glad I got as far south in Spain as the beautiful Seville. I'd met up with a few American girls and I remember it being so hot we didn't even go out in the middle part of the afternoon and we actually walked into the water fountain somewhere in the centre of the city just to cool off. One of the days we were there we found a little, unassuming restaurant and this is where I tried gazpacho for the first time. I don't remember much else about it except it was cool in the restaurant, the lighting was low and this is what I ate. Now, whether or not this replicates that specific soup I cannot say, it's just been too long, but it is in memory of this soup that I made this. 

This makes a lot, so if you want to just make four or five servings, cut the ingredients in half. Saying that, I think this will freeze well (I've frozen some) and if you add some diced tomatoes, cilantro and lime you could convert it to a sort-of-salsa! I did this, without the cilantro, for lunch a few days after I'd made it and it worked really well. 

The other great feature here is there is no cooking time of course - so you are saving time there and you are eating the ingredients raw and fresh - with all of their nutrients intact. 

This would be great with some nice breads, olive oil, sharp cheese, olives and sausages - or anything that would fit into a Spanish tapas category. I served it as a starter to a Spanish-inspired chicken dish (will share soon), corn on the cob and salad. 

Ingredients:

• 2 red bell peppers (or a mix of red and other colours), seeded and chopped
• 1 medium-sized zucchini, chopped
• 1 cucumber, chopped (peeled if using a field variety)
• 3 to 4 plum or other tomatoes, chopped 
• 3 cups (750 ml) tomato juice
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) red onion (about half a medium-sized onion), chopped
• 2 teaspoons (10 ml) balsamic or red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) sea salt
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) basil leaves, chopped
• several drops of Tabasco (to taste)

Method:

Using a food processor or blender combine all of the ingredients (you may have to process in batches). Can be eaten right away but will taste better if left for several hours or overnight, refrigerated. Store in a non-reactive/non-metal storage container - glass works best! 

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split pea soup

Easter dinner leftovers. Mmm. We ate our way through most of them over a few days, then I made this soup using the ham bone. What flavour! This was the first time I've made a split pea soup. This was actually the first Easter dinner, first big occasion family dinner, that I've ever hosted too.

I adapted my mom's scalloped potato recipe to make it my own and I think I can say, modestly, that it was really really good! I will share it with you sometime, but frankly it was enough to get everything ready on time and served attractively. Taking time to get a good picture was just too much for me this time! 

This soup is fairly simple to put together and as with so many recipes, in particular with soups, you can give or take on some of the ingredients and add your own ideas easily. I looked around for ideas and a friend sent me a recipe she had. The basics are the same as many soup bases and the ham bone is what makes it particularly good and unique to this soup. Most recipes have common ingredients generally, as you'll find here, and you can further simplify by skipping the pre-cooking or softening of the vegetables and soaking of the peas and just allow a longer cooking time. I do highly recommend these steps though. As far as herbs are concerned, fresh is great but use dried if that's what you have handy. This is very tasty served with bread. I used whole cloves, whole garlic cloves - bundled in cheesecloth, and dried thyme. We enjoyed it with this yummy bread leftover from our Easter dinner.

Ingredients:

• 2 ¼ to 2 ½ cups (about 1 lb/just over 500 ml) dried split green peas, picked over and rinsed
• 1 ham bone
• 1 medium to large leek, white and light green part only, halved lengthwise and then thinly sliced crosswise. Optional.
• 3 stalks celery, chopped (1 cup/250 ml)
• 3 to 4 carrots, peeled and chopped (about 1 ½ to 2 cups/350 to 500 ml)
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) salt
• 1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) ground black pepper
• 1 pinch dried marjoram
• 1/4 tsp (1 ml) ground cloves
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) dried thyme leaves OR
• 4 sprigs thyme
• 2 to 3 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) chopped fresh parsley, plus 8-10 parsley stems.Optional
• 8 cups (2 US quarts) water
• 2 cups (500 ml) reserved ham, cut into ½ inch cubes. Optional.

Method:

Pick over the peas and remove any stones. Wash and drain the peas. 

In a large pot or Dutch oven, cover the peas with 2 quarts of cold water and soak overnight. Or, if you need a quicker method, simmer the peas for a few minutes and then soak for 1 hour. 

Drain and rinse the peas.

Meanwhile, heat oil in the large pot or Dutch oven. Add the onion, leek (if using), carrots and celery. Cook until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. 

Return peas to the pot with the vegetables when rinsed. 

Tie the parsley stems (if using parsley), garlic cloves and thyme (if using fresh) together with kitchen string or bundle in cheesecloth tied in a knot. This is your herb bundle or bouquet. Optional.

Add 8 cups of water, the ham bone, dried or fresh herbs (bundled if using fresh), salt and pepper and bring to a boil. 

Reduce the temperature, cover and simmer for 1 to 1 ½ hours, stirring occasionally. You may need to skim scum off the top of the soup at the beginning.  

Remove bone; cut off meat. (dice and return meat to soup if you want to include the meat). 

Remove herb bundle from the soup and discard. 

Purée the soup with a blender. An immersion blender is the easiest and works great, but a regular blender will work well too. Be careful if you are blending the soup hot though. Only fill the blender to about half full and hold the lid down while blending. You’ll need to blend in batches. 

Return the puréed soup to the pot and heat to serve. 

Add salt and pepper to taste.

If you would like to add a garnish, here are a few great ideas:

• croutons
• fresh or frozen peas, thawed and steamed or cooked just slightly
• freshly chopped chives or parsley
• combination of 1 stalk of celery, finely chopped, ¼ cup (50 ml) red onion, finely chopped and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of cider vinegar. (I got this idea from Canadian Living)
• dollop of plain yoghurt

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