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Spicy Ethiopian Red Lentil Stew

For this weeks dinner we made a Spicy Ethiopian Red Lentil Stew from Cooking Light magazine. This recipe calls for berbere — and since we didn’t know what it tasted like, we just had to try it. Berbere is a fiery blend of spices used abundantly in Ethiopian cuisine, with the recipe varying from family to family. It usually calls for a mixture of chile pepper, paprika, ginger, garlic, cloves, allspice, cardamom, and coriander, with key ingredients being fenugreek and hot red pepper.

Initially we wanted to create the berbere blend ourselves, but after researching the ingredients in various recipes and finding out most of them contained over a dozen different spices, we decided to take the easy route and buy a bottle instead. We bought ours online at Zamouri Spices.

Although this dish was super simple to make, it took a bit longer to cook than the recipe indicated. We couldn't help sneaking bites from time to time as the complex spices awoke and filled the air.

Chock full of robust, spicy flavor without being too overpowering, each bite took us on an exotic-filled adventure along the spice trade route back to it’s roman trade origins. For a nice little pucker, we decided to give each serving a zestful kick in the pants with the juice of a fresh squeezed lemon.

Whether you live in a thriving metropolis or a small suburban town, you can take your tastebuds on an exotic flavorful ride with this dish. Magic carpet not included.

Spicy Collards and Black-Eyed Pea Soup

This Spicy Collard and Black-Eyed Pea Soup recipe at Fatfree Vegan was chock-full of smoky seasonings, we absolutely love it! We added 1 teaspoon of peanut butter for a more unique, peanutty flavor. Um-um, yumoliscous!!

 
 

Collard Greens and White Bean Soup

When it's cold and wet outside, we can't help but crave a heaping bowl of soup to enjoy inside. So tonight was the perfect night to get our soup on! We made this Collard Greens and White Bean Soup recipe from FatFree Vegan Kitchen.

We added extra celery, and for the greens we used collards, red leaf lettuce, and a few bok choy. It was easy to make, light and nutritious and downright delicious!

Roasted Butternut and Cauliflower Soup

Rick came home from the market with these two beautiful heads of cauliflower, so we thought why not make a cauliflower soup! We found a Roasted Butternut and Cauliflower Soup recipe by SusanV on FatFree Vegan Kitchen that sounded great, because we had a huge butternut squash we needed to eat too! 

We replaced 1 cup of veggie broth with water to reduce the sodium, and doubled the amount of cauliflower by using both heads instead of 1. This soup was good, but a bit on the spicy side! We thought it was missing something (could be because of the extra cauliflower), so when we had it for leftovers we added a mashed cooked apple, and it was much better the second time around. This soup was chunky and delightfully sweet, and surprisingly filling. One big bowl was enough!

Green on Green Souptacular

This weeks delivery was loaded with all sorts of green leafy goodness — kale, collard greens, swiss chard and bok choy, to name a few. So we decided to look for a recipe that packed all of these veggies into one dish, and we were excited to find this Green on Green Soup recipe by SusanV at FatFree Vegan Kitchen. 

Not only is this soup loaded with nutrients, it's loaded with rich, zestful flavor too. I modified the recipe by increasing the basil to 1 cup, added a handful of fresh porcini mushrooms along with the 8 oz. mushrooms, used a yam instead of a sweet potatoe and added 1 extra carrot. It's velvety finish was absolutely wonderful. This is a soup we can easily crave everyday. If you are craving a hearty soup that's chock-full of nutrients and flavor, then this soup is for you!

Sweet Potato, Okra and Chickpea Gumbo

When we found out we were getting okra delivered, we knew we wanted to make something hearty. We went online and found a handful of recipes, but nothing compared to the Sweet Potato, Okra and Chickpea Gumbo recipe by SusanV at Fat Free Vegan Kitchen. Our photo doesn't look nearly as good as hers, but let us tell you this dish was amazing. Every mouthful exploded with flavor — we can't wait to enjoy this tasteful dish again.

Creamy Zucchini and Basil Soup

When we eat zucchini at home we either add it to a veggie marinara pasta sauce or slice it up and throw it on the grill. This time we decided to try something different. I found a gorgeous looking Creamy Zucchini and Basil Soup recipe created by Susan V. at www.fatfreevegan.com that was just the ticket!

 

I followed the recipe exactly except for the cashews which I left out. The nutritional yeast added a nice creamy consistency that was just wonderful. This soup was a starter dish, and it was so good we ate two big bowls!

Roasted Kohlrabi and Lebanese Swiss Chard Lentil Soup

Kohlrabi huh??? When we found out this was going to be delivered, we had to do a google search just to find out what the heck it was! Turns out it's a member of the cabbage family, and can be eaten raw like an apple, or cooked various ways. We thought cooking it would be best, and we chose a Roasted Kohlrabi recipe that we found on Alanna Kellog's blog A Veggie Adventure. The recipe was adapted from the book Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop. We forgot to add the vinegar, and didn't realize it until we finished the dish! We really liked it without it, and we're sure we would like it even more with the vinegar. It was very crispy with a potato like consistency along with a subtle sweetness and a mellow after taste. The recipe supposedly serves 4, but it was more like a serving for 2.

 

For our entree we chose a Lebanese Swiss Chard Lentil Soup, that we found on the Farm Fresh to You website. The Coriander, Allspice and lemon that was added really made this dish shout with flavor. We loved it, and were bummed that we didn't have a big hunk of bread to sop up the juices!!

Curried Eggplant Soupolicious

The handful of times that we've cooked with eggplant, we usually cut it in cubes and add it to a veggie marinara pasta sauce, which is always very tasty. So this time we thought we'd try something different. I found this Eggplant Curried Soup recipe on FatFree Vegan Kitchen which sounded so unique, we just had to make it. It was pretty easy to make, and had an interesting combination of ingredients. We used fat-free milk instead of soy milk, and left out the soy yogurt because we didn't have any. WOW - this soup was absolutely wonderful. I eat soup for lunch at the San Francisco Soup Company three days a week, and nothing compares to this!! You must try this soup, you won't be dissapointed!!!

 

Sugarpie Pumpkin and Spice makes everything nice

When our sugarpie pumpkin arrived, we knew we wanted to make a meal with it instead of a dessert. So I looked up a handful of recipes and Rick picked the one that he liked best. He chose Curried Pumpkin with Peas from Country Living's website.

Peeling, seeding and slicing the pumpkin took some time, but besides that, it was a simple dish to make. The recipe called for 2 pounds of pumpkin, and we reduced it down to about 1 1/2 pounds, so we could use part of the pumpkin as a serving dish.

I thought the curry was a bit overpowering and Rick loved the spicy kick! The pumpkin flavor was a bit subtle, so maybe next time if we use the whole pumpkin, that would bump up the taste. Overall we liked this dish, and would be interested in trying it again.