curried squash and red lentil soup

When it is cold and dreary outside, I find few things more comforting than a bowl of soup. And the truly fantastic thing about soup, satisfaction aside, is that most recipes require very little hands on time and yield delicious leftovers! So, again browsing my February Gourmet (you know I love my cooking mags!) I decided on the Curried Squash and Red Lentil soup. It's something a little different, Eastern-inspired, with a nice kick from the curry and a subtle sweetness from the squash. I served it over rice, as recommended, and was pleased with the result! oh, and if you are wavering about making the cilantro oil, please disregard your inner dialogue. it is a perfect accompaniment to the soup, and a brightness of both color and flavor!


Curried Squash and Red Lentil Soup
Gourmet, February 2009

For soup:

3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter (i actually omitted this, so my soup really was vegan!)
1 1/2 lb butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large onion, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp minced peeled ginger
1 tbsp curry powder ( i used Muchi, but any would work!)
1 cup red lentils, picked over and rinsed
2 qt water
1 tsp fresh lemon juice, or to taste

for cilantro oil:

1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat, then cook squash, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, ginger and 1 tsp salt, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and beginning to brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

Stir in curry powder and 1/4 tsp pepper and cook, stirring frequently, 2 minutes.

Add lentils and water (bring to a boil) and simmer covered, until lentils are tender, 25 to 40 minutes (ed. note: my lentils took fully 40 minutes to cook. slow cooking lentils!). Stir in lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

While the lentils are cooking, make the cilantro oil by pureeing the cilantro and vegetable oil in a blender (I used a hand blender; you could also finely mince the cilantro and whisk together with oil. This is not an exact science!)

To serve, I scooped some rice into a soup bowl, ladled the soup over, and drizzled with cilantro oil. Yum!

christmas squash

happy new year! kris and i did a lot of traveling over the holidays and i have gotten very behind in posting. however, i did take pictures of food along the way and now that they are off of my camera and on the computer i have no excuse...it's catch up time! and in order to stretch out the holiday spirit just a wee bit longer i'll start with the most recent recipe i have which happens to be our christmas recipe (and maybe just maybe it's still fresh enough in my mind so i can actually remember what went into it*).

for christmas we traveled to louisville to spend the holiday at kris's dad's house. he always makes a big christmas dinner so kris and i put ourselves in charge of making ourselves a delicious vegetarian entree (among other things like real mashed potatoes and easy bread). we winged it with a wild rice stuffed squash that turned out to be quite delicious!

Ingredients
1 acorn squash
1 large onion
1 fennel bulb
1 cup wild rice (maybe less, we had a lot leftover. but i'm sure you could find a use for it)
spices/herbs (*nope, guess i don't remember. i know i know....)
olive oil
salt and pepper (to taste)

heat oven to 350 and start cooking rice according to the package instructions.

cut the squash in half lenthwise and scoop out the seeds and stringy bits. drizzle with a little olive oil and place face down on a baking sheet.

cut the onion and fennel bulb into large chunks. toss with olive oil to coat and sprinkle with a couple pinches salt and pepper. place on a baking sheet (if you have room, you can just stick it on the same one with the squash).

roast squash, fennel and onion until squash is soft, about 30 minutes (our squash actually came with a sticker with cooking instructions....i think it said 30 minutes). at this point the onion and fennel bulb should be done too.

once the onion and fennel have cooled off a bit cut them into smaller pieces and mix in with the finished rice. add spices to taste. since we were not in our stocked kitchen our options were limited. i recall throwing in a bit of dried rosemary but i really don't remember what else. i think some sage would have been yummy. or maybe you want to toss in a few red pepper flakes for a little kick. anyway, season to your liking.

fill the squash with the rice filling. before serving heat up in the oven again. garnish with some chopped up fennel fronds and dig in!

kris's dad has a fabulous, big kitchen and it was such a treat to cook in it instead of our teeny tiny one. but the best part? the garbage disposal! later fennel fronds!




-d