Baked Veggie Soup

Our bodies need fast and easy nourishment and this recipe provides just that - check it out below!

Ingredients
1 Kobacha squash
1 Sweet potato or yam
1 onion (sweet yellow are best)
4 gloves of garlic
1-2 tbsp olive oil
16 oz broth: veggie, chicken, or beef (you could use water as well)

Seasoning
Depending on the flavor of the squash and potato you may not need any seasoning at all. But, in case you do want to bump up the flavors, try some of these:

• Salt

• Pepper

• Cumin

• Cayenne

Maybe a splash of curry and/or cinnamon. Sometimes, just one teaspoon of tamari can turn up the notch of the flavor without it tasting like tamari. Balsamic vinegar will do the same – just ½ tsp, and possibly 1 tsp if a large amount.  

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop veggies and arrange them on a baking sheet. Leave the garlic cloves in their skin. Sprinkle a little olive oil on the chopped onion and the garlic.

Bake until all the ingredients until they are tender.

*Note: The garlic usually cooks much faster than the rest of the vegetables. So check it after about 20 minutes. When it is tender remove it from the oven and cook the remainder of the veggies.

When the veggies are tender blend them with the broth.    

Rosemary Tofu Toast

When I discovered using fresh herbs on my everyday meals everything changed. A fresh herb, cooked or raw, can change a boring meal into something special.

Here is my special Rosemary Tofu Toast. Everyone I make this for thinks I am nuts when I pull raw tofu out of the fridge. Although I don't eat tofu a lot, every now and then I have to have this meal. Give it a try, and if you really don't like the idea of raw tofu, then use some raw goat cheese, avocado or just plain toast with the rosemary and olive oil.

Recipe
1 piece of your favorite toast (mine is spelt sourdough)
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons of EVOO
2 slices of raw (firm) tofu

Warm sauce pan and add olive oil (don't get it too hot).

Finely chop the rosemary and add it to the olive oil, and cook it for just a minute or so (it should sizzle, but don't let it burn).

Pop bread into the toaster.

When the toast is crispy, place about 1 tablespoon of the EVOO rosemary mixture on the toast.

Top with the tofu, and all the remaining EVOO rosemary mixture.

Salt and pepper and then top it off with chili flakes (a must).

PS. If you haven’t heard, my friend Kami McBride has an amazing herb book called The Herbal Kitchen and it has… drumroll…250 (Yes, two hundred and fifty) recipes that have inspired my herbal kitchen for sure. You can check it out here 

Coconut Curry with Veggies & Tofu

I always thought of curries being too difficult for me to master. In other words, I never thought I could make them as delicious as those I had in restaurants. I was born into a simple American food household. Our traditional meals were barbecued steak, baked potatoes, salad and garlic bread; spaghetti with salad and garlic bread, ham hock and beans, tacos, burgers, and creamed tuna on toast.

Breakfast was cold cereal; egg on toast, and the occasional brunch of fried sweet potatoes, bacon and omelets.  Lunch was a tuna or egg salad sandwich. Pretty simple. No wonder I keep my meals so simple. I was raised with simplicity.

So, it turns out coconut curry is pretty easy. There are many different curry spice mixtures (often called Masala’s) and tons of variations. The recipe below provides a good start.  Don’t be afraid, you can’t go wrong. Jump in 

Ingredients:

1-2 cans          coconut milk (do not get low fat coconut milk – it tastes terrible and has had more processing, which is unnecessary)

1 pkg              firm tofu

1-2 cans          water (1 can for each can of milk)

2 tsp                curry powder (more to taste – depends if curry powder is hot or mild)

1 tsp                or more of salt to taste

1                      onion - chopped

2                      cloves garlic - minced

1 inch              ginger - minced (or grated ginger juice)

1tbsp              coconut oil or Ghee

Vegetables of choice (carrots, peas, potatoes, beans, etc. 

Directions:

In large saucepan heat oil or Ghee. When hot add in onion, garlic and ginger. Sauté until almost translucent. Add curry powder and salt, and sauté for a few more minutes until the herbs are all blended.

Add in coconut milk and water. Heat until liquid is almost to the boiling point. Add in vegetables, the firm ones first.  Cook on medium heat until the vegetables are just less than the desired tenderness. Remember, they will keep cooking when you turn the heat off, so take this into consideration when testing the veggies. Mushy veggies are no good.

Serve in a bowl on it own, or on a bed of rice.

Some condiments that are oh so yummy on curry:

Coconut flakes

Raisins

Peanuts

Cashews

Bananas

Avocado

I like to set out small bowls of each and let people build their own mountain of yummy condiments.