Borscht Borscht Borscht!

Yep, another soup recipe. It seems I post a lot of them. Why not? I love soup, it's tasty, filling, easy and relatively quick. My default weeknight meal is often soup or stew. Not only that, the recipes are usually fairly straightforward so I can remember what I did when I sit down (usually at work) to post the recipe. I just finished eating a bowl of leftover Borscht and realized that I haven't posted my recipe here. Beets are relatively new to my standard ingredient list. My mother hates them so I didn't have much exposure growing up (apart from the pickled beets found at picnics and parties). A year or so ago I took it upon myself to start experimenting with this funky purple root. I now use them in salads, roast veggies and, most frequently, borscht. The recipe here is based on one found in one of my favourite cookbooks: 'How it All Vegan.'

Borscht

1 Tbs Olive oil
1 med onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 large carrots, diced
2 large (4 medium beets), diced
2 cups finely shredded cabbage
1 28oz can chopped tomatoes
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth or water
pepper to taste.

Heat the oil in a large pot. Add the onions, garlic, carrots and beets and saute until the onions are translucent. Add the cabbage, tomatoes and broth and season with pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer on medium heat for about 35 min or until the beets are soft. Serve with a dollop of plain yogurt or sour cream. YUM.

Craving Lentils?

That was me yesterday, all I could think about was eating some yummy, hearty lentil soup. Weird, perhaps, but it did help me get through my flavourless Subway sub at lunch. It baffles me that Subway manages to make both bread (even their supposed whole grain variety) and vegetables absolutely tasteless. I suppose it serves me right for being too lazy to make lunch, but blech. Anyway, lentils. For whatever reason I was craving them yesterday so I went home and made up this lentil soup/stew. It turned out quite well but I think it needs some tweaking with the seasoning - likely a little veggie broth would do the trick. I'm posting it here because it was tasty and I want to remember what I did when I make it again. If you have any thoughts about the seasoning, please let me know.

A Simple Spicy Lentil Soup

1 tbs olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced - I love garlic, use less if you aren't so keen on it
1 large carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp coriander - I didn't have ground so used whole
2 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper - less if you don't like spicy soup
1 large potato, cubed
1 cup green lentils, rinsed
6 cups water
2 tbs Braggs - use soy or tamari sauce if you don't have braggs
2 tbs apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pot. Saute all the veggies (except the potatoes) for 3-5 min, until the onions are soft. Mix in the spices and cook another 2 min or so. Add in the lentils, potatoes, water, Braggs, vinegar, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 45 minutes or until the lentils and potatoes are soft. Enjoy!