mmm…I made this with beets from the garden. I pulled some young beets to use their greens for the salad. The colors are delightfully festive! The recipe is from my favorite veggie cookbook, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. If this cookbook isn’t on your bookshelf, you must get it! The information about how to cook veggies to their best is worth the cover price, not to mention the recipes are all fantastic.
Happy Halloween!
I whipped up a curried sweet potato soup this morning in between getting ready for work. I decided to go as Medusa since I love Greek Mythology, so here I am stirring my cauldron with “snakes” in my hair.
I made this soup for my neighbor who just got out of the hospital after emergency surgery. I omitted the curry flavors in case she prefers not to have the extra flavor. This is still a great soup without the curry, but if your a fan of Indian spice combinations, go for it!
Here’s the recipe:
Simple Curried* Sweet Potato Soup
1-1/2T Olive oil
1-2/3C chopped onion
1 large clove garlic
1T fresh ginger
1t cumin*
1/2t ground coriander*
1/4t cardamom*
1/4t tumeric*
1/8t hot pepper flakes*
2-1/2lbs sweet potatoes
6C. low sodium chicken or veggie stock
salt pepper to taste
(*curry spices may be omitted if you prefer)
Brown onions and garlic, About 7 minutes, in a Dutch oven or soup pot. Add ginger and curry spices, then stock. Peel and cut potatoes and cook until very soft or roast potatoes on grill for smokey flavor, then peel and add to soup. Puree with immersion bender and add salt and pepper to taste.
The key is an immersion blender. Transferring this hot meal to a regular blender is no fun at all.
Today is the first day of the Holidays ~ Enjoy!
I went out this morning to walk in my garden~something I try to do every morning with my cup of coffee~and I noticed a ripe tomato hanging from the vine. I went to pick it and saw it was covered with dozens of tiny, red, crawling dots…smaller than a pins head. At first I was aghast thinking they were mites. But upon closer inspection I realized they were baby ladybugs! Have you ever seen a baby ladybug? Neither have I! So I thought I’d take a picture of who’s left after I inadvertently knocked most of them off.
Now, this isn’t a complete surprise since I released a bag of ladybugs about a month ago to eat aphids, but to actually come across the offspring of the bugs that flew away in three day’s time is quite charming.
I hope each and every one of you are doing well. Seems the economy is picking up so I hope that your life is returning to the stability we all new before the crash of 2008. Its been a long road for all of us but I feel blessed that the things that were really important in life stayed true throughout the past few years. Thank you all for following my story. I truly love to share all the little details I see in life, and I love when you share yours with me. Thank you,
xoxSarah
We have a wonderful garden and sometimes it grows faster than we expect. One day we think we have it all under control~the next there are dozens of veggie varieties ready to pick.
I quickly gather our bounty and start canning. For this label (pictured) I used the Cricut Expression and the Preserves cartridge.
These make great gifts and the savory ones are especially appreciated during the sweet-sweet Holidays. You needn’t have a garden to make great foodie gifts…Buy local, organic veggies and can for yourself or for gifts. You’ll be a star among your friends and family. Those of you in the cold parts of the country better get on it…soon your local farms will be shuttered for the winter.
Speaking of the Holidays~October is just around the corner and that means Halloween is almost here! I’ll be spending the entire month~starting October First~making fun stuff for my favorite Holiday. Tune in for great ideas leading up to a stellar party!
Erik decided years ago he wanted to plant a veggie garden, but never had the time to invest. I have had run of the property with my flower beds, pots and xeriscape specimens for years, and finally this year he decided he wanted in on the fun.
The only patch of our yard left without something green growing in it (and with enough sun to make it usable) is the west side of the house, a 12×20 foot area. This was where we threw all the old lawn furniture, leftover construction materials, and empty flower pots. Luna the Chicken would roll around in the loose dirt on occasion just to take a bath. Other than that, it was pretty much the forgotten corner of the garden.
The first thing Erik did was to buy and read cover-to-cover The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible by Edward C. Smith. The first instruction was to dig down into the soil 6-10 inches then build a 12″ raised bed. With our hard soil, Erik had to go at it with a pick. It was not easy work. He ordered a few yards of sandy loam and filled his 6×14 foot raised bed. It was time to plant the seeds.
This was back in January. And while Phoenix weather is pretty much perfect that time of year we weren’t getting enough sun to grow the plants in a satisfactory time-frame. It’s now the end of May and finally we are enjoying my favorite of root vegetables, the Chioggia Beet. This tasty treat is sweet as sugar when roasted and absolutely superb when added to a salad.
This evening I wilted the greens and tossed them with the cooked beets and a dressing made with lemon zest and juice from our Meyer Lemon tree, as well as mint and parsley from the garden. It’s been a long five months waiting and watching these beauties grow, but it was worth it. The next crop should be ready in a few weeks. I can’t wait!
The Discovery Palette!
