Iron Chef Challenge: Chickpea, Ginger and Peanut Curry

Here is my response to the Vegan MoFo Iron Chef Challenge #1.  The challenge was to come up with an original recipe using chick peas.

Before I present my offering - a disclaimer.  I had been planning to make Ginger Peanut Soup for dinner tonight.  It is a fabulous recipe that a friend gave me recently (thanks Sarah!) and we love it.  Not wanting to miss out on the Iron Chef fun I decided to mod the recipe, including of course, adding the all important chick peas.

So my recipe is not really one that I have created from scratch.  I did adjust the amounts of some of the ingredients and I added potatoes, coriander, a little lemon, coconut milk and of course chickpeas.  Will this be acceptable for the challenge or am I disqualified?

Challenge aside, the result was a delicious, creamy, satisfying, multicultural, soupy curry.  We had it on its own, however you could serve it with rice, naan or even couscous if you wanted to. 

Ingredients
3 tablespoons oil (I used peanut oil)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed or chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
2 potatoes, diced
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups cauliflower, divided into small florets
2 cups broccoli, divided into small florets
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can chickpeas
2 cups vegetable stock
⅓ cup natural peanut butter
1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
½ cup coconut milk
Squeeze of lemon juice (about 1 teaspoon)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method
1. Saute the onion, garlic, ginger, potatoes and cayenne pepper in the oil for ~ 10 minutes.
2. Add the cauilflower, broccoli, tomatoes, chickpeas, stock, peanut butter and coriander.  Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally
3. Add the coconut milk and lemon juice.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with a drizzle of coconut milk.

Day 17 - Pumpkin Soup.

When it comes to pumpkin soup I like to keep it simple.  No fancy ingredients or exotic flavor influences.  Just pure, unadulterated, thick, creamy pumpkin goodness. 

Okay, maybe just a sprinkle of nutmeg.  But nothing else.

And, as you can see from the pictures, I like it thick.  Very thick.

Most of you can probably make pumpkin soup perfectly well without a recipe.  But here is my offering to the cyberspace catalogue of soup recipes just because I would rather type it up than go and tidy up my messy house. 

Ingredients:
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons margarine (but you could use oil)
Approx 1kg of chopped up pumpkin
(I started with 1.2kg and ended up with just under 1kg)
2 cups stock
2 cups water
1 cup soy milk (a creamy one - don't spoil it with a low fat one).

Method:
1.  Saute the onion and garlic in the margarine over a medium for about 5 minutes
2. Add the pumpkin, stock and water.  Simmer with the lid on loosely for about 25 minutes, until the pumpkin is super soft and falling apart.
3.  Allow the soup to cool a little then use a stick blender to blend the soup until very smooth.  The mix will almost resemble pumpkin puree at this stage.  (You can process the soup in batches in a blender if you have the misfortune of not owning a stick blender).
4.  Add the soy milk and stir.  If it is too cool gently reheat over a low heat while stirring frequently. If it is too thick for your liking then add a little more soymilk, water or stock until it suits you perfectly.
5.  Serve with a sprinkling of nutmeg or pepper and fresh bread (multi-grain or wholemeal of course).

Day 4 - Creamy Broccoli Soup

Yesterday I had a craving for creamy soup.  This broccoli soup fits that category surprisingly well.  There are only a few ingredients so the preparation time is very quick.  But it does take a little while to boil, all the while filling the kitchen with tantalizing aromas that make me feel hungrier and hungrier while I wait.

Admittedly the soup does look a bit like an unappetizing green gloop.  It reminds me of something you might have seen on "You can't do that on Television".  But despite appearances it really is scrumptious.  Or, as my husband said, "delicious and nutritious!"

The soup is not very high in protein.  So I served it with some multigrain bread rolls, warmed a little in the oven, to the make the meal more balanced. 

I have tried a few broccoli soup recipes and over time have arrived at my own version.  It makes a big pot so no prizes for guessing what we will be having for dinner tonight.

Here is my recipe.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegan margarine (or you could use oil)
1 Onion finely chopped
3 Cloves of garlic crushed of finely chopped
2 large potatoes cut into ~ 2cm cubes
2 large heads of broccoli (or 3 small) - you can use the florets and some of the stems
2L of fluid, you can use all vegetable stock or substitute some for water depending on how salty/flavorsome you want it.  If you use powdered stock (as I do) you can start of with just a little and adjust the flavor just before blending.
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup soy milk - I recommend a creamy variety eg Vitasoy for this

Method
1. Saute the onion in the margarine or oil for 3 minutes on medium heat.
2. Add the garlic and saute for another 2 minutes.
3. Add the stock, potatoes, broccoli and herbs.
4. Boil over medium heat for about 30 minutes until the veggies are mushy.
5. Take the soup off the head and use a stick blender to blend the soup.  You can leave it a bit chunky or make it very smooth.  If you want it really smooth transfer it to a blender in batches but really this is just too messy and time consuming for my liking.  Anyway, I like the soup with a little texture still.
6. Add the soy milk.  I find this usually brings the soup to a nice serving temperature.  However, if you want, you can heat the soup gently reheated over a low heat but remember to stir it.
7. Serve with a sprinkle of nutmeg if you wish but don't overdo the nutmeg or it will overpower the wonderful broccoli flavor.

Corn Chowder

Day one of my vegan apprenticeship!

I have never made any kind of chowder before and so this was an experiment in more ways than one!  I looked at few different recipes on line and in recipe books and then decided to improvise - always much more fun than following a recipe  :)

The result - Yum!
My husband and I found it really tasty and satisfying.  However if I make it again I think I will add a bit more potato and a bit less stock as it was a little more salty than I usually make soups.

Ingredients
1 small leek or half a large leek chopped finely
3 clove of garlic
Good splash of olive oil
4 potatoes diced
1 stick celery chopped small
1 carrot diced
1 heaped teaspoon dried Sage
1 heaped teaspoon dried Thyme
2 and 1/2 cups corn
4 cups veggie stock
(I used Vegeta powdered stock + 4 cups water)
Another 1 and 1/2 cups corn to add near the end
You can add a little Soy milk to taste if you want

Method
1. Saute the leek and garlic in the olive oil for a couple of minutes.
2. Add the chopped veggies and herbs and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
3. Add the stock, cover, and simmer for at least 30 minutes, until the potato is very soft.
4. Blend - I used a stick blender and did not blend too much as it was nice to have a bit of varied texture.
5. Add the extra corn and heat gently for another couple of minutes.
6. We added a little dash of soy milk directly to our bowls, but it was quite thick and yummy even without the soy milk.