Recipes from December 3rd and January 14th

Hello folks! I know some of you have been itching to make the past few meals at home and we've been letting you down by not letting you in on our secrets. But no longer! Well, I've at least got two of the past three meals. January 7th will come soon.

December 3rd (thanks to Hannah!)

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

(recipe adapted from culinate.com)

Serves 4 – 6

• 3 tbsp canola oil +a little extra to bake squash
• 3 cups chopped onions
• 2 to 4 tsp cup curry powder
• 2 small/medium butternut squash
• 2 tart apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cups apple juice
• salt + pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a large baking sheet with foil. Pour a tablespoon or two of oil over the foil to create a thin film. Cut the butternut squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and place each half on the oiled foil, flesh-side down. Bake squash until tender, 45 to 55 minutes.
2. While the squash is cooking, prepare the rest of the ingredients. In a large stockpot, heat the oil. Add chopped onions and curry powder and cook over low-to-medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the onions begin to soften. Add chopped apples and cook another 5 minutes, giving the contents of the pot an occasional stir. Add broth and apple juice to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer.
3. Once the squash is tender, remove it from the oven and let cool; when cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh out with a large spoon and add it to the simmering soup pot. Cook for several minutes, checking to make sure that the apples and squash are tender.
4. Turn off the heat under the pot, and with an immersion blender, a food processor, or a regular blender, purée the soup until smooth. (If using a food processor or ordinary blender, be sure to only fill the container half full, to avoid burning yourself.)
5. Season to taste with salt and pepper and return to simmer if the soup has cooled.

ORANGE MAPLE ROASTED FENNEL, COUSCOUS, AND CHICKPEAS

1. Thinly slice fennel bulbs, then toss with oil and salt.
2. Spread the fennel in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast at 425 for about 20-30 minutes or until the fennel has caramelized a little bit.
3. Mix with couscous, chickpeas, some chopped fennel fronds, and this dressing, courtesy of theppk.com:
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 3 tbsp orange juice
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp grated fresh ginger
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• salt to taste
Whisk everything together!

PURPLE CABBAGE SALAD WITH CURRANTS, CARROTS, AND ALMONDS
(recipe courtesy of veganyumyum.com)

Serves 4-6

• 1 small head purple cabbage, shredded
• 4 carrots, shredded
• sliced or slivered almonds
• dried currants or raisins
• (dressing):
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar (or plain?)
• 1 tbsp water
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp canola oil

1. Shred cabbage and carrots.
2. Mix with almonds and currants.
3. Whisk the dressing ingredients together and add that too.

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

(recipe from theppk.com)

makes about 16 cookies

• 1/3 cup canola oil
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¼ cup molasses
• ¼ cup plain soymilk
• 2 cups all purpose flour (we used half AP flour and half whole wheat pastry flour)
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp cloves
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 ½ tsp ground ginger

1. In a large bowl beat together oil and sugar for about 3 minutes. Add molasses and soymilk. The molasses and soymilk won't really blend with the oil but that's ok.
2. In a sepearte bowl, sift together all the other ingredients.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in batches. Mix together with a firm spoon or spatula until well combined. You should have a pretty stiff dough. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for an hour or up to 3 days in advance. (If you chill longer than an hour you may want to let it sit for 10 minutes to loosen up a bit before proceeding).
4. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease your cookie sheets.
5. On a floured surface roll you dough out to a little less than 1/4 inch thick. You can do this in 2 batches if you don't have the space. Cut out your shapes with your cookie cutters and gently place on cookie sheets (if you are using them to decorate with remember to cut a hole with a straw or something before baking). Bake for 8 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and let them cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet then move to a cooling rack. Wait until they are completely cool before icing.
7. For the icing: mix small amount of water with confectioners sugar until you get a consistency a little thicker than toothpaste. Add food coloring!

January 14th (thanks to Kate & Mike!)

COCONUT CHICKPEA CURRY

6-8 servings

• 4-6 cups of chick peas
• 2 onions
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 4 tomatoes (roma or 1 can or crushed)
• 2 tsp of cumin, salt, and tumeric *
• 1 tsp of paprika and garam masala
• 1 tbsp of mild patak curry paste (found in most grocery stores) *
• 1 cans of coconut milk
• 2 cups of mushrooms (or other desired vegetables, potatoes work well)

* add more cumin, tumeric and patak paste to taste

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight.
2. Boil the chickpeas for 1 hour, and drain.
3. Meanwhile chop onions, garlic, mushrooms.
4. Sautee onions and garlic until translucent. Add mushrooms and sauté until soft.
5. Add tomatoes, simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Add chickpeas, turmeric, paprika, patak paste, coconut milk, salt and let boil for 20 minutes?
7. Add garam masala, and cumin in the end. Adjust flavors if needed.

SPICY SESAME POTATOES

6-8 servings

• 3 large potatoes cubed or cut into wedges (sweet potatoes or Yukon)
• 1- tbsp of paprika
• 1- tbsp of chili powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds
• 2- tbsp of oil or enough to coat

1. Pre heat oven to 426.
2. Toss potatoes in spices, oil and sesame seeds. Lay flat on baking sheet.
3. Cook for 15 min. Then flip and cook for another 15 min.

GARLIC LIME SLAW
makes 6-8 servings

• 1 ½ cups of shredded green or red cabbage
• 1 cup of shredded carrots
• 1 cup of sprouts
• ¼ a cup of thinly sliced fresh mint

Dressing:

• 1/4c of lime juice
• 2 tbs of brown sugar, or maple syrup
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• 1tbs of olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1 small fresh chile minced
• 1 tbs of grated peeled gineger root

1. Whisk together lime juice, sugar and salt.
2. In a small skillet on medium high heat the oil and cook the garlic chilies and ginger until sizzling and fragrant (1 min).
3. Whisk into the lime juice.
4. Let sit about 20 min before dressing.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE COOKIES
makes 18 cookies

• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 tablespoon flax seed, plus
• 1 teaspoon flax seed
• 1/2 cup soymilk
• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet vegan chocolate chips (obviously, vegan chocolate chips if you want these to be vegan)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Grind flax seeds in a blender until they become a fine powder, then add the soy milk and blend for about 30 seconds more and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt.
4. Cream the sugar and oil in a separate large bowl.
5. Add the flax/soy milk mixture and mix well.
6. Stir in the vanilla.
7. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients (the original recipe does not call for a mixer, but you may want to use yours.).
8. Mix in the chocolate chips.
9. Roll dough into 1" balls and flatten into disks about 1 1/2" in diameter.
10. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about 1" apart and bake for 10 minutes.
11. Let rest on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes, then remove with a spatula to a cooling rack and cool completely.

A big thanks for Jono for the photos.

--Giovannayam.