Lazy Sunday Soup: Sustainable Eats

Today has been the first time in ages I haven't had anything planned to be done. Just pottering around the house, watching some Dr Who and going for walks in the sun. It has also been at least a year since I made a tasty winter soup.

I don't know why I haven't made a soup this winter. Lack of time (not that chopping and boiling is that hard). Failed veggie garden (soil too cold and no sun). My new obsession with stews and curries. Or perhaps it is simply because there aren't any Black Mountain pumpkins for the stealing. Although winter is near ending, I made this soup from some local and organic vegetables. It has a protein source as well; yellow split peas (yellow dal).

1 tbs cumin, cracked
2 tsp minced ginger
Oil
1 onion
1 cup yellow dal/split peas, soaked overnight
1/2 butternut pumpkin, cubed
2 large carrots, sliced
1/2 cauliflower, chopped
2-3 chicken (in my case, fake chicken) stock cubes

Into a stew pot, add your oil, cumin and ginger and fry lightly until fragrant. Take off heat and add all your veggies and dal. Pour water over the top of the vegetables until they are about 2cm below the water. Add stock cubes and boil!When the peas are starting to fall apart and generally nice and soft, take off the heat. By now, the soup should have reduced to about 1/2 of its original volume. Let it rest for 15-20 minutes before using a hand blender to puree. You could also use a potato masher.

Don't have those veggies? Try combinations of cauliflower, pumpkin, potato, sweet potato, carrot or other yellow/white veggies. And you can always through in some bacon if you really really want too.

To go with the soup, I made some cornbread using a recipe from Taste. You could serve it with any type of bread, especially crusty italian, flat bread or pappadums! I would also try some Greek Yogurt, Coconut Milk or Sour Cream swirled into the top with a bit of parsley too.

Everyone but Coles

You may all remember the Mexican cooking challenge I did not so long ago...Well, my co-chef has written a post about it, and how sneaky Coles and it's poor effort at teaching people to cook and eat both healthily and cheaply.

You can check out her blog at http://everyonebutsix.com

Everyonebutsix, Electric589 and myself intend to do a 3-way challenge, possibly comparing the Coles goodies with Aldi and markets.

Winter Warmers: Rhubarb Crumble Muffins and Veggie Tart

Heading over to Paul, Lee and Dave's at some point to see their new house! Kara is also in town, so there will be a few people around. I made some winter warmers to share with the gang and help to warm the new house.

Rhubarb Crumble Muffins (Makes 12)

1 bunch rhubarb
1 lemon wedge
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Chop up rhubarb and add to a saucepan with other ingridients. Boil on stove for about 15 minutes, or until rhubarb is falling apart. Put to one side.

1 1/2 cups SR flour
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup milk
2 tbs maple syrup (you could use vanilla essence here, but I didn't have any)
Pinch bicarb soda
Strawberry jam

Combine flour, oil, sugar, milk, maple syrup and bicarb in a bowl. Grease muffin tin, and spoon out batter. Onto the top of each muffin, place 1/2 tsp of jam and 1 tsp of stewed rhubarb. Lightly mix through batter to create a swirl. You can use any type of plum or berry jam.

1/2 cup oats
1 tbs butter
2 tbs sugar

Combine in a bowl until it forms a crumble. Spoon over the top of muffins. Bake in oven at 180C until tops are brown and skewer comes out clean. Even though they smell great, resist from eating immediately! Let them sit to cool for a little while before eating. This is to stop from burning your mouth on hot jam/fruit!

Roast Veggie Tart

Chop up some of your favourite veggies (enough for a full tray) into cubes and roast until soft with salt and olive oil. Today I used pumpkin, beetroot and jerusalem artichokes. You could use eggplant, zucchini, capsicum or any other veggie that roasts well.

Meanwhile, you can make the pastry. Chop up 200g butter and place into a large mixing bowl. Add 1 tbs of lightly crushed cumin seeds and 2 cups plain flour. I used wholemeal flour for added nutty taste. Combine by hands until you form breadcrumbs. Slowly add some warm water to the mix until the dough is brought together in a ball. Knead for 2-3 minutes until dough is elastic. Cover and refigerate until use.

Today I pressed out the dough into a flan dish, and cut off excess pastry. You can roll it out or make a rustic style tart. Place the roast veggies on the top of the tart and some grated Parmesan cheese on the top. Bake in oven at 200C until pastry has browned. Serve with greens! :D

I have previously made this as a rustic tart with roast pumpkin, fetta cheese and caramelised onions on the base. Yum yum!