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Coconut Curried Carrot Soup with Spiced Chickpeas

2.21.2013

This is usually the part of winter where I get fed up. At this point, I am over root vegetables and kale salads and chili and stews. At this point, I’m usually throwing in the towel and ordering take out, frozen pizzas, or milkshakes for dinner. It’s that last leg before spring food hits the produce isle and I can’t help but find it hard to stay inspired after four months of the same thing being in season.

Not this year. This year I was determined to not get bored with dinners. This year, I constnaly have been reminding myself how much I long for minestrone or curry when it’s 90 degrees out. This year I’ve added fun new techniques to my winter routine – like my tagine and slow cooker. I’ve added things into my soups to make them more interesting – like those insanely delicious goat cheese croutons.

And now I’m back with another soup recipes with a fun addition: spiced chickpeas. These chickpeas are…woah. It was hard to save them for dinner because there was so much munching I should have been making the soup. Wash the vegetables, eat a few chickpeas, simmer, eat a few chickpea, season, eat a few chickpeas. You get the idea. So addicting.

I’m pretty excited to start adding these chickpeas to my afternoon snack routine. It will be a nice change from greek yogurt or nuts. I found this great resource of different seasonings for your chickpeas over at MPMKs – cannot wait to try them all!

Coconut Curried Carrot Soup with Spiced Chickpeas

2 Tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
8 medium carrots, diced
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth (I used homemade)
1 15 ounce can of coconut milk
1 Tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ginger powder
Salt / Pepper, to taste

Feta, optional

2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
dash of salt

To make the chickpeas: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine all the ingredients together and put in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes or until the chickpeas are crispy. Remove from oven and let cool.

To make the soup: Heat olive oil over medium in a large saucepan. Add onions and saute until translucent (about ten minutes). Add the carrots and cook for another five minutes. Pour in the stock, coconut milk, ginger, and curry powder. Cover and cook for about ten minutes (or until the carrots are soft).

Once all the vegetables are soft, remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender. Season with salt, pepper, and maybe a little hot sauce (if you like a kick). Top with feta and chickpeas.

Pre-Valentine’s Day Hike

2.12.2013

Just tryin’ to get outside whenever possible. Wyatt and I weren’t sure if we were going to have that much time on Thursday so do Valentine-esque things so we went on a little hike over the weekend. There is nothing I love more than hanging out with my favorite person and favorite puppy in one of my favorite places. Pure bliss.

Searchable Saturdays

2.02.2013

Mornin’! Happy Saturday. This post is coming a bit later than usual because I had a much needed sleep in session. I hope you aren’t mad? Good. Here are a few things that really inspired VV this week….

1. I am in love with aesthetics of this poster. Everything from the mix of shapes to the color combination to it’s simplicity. Not that I’m planning on doing a re-design anytime soon but am always on the look out for inspiring design ideas.

2. Twin Peaks has been on the mind lately. We are finally getting close to finishing the series for the third (yikes) time. I’m thinking I may have to make a cherry pie for the finale (we already made donuts / coffee for our viewing pleasure awhile back).

3. I have tried SOOO many vegan Macaroni & Cheese recipes but never one as beautiful as this! It’s going on my list of things to cook this weekend.

4. On the hunt for a cool vintage hanging plant for the bathroom. Any suggestions? I’m thinking maybe a spider plant or some sort of vine?

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! It’s supposed to be cold and snowy here all day so I plan on catching up on a bunch of cooking, reading, and snuggling with my puppy.

Harissa Paste

1.04.2013

Happy Friday! Any big plans for the weekend? I didn’t start my work week until Wednesday so this week kind of feels like cheating…did I really earn weekend already? I could get use to this 3 day week thing! As for my weekend? The only thing I have planned to to make some homemade ravioli (now if I could only decide on ONE filling option…).

Continuing with my New Years resolution to eat less processed food, I decided to make my own harissa paste instead of heading to the specialty market to pick up a bottle of it. I needed some harissa paste because I received a beautiful Tagine for Christmas and have been cooking in it non-stop. It’s such an easy, delicious, and ridiculously healthy way to whip up a batch full of hearty veggies drenched in flavorful Middle Eastern or African spices.

So what exactly is harissa paste? It’s a condiment made out of chiles that will have varying ingredients depending on location. It’s been known to be used in African, Moroccan, and several other Middle Eastern countries. I added a few teaspoons of it to a butternut squash, raisin, and shallots combination I made the other day and it was delightful. I plan to use the leftover paste as a condiment on sandwiches (adding a little bit of honey bring the spice level down without compromising the wonderful flavor). I’ve also heard of peopling dipping fresh bread into it or adding it to cooked couscous.

This recipe can also be made with fresh chiles (just omit the soaking process). I am eager to grow some in my garden this summer so we can experiment more!

(more…)

Happy Holidays from VV

12.22.2012

No ‘Searchable Saturdays’ today because I am headed home for the holidays. I hope everyone has a wonderful break from their usual routines and enjoy some quality time with wonderful people!

Moody Mondays

1.23.2012

So I came up with this idea from Much Love Monday where she posts pictures of hearts to keep moral up on gloomy Mondays. I am going to try to post a picture every monday of something that keeps me happy so that I can stay positive through the week.

Yup.

1. Playing with my food. I love that adding neon food coloring to everyday foods make it extra fun and extroadinary

2. My vintage vinyl player creates the best “crackle” to complement my more abstract 7″

3. My brat of a cat, Sophia Marvelous. She’s cute and snobby and I love her.

4. Fresh produce from our garden! It’s not the season for it right now but having my massive garden to look forward to this summer is what is keeping me through this winter.

Yup. That’s all for now.

2011 Wrap Up

12.31.2011

I don’t do this very often but I’m going to make this post be about my life instead of food (don’t worry. I’m not turning this into a vanity blog on you; just have some end of the year things I’d like to discuss).

First, I know I talk about food a lot (well…this is a food blog) but my first passion is actually music and I feel alittle ridiculous not posting about my ‘Top Albums of 2011′ because everyone does it and I swear I have an opinion too! Anyways, I am no music expert of any kind and am not going to try to show off so I’ll keep it short to a top 5 (and then add a bunch of honorable mentions). Also, I should mention that my criteria for a music list is based off no musical competence what-so-ever and I base my list off of how much I listened to these albums (this is a PERSONAL list after all), how they influenced my year, and overall general enjoyment of them.

Honorable Mentions:

Ty Segall- Goodbye Bread (Drag City)

To be honest, this probably wouldn’t be on my list if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s Ty Segall. This album didn’t catch me the way that ‘Melted’ managed to but it’s still a great album and did slowly grow on me. Ty Segall is one of my all time favorite artists so I am going to give him a break with this album since he manages to put out music a couple times a year anyways so I’m sure he’ll redeem himself soon enough. Plus, I do have to give him credit for trying to go in a different (softer) direction than much of his previous music so I guess at least he is expanding, right? Sure.

Jacuzzi Boys- Glazin’ (Hardly Art)

This album probably should have made the cut because of how much I managed to listen to it this year. It’s poppier than their previous album which is often times bad (for sure since my boyfriend tends to play albums into the ground) but it never got on my nerves and I still manage to find it catchy after the 100th listen.

Mikal Cronin- S/T (Trouble in Mind)

Wow, I am so predictable. I’ve managed to make all of my ‘Honorable Mentions’ part of the same genre. I promise I’ll try to expand on my actual list (oh yeah..I should probably get to the ACTUAL list here eventually). Anyways, my love for Mikal Cronin was discovered because of Ty Segall…Ty produced this album, Mikal produced the Ty album mentioned above. They are both great musicians and although my loyalty lies with Ty Segall…this album was much better than ‘Goodbye Bread’. This album was actually just a really great album and I’m going to leave it at that.

Now, for the list.

5. Kurt Vile- Smoke Ring For My Halo (Matador)

Can’t say that this album is perfect for every mood but when in the right mind set, this album is phenomenal. He’s just a really great songwriter and this album got me. I didn’t have any experience with Kurt Vile before this album so I do have to admit that I came into it not knowing what to expect but it was far better than I could ever imagine. It’s not even my “type” of music but it’s great for what it is. Yup, that’s all I’m gonna say about that.

4. Bon Iver- S/T (Jagjaguwar)

So the honest truth with this album is that I’ve probably only heard it all the way through 2 or 3 times. I can’t say he is my “cup of tea” (not that he’s bad or anything) but it’s on my top list because of the influence it’s had over my year. Because he’s an artist of ours at work, it’s been amusing to see the excitement of other employees as he has been succeeding and it’s been fun to see him explode as an artist over this past year. Being the distributor of this album, I’ve probably have seen this cover everyday for the past six months and this is the album that has made work crazy (at times and in a good way) and it’s just an overall great feeling to be proud of being part of this artist’s career. Sorry, I’m done being sappy…I just honestly really love my job and am very happy for all the good this album did for the great people I work with.

3. Yuck- S/T (Fat Possum)

I feel a little embarrassed putting this album on my list but I’d be in denial if I didn’t. My first encounter with this band was back in March at SXSW and they put on one of the worst shows I have ever witnessed (and I’ve seen ALOT of music). They were too pretentious to even be in Texas (let alone on stage in front of a bunch of Americans) and yet they literally fell apart halfway through their set and just ended. It was God awful. Anyways, this album came out a few months later and I listened to the whole album at work (without realizing it was them) and loved it. It’s raw (but not disastrous) and catchy and simple. It’s such a shame that they can’t seem to get their live performance together or they could probably blow some people out of the water.

2. Tennis- Cape Dory (Fat Possum)

This album is the girl side of me coming out but damn, I am in love with Tennis. The girl has a beautiful voice, the music is feel-good, and the story behind the band is oh so romantic. SUPPOSEDLY, this band is a couple that knew nothing about music and gave up everything to travel down the East coast by boat. Along their journey, they managed to make this album. Ideal life? I’d say so.

1. JEFF The Brotherhood- We Are the Champions

I first heard of this brother duo a couple years ago because we distribute a 7 inch of theirs at work but I didn’t really think much of them. It was not until I saw them (coincidentally, at the same showcase as Yuck) at SXSW that I fell in love. I have yet to find someone who doesn’t like this album. I work (and I mean this in a nice way) with 3 big headed (when it comes to music) musicians and to find something that we all agree on is VERY VERY rare (according to my metal loving boss, my music is too girly and boring) but we all sing along to this one.

Phew, done. Well I was also hoping to post about my winter picnic the other day but this post has been long enough so perhaps another time. I do want to make a quick New Year Resolution list…nothing too personal or anything. My Music Business professor claims that people are 80 percent more likely to follow through with things if they write them down so if I publish my list on the internet then that has to raise it to at least 88 percent, right? Maybe? No?

1. Polish my Photoshop skills

2. Expand my photography skills

3. Figure out what I’m going to do with my life (stay in Bloomington? Move? Move where? Get a job where?- Luckily and not luckily, this will have to be figured out regardless of if I’m ready come May)

4. Take Arizona road trip

5. Adopt a puppy!

6. Visit Farm Sanctuary

7. Keep up with my blog

7 is already too many so we will end it there.