Pandora

Happy new years eve everyone. Let's hope that things go better in 2010.
Not that 2009 was personally terrible for me, I'm very greatful for how my year went. but on a global scale...yech

On another subject entirely, I recently re-discovered Pandora.com, a website that allows you to create customized radio stations online. Through Pandora, I've found some absolutely wonderful music. One group that I've recently become obessed with are the Eurythmics. Here's one of my favorites by them. So dramatic (which I always love), and the music video is so playfully irreverent, a totally amazing combination.

Soup, soup, and soup

Yesterday, I wanted soup.

For lunch I made wonton miso soup. Well, not entirely, I should rather say, I assembled wonton miso soup. I had been wandering the isles of Whole Foods when I saw the pre-cooked wontons (O'Hana brand) and suddenly HAD to have them. I wanted to make the wontons myself, but I couldn't find the wrappers, so frozen wontons it was. I cooked 6 (miniature) wontons in a fair amount of water, to which I added miso paste and wakame. Simple and delicious. I would have added green onions, but alas I was out of them at the time.

Now the day before a very good friend of mine had been talking about barley soup. After listening to this I began to crave barley soup. So the next day I went off to the store and bought a can of Amy's Vegetable Barley soup and had it for an afternoon snack. Normally I don't like to eat pre-prepared foods, but I really really wanted the soup, and I think when you really really want something, you should have it.

And then I also decided to make a soup. I made, Gaeng Khae (spicy Thai vegetable soup). Supposedly it's medicinal and is supposed to cure colds and fevers. It's also labor intensive...and delicious. Though it's so flavorful, after two servings last night and one this afternoon, I simply cannot finish the rest. It's also not something I'd recommend for a date or anytime you want to smell nice...very very garlicky. I got the recipe from vegetarian times.

Gaeng Khae
Ingredients (chile paste):
-15 dried chiles de arbol/japones chiles (I couldn't find these, so I used red peper flakes)

-8 cloves garlic, peeled

-1/2 t. salt

-2 stalks lemongrass, minced
- 2 shallots, minced (1/2 c)
-1 t. red miso
Ingredients (soup):
- 4 c. low sodium vegetable broth
- 2 T. low sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 c. sliced beet greens, swiss chard, escarole, turnip greens, or kale (I used kale)
- 1 c. turnip or fennel chunks
- 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms
- 1 c. firm tofu chunks (I used soft, personal preference)
- 1 c. coarsely chopped arugula
- 1/2 c. fresh mint leaves
- 1/4 c. coarsely chopped parsley

Directions:
Soak chiles in bowl of boiling water 30 minutes. Drain, pat dry and finely chop. Combine garlic and salt in motar and pound with pestle. Add lemongrass, shallots, miso, and chiles, pounding and crushing after each addition to make a thick paste.
Bring broth to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Stir in soy sauce and chile paste. Add kale, turnip, and mushrooms, and bring to a boil. Cook 5 minutes, then reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 more minutes. Add tofu and cook 2 minutes.
Stir in arugula, mint, and parsley. Simmer 1-2 minutes or until herbs wilt.

Sunrise

One of my favorite people in the world once said "You should either wake up ealy enough, or stay up late enough, to watch the sunrise". I think these pictures I took from my apartment window of the sunrise prove their point.

It's so dramatic. Almost violent. Normally when I think of a sunrise, it's all pretty, the calm silent part of the day before the storm. This sunrise is the storm.

Thai Red Curry Soup

I found this wonderful recipe in Vegetarian Times magazine.

Vegetables in Thai Red Curry. Sounds so good on a cold autumn night.

Ingredients:

~1 small head cauliflower cut into florets

~1 cup green beans, stems removed and cut into 2-inch pieces

~2 T. Canola oil (I used, as I always do, olive oil)

~1 cup cremeini mushrooms, ends trimmed and quartered if large (used regular white mushrooms, cut in half)

~1  14-oz can light coconut milk

~1-2 T. Thai red curry paste (check ingredients to make sure doesn't include fish sauce)

~2 T. brown sugar (I hate adding sweetener to non-deserts, so I only put in 1 T. and it was still naturally sweet from the coconut milk. Next time I wont put in any at all.

~2 T. Tamari/low sodium soy sauce

~1small red bell pepper

~20-30 fresh basil leaves

Directions:
Blanch cauliflower 4 minutes, or until aldente, in a pot of boiling, salted water. Remove with strainer, and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Repeat with green beans in same pot of water. Set aside.
Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and cook 5-7 minutes, or until mushrooms have browned and released some juices. Set aside.
In a wide sauce pan over medium heat combine coconut milk, curry paste, sugar, tamari, and 1/2 cup water (the recipe says to start with a small amount of curry paste and adjust for spiciness. I ended up using more paste than originally called for)
Add cauilflower, green beans, mushrooms, bell peper, and 1/2 of basil. Simmer 10 minutes. Garnish with remaining basil.

My friend, the Mysterious M, and I both agreed, it was delicious. Our favorite part was the fresh basil (right off my plant!). Next time I think I'll add even more basil.

Currently listening to:
Fraud In the '80s - Mates Of State
Devil's Dance Floor - Flogging Molly