Lentil soup | Vegan in the house

For a spring menu, hearty soups aren't the first thing that comes to mind but here on the west coast of central Scotland the arrival of spring hit the breaks; suddenly the days turned colder with rain. Last week we finally got excellent spells of sunshine so we seem to be back on track, and the buds are rejoicing. I wanted to post this lentil soup recipe before it's too late. In the sense, out of touch with the season, especially for those who live farther south and are already enjoying fine weather and trees in bloom. In our garden a huge cherry tree is about to bloom. Its branches stretch over the patio and some even reach the main roof of the house. If I would keep our son's bedroom window open they would find their way in. I wouldn't mind but he would. I cannot wait to see the cherry tree in its full glory.

Back to the soup. In January our younger daughter, a teen of 14, decided to go vegan. My husband and I discussed between us that this was just a phase, something she needed to explore. Honestly, we thought it would last for 1-2 weeks. Apart from the smoked lamb at Christmas (Icelandic tradition), she never was much of a meat-eater. That part would be easy. Quitting eggs, however, would probably break her. Or so we thought. Our girl loved her omelettes and made her own if I served e.g. fajitas or something she didn't like. Now the month of May is almost upon us and our girl is still going strong. Still a vegan.

Consequentially, I have made some adjustments in our diet - surely baking less with eggs - and I have veganised some of my own vegetarian recipes and created new ones. What I like about her going vegan is that she is learning about nutrition and cooking, and she now enjoys certain vegetables she didn't like before. I love seeing her gaining confidence in the kitchen; she now makes uncomplicated, nutritious meals without any help. Sometimes the two of us are together in the kitchen preparing a meal that needs to be adjusted for her. For a mother, who is a foodie, those are quality moments. When the days were colder I often prepared veggie chilli or other bean stews or hearty soups for lunch that would then wait on the hob when our steadfast vegan came home from school. This green lentil soup was one of those.

[The textiles seen in the images, excluding the napkin, are by Lisa Fine: Baroda 1 in indigo (bird pattern), Lahore in apricot (floral), and Chiara in sky blue/oyster (to the right). More on Lisa Fine Textiles later.]

Whether you are a vegan or not, lentils are good for you (read about the health benefits of lentils); I think everyone should have a basic lentil recipe in their repertoire. Lentils are high in protein, dietary fibre, and iron, and a source of e.g. B1 and B6. Lentils and spices are a wonderful mix because the lentils absorb their flavour. In my opinion, herbs like bay leaf and thyme also go well with lentils. Just make sure you don't overcook them; they should keep their consistency. Soft lentils, yes. Mushy, not so much. For the vegetable broth I use the vegan organic bouillon powder from Marigold (it has less salt), but you can of course use vegetable stock cubes.

LENTIL SOUP

1 tablespoon coconut oil or light olive oil
1 small onion
2 carrots
1-2 celery sticks
3 cloves garlic
1 red chilli (or ¼ teaspoon chilli powder)
1 cup green lentils
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1250 ml organic vegetable broth (5 cups)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme or 1-2 whole thyme sprigs
optional: 1-2 seeded tomatoes
sea salt and black pepper to taste

Rinse and drain the lentils (sometimes it's recommended that you boil them for 2 minutes before rinsing). Set them aside and prepare the vegetable broth. Boil water and pour into a heatproof measuring jug with vegetable bouillon or stock cubes. For 1250 ml water (5 cups) you will normally need 5 teaspoons of the bouillon powder or 2¼ stock cubes (brands may vary; read the label).

Peel and chop the onion. Slice the carrots and celery sticks. Remove the seeds from the chilli (if using) and chop finely. Heat the oil in a medium-large saucepan on medium heat. Add the onion and vegetables and cook for a few minutes until they have softened. Peel and press the garlic and add it to the saucepan. Cook for 1-2 more minutes, gently stirring.

Add the lentils and spices and stir gently. Pour in the broth and add the bay leaf and thyme. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and let the soup simmer for about 25-30 minutes, or until the lentils are soft but not mushy. Use a lid but tilt it to allow the steam to escape. If using tomatoes: remove the seeds and dice the tomatoes before adding them to the saucepan.

Before serving, remove the bay leaf and the leftovers of the fresh thyme (if using). Season the soup with black pepper and salt, if you think it needs more salt. Serve with (home-made) wholegrain bread, and perhaps a glass of fine red wine ... just saying.

Uppskrift á íslensku

Tomato soup with vegetables and curry powder

I wrote this yesterday when we were in the living room with hot chocolate and enjoying the warmth from the fireplace. Not only has it been cold outside but on Sunday our boiler broke down and the repairman isn't expected until today. Feeling thankful for that fireplace! Yesterday we really needed something warming and comforting for lunch and all we could think of was a bowl of it's-cold-outside soup. It's the name we gave my variation of Hadda's tomato soup, a hearty soup we found on the CafeSigrun website many years ago, when we still lived in Iceland. It's the ideal soup on cold winter days.

We all liked the original tomato soup recipe but it contains light cream cheese, which is something I don't normally buy (the rest of the ingredients can usually be found in my cupboards/fridge), and too much rosemary for my taste. Therefore, I decided to adjust the recipe slightly, and I added beans to make it even more filling. I serve the soup with bread, either fresh from the oven or the bread maker. For a certain texture you will need either a hand blender or a food processor/blender to prepare the soup. There is no need to despair if you don't have any of these appliances in your kitchen, just chop the vegetables finely instead of coarsely; it will only change the texture of the soup, not its taste. This is a big batch of soup that I'm making for five people. Adjust accordingly if making for only 1-2 persons, or refrigerate the rest and warm up the day after.

TOMATO SOUP WITH VEGETABLES AND CURRY POWDER

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 carrots
2 celery sticks
4 potatoes
2 x 400 g cans tomatoes (2 x 14 oz)
500-700 ml water (2-3 cups)
2 organic vegetable stock cubes (or 1 and 1 chicken stock cube)
2-3 tablespoons organic ketchup
- or 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses or unrefined cane sugar
½ tablespoon curry powder (hot or mild)
½ tablespoon ground coriander
½ tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried basil
¼ teaspoon rosemary
optional: a pinch of saffron strands
1 can (400 g) kidney beans or black beans (14 oz)
100-125 ml coconut milk (½ cup or a little less)
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Peel the onion and chop coarsely. Heat the coconut oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion on low heat until it softens, occasionally stirring gently. Peel and press the garlic and add it to the saucepan.

Peel the potatoes. Chop the carrots, celery sticks and potatoes coarsely, add to the saucepan and cook for a few minutes on low heat, just to soften the vegetables.

Add the canned tomatoes, water, vegetable stock cubes and ketchup. Turn up the heat and bring to the boil. Then add the spices and herbs, put the lid on and leave to simmer for 15 minutes on low-medium heat.

Remove the saucepan from heat. Use a hand blender to purée the soup, not too smoothly (unless you prefer it), but be careful: The soup is very hot and you could get burned if you spray the soup up and out of the saucepan! To be on the safe side you can allow it to cool before using the hand blender, but hold it straight up and down and only press the button when the bottom part of the blender is in the soup. I like it when the soup contains a few coarse bits so I mainly purée the potatoes and largest bits. You can also purée the soup in batches in a food processor/blender but then you must allow it to cool first.

Rinse and drain the beans and add to the saucepan with the coconut milk. Gently heat the soup (don't bring to the boil) for a few minutes and taste with salt and black pepper before serving.

Uppskrift á íslensku.

Potato wedges with seasoned salt

In this household we like potatoes. A lot. I go through periods of experimenting, especially with baked potatoes because we like the skin (it gives you fibre). My almost ten-year old reminded me of these potato wedges, which I season with home-made seasoning salt, when he asked for them, and chicken, on his birthday next Saturday. He also wants apple cake with whipped cream. Mais bien sûr, monsieur!

Did you know that the Incas were the original growers of potatoes? I had no idea until I read about the history of the potato in the Larousse Culinary Encyclopedia. It was Francisco Pizarro, the Spanish conqueror of the Inca empire (and founder of the city of Lima), who brought it to Europe in 1534. The English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh made the same discovery in Virginia fifty years later and brought the potato to England. Well, that didn't stop King James I from having him imprisoned for treason in the Tower of London and later executed. But that's another story and I'm sure it has nothing to do with potatoes.

The above images are also unrelated to potatoes. I snapped them in our garden in the end of May and wanted to post them on the blog to remind me of that pretty plant in bloom. Its roots are in the neighbours' garden and right before blooming it sneaks over the fence and allows us to enjoy its beautiful white flowers. I call it 'the shawl' because of its shape.

Let us start with the spicy seasoned salt, which couldn't be simpler. For my mix I use whole pink Himalayan crystal salt, but using fine sea salt is fine. The ratio of the smoked paprika depends on my mood; its flavour can be a bit dominant so perhaps it's best to start with ¼ teaspoon. The ratio of the chilli powder depends on which type of chilli powder I use, milder or hotter version. This seasoned salt doesn't burn any tongues, at least not ours, but it has a bit of an edge.

SPICY SEASONED SALT

1½ tablespoons Himalayan salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon dried oregano
¼-½ teaspoon smoked paprika
¼ teaspoon red chilli flakes
a pinch of or ¼ teaspoon chilli powder

Put everything in a glass jar with a lid and shake well. Remember to label the jar, and perhaps add the ratios in case you want to make changes later.

You can use the seasoned salt to roast vegetables or to coat chicken. It's ideal when preparing grilled sandwhiches. You can also use it to add a bit of salty flavour to the meal you're cooking, as long as the spices go well with other ingredients of the dish.

Baked potatoes with thyme and rosemary are a classic that one cannot go wrong with, but when enjoying potatoes with, for example, burgers or chicken drumsticks my taste buds call for something different, preferably something spicy. If I can only get very large baking potatoes I usually parboil them for 7-10 minutes and let them steam dry in a colander before cutting them into wedges. Please note that I'm cooking this side dish for 5 persons so you may want to adjust the recipe.

POTATO WEDGES WITH SPICY SEASONED SALT

1 kg baking potatoes (2.2 lb)
1 tablespoon light olive oil or other vegetable oil
1 teaspoon spicy seasoned salt (see recipe above)

Scrub the potatoes clean. To make wedges, cut each potato in half lengthwise, and each half into three parts lengthwise (each potato should give you 6 wedges, but if the potatoes are very large you may want to cut the wedges in half crosswise as well). Make sure the wedges are not too thin, as you bake them in the oven with the skin facing down.

There are two ways to coat the wedges: 1) Put the ingredients in a large freezer bag, seal it and rotate it thoroughly to make sure all the wedges are coated. Then spread the wedges over a large baking tray lined with baking parchment with the skin facing down. 2) If you like coating them with your hands you can put everything in a large roasting tray and then spread the wedges with the skin facing down.

Cook in the oven at 220˚C/425˚F (200˚C fan oven) for about 25-30 minutes, or until the wedges are cooked through, golden and crisp. We like our potatoes well done so usually I lower the heat after 25 minutes and cook for another 5-10 minutes, or even longer.

Serve the potato wedges with quality mayonnaise or sour cream. You can also make a dip by adding some ground cumin to a small bowl of Greek yoghurt.

Uppskrift á íslensku.

Black bean burgers (vegan)

My love for black beans, a staple in my kitchen, knows no boundaries and these black bean burgers are the ones that made me switch entirely to veggie burgers. I wouldn't say no to a good burger made with quality meat but when I crave a burger, I crave these. It's not only because of the taste; it also has something to do with the ingredients, the nutritious fresh produce on my table when preparing the meal.

I like having fresh coriander in my kitchen. I love its pungent flavour and as of late, I find myself increasing the amount I use in recipes. If I don't have it there is something seriously wrong in the world. Or in my kitchen only. Cilantro is another word for fresh coriander, used in the US from the Spanish word. Then there are some who call the leaves Arab parsley while others call them Chinese parsley. Confused much? Well, now you know.

We have developed a black-bean-burger ritual. Each time I make them, which is quite often, one of the toppings I prepare is fried mushrooms in light olive oil with garlic and a pinch of salt, which I also serve on the side.

Speaking of mushrooms, many years ago a friend of mine attended a lecture with a Buddhist monk who said no one should eat mushrooms because they didn't grow in sunny places, or something like that. Everyone is entitled to opinions and believes but let me just tell you this: No monk or philosophy was coming between me and my mushrooms and from then on the rebel inside made a solemn vow to eat even more of them. That's just how I roll.

I have actress Gwyneth Paltrow to thank for the recipe, which I adapted from her cookbook, Notes From My Kitchen Table. It is easy to prepare but what you will need is cooked brown rice, so make sure you have time to boil the rice (takes about 25 minutes) or do it beforehand. You will need 30 g uncooked brown rice to make 75 g cooked (for the Americans out there not used to grams, cook three tablespoons of rice).

I like my veggie burger fried but I have added an oven-baked choice for those who aren't fond of fried food. I doubled the ground cumin in the recipe and I use 2 tablespoons of fresh coriander. I also added the red chilli flakes and nutritional yeast flakes, which I mark as optional. I serve these with the mushrooms and garlic mentioned above, tomatoes, avocados, lettuce, and quality mayonnaise or home-made. The recipe contains onion so I don't feel the need to add raw onion or red onion to my burger, but when I'm craving something spicy I like adding jalapeno from a jar. Sometimes I enjoy these with a small glass of ice cold beer with freshly squeezed lime.

BLACK BEAN BURGERS

1½-2 tablespoons light olive oil
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
½ teaspoon ground cumin
optional: a pinch of red chilli flakes
½ teaspoon fine sea/Himalayan salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 can (400g) organic black beans (14 oz)
75 g cooked brown rice
1-2 tablespoons fresh coriander (cilantro)
optional: 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
1-2 tablespoons organic flour (if frying)
2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil (if frying)
4 wholemeal burger buns

Cook 30 g brown rice beforehand. Drain and rinse the black beans. Set aside.

Peel the onion and garlic and chop finely. Heat the olive oil in a medium frying pan, then sauté the onion, garlic, cumin and chilli flakes (if using) for about 5-7 minutes on low-medium heat.

Add the salt, pepper, black beans and rice and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Finely chop the fresh coriander and add it to the mixture with the nutritional yeast flakes (if using). Remove from the heat.

Mash the mixture with a potato masher just to combine and get some cohesion - you want the burgers to have some texture. Let the mixture cool until it's easy to handle. Form the mixture into 4 burgers (at this point you can set the burgers in the fridge for a few hours).

• Fried burgers: Dust both sides with flour. Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat and brown the burgers on both sides, about a minute on each side. Serve them on grilled wholemeal buns with all of your favourite fixings.

• Oven-baked burgers: Place the burgers on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Bake at 190°C/375°F (175°C fan oven) for 8-10 minutes on each side.

Uppskrift á íslensku.

Recipe adapted from the book Notes From My Kitchen Table by Gwyneth Paltrow