Vegetarian

Pumpkin Soup – tasty and healthy

By / Soups, Vegetarian / 1 Comment /
P1 Pumpkin soup Pumpkin and papaya were two of the vegetables I detested most during my childhood, but once I started cooking that slowly changed. Pumpkin found its way into my culinary escapades as my husband was very fond of it and papaya was only made appealing to me by the lovely Pawpaw man. P2 Pumpkin Soup Now, I love pumpkin almost as much as my husband, not only because it is actually really delicious but also because it's really healthy. Pumpkin is good source of vitamin A, B, C and E. A 100 gram pumpkin provides 100% of the daily recommended Vitamin A while containing only 20 calories. Even the seeds inside the hollow of the fruit when dry roasted with some salt are a good low calorie snack. P3 Pumpkin soup Pumpkins are so versatile that they can be used in both sweet as well as savoury dishes.  My favourite way of making pumpkin has to be pumpkin soup which is a big hit with my daughters. It's always on the list of things they want me to make for them when they come to visit me. The last time I made my pumpkin soup, I made a very large batch and decided to freeze half of it to save me the trouble of making it twice. It worked really well and I would definitely recommend it as it's always nice on those lazy days to simply heat something up and have a great, healthy meal with no fuss. P4 pumpkin soup Here I’ve used fresh pumpkins as it’s easily available but canned pumpkins can also be used. The soup is already full of flavour especially with all the roasted cumin and paprika, but you can always tweak it to your taste by adding more garlic or chilli flakes or whatever else you think might make a good addition to the soup. When making the soup for my girls, I always use cream as it is best suited to achieve the smooth, creamy texture but full cream or semi skimmed milk make adequate substitutes when considering the calories.

 P5 Pumpkin Soup

~Min

Pumpkin Soup – tasty and healthy
Recipe type: Soups
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Ingredients
  • Pumpkin 250 grams (3 cups) - peeled and cut into cubes
  • Onion 1 medium sized – sliced
  • Garlic 6 cloves
  • Chilli powder ½ tsp
  • Paprika 1 tsp
  • Roasted Cumin powder 1-1 ½ tsp
  • Bay leaf 2
  • Vegetable stock cube 1
  • Cream / full cream milk ½ cup
  • Salt to taste
  • Chilli flakes 1 tsp (optional)
  • Olive oil or any refined oil 1 tbsp
Directions
  1. Heat a thick bottomed pan with oil.
  2. Add garlic, sliced onions, bay leaf and sauté till onions are transparent.
  3. Add chilli powder and half of the cumin powder and sauté for 2 minutes.
  4. Add the cut pumpkin cubes, sauté for another 3 minutes, pour 1 cup of water, crumble stock cube and salt, cook till the pumpkin pieces are tender.
  5. Blend this after removing the bay leaf into a smooth puree.
  6. Heat the puree. You can add more salt and chilli flakes, if required, at this point.
  7. Once it starts simmering, add cream and the remaining cumin powder and remove from the heat.
  8. You can add more milk or hot water to the soup to attain the required consistency.
  9. Serve with a small dollop of cream or some croutons.

A pie for Pi Day!

By / Entrée, Poultry / 3 Comments /

March 14th, as you know, is Pi Day worldwide, a day on which math enthusiasts celebrate the constant 3.14, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. One way to celebrate the day is to have pie parties, or at least make and eat pies! And to join in with the spirit of celebrations, that is what I decided to do too... make a pie!   pot-pie-slice Having been gorging on all kinds of sweet stuff during my recent vacation, my choice for this occasion was a pot pie... a vegetarian pot pie! A lot of veggies can go into this pie...   pot-pie-veg The key ingredient that gives this pot pie a unique kick up is ginger root! And instead of using a roux to thicken the filling, I like to use coconut milk which is healthier and adds to the flavour and creaminess of the filling.   And you can prepare the dough ahead of making the pie, and keep it chilled in the refrigerator up to 24 hours.   pot-pie-dough This pie makes a very good winter meal. And the leftovers will freeze very well too.   finished-pie

~Ria

Recipe for easy printing 
A pie for Pi Day!
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 large potato, peeled and cut into 1” pieces
  • 1 large onion, cut into small wedges
  • 4 ribs of celery, cut into small pieces
  • 3 cups mixed vegetables (red and green peppers, carrots, brussels sprouts) all cut into bite-size pieces. Peas too, but don’t cut them!
  • 2” piece ginger root, cut into thin juliennes
  • 1 can Coconut milk (available in Asian/ Mexican markets)
  • Salt & black pepper
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 stick (8 tbsp) butter, chilled in the refrigerator
  • Ice cold water
Directions
  1. To make the pie crust, mix together the flour and salt. Cut the chilled butter into small pieces and add to the flour, shaking to coat each piece. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour till the butter is reduced to pea sized bits. Sprinkle ice cold water on the flour and mix till you can just about form a loose dough. Shape the dough into a flat disk, cover with cling film and chill in the refrigerator.
  2. To make the filling, in a heavy bottomed pan, cook the potato, onion, celery and ginger with a half cup of water. When the potato is half done, add the rest of the vegetables, coconut milk, and enough salt. Cover and cook till everything is done.
  3. While the pan is still on the stove, mash a few of the potato pieces using the back of a wooden spoon to thicken the liquid in the filling. Add freshly ground black pepper to taste. Allow the filling to cool.
  4. When cool, transfer the filling into a 9” pie pan.
  5. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degree fahrenheit.
  6. Roll out the dough into a thick circle slightly larger than the pie pan. Gently lift the rolled out dough on the rolling pin and lay it over the pie pan with the filling. Fold under any extra dough and crimp with the edges. Make a few cuts in the dough to allow steam to escape.
  7. Place in the center of the oven and bake for 40 minutes. When the top starts to get slightly brown, take the pie out of the oven. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before cutting the pie.