Category Archives: Vegan

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Orange Soup

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One of our family’s favorites, Orange Soup (mah-RAHK kah-TOME), is a recipe that I have shared in the past. I have found that no matter how large a pot you make, it is always gone within a couple of days. In other words, this recipe makes a lot of soup, but it still won’t last very long. It’s quintessential comfort food.

In case you happen to like words and their derivations, marak katom is named for its vibrant orange color, which happens, in Hebrew, to be a completely different word (kah-tome) than the fruit (tah-pooz). Its many constituent orange vegetables, coupled with deeply yellow-orange spices, turn this soup into a phytonutrient party. 

Please note that you will need an immersion blender to make Orange Soup.

2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
approx 2 lbs. (1 medium) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
3-4 large carrots, peeled and sliced into thick rounds
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
6-8 cups water
2 tsp. Kosher salt
2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
3 Tbsp. coconut cream

In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat until fragrant and swirling. Add the onions and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are browning at the edges. Browned onion edges contribute a lot to the depth and flavor of soup, but burnt onions are a bummer. So keep a close eye on the onions as they near the end of the ten minutes. Add garlic, ginger, cumin, turmeric, and cinnamon, and stir well for 30 seconds to allow the flavors to bloom. Add the cubed squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, and 6 cups of water. 

Bring soup to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook 45 minutes until vegetables are all very soft. Remove the pot from the heat, and stir in the salt and pepper. Allow to cool for a little while, and blend until smooth with an immersion blender. Then stir in coconut cream. 

If you would like the soup to be a little thinner, you can add another cup or two of water. Serve immediately, or leave it on the counter for several hours, and then reheat just before mealtime. Serves 8-10 in bowls or 10-12 in cups. 

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Yellow Eye Heirloom Bean Soup

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Today was a lovely day, temperatures notwithstanding. School was cancelled, of course, because no one in their right mind could require children to stand outside in these temperatures waiting for school busses. This is why, having received the text from my daughter late yesterday, family camp was in session today. 

The children unrolled our many yoga mats end-to-end all over the living room, and then raided the pantry to build a long winding row of mostly dry and canned beans that they subsequently climbed over and among for close to an hour. In the meanwhile, I put up a pot of soup in my beloved 5.5-quart Staub Dutch oven (cocotte). Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Butternut-Peanut Soup

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Make this one cold evening with a couple of friends, light some candles, and sit back with a glass of wine while you wait for the soup to cook. Then ladle the soup into mugs and pass them around. This soup will warm you from the inside out. Remember that peanuts are a legume, so that makes it nourishing and a good source of protein. Also, be forewarned: the peanut butter and coconut milk make it quite rich, so one cup goes a long way. If you’re up for it, you can add a simple green salad, and call it a meal. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Lovage Soup

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Many years ago I brought home some lovage from a neighbor’s garden, and I planted it along the eastern side of our house, under a screened-in porch. For a long time now it has grown there in abundance every spring, and there is always more than enough to share. This year I’ve been feeding some of it to the chickens, who love greens, especially the lemon balm that grows all over our property. Lovage tastes something like celery, but it grows up to five feet high on thick multi-branched stalks. It’s impossible to use it up. It’s quite beautiful, and would make a great addition to any herb or flower garden. It self-seeds every year, and my patch is easily 20 years old, if not more.

Here’s a lovely soup you can make with lovage. If you don’t happen to have access to any, you can make this soup with celery instead. Continue reading →

Just Pure Tahini

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This past February I attended a presentation about tahini by Dana Harary, a founder of SoCo Artisanal Tahini, and Doug Katz, a local celebrity chef. We learned about Dana’s longstanding search for the most flavorful tahini on the planet, about the nutritional profile of tahini, and about SoCo’s commitment to positive change and collaboration. SoCo, short for Seeds of Collaboration, is a supporter of Middle East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow (MEET), a nonprofit that connects young Israeli and Palestinian students.  Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Roasted Tomato Soup

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Do you know that feeling when you have a dozen gorgeous tomatoes on the counter and you go grocery shopping, and you forget, and you come home with another eight gorgeous tomatoes? Yes, of course you do. 

This week, I decided to make fresh tomato soup, which I had never made before. I have loved tomato soup since I was a kid. I especially loved my friend Mendy’s tomato soup when we were in graduate school, which was half a lifetime ago. I added white beans to this recipe, but no one will know unless you tell them. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Tofu & Peas on Quinoa

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I created this recipe for one of our family celebrations this past December. Of course I used frozen peas. The vegans ate it as their main course, and everyone else was happy to see another dish to try. Enough said.

1/2 large Vidalia onion, diced small
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and minced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. chili pepper
1/2 tsp. cardamom
1/2 tsp. garam masala
2 tsp. tamari
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup quinoa
1/2 cake tofu, diced approx. 1/2-inch
1 cup frozen (or fresh) sweet peas

1. Prepare 1 cup quinoa per directions on the package to yield approximately 2 cups of cooked quinoa. Set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes and make sure all the water has been absorbed. Fluff with a fork.

2. Heat olive oil on med-high heat, and add diced onion, stirring occasionally until the edges are barely beginning to brown. Stir in the diced ginger and garlic. Add diced tofu, continuing to mix occasionally, until the edges are becoming golden. 

3. Add salt and pepper, serrano pepper, and cardamom, and stir for 30 seconds until well mixed. Immediately add the sweet peas, turn down the heat to low, and add tamari plus 2 Tbsp. boiling water. Stir to mix well, and cook for a minute or two just until the peas turn bright green.

4. Thickly cover the bottom of a shallow serving bowl with the cooked quinoa. Cover the quinoa with the tofu-pea mixture. Squeeze lemon over dish, and serve with a thin slice of lemon on top. Serves 3-4.

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Wintertime Oatmeal with Apples & Walnuts

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In view of the fact that I’ve been asked once again to repost this recipe, and since it’s autumn (the most glorious autumn I can remember in years), I am reposting this recipe for Apple-Walnut Oatmeal. I’ve adjusted the proportions to make enough for two. 

Looking out the dining room window as I write this, all I can see are dozens of cool, grey-brown branches against a pale blue, sun-lit sky. It’s beautifully stark, and riveting, calling me to the outdoors while the sun is still low in the eastern sky. But before I venture out into this beautiful day, I’m going to make this oatmeal recipe to warm me from the inside out. This recipe has a lot of flavor, with all the right kinds of yummy. You will probably smile while you’re eating it. I know I do. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Vegan Cholent (Crockpot Stew)

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A happy reprise of my seasonal fall cholent recipe, from when my dad was still here to enjoy it with us:

This past week, I made a version of this recipe for the first night of Sukkot, the fall harvest festival, and we ate it inside our beautiful sukkah that my husband built last week. It warmed us from the inside out in the chilly weather. And then it was gone, I mean really GONE, just a few hours later. Even my father, who said “I don’t like cholent,” ate a huge bowlful and said he changed his mind. Please make a note of that. Continue reading →

The Neighborhood, Its Trees, and a Recent Potluck (with Recipe)

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I live on a cul-de-sac with a special group of neighbors. I’ve heard it said that ours was the first residential street in the village; attempts to maintain its character have continued for 70 years. Many homes—though not ours—are identifiable by the local stone used to build their original facades. The Neighborhood Lane Association that was formed shortly after people began moving in continues to this day. We have seen members of the last generation grow up, and then return to raise a generation of their own.  Continue reading →