Two thighs touching, one button popping and a resolution in a trash bin.
So, here we are again. Shoot.
Slurring a mangled Christmas carol in a well-worn sweat suit, faced with ourselves and whoever that ripe girl is staring back at me in the mirror. Seriously though, who is she? Can someone please tell her to wash her hair?
But don’t fret, because it’s the New Year and things are going to be different this time. If I know anything, it’s that all great empires were built with a hangover and five extra pounds of water weight. And that’s the truth.
Who are we kidding? Instead of enjoying this new lease on a new year, we set up these impossible-to-reach goals. And where there’s a reckless list of resolutions, there’s a diet. Usually a failed one at that.
But I’m not here to preach. Nor am I of any authority to dole out weight loss advice. However, what I have learned about the art of eating is that if I do my best to feed my body a variety of wholesome foods, then I’ll feel good. When I feel good, I do good.
So from now on, instead of aiming for the unrealistic and feeling bad about what we’re not doing, let’s try to feel good about what we are doing. And sometimes something simple like taking raw ingredients and building a recipe from the ground up is a great place to start.
Although the project of soup may seem too light a load, don’t let its modesty fool you. Because pulling this dish together means that you, yourself, have made something entirely from scratch. And now you are eating a freshly-made purée that’s chock full of vegetables.
Did I mention it’s delicious too? With a warm hit of ginger and sweet hint of curry?
So, when you bring this bright bowl of sunshine into work or serve it to your family and they ask, did you make this? You’ll say yes. And that’s the truth.
2 tablespoons (30 mL) olive oil
2 tablespoons (30 mL) butter
1 cup (182 g) sliced red onion
1 teaspoon (5 mL) sugar
2 cloves chopped garlic
4 teaspoons (20 mL) peeled and chopped fresh ginger
4 cups (600 g) peeled and sliced carrots
2 teaspoons (10 mL) medium curry powder
(Or mild curry powder and a pinch of red chili flakes)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup (16 g) coconut milk
3 cups (750 mL) vegetable stock
plain yogurt
In a large pot on medium heat, melt together butter and olive oil.
Add onion and sugar and stir occasionally while cooking for five minutes.
Add garlic, ginger, carrots, curry powder and a generous pinch of salt and pepper.
Sauté and stir altogether for five minutes before turning heat to high and caramelizing for five more minutes.
Stir in coconut milk and stock before bringing up to a simmer.
Once carrots are tender, blend (in small batches as liquid is hot) until smooth and season again with salt and pepper. If you find the soup too thick, just add more stock to the desired consistency.
Serve piping hot with dollop of plain yogurt.
Makes about 1 litre
Homemade Vegetable Stock2 tablespoons (30 mL) olive oil
2 cups (364 g) chopped onion
1 cup (150 g) chopped carrot
1 cup (112 g) chopped celery
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 teaspoon (5 mL) black peppercorns
10 cups (2.5 L) water
In a large pot on medium-high heat, heat olive oil before adding onions, thyme and peppercorns.
Stir and sauté for about 3 minutes before adding carrots and celery.
Turn heat to high and sauté vegetables for about 8 minutes, until their edges become deeply golden and the bottom of pot starts to pick up caramelized bits.
Add the water and bring up to a simmer.
Let bubble for 5 minutes before straining and reserving stock.
Use warm or refrigerate and use within 3 days. Can also freeze for up to a month.
Makes about 2L
Cooking Tips:
Not Hot: Overcooking
Since boiling is such an effective cooking method, all it takes is a few extra, unneeded minutes for your product to develop that offensively dull, overcooked flavour.
This is especially true for vegetables, and if you’ve ever eaten in a school cafeteria that serves broccoli you’ll know what I’m talking about.
A tip to avoid this? Use smaller cuts. Not perfect cuts, just smaller ones. The smaller the cut, the lesser the cooking time. This way our soup and stock avoid any sour flavour and we avoid drudging up traumatic childhood memories.
Caramelize to Capitalize
Instead of just throwing vegetables in a pot and letting them boil and bubble the day away, we’re caramelizing them first. This goes for both of our recipes.
By taking the few extra minutes to do this, we’re allowing our vegetables to develop their flavour and colour which gives us a deeper, richer product.
By the time we’re ready to add our liquid all we need to do is extract that goodness, which can be done with just a few minutes of simmering.
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