The book fell open and it said Pumpkin and Tomato Laksa. The ingredients of fresh lemongrass, cilantro, pumpkin (a real one), coconut, chilies and lime pulled me in and held me hostage. I hope this soup is as fantastic as it sounds, I thought while lugging home a whole pumpkin from the grocery store. Not only was it one of the best dinners I’ve ever made, but it was fast, simple, and satisfying on a whole new level. A steaming bowl of laksa will fill you up (leaving you plenty of left overs for the week) and warm you like the sun.
Laksa reminded me how much I loved Malaysian, Burmese, and Indonesian food. Portland has more Thai restaurants than any city I’ve ever seen. Not only does it make obtaining decent Chinese food a challenge, but it has left me semi-complacent. You see, I love Thai food. Love it. In Thai cooking, they use all of the flavors (sweet, sour, salty, spicy, pungent, astringent) in each dish satisfying our taste buds, our brains, and our stomachs. However, there are many many other great regional cuisines out there who do the same and it has been absolutely unfair of me to have been stuck in this rut for so long. Now that I have been brought back to my senses, I realize what I’ve been missing.
If you live in the DC area and you are also in a need of a taste-bud reawakening, go to Mandalay. It used to be one of my all time favorite spots–mama (it actually is their mother) is in the back cooking up a storm of fresh Burmese food that is stop-you-in-your-tracks-and-pay-attention good. If you don’t have a Burmese, Indonesian, or Malaysian restaurant in town–good news–you don’t need one with this laksa recipe.
This soup has officially been added to my list of go-to favorites. You know that list of five to ten regular dishes that make their rounds every few weeks; they’re good, they’re reliable, they’re quick, easy, and (hopefully for your sake) delicious. Don’t let the whole pumpkin deter you either. This is the perfect time to pick one up at your local grocery store–they’re selling them for halloween! If you have a hard time finding the ingredients for the chili paste, try using green curry paste usually found in Asian grocery stores. But whatever you do, definitely put this on your “to make” list. This is not a recipe to miss.
Pumpkin and Tomato Laksa recipe adapted via Nigel Slater
1 whole pumpkin, about 10oz unpeeled weight 5 small, red bird’s eye chilies 4 garlic cloves a lump of ginger the size of your thumb 2 plump stalks of lemongrass 6 lime leaves (if you can find them, no worries if you can’t) 5 or 6 cilantro roots (same as above) a good bunch of fresh cilantro olive oil 3 cups chicken or vegetable stock 1 can coconut milk 1 carton of cherry or grape tomatoes 2 generous tablespoons of Thai fish sauce (also called nam pla) 1 lime, juiced rice noodles, 1/4 lb cooked as it says on the package mint leaves, a large handful
Cut into large wedges, de-seed and peel the skin off of the pumpkin. Cut down into large chunks and place in the top of a steamer (alternatively, steam them in a colander balanced over a pan of boiling water). The pumpkin should be tender in twelve to fifteen minutes. Remove from the heat.
Chop the chilies, removing the seeds first if you want (I did), peel the garlic and ginger and chop roughly. Put them all into a food processor. Discard the outer leaves of the lemongrass and roughly chop the inner leaves and stalks, shred the lime leaves, then add both to the chilies in the food processor. Scrub the cilantro roots and add them to the chilies, along with half the fresh cilantro (stems and leaves together). Process them into a pulp, adding a little olive oil if the mixture needs it to go round.
Place a deep pot over a moderate heat, add half the spice paste (keep the other half in the fridge for tomorrow) and fry it, moving it round the pot so it does not scorch. You may have to add a little more olive oil to the pot. Do this for about a minute, then pour in the stock and coconut milk and bring to a boil.
If the cherry tomatoes are on the largish side, cut them in half. Otherwise just add them to the soup with the Thai fish sauce (nam pla) and lime juice. They will take seven to ten minutes to cook. Add the chunks of pumpkin and continue cooking for another few minutes. Place a swirl of cooked rice noodles in each of four bowls, pour over the laksa and add the mint and remaining cilantro. Cheers!
Do you ever just feel a change on the horizon? Even if you are not exactly sure what is going to happen, you know that something will happen? This could be for a lot of reasons: maybe you’ve been putting something out there or you’ve been working diligently on something, or maybe it’s a feeling you just get from running into the same problems or issues–like it’s time to turn right or left. This has definitely been a time like that for me.
For the past few months, I’ve retracted a little, made myself a little more scarce and a little less accessible. Not that you couldn’t or wouldn’t be able to get a hold of me, I was definitely around–but I was quiet. This is something I had never done before–just be quiet. It was almost like a mental detox time–purging old tape recordings (that can play on repeat in my head at times); revising what ideas worked and didn’t work anymore; identifying, sorting, arranging, and organizing my wants, needs and desires; literally attempting to leave no stone unturned and throwing out what wasn’t good for me anymore. I was surprised with how much energy this took to do!
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But winter has that effect on me. It is an inward, more quiet time which, take it or leave it, can be really beneficial. It’s a time when focus and earthy energy are needed to sustain our physical/mental/emotional energy on these short days. Both of those qualities can be enhanced by eating root vegetables.
I went to visit a friend today and she heated up some of the best soup I’ve had all season. It hit the spot in a way I didn’t even know I was needing! It was that good. The best part was, she made up the recipe by listening to what she wanted (and her body needed). It’s a basic butternut squash soup base–thick, creamy, with the aromatics of leeks and garlic. But she wasn’t satisfied so added coconut milk, cilantro, and then squeezed fresh lime on top. It was simply out of this world! Sometimes, it’s the little things that make all the difference.
Chelsea’s Butternut Squash Soup with a Thai Twist
Take 2 leeks, wash them thoroughly and slice very thin. Sweat in a skillet with both butter and olive oil (about 2 tablespoons each) for at least 15 minutes.
Crush three smallish garlic cloves, chop them and add to the leeks.
Dice one yellow bell pepper, add to the leeks and garlic, sweat for another 15 mins.
Add some spices–coriander, turmeric–anywhere from 1/2 – 1 teaspoon each. Use some cayenne even to spice it up.
Peel and cube one small butternut squash, add to the sweating veggies and saute for about 3 minutes.
Add vegetable or chicken broth to cover. Add a half (or whole) bag of nice frozen corn. Heavy simmer for a while, until the veggies are super soft and kind of smoosh together when you stir it with your wooden spoon.
Add one can coconut milk.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Finish with fresh cilantro and squeeze fresh lime on top. Serve warm and enjoy!
Strangely enough, in the past few weeks I have had several close people in my life stop eating gluten and, quite frankly, this boggled my mind. I’m a baker–one of my main materials is flour aka gluten. A strange fear started to well up inside of me, my ego seizing the moment and blaring words across my brain: What if that was youuuuu! What would you doooooo! It’s so scaryeeeeee!! Eeeek!! After about a day of some intense worry, I laughed. Well, I thought to myself, it isn’t me, this actually has nothing to do with me (silly girl), but I could find out more information about it to help out those in my life and myself understand more about what gluten intolerance is.
What I found out was that for some people, gluten activates their immune system and their bodies want to fight with it. This can cause strange things to occur like rashes that look like eczema or severe pain in the belly, ouch. The small intestine is lined with tiny, hair-like projections called villi. Resembling the deep pile of a plush carpet on a microscopic scale, villi work to absorb vitamins, minerals and other nutrients from the food you eat. The gluten harms this villi making it impossible for you to be, well, healthy! A severe form of gluten intolerance is called celiacs disease, and the only reason it is classified as “disease” is because of how the body reacts to the gluten with the immune system (classifying it officially as an autoimmune disorder).
However, there really are tons of options out there for eating gluten free–I was amazed actually. The Gluten-Free Girl, a wonderful blogger, has done an amazing job of taking her gluten intolerance by the reins and living a full and delicious life. Plus, she has tons of recipes, great photos, and is an incredible writer–it’s a site I enjoy often. There is also an entire magazine (yes, glossy, full color, and comes via snail mail) dedicated to gluten free living called, well, Gluten Free Living; a group exists for gluten intolerant people and teens as well as a gluten free restaurant awareness program, listing restaurants that offer gluten free options.
For a short list of things that gluten intolerant people can eat, it’s actually quite wide and varying in textures, flavors, and goodness. They include: amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, popcorn, cornmeal (polenta and tortillas), millet, as well as breads, cereals, crackers, and pasta made of corn, rice, potato, soy, arrowroot, tapioca, sago, flax, and hominy. What not to eat includes wheat in all of it’s forms.
As I was flipping through this week’s Food Day, I ran across a recipe with the title: GLUTEN FREEDOM, Moroccan Lentil and Garbanzo Bean Soup (in bold). I took this as my queue to research this topic more, come to terms with it for myself, share the information with you, and make this warm, aromatic, and slightly spicy soup. Mom, Dana, this one is for you!
This soup won’t disappoint. It even made my house smell incredible!
P.S. Happy Birthday Mel!
(sauteeing the vegetables)
Moroccan Lentil and Garbanzo Bean Soup, via FOODday
Makes 6 servings
For a little extra spiciness, add about 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper along with the black pepper. Feel free to vary the vegetables as well; try cubed butternut squash, turnips or zucchini. This soup gets even better the next day, once the flavors have married.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 large carrots, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons salt (I only needed one, but it’s up to your tastes really…)
1 cup dried brown or green lentils
1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes
7 cups water
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
Juice of 1/2 lemon (I used a whole one, delish)
In a medium pot, heat the oil over moderate heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery and red bell pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften, about 10 minutes. Stir in the ginger, cumin, cinnamon, pepper, salt, lentils, tomatoes and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes.
Add the garbanzo beans to the soup and continue simmering about 10 minutes longer. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the cilantro and lemon juice. Taste the soup before serving and add additional salt or black pepper if needed.
Three cheers for gluten freedom!
