Curried Corn & Veggie Chowder (Vegan)

Have you been enjoying this beautiful summer?  I certainly have.  Today we had a typical rainy Pacific Northwest day, so it's time to catch up on some blog posts!

I've been cooking a lot out of one of my new cookbooks, Appetite for Reduction, and so far everything (but one dish) has been awesome.  I don't think I've ever had such success with a cookbook before... although I will admit I'm not sure I've ever made this many things out of one book.  At any rate - it's fantastic.  Easy, relatively quick, healthy and no funky ingredients - love it!

This particular chowder is really great, and unlike any other I've had before.  It's especially perfect for right now when the farmer's markets are full and you've got corn and zucchini coming out your ears.  It's very flavorful and goes well with a big, crunchy salad.  Or to make it a real meal on it's own, I've taken to adding a bit of cooked brown rice to it.  Perfection.

 Without further ado - make this!

Curried Corn & Veggie Chowder (Vegan)
(from Appetite for Reduction) 
 Makes 4-6 servings

1 tsp canola oil
1 cup shallots, chopped finely
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped finely
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
1/4 - 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional, and to your preference of spiciness)
1 zucchini (about 1/2 pound), 1/4 inch dice
1 3/4 cup corn, from 3 ears corn (reserve cobs)
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups vegetable broth
2 tsp arrowroot powder
1/2 cup peeled, finely chopped carrots (I really cheat and get shredded carrots and just roughly chop them from there)
1 heaping Tbsp mild curry powder
3/4 cup light coconut milk
Juice of 1/2 lime, or to taste
Fresh cilantro, for garnish (optional)
Cooked brown rice (optional)

Preheat a 4-quart pot over medium-high heat.  Saute the shallots and red bell pepper in the oil until translucent, about 4 minutes.  Use a little broth, if it's sticking.  Add the garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes, and saute for another minute.  Add the zucchini and corn and sprinkle in the salt.  Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring once.

Measure 1 cup of the broth into a measuring cup.  Mix in the arrowroot with a fork until dissolved.  You do this because it's just easier to get the arrowroot dissolved into smaller quantities of liquid.  Add the arrowroot mixture to the pot, along with the rest of the broth.  Mix in the carrots and curry powder.  boil.  Once boiling, break the corn cobs in half and add them to the pot (they add a fantastic depth of flavor).  Lower the heat to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.  Remove the corn cobs.  Add the coconut milk and lime juice.

Use an immersion blender to blend about half the soup  If you don't have an immersion blender, I'm sorry!  Transfer half of the soup to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth, then add back to the pot.  If the soup is still steaming hot, make sure to either keep the opening on top of your food processor open, or lift the lid often for steam to escape.  If steam builds up in a closed container it can explode the lid off and ruin your day.

Taste for seasoning.  Serve garnished with cilantro, if you like.

Pink Lemonade Cookies

This June we've had a decent amount of sunny, nice weather and it's been making me crave light and summery foods.  So when I had to bake something for a potluck at work, pink lemonade was on my mind.  I've already made bars with that flavor, but wanted to try a cookie too.  (Apparently making everything but actual pink lemonade...hm...)

When looking for a recipe, most of them included either a mix of some kind (cookie or cake), concentrate, or food coloring.  Yuck!  I eventually found one that didn't use any of that, and it is awesome.

Fresh lemon juice and zest, with a splash of fresh, pureed strawberries create the flavor base.  Pureeing the strawberries was the perfect use of my itty bitty food processor. So cute, and guaranteed to send curious kitties racing away from the kitchen in terror from the scary appliance.

The dough was a bit wet to work with, but certainly not enough to be frustrating... or to discourage you from baking these tasty, little gems!

Bright, tangy, lemony flavor comes through with a bit of sweetness in these cookies.  It's a perfect balance.  The dough was tasty, but a cool, baked cookie was even better.  They were a hit at the potluck, as well as with some of the husband's coworkers as well!

Pink Lemonade Cookies
(from Healthy. Delicious.)
Makes ~ 1 1/2 dozen cookies

8 Tablespoons butter (1 stick), softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
4 large strawberries
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon zest
2 Tablespoonsfresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
2½ cups Flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
⅛ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350*F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the berries and vanilla to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Add ⅓ cup of the strawberry puree, egg, lemon zest, and lemon juice to the butter and sugar mixture.  You could discard any extra puree or save it for another use, like in your breakfast oatmeal or to flavor an adult beverage. ;-)  Mix well.

Stir in the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda until a wet dough forms.

Pour the powdered sugar into a small dish. Drop 1 Tablespoon dough into the powdered sugar. Roll into a ball; shake off excess sugar. Repeat with remaining dough. Arrange on a cookie sheet, 2 inches apart.

Bake 9-12 minutes, until no longer wet (the tops of the cookies will be shiny and slightly crinkled).

Enjoy!

Pink Lemonade Bars

As a kid, Memorial Day always marked the beginning of summer.  School was almost over for the year, and the days got longer and warmer.  That's not exactly how it works in the Pacific Northwest (we won't get summer until July 5, really...)  However, Memorial Day still brings to mind cooking out on a sunny day - bratwurst, hamburgers, potato salad, beer, and some fruity dessert.  And Smitten Kitchen has supplied the perfect dessert for a summer get together - Pink Lemonade Bars.

A sweet shortbread crust with a tangy, sweet, lemony filling - yum.  And no food coloring!  There's fruit in it, so it's healthy, right?

It was a pretty easy recipe overall.  However, I will admit that I stupidly struggled with the raspberry puree a bit.  After liquefying the berries in the food processor, I attempted to strain out the seeds with my fine-mesh sieve, as directed.  Nothing actually came through the sieve, despite me pressing on it a bit.  Hm.  So I tried a slightly larger fine-mesh sieve, and only after some manipulation did the puree begin to come through.  But then, to my dismay, some seeds made it through as well.  Gah!  So then I went back to my original fine-mesh sieve, and got what I needed.

I'm sure there was some user error, and it left me with quite a mess, but in the end, it all worked out quite well.  Next time, I might try it with some cooked-down strawberries for the 'pink', just to see if it's any easier.  And also to try a different flavor.

These bars were a delightful finish to our "inner-city grilling" (using a broiler for brats works amazingly well).  I'm sure these bars will be quite the summer favorite!

Pink Lemonade Bars
(from Smitten Kitchen)
Makes 1 8x8 pan - Number depends on how large you cut them!

For the base:
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
1/8 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup (4 ounces or 115 grams) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 cup (125 grams) flour

For the lemonade layer:
1 cup (about 5 ounces or 140 grams) raspberries
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice; this should only require 1 large or 2 small lemons
1/3 cup (40 grams) all-purpose flour
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C) and line an 8x8x2-inch baking pan with parchment, letting it extend up two sides. Butter or coat the bottom and sides with a nonstick spray and set the pan aside.

Make the base: In a food processor, pulse together the sugar, zest and salt until combined. Add the butter and pulse until it is evenly dispersed in the dough. Add the flour and pulse the machine until it’s just combined and the mixture is crumbly. Press the dough into the prepared pan and about 1/2-inch up the sides. Don’t worry about making this perfect; mine was an uneven mess and nobody can tell. Bake for 15 minutes, until lightly browned at edges. Let cool on a rack while you prepare the filling (though no need for it to be completely cool when you fill it). Leave oven on.

Make the pink lemonade layer: Puree the raspberries in your food processor until they’re as liquefied as they’ll get. Run the puree through a fine-mesh sieve, trying to press out all the raspberry puree that you can, leaving the seeds behind. I ended up with 1/3 cup strained puree; don’t worry if you get a smidge less, you won't need it all.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Whisk in 3 tablespoons of raspberry puree*. Stir in flour. Pour into cooling crust and return pan to the oven, baking the bars until they’re set (they’ll barely jiggle) and slightly golden at the edges, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into rectangles. (You can speed this up in the fridge.)  Dust with powdered sugar just prior to serving.

*So, this is just to note that clearly the amount of red tint one gets from the berries can vary greatly by the berries. If yours looks crazy saturated with pink and you’ve only added two tablespoons puree, you can always add another tablespoon lemon juice instead of the last spoonful of raspberry. On the flipside, if your berries seem pale, you can always add one less tablespoon of lemon juice and one more of the raspberries. The main thing is that you keep the amount of liquid (lemon juice + raspberry puree) at 7 tablespoons. More, and the bars might seem too soft. Less, they might seem too eggy.

Enjoy!