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Fish/shellfish-free – Page 19 – surviving the food allergy apocalypse (archive)

surviving the food allergy apocalypse (archive)

Tag: Fish/shellfish-free

  • Gum Drops

    Gum Drops
    Gum Drops – Photo by J. Andrews

    So it’s that holiday time of year. And I like my sweets on holidays, so Mary Kate and I got together to make some candy a couple of weeks ago. (I burned and ruined one pot that day, so you’re not getting a recipe for caramels, until I get a new pot and try it again.) One of the things we tried that was a hit was the gum drops. I actually made them ahead of time because there’s some processing time between steps (AT LEAST 3 DAYS, please read the whole recipe), and we wanted to use them for a construction project (teaser for next week’s post). The recipe I started with was located here at Bakerella. If you can use commercial extracts and commercial food coloring, you can use the recipe as it is. But I can’t. So I used Cara Reed’s ideas from her book, Decadent Gluten-Free Vegan Baking (see Mary Kate’s review here) for food coloring for the green, and then extended her idea and used carrots for the orange. I also used the homemade extracts that I’ve made and some lemon essential oil.  You’ll see four colors of gum drops in the picture, but the best were the lime and orange and the other flavors still need more work before they are blog-worthy.

    Gum Drops

    The recipe for the gum drops makes one batch of one flavor. To make both flavors, either double the amounts for the gum drop and put the ingredients for one flavor in each half of the batch, or use the amounts below for the batch, and use half of the amounts for the flavors in each half of the batch.

    To make Orange Flavor:

    • 2 teaspoons of Orange Food Coloring (To make orange food coloring, take 1/2 cup of peeled, chopped carrots, and cook over medium heat in water in a small sauce pan until tender. Drain the water, saving 1/4 of a cup aside. Place drained carrots and 1/4 cup of reserved cooking water in a blender and process until smooth. Place in a storage container and keep it in the fridge for up to two weeks). 
    • 4 drops of Lemon Essential Oil (make sure it’s pure and not cosmetic grade)
    • 2 Tablespoons of homemade orange extract (I used orange peels as described here and I use either Vikingfjord  or Luksusowa Vodka because they are made only from potatoes, where some vodkas may also use grain or corn.)

    To make Lime Flavor:

    • 2 teaspoons of Green Food Coloring (To make green food coloring, take 1 cup of fresh spinach and boil in 3 Tablespoons of water for 5 minutes while covered. Pour spinach and water in a blender and process until smooth. Place in a storage container and keep it in the fridge for up to two weeks). 
    • 4 drops of Lemon Essential Oil (make sure it’s pure and not cosmetic grade)
    • 2 Tablespoons of homemade lime extract (I used lime peels as described here and I use either Vikingfjord  or Luksusowa Vodka because they are made only from potatoes, where some vodkas may also use grain or corn.)

    Gum Drops:

    • 2 Tablespoons of unflavored gelatin powder (Knox or Great Lakes are generally regarded as being okay if you’re not super sensitive to corn, again no affiliation with Amazon, just linking for reference)
    • 1/2 cup of cold water
    • 3/4 cup of boiling water
    • 2 cups of sugar
    • extra sugar for coating the gum drops
    • a bit of safe for you oil to coat the container in which you’ll cool your gum drops
    • a container about 4 inches by 8 inches in which to cool your gum drops (I used two sandwich sized Rubbermaid food storage containers so my gum drops were a little thinner than normal.) 

    Grease your container to cool your gum drops with your safe oil.

    In a large pot, add the gelatin and cold water.  Whisk them together until the gelatin is completely moistened. Let the gelatin and water mixture sit for five minutes.

    Add the boiling water and whisk until the gelatin dissolves.  Add the sugar and stir it into the gelatin mixture.

    Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, and boil for 25 minutes.

    Pour the mixture into your greased container and mix in the food coloring, extract and essential oil, until it is thoroughly combined.

    Cover the container and put it in the fridge overnight to set.

    Take out the container and use a knife dipped in hot water to cut 3/4 inch squares. I found it easiest to take the whole gum drop sheet out of the container (which is no small feat) and place it on a greased plastic cutting board and cut them on the board.

    Roll the cubes in sugar on all sides and place them on waxed paper or parchment paper (whatever is safest for you, those allergic to corn may have trouble with waxed paper), and let them dry at room temperature for two days to let the sugar dry and the gum drop harden a bit.

    Enjoy!

    Gum Drops
    Gum Drops – Photo by J. Andrews

     

  • Gluten-free, vegan Apple Fritters

    Glorious apple fritters with powdered sugar snow
    Glorious apple fritters with powdered sugar snow

    I have to admit, I spend a lot of fall jealous of people eating cider doughnuts and apple treats of all sorts. It’s part of a day out in the fall — stop at an orchard, get some fried appley things, eat bliss. Nowadays, I get cider, which is great, but somehow not as filling. Lucky for me, I think apple crisp is the pinnacle of baked apple dishes, as that’s super easy to take the gluten out of — it’s not meant to hold together. It’s meant to go in a bowl with ice cream and just be brilliant. But it’s not a fried apple treat of any kind, and I missed those.

    So when Denise and I decided to have another day of frying everything, apple fritters were on my mind. I think it’s been years and years since I had one, so I’m not entirely sure these are “traditional,” but they were tasty, and they kept well in the oven (set down at 170ºF) while we made the rest of the fried things. I’d love to tell you how they did a day later or frozen, but I can’t. We ate them all. I’m not big on food guilt anyway, but I can say that if you fry things maybe three times a year, you can’t really feel bad about eating everything.

    How many fritters you get will depend on how big you make them, and there’s really not a lot of measuring the mess into the oil. Just try to make them similar sizes so that they can be done about the same time. I’m not sure an exact count would be possible anyway — you’ll be eating them as soon as they are cool enough, way too fast to count, anyway, unless you have inhuman strength. The recipe is loosely based on the Chai-Spiced Pancakes recipe on The Canary Files, which is my go-to pancake recipe (my favorite thing about it is that you need to make it the night before and let it sit in the fridge overnight. I LOVE that. I don’t really do mornings so much as mornings happen to me.) For a fritter batter, though, I’ve altered it quite a bit, and then dunked it in hot oil; I’m just saying don’t expect health food.

    Batter, Frying, Draining (and absorbing sugar)
    Batter, Frying, Draining (and absorbing sugar)

    Gluten-free, Vegan Apple Fritters

    • 3/4 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour, blend of your choice (THIS is my go-to)
    • 1 Tablespoon sugar
    • 1 Tablespoon baking powder (corn-free, if you need it)
    • 1/4 teaspoon salt
    • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
    • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
    • 2 1/2 cups rice milk, DIVIDED (if you make this by hand, add slightly less water than called for, about a 1:1 ratio of cooked rice to water, and strain it really well for a thicker texture that is so much better for baking)
    • 1 Tablespoon of chia seeds, ground, mixed with 3 Tablespoons warm water to form a chia egg
    • 1 scraped vanilla bean (or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract)
    • 2 Tablespoons light olive oil (regular will be fine, you just might taste it a bit)
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground psyllium husk
    • 4 medium apples, peeled, cored, and shredded (medium=baseball-sized)
    • powdered sugar for dusting. Really, don’t even bother to mention this, just sift or sprinkle it on.

    Mix the dry ingredients (AP flour to nutmeg) together well. Add 1 1/2 cups rice milk, chia egg, vanilla bean, olive oil, and psyllium. Mix well, adding more rice milk if needed. Then put in the fridge for an hour. It will thicken considerably. Add the rest of the rice milk and stir in the apples. You want a thick dough, sort of like regular gluten-containing muffin batter would be, so pay attention as you add the liquids.

    Heat a pot of oil to 370ºF. Drop the fritter batter in by spoonfuls, making sure not to crowd the fritters. If you use two spoons, you can sort of flatten or spread the fritters as you form them, making them more UFO saucer shape than rounds, and this will mean the insides cook better. They WILL stick together or stick to the sides of the pot, so bounce them around enough to make sure they don’t. Flip a few times, and see how they brown. You may have to test a few — I’m not giving you a cooking time as it varies widely based on how thick each fritter is, but after 3 or 4, you’ll have the hang of it.

    When they are nicely golden brown, remove them to a paper towel-lined plate or tray to drain. Let the oil return to 370ºF, if need be, before doing the next batch. An oven turned down as low as it goes (170ºF on my oven) will keep them nicely warm until you’ve finished all of them.

    Dust liberally with powdered sugar and no longer feel left out.

     

  • Pumpkin (or Butternut Squash) Bisque

    Pumpkin Bisque
    Pumpkin Bisque

    We hope you all made it through Thanksgiving okay. Mary Kate and I only set two smallish fires on her stove, but no harm, no foul. There will be more posted about the “Fry-Day” Thanksgiving later on.

    The reason I developed this recipe is because I had a pumpkin from the Community Supported Agriculture share I split with Mary Kate. I’m not a huge fan of pumpkin, I hated pumpkin pie in the long, long ago when I could still eat whatever I wanted. And I never eat pumpkin spice anything when the seasonal pumpkin spice everything starts. But I do like pumpkin bisque with a bit of onion, rosemary and sage. You could also do this with your left over butternut squash from Thanksgiving if you have any. I finished this soup just before the power went out on Wednesday the night before Thanksgiving, and the power did not return until Friday evening.  It warmed up really well in my Jetboil camp stove set up on my dining room table while we had no power and no heat. Yeah, I know I’m not supposed to use them inside, and I’m not advocating that anyone else follow my poor example (don’t sue me if you do something dumb just because I did).

    Pumpkin (or Butternut Squash) Bisque

    • 1 large onion, diced
    • 1 Tablespoon of olive oil (or other safe for you oil)
    • 2 cups of vegetable stock (I used homemade, here’s a link on how to make vegetable stock, or if you can buy safe commercial stock, have at it)
    • 4 cups of cooked pumpkin or butternut squash (here’s a link on how to roast and make puree, also if you’re using pumpkin, make sure you use pie pumpkins or your bisque might be a little blah)
    • 1/2 teaspoon of rosemary
    • 1/2 teaspoon of sage
    • 2 Tablespoons of non-dairy safe for you margarine (I make my own margarine due to the corn thing, but if you can use Earth Balance, go for it)
    • 1/2 cup of cashew milk (or other safe for you non-dairy milk, I make my own from this recipe but I skip the added ingredients other than water and cashews)
    • Salt and black pepper to taste
    • 1 Tablespoon of brown sugar (optional – you might not need it if you’re using butternut squash)
    • A couple of squirts of your favorite hot sauce (optional)
    • A bit of minced parsley as a garnish (optional)

    In a large stock pot or dutch oven, saute your onions in the olive oil until they have some color, and they are softer, as shown below.

    Sauteed Onions
    Sauteed Onions

    Once your onions are ready, add the vegetable stock. Make sure to mix in all the brown bits on the bottom of the pan into the stock to get all the flavor you can.

    Vegetable stock and onions
    Vegetable stock and onions

    Add the pumpkin puree (you’ll note mine wasn’t that pureed), the sage and the rosemary.

    Pumpkin, vegetable stock and onions
    Pumpkin, vegetable stock and onions

    I simmered mine for a bit to make sure my roasted pumpkin was tender, and for the onions to cook and soften further.  Once I thought the pumpkin and onions were tender enough, I used my immersion/hand/stick blender to puree everything nicely.

    Pureed Pumpkin Bisque
    Pureed Pumpkin Bisque

    Now add your margarine, and cashew milk, and stir well to incorporate.  Taste your soup and add the salt, pepper, brown sugar, and hot sauce as needed. Ladle some into a bowl, sprinkle with your parsley, and bask in the warmth of the soup.

    Pumpkin Bisque
    Pumpkin Bisque

     

  • Vegetable Lentil Chestnut Soup

    Vegetable Lentil Chestnut Soup
    Vegetable Lentil Chestnut Soup

    Looking in my fridge and freezer, apparently all I’ve made for weeks are soups and stews and chilis. It’s getting cold (maybe it just IS cold?) and soup is warming. This soup is based on a recipe title I read a year or so ago, possibly on a can. I can’t remember where, and I never could find it again. All I had was “lentil chestnut” and it sounded good.

    I figured this would be a quick and easy soup if I used canned lentils and packaged chestnuts, both of which I usually have on hand, and my standard trio of soup vegetables: onions, carrots, and celery. I also used homemade stock, as I try to do, because frankly, mine tastes better.

    This soup is hearty because of the lentils, a bit sweet because of the chestnuts, and full of vegetables for flavor, texture, and, hey, nutrition. I even had a lentil naysayer taste the soup, and it got a general approval. My vegetables were rather giant in relation to the chopped chestnuts and tiny lentils, and if that will bother you, consider chopping everything more finely. I kind of liked it, and it made for more interesting photographs (so did having a better camera to play with).

    Vegetable Lentil Chestnut Soup
    Vegetable Lentil Chestnut Soup

    Vegetable Lentil Chestnut Soup

    • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
    • 1 cup chopped onion (about 1/2 onion)
    • 1/4 teaspoon salt
    • 1 cup chopped carrot (three small carrots)
    • 1 cup chopped celery (2 larger stalks)
    • 1 teaspoon chopped garlic (2 cloves)
    • 1/2 teaspoon thyme
    • 1/2 teaspoon dill
    • 1/2 teaspoon tarragon
    • 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
    • 5 oz cooked and shelled chestnuts, chopped (this is the size of package I can buy around here — cook and shell your own, if you like, but be warned, it’s more work than you think it will be!)
    • 2 cups cooked lentils — any type you like except red, which will not hold their shape. I used black.
    • 3 cups of vegetable broth, preferably unsalted. Add your own salt.

    In a large sauce pan, over medium heat, add the oil to a hot pan. When the oil is shimmering hot, add the onion and salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent (about 5 minutes). Add the carrots and cook for 2-3 minutes. Do the same with the celery.

    Now season: Add the garlic and stir well. Then add the spices and stir again. Give it a minute to heat up — this seems to let the garlic really permeate this base of the soup.

    Add the chestnuts and lentils, stir, and then add the vegetable broth. Cover and bring to a boil. There are two ways to do this. If you’re feeling patient, leave the heat at medium and let it come up to a boil slowly. This is great for flavor, but honestly, not enough to insist that this is the right way to do it. You can also just turn the heat up to boil it fast. Either way, after you’ve had a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.

    Enjoy soup.

    Vegetable Lentil Chestnut Soup
    Vegetable Lentil Chestnut Soup

  • Chunky Mustard Refrigerator Pickles

    Chunky Mustard Refrigerator Pickles
    Chunky Mustard Refrigerator Pickles

    So here’s another canning inspired recipe, because these pickles were really a winner. I used the recipe from the Ball Complete Guide to Home Preserving, but modified it to leave out the ClearJel (which is modified corn starch) and to substitute the distilled white vinegar for apple cider vinegar instead. I did water bath can them originally, but I’ve rewritten the recipe here for a much smaller quantity and so that you can do them as a refrigerator pickle for those of you who don’t can. These would be great to do as a part of your appetizer plate for Thanksgiving. They’ll need to sit in the refrigerator for a week or so to absorb the flavors, so start them now for Thanksgiving.

    Makes 1 quart.

    • 2 cups of a mix of zucchini and summer squash, washed, trimmed of stem and blossom ends, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (you can use pickling cukes, but they are harder to get this time of year)
    • 1 2/3 cups of onions, chopped
    • 1/2 Tablespoon and 1/4 teaspoon of canning salt or sea salt (nothing with any additives)
    • 1/2 cup and 1/3 cup of sugar
    • 1/2 Tablespoon and 1/4 teaspoon of ground mustard
    • 3/4 teaspoons of ground ginger
    • 3/4 teaspoons of ground turmeric
    • 1 1/2 Tablespoons of water
    • 1/2 cup, 1 Tablespoon and 1/2 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar (safest for those allergic to corn is probably Bragg’s)
    • 1/4 of a red bell pepper  (put the rest in your freezer in a zip top freezer bag and use it the next time you make pasta sauce or chili)

    In a non-reactive bowl (stainless steel or glass), mix the zucchini and summer squash and onions. Sprinkle them with the canning or sea salt, cover and let them stand at room temperature for an hour or so.  Transfer the vegetables to a strainer/colander over the sink and drain them well.

    In a non-reactive (stainless steel or ceramic or enamel, do not use aluminum or cast iron) sauce pan, combine the sugar, mustard, ginger, and turmeric. Stir well, gradually blending in the water. Add the vinegar and red bell pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Add the drained vegetable mixture and return to a boil for two minutes.

    Ladle the mixture into a non-reactive heat safe container (beware that putting them in a plastic container will cause the plastic to be permanently dyed yellow with the turmeric). Your best bet is probably a mason jar or glass container with a lid.  Just make sure to warm up the jar/container with some hot water (don’t leave the water in the container, just put the hot water in the container to warm it up and then dump it out) before putting the hot veggies and brine into it. Put a lid on the container and let it sit on the counter until it reaches room temperature, and then place it in the refrigerator for a week.

    In a week, enjoy the fruits of your labors!

     

    Chunky Mustard Refrigerator Pickles
    Chunky Mustard Refrigerator Pickles

  • Slow Cooker Pork Roast

    Slow Cooker Pork Roast with roasted broccoli and mashed sweet potatoes
    Slow Cooker Pork Roast with roasted broccoli and mashed sweet potatoes

    It’s set-it-and-forget-it season! Actually, the crock pot is good all year, but because it makes pots of lovely hot food, I think people associate it more with winter than summer. I know I do. The first thing I thought when I saw pork roasts on sale was “slow cooker.” But I didn’t really want barbeque. Nothing wrong with it, but it’s a flavor I’m bored of before the leftovers are gone. Molasses is a fall obsession of mine — while the world goes crazy for “pumpkin spice” everything, I want to drown in molasses (not literally. That stuff kills. Science!). So I started with molasses and went from there. Balsamic vinegar and some spices add up to earthy and hearty.

    This pork roast will make a lot of leftovers, if it’s just one or two of you, or it’ll feed a crowd. And it is quick enough to be made first thing in the morning. I served this with some roasted broccoli and sweet potatoes — I hope to share the sweet potatoes as soon as I work out some kinks with that recipe. Pork and sweet potatoes are great together, and broccoli goes with everything.

    Slow Cooker Pork Roast with roasted broccoli and mashed sweet potatoes on Surviving the Food Allergy Apocalypse
    Slow Cooker Pork Roast with roasted broccoli and mashed sweet potatoes

    Slow Cooker Pork Roast

    • oil to grease the crock
    • 1 sweet onion, halved and sliced thin
    • 1/2 teaspoon of oil
    • 1/4 teaspoon salt
    • 2-2.5 lb center cut boneless pork roast, fat side up
    • 1 Tablespoon molasses
    • 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
    • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
    • 1/4 teaspoon mustard
    • 1/2 cup broth or stock, whatever you have on hand
    • 1/4 cup hot water
    • fresh ground pepper, to your taste (I used about 1/2 a teaspoon, not that I measured)

    Grease the crock of your slow cooker. Add the sliced onion to the bottom, and drizzle on the 1/2 teaspoon of oil and the 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

    Place the pork roast on top of the onions, with the fat side up (I do not trim this for the slow cooker — it’s good flavor).

    In a small dish or right in a measuring cup, whisk or stir with a fork the next 7 ingredients (molasses through the broth/stock). Pour this over the roast. Use the last 1/4 cup of water to rinse all the seasoning out of the measuring cup, and pour this along the side (don’t rinse off the seasoning that landed atop the pork roast!). Grind the pepper right on top.

    Cover and cook all day. Or, you know, 4-6 hours on high, 6-8 hours on low.

    When this is done, take just the meat out. Attempt to slice it, and find out that it will shred instead. After breaking it up, put it back in the liquid you cooked it in, and stir well. This lets the meat soak up a little more of the cooking liquid to serve.

    Alternately, you could also make a starch slurry (starch of your choice mixed with water, 1:2 ratio) and add that to the liquid for the last 30 minutes or so of cooking — this will give you more of a gravy consistency.

    Serve with side dishes of your choice — roasted veg would be great, but go wild. You’re coming home to dinner almost done.

     

  • Thai Hot and Sweet Dipping Sauce

     

    Thai Hot and Sweet Dipping Sauce
    Thai Hot and Sweet Dipping Sauce

    As many of you know, I’ve been canning for well over a year now because it was the only way to replace commercial condiments that I could no longer buy at the grocery store because of the whole corn thing. When I saw this recipe in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving (you can also find it at this link) I knew I had to make it because I loved that sauce. And I made it, and it was good. Really good. So good that you want to dip all fried food in it. Seriously, dairy-free, gluten-free, fried onion rings are so good dipped in this stuff). I shared a jar with Mary Kate, and she discovered that it’s awesome when used as a salad dressing. So when she ran out, she asked me for help in converting the recipe to a reasonable amount that she could just put in the fridge, as she did not want to learn to can and have nine 8 ounce jars hanging around her apartment. (If you do want to make it in quantity and can it, follow the recipe at the link above.) Since it’s free of the top eight allergens, complies with each of our restrictions, and is fantastic, I thought I’d share the refrigerator version.

    Thai Hot and Sweet Dipping Sauce

    Makes a little less than 2 cups.

    • 4 1/2 teaspoons of finely chopped garlic
    • 1/2 teaspoon and a pinch of salt
    • 1 cup, 3 Tablespoons, and 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar (safest for those allergic to corn is probably Bragg’s)
    • 1 cup, 3 Tablespoons, and 1 teaspoon of sugar
    • 4 1/2 teaspoons of hot pepper flakes

    Combine the garlic and salt in a small bowl, and set it aside.

    In a non-reactive (stainless steel or ceramic or enamel, do not use aluminum or cast iron) sauce pot, add the apple cider vinegar and bring it to a boil.  Add your sugar and stir with a non-reactive utensil (wooden, rubber, nylon or silicone spatula or spoon), until the sugar is fully dissolved into the vinegar. Reduce the heat and boil gently for about 5 minutes or so. Add the garlic mixture and hot pepper flakes and stir well. Reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the sauce pan from the heat and let it cool until it is safe to put it into a storage container. Place it in the refrigerator to store.

    Thai Hot and Sweet Dipping Sauce
    Thai Hot and Sweet Dipping Sauce

    Go fry all the things, and dip the fried things in this stuff, or dump it on your salad. You won’t be sorry.

     

  • Potato Curry Soup

    Potato Curry Soup (on the moon!)
    Potato Curry Soup (on the moon!)

    Apparently, I first made this recipe in September 2007 — I’m an historian, so I do tend to date all my notes. I never really finished it, though. Like so many things, I made it once, liked it enough to sketch down sorta kinda what I did and what I threw into the pot, and never looked back at it. But this is why good notes are important right?

    For this time of year, when “cool” feels “cold” because of transitions in temperature, a nice soup with warming spices might be the most perfect dinner. Also, the house smells amazing. As a finishing note, I add coconut milk, just a bit, to give it a richer, creamier curry flavor, though this is not necessary. I am reasonably sure that most non-dairy milks would work here, though I’m not sure rice milk would add much (and don’t use “light” coconut milk — it adds very little). But I think it’s fine without the added non-dairy milk, too. Because of the optional coconut milk, I’ve confusingly tagged this with a “tree nut warning” as well as “nut-free.” It depends on how you make it; do what works for you.

    I basically took my forever-perfect combination for soup (onions, potatoes, carrots, celery) and changed up the seasonings to a mad fantastic curry blend. The spice of this soup stays mainly in the broth, which is a nice play against the earthy vegetables and beans. When you taste it to adjust seasonings, taste the broth AND a potato or carrot; they balance.

    Because this is a big pot, mix it up as you work through the leftovers. A handful of spinach added before re-heating is pretty awesome. I’ve also used a serving, with lots of broth, poured over fish and simmered until the fish is done. I like to get a little creative with leftovers.

     

    Potato Curry Soup
    Potato Curry Soup

    Curry Potato Soup

    • 1-1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
    • 1/4 of an onion, softball-sized, chopped (between 1/2 and 3/4 cup)
    • 2 cloves of garlic, pressed or chopped finely
    • 1 good chunk of ginger, one inch around (size of a walnut), finely minced or micro-planed
    • 1 Tablespoon curry powder (choose sweet if you like it mild, hot if you like that)
    • 1/2 Tablespoon turmeric
    • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional, but I’d suggest adding at least a pinch)
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt (if you’re using commercial broth, use 1/4 teaspoon then taste)
    • 1/4 of a bell pepper (about 1/2 a cup)
    • 4 stalks celery, chopped
    • 3 carrots, chopped
    • 3 medium potatoes, small cubed (smaller than dice, about 3 1/2 cups). If you want a super creamy soup, peel your potatoes. If you’re lazy like me, or want the fiber, leave the skins on. It’s up to you.
    • 2 cups or one can of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
    • 6-8 cups broth or stock, vegetable or chicken
    • 1/4 cup coconut milk, unsweetened and unflavored, optional
    • additional hot sauce, if that’s your thing, optional

    Heat a large stock pot over medium heat. Add oil to your stock pot for a good thick coat (hence the range), and let that heat until shimmery. Add your onion and cook until translucent.

    Add the ginger and garlic, stir well, and cook until fragrant. Add about 1/4 of a cup of broth and stir well, making sure to scrape up any of the garlic and ginger that stuck to the bottom.

    Add all the spices and stir well.

    Add the pepper, celery, and carrots, stir well, and cook for 5 minutes or so. Add potatoes, stir until completely coated with spices, then add the beans and stir again. Add the rest of the broth, covering your soup ingredients completely, stir well, and cover until it comes to a boil. Do this over medium heat. When you’ve reached the boil, turn the heat down to low and simmer until the potatoes are fully cooked and starting to break down a little — about 30 minutes.

    Stir soup well, and taste. Add salt, if needed, and then add the coconut milk, if using (or use another non-dairy milk here) and hot sauce if everyone wants it. If you do like it really spicy, I’d recommend harissa here.

    Enjoy. This soup reheats fantastically, but I’ve never frozen it.