butternut squash and pear puree
March 20, 2010
This recipe is from the refresh cookbook by Ruth Tal. The other day I posted 2 sauces from refresh that I love – Tamari and Tahini – and mentioned that I wanted to try the Butternut Squash and Pear soup. Well I tried it. Kind of. We had friends over for dinner last night and I needed a yummy side dish. So instead of making a soup, I turned the recipe into a puree. It was so good.
Not only was it totally delicious last night, but today for lunch I took the left-over puree, added a little veggie stock, turned it into a soup, and then sprinkled it with picada. Totally satisfying except now it’s gone which is sad. I wish I had made more. Try it out. And one day I will make the soup the way Ruth Tal suggests and let you know how it goes. In the meantime, this is a great improv version.
1 inch ginger root, peeled and minced
1 cinnamon stick
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
6 cups vegetable stock
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped (I used shallots which I adore)
1/3 cup white wine
2 pears, cored and chopped (to enhance the wonderful pear flavour in the soup, leave the pear peel on.)
sea salt and pepper to taste
1. Put the ginger, cinnamon stick , squash, and sweet potato in a large pot. Cover with the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.
2. While the vegetables are simmering in the pot, heat olive oil in a frying pan. Add onion and cook until caramelized, about 5 minutes.
3. Add white wine and chopped pear to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes until wine is reduced; then add to the squash and sweet potato mixture.
4. When everything is cooked through, about 30 minutes, pour off most of the stock and reserve for another use (or for your reconstituted soup the next day!). Remove the cinnamon stick. Puree in a food processor until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
photo credit: Kristina, Lovely Morning
2 sauces: tahini + tamari
March 18, 2010
The refresh cookbook by Ruth Tal is fantastic. There are a number of soups I want to try out (butternut squash and pear with coconut milk – sounds yummy!) so I’ll get back to you on those. In the meantime I thought I should highlight two of their sauces that are the perfect accompaniment to rice and veggies, or what they call rice bowls. Rice bowls are simply steamed brown basmatic rice (but you can use any rice) topped with, well, pretty much anything from tofu to grilled vegetables to nuts and seeds. My favourite is sticky rice with grilled peppers, zucchini, fennel, maybe some steamed greens, sesame seeds and/or tamari sunflower seeds and then, of course, these two sauces – tahini and tamari. Dollop on liberally and enjoy. It’s good, it’s filling, it’s nurturing. Vegan comfort food. And because you build it yourself, the kids can opt in and out of whatever tickles their fancy or not. Everyone’s happy.
Tahini Sauce
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup chopped parsley (the other day I didn’t have any so I used cilantro instead which was equally good)
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tbsps lemon juice
2/3 cup filtered water
1/2 cup sesame butter (tahini)
Whiz ingredients in a blender or food processor. Run until smooth, scraping the sides down once or twice.
Simple Tamari Sauce
1/2 cup tamari
3 tbsps sesame oil
1 1/2 inch ginger root, peeled and minced
4 tbsps lemon juice
Put all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
v:gourmet 