~African Curried Coconut Soup with Chickpeas

Dear Fans of Hounds Who Cook, 

 

We live in the Tropics now, of Central America, where we have all of the coconuts we want. Our Girl is a temporary vegan. (We dogs are not. We would eat as much chicken and Rabbit as could be had.) So we are always in search of luscious recipes for her good health. This is luscious:

 

African Curried Coconut Soup with Chickpeas

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion (about 6 ounces), chopped
1 medium red bell pepper (about 6 ounces), chopped
1 jalapeño chili, seeded and finely chopped
5 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (or blackeyed peas, etc.)
1 cup chopped tomatoes, seeded and peeled, fresh or canned

2 cups chopped vegetables (zucchini, carrot, spinach...what-have-you)
1 Tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon coriander

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
14-ounces light coconut milk
3/4 cup cooked white or brown rice or quinoa
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

fresh lime


Optional:
2 Tablespoons tahini (ground sesame seed)
2 Tablespoons peanut butter

In a medium stockpot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and chili; cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Add the broth, chickpeas, tomatoes, curry powder, salt, and black pepper; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to simmer, stirring occasionally,  5-10 minutes. Serve warm with lime wedges (or squeeze lime over each bowl)

Option: For thicker stew to serve over rice, rather than including the rice in the pot, puree two cups of soup and return to the pot to thicken the soup.

Notes from Elias: This soup is so good that we pup momentarily considered becoming herbivores. We didn't, but the soup is that good.

~ Vegetarian Black Bean Chili

Dear Fans of Hounds Who Cook,

We have used this chili recipe for years. Our girl likes to use its leftovers as bean dip for chips and such. Or to put it in breakfast burritos. We started with the recipe at Epicurious.com and made it our own.

Vegetarian Black Bean Chili

1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
1 2/3 cups coarsely chopped bell peppers (about 2 medium) - every color

Vegetables, as desired (zucchini, corn, broccoli, spinach, carrot)
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder (or less)
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 pounds beans - black, garbanzo, kidney, pinto, etc.
(water or broth to cook beans)
16-ounces tomato sauce
Chopped fresh cilantro
Chopped green onions

Soak beans overnight. Drain and rinse. Cook ahead if desired til tender, or plan for two hours to cook the chili.  

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions, bell peppers, and garlic; sauté until onions soften, about 10 minutes. Mix in chili powder, oregano, cumin, and cayenne; stir 2 minutes.

Stir in soaked/cooked beans and tomato sauce and any other vegetables, chopped. (If beans are soaked, not cooked, add enough broth or water to cover by two inches in the pot.) Bring chili to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until flavors blend and chili thickens, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes for cooked beans or up to 2 hours for soaked beans. Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Garnish with chopped cilantro and green onions.

Served chili with corn bread or over a baked sweet potato or with tahini on the side.

~ Ginger Scones

Dear Fans of Hounds Who Cook,

We dogs were very busy for the last year catching rabbit and running amok in Wisconsin so we hardly cooked at all. Now we are jungle dogs, relocated to Belize, Central America, where our Girl is writing a book and we hounds are tracking scents like we have never smelt before. We are full-on jungle dogs who run free all of the time now. It's the happiest we've ever been.

Tonight we have found a use for our real buttermilk (the water the comes off of real cream when you shake it into butter) in the exquisite crumb of these Ginger Scones. We started with a recipe from Bon Appetit 2011 from www.epicurious.com and we went Jungle on them from there. Ginger and coconut oil make these healthy as can be when sugar is present. And not too much sugar either.

Guthrie's Jungle Ginger Scones
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup raw sugar (+ some for sprinkling)
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup coconut oil (or substitute butter)
1/2 cup plus chopped crystalized ginger (about 4 ounces)
1 cup buttermilk (+ some for brushing)
1 Tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger (peeled)
1 cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, etc.) if desired

Coconut oil becomes solid at a cool room temperature. If your oil is liquid, measure it out and pour it into a shallow bowl. Refrigerate til it turns white and is partly solid. 

Whisk flour, 2/3 cup sugar, baking powder, ground ginger, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and baking soda in large bowl.

Add solid coconut oil quickly. Use a pastry blender or your fingers to barely work it into the flour. Your hands will melt the oil, so stop before it is fully worked in and refrigerate the flour mixture. (This refrigeration is optional if you use butter instead of coconut oil.)

Mince the crystallized ginger.  Grate the fresh ginger and whisk into the buttermilk in a small bowl.

When flour mixture is chilled so that the oil is solid, work quickly with your fingers to break up lumps until mixture is a coarse meal. Toss in crystallized ginger and nuts (if desired). Form well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in buttermilk with a fork until moist clumps form. Add a few tablespoons of flour if dough is too moist.

Drop about 1/3 cup dough per scone onto lined baking sheet. Brush or sprinkled with buttermilk and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 400 degrees until scones are golden and toothpick inserted horizontally into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool scones on the baking sheet on a rack.

Notes from Elias: We made these when our Girl was on a juicing fast so she couldn't even try them at all. So we froze them and they were wonderful.