Watermelon Curry with Grilled Shrimp

Do you have leftover watermelon from the strawberry-watermelon smoothie?  Try this fantastic curry.  It is a great summer soup and can be served chilled. The curry comes together so nicely, it is surprising that pureed watermelon is the base of this dish.  The cubes of watermelon maintain some of the most refreshing and sweet qualities of watermelon, adding a nice contrast to the curry. 


I admit, initially, I found the flavor combinations weird. But, by the second bowl, I was hooked! It's always fun to challenge your taste buds with something they're not accustomed to.  There's a world of flavors out there!


Recipe- Watermelon Curry with Grilled Shrimp
4-6 Servings
Curry:
5 pounds watermelon
1 3-inch long piece peeled, fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons Madras-style curry powder
2 teaspoons salt
pinch cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 3-inch long cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
Shrimp:
1 pound medium-large shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 of a lime
Grilled Indian flat bread for serving


1. For the curry: Remove the rind from the melon; cut the flesh into 1" chunks and remove the seeds. Puree two cups of the chunks. Set aside the remaining chunks.
2. If you have a mini food processor: blend the ginger, garlic, water, curry powder, salt and cayenne pepper to a paste.  To make by hand: finely grate the ginger and garlic into a small bowl. Sprinkle with salt and with side of a knife, mash and smear the mixture to a coarse paste.  Stir the paste with the water, curry powder, and cayenne.
3. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cinnamon stick and cook it until it unfurls, about 30 seconds.  Add the ginger-garlic paste and cook, stirring constantly, until it is quite fragrant and lightly browned, about 3 minutes.  Add the reserved watermelon puree and the sugar, reduce the heat, and simmer until thick, about 5 minutes.

 Stir in the reserved watermelon chunks and simmer for 2 minutes more. 

Transfer the curry to a bowl and cool.  Stir in the mint and lime juice and refrigerate.
4. For the shrimp: Heat a grill to medium-hot, or a grill pan to medium heat.  Toss the shrimp with the melted butter in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper to taste.  Grill the shrimp, turning once, until just cooked through, about 4 minutes. 

Transfer the shrimp to a plate and squeeze the lime juice over them.
5. To serve, ladle the curried watermelon into serving bowls and arrange the shrimp in the centers.  Serve with grilled Indian flatbread if desired. (If you don't like cold soup, heat the curried watermelon before serving).

Vegetable Stock

So, I'm really into making soup.  This week, I made curried corn chowder.  I have been meaning to try making my own vegetable stock, and I finally got around to it.

The entire process of making 6 cups of stock took about 3 hours.  I have not yet decided if it was worth my time, but I am a bit of a "quality control" freak, so I appreciated having control over what went in it.  (all organic veggies, low sodium)

If you are using store bought broth, make sure that it does not have MSG, Monosodium Glutamate, listed in the ingredients.  You often find msg in canned broths or cubes.

You can pretty much use scraps (carrot peels, celery leaves, ends of leeks) to flavor your stock.  Just be cautious of veggies with strong flavors.  Those strong flavors could overwhelm the stock (cabbage, eggplant).

Vegetable Stock-Recipe
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 big yellow onion, chopped
1 leek, root and dark green tops removed, chopped
1 big potato, peeled and chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
8 cups water
1 bunch fresh italian parsley
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
salt to taste (about 1 teaspoon)

1. Saute the vegetables in the butter and olive oil in a large soup pot over high heat, stirring occasionally to prevent the vegetables from sticking to the pot and burning.  After 5-10 minutes, reduce the heat to medium and cook until the onions are tender and translucent, about 10 minutes.
2. Return the heat to high.  Add the water, parsley, bay leaves, salt, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer until the water no longer tastes like water, but tastes like broth, at least 2 hours.  Pour the stock through a colander and use right away, or cool it to room temperature before putting in the refrigerator or freezer.

Vegetable Soup

Because it's cold outside...

I refuse to eat soup from a can. It's way to easy to make. I wanted something really healthy so I decided on a garden vegetable soup. I made a huge pot, and I'm sure that this soup, oatmeal, fruit, and veggies will all get me through my exams.

The recipe called for only a few vegetables, so I added all of the vegetables I had laying around--zucchini, yellow squash, corn, and roma tomatoes. I'd recommend following the recipe. If you add more vegetables, you'll need to add a little more water.

I had never cooked with saffron before, but I like it!

Recipe- Vegetable Soup
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 leeks, white and green parts, chopped
1 pound diced, unpeeled boiling potatoes
1 pound diced carrots
1 tablespoon kosher salt (omit if you are on a low-sodium diet!)
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 quarts chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 teaspoon saffron threads
1/2 pound green beans
4 oz. spaghetti, broken into pieces
1 cup pistou

Pistou recipe
4 large garlic cloves
1/4 cup tomato paste
24 fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup parmesan, grated
1/2 cup olive oil

1. Saute onions in large pot in olive oil for 10 minutes over low heat. Add the leeks, potatoes, carrots, salt and pepper. Saute over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add vegetable stock and saffron, and bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Add the green beans and spaghetti, and bring to a boil. Simmer for another 15 minutes.
2. Puree all of the pistou ingredients in a food processor to make a paste. Whisk 1/4 cup of the pistou into the soup. Serve the soup with more pistou, if desired. Store remaining pistou in air tight container.

The next soup I'm making will be lentil soup. Stay tuned! (And subscribe if you haven't already. )

Vegetable Chili

I wanted to make something hearty and healthy. I love this recipe because it's pretty much all vegetables and beans. It's low-sodium, low-cholesterol, and fiber-licious! If you want to save time, just used canned beans instead of cooking the beans yourself.

I also didn't bother "dicing" the vegetables. Instead, I pulsed them in a food processor. I was careful not to over-pulse them because I wanted the soup to be chunky. I can't even imagine how long it would take to dice all of these vegetables! There are a lot of ingredients, but don't be intimidated.

And remember, chili always tastes better the second day.

Recipe- Vegetable Chili

2 cups dried black beans, OR 2 15 oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup dried kideny beans, OR 1 15 oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1/3 cup olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 yellow onion, diced or chopped

3 medium carrots, diced or chopped

4 celery stalks, diced or chopped

3 red bell peppers, diced or chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped

1 zucchini, diced or chopped

1 yellow squash, diced or chopped

1 cup canned or frozen corn

2 tablespoons ground cumin

1/3 cup chili powder

2 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons ground coriander

1 28 oz can Italian-style tomatoes, diced

1 and 1/2 pounds plum tomatoes, diced or chopped

salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste

1 bay leaf

1. If using dried beans, soak them overnight. Drain and rinse. Boil them in 8 cups of water. Reduce heat once boiling and let simmer for one hour. Remove and drain. If using canned beans, drain and rinse.

2. In a large pot, heat the oil on medium, and add the minced garlic. Reduce the heat if the garlic starts to brown. Increase the heat to medium high and add the onion. Sautee for 5-10 minutes, until the onion is tender and translucent.

3. Add the chopped vegetables, one at a time, every five minutes in the following order: carrots, celery, bell peppers and jalapeno pepper (together), zucchini and yellow squash (together), and corn. Then, add all of the spices and cook another 5-10 minutes.

4. Stir in the beans, tomatoes, and bay leaf. Bring the chili to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for an hour or more--until the chili thickens. Serve warm and garnish with sour cream, cheese, grilled chicken or grilled steak.

Curried Corn Chowder

I love soup. I love soup because it is healthy, and I can control exactly what goes in it! I love soup because you can't really mess it up--anything goes. I love soup because it not only warms the body, but it warms the soul. Yes, Los Angeles is not a winter or fall city, but it has been around 60 degrees or so here, so this is soup weather for us!

A good soup cannot be made in 5 minutes. The ingredients need time to get to know each other. I think that soups are kind of magical--you take a bunch of independent ingredients, and you make something that is greater than the individual ingredients.

I served this soup with dinner rolls that had been in my freezer. I defrosted the dinner rolls, and then I cut them in half and broiled them in the oven with a dab of butter and some grated parmesan cheese until the cheese was slightly dark and bubbly.

Enjoy this healthy, vegan dinner alternative!

Recipe- Curried Corn Chowder

Preparation/Cook time: about an hour and a half
Servings: 6

1 big yellow onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp. fresh thyme OR 1/8 tsp. dried thyme
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 and 1/2 cups frozen or canned corn
4 cups vegetable stock
1 tsp. sugar
2 tablespoons, unsalted butter, clarified (see directions below)
1 tablespoon Madras-styled curry powder
1/4 cup canned coconut milk
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon salt
pepper, to taste

1. Saute the onion, garlic, and thyme in 2 tablespoons butter (regular) in a large soup pot over high heat, stirring occassionally to keep the onions and garlic from sticking to the bottom of the pot. After the onion has begun to reduce in volume (5-10 minutes), lower the heat to medium and continue cooking for 10-15 more minutes, until the onion is tender and translucent.
2. Add the corn, stock, and sugar. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let the stock simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Prepare the clarified butter. To prepare clarified butter, melt the butter in a small saucepan until the milk solids have separated from the oil (there will be white, cloudy liquid floating on top after melting the butter). Use a spoon to scoop out the milk solids. Milk solids cause butter to burn more easily, which is why we are removing them.
4. In a separate saucepan, warm the clarified butter over medium heat. Add the curry powder, and cook until the curry aroma permeates every inch of your dwelling (3-5 minutes).
5. Remove the soup from the heat. Let cool for a few minutes. Pour half of the soup into a blender, and blend. Return blended soup into the soup pot. Heat the pot over medium heat; then stir in the clarified butter/curry blend (step 4).
6. Stir in the coconut milk, cilantro, salt and pepper. Cook for another 15 minutes, until all the flavors come together. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.

Tortilla Soup

Last week, it pretended to get cold. It was at that point I decided to make soup. My roommate requested that I make tortilla soup. So, voila.

Tortilla soup is one of those wonderful things that I did not discover until I moved to California. Though soups are typically eaten during the autumn and winter, this soup is very light. You can make it more cold-weather friendly by adding black beans or wild rice.

My college roommate came over to eat, but she got here too early and got stuck helping me prepare it! When all of the ingredients were in the pot, I was a little concerned because it did not seem like anything magical happened to transform my chicken broth with ingredients into actual tortilla soup. (I'm always a little nervous to try recipes I've never made before--especially when I have an audience).

Luckily, the soup came out REALLY delicious. I was just so happy that it actually had the flavor of tortilla soup! I topped it with a little cheddar and fresh avocado. And it was so easy, really. This recipe is a *winner*--something I would make over and over again.

Prep time/Cook time: about an hour (with four hands--thanks for helping Zoe!) Will take far less time if you cook the chicken ahead of time.
Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 4 large servings

Recipe- Tortilla Soup

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 chipotle chile en adobo
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons salt
6 cups chicken broth
1 cup corn (can or frozen OK)
1 tomato
1 cup cooked chicken, shredded
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
2 limes
tortilla chips
cheddar (optional--for garnish)
avocado (optional--for garnish)

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Chop the onion, garlic and chipotle and saute in the oil. Add the chili powder and salt. Cook until the onion softens (five minutes). Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Add the corn and cook for five more minutes. Pull from heat.

2. Chop the tomato and cilantro. Shred the baked chicken. Juice the limes. (To get all of the juice out of the limes, microwave for a few seconds and roll them on the counter). Add all of these ingredients to the pot with soup. Stir.

3. Ladle soup on top of crushed tortilla chips (only a few chips per bowl). Top with cheddar, avocado, sour cream, or anything you like. Enjoy!