Chilled & Grilled

To start, a Chilled Curried Carrot Soup courtesy of a Fine Cooking magazine recipe from 2003 (issue 59, page 55) and to follow Pita stuffed with Hummous and Grilled Veggies.

These recipes create a good bit of dirty dishes as you need a soup pot, blender, food processor, sieve, not to mention the usual spoons, spatulas, etc. But all worth it.

For the soup:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used grapeseed oil)

1 pound of carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

1 medium onion, chopped

1 large shallot, sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 heaping tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1 teaspoon seeded and minced fresh serrano or jalapeno chile (about 1/2 a medium-size chile)

1 teaspoon ground coriander

3/4 teaspoon Madras-style hot curry powder

Kosher salt

3 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup coconut milk

1-1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (or more to taste)

Freshly ground black peppper

Fresh cilantro leaves and toasted pumpkin seeds for garnish

Heat the oil in a wide soup pot over medium heat. Add the carrots, onion, and shallot and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened (about 6 minutes). Add the garlic, ginger, chile, coriander, curry powder and a generous pinch of salt. Cook until fragrant (about 1 minute). Pour in the chicken broth, cover partially, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer gently until the vegetables offer no resistance when mashed against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon (25 to 35 minutes) (This is why it's important to slice them very thinly, so they'll cook fast). Remove from the heat.

Ladle some solids and broth into a blender, taking care to fill the jar no more than two-thirds full. Before turning on the blender vent the lid by removing the pop-out centre if there is one, or just open the lid a bit. (Venting prevents the heat from building up inside the blender, which could cause hot soup to spew out all over the kitchen!). For extra precuation drape a clean dishtowel over the vented lid as well. Puree the soup in batches if needed and then strain through a medium sieve - use a spatula to help push the soup through the sieve. Stir in the coconut milk and lime juice; season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill thoroughly. Before serving, thin the soup gradually as needed with up to 1 cup of water and adjust the seasonings. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with a few cilantro leaves and the pumpkin seeds.

May I also just point out that if you don't make sure the cooked vegetables are completely tender, it will make a difference in the finished dish. Undercooked vegetables will give the soup a gritty, chewy texture. If you get any funny ideas about skipping the straining of the soup through the sieve, think again. This step gives your soup a silky smooth texture that isn't possible with just the blender alone. And forget about cheating all together and skipping both the blender and the sieve and just using the immersion/stick blender. This will give your soup a chunky texture and mute the flavours.

For the Pita Bread with Hummous, Grilled Eggplant and Zucchini:

If you're looking to save some time, you could always purchase hummous. I've never found any store-bought one that I particularly like so always make my own. However, just two weeks ago when I had an ex-coworker for dinner (see my blog dated July 5) I did purchase a store-made hummous from Whole Foods and was pleasantly surprised. I still much prefer making my own and as the food processor does all the work it's easy enough to whip some up. For my money, the best hummous receipe comes from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (aka Ina Garten) although I've made just a few modifications:

1 - 19 oz. can chick peas, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup tahini
1-1/2 teaspoons unrefined sea salt
8 dashes of hot pepper sauce (i.e. Tabasco)
Juice of 2 lemons (approx. 6 tablespoons of lemon juice)
2 tablespoons water
3 garlic cloves, minced

Put all ingredients in a food processor and mix until coarsely chopped - I use the "pulse" button and hit it 7 or 8 times, scraping the side of the bowl down, if needed. Adjust seasoning, if needed. If mixture is too thick, add more water.

For the grilled eggplant and zucchini, I just slice thickly, brush with olive oil and a generous pinch of Kosher salt and grill on the BBQ.

To assemble: cut the top 1/8 off of the pita bread (save this to dip into the hummous). Spread a generous amount of the hummous in the pita bread and stuff with the grilled vegetables and fresh cut tomato.