Monday, March 2, 2009

Zucchini-Lemon Soup. Thai Curries



ZUCCHINI-LEMON SOUP

This is a very forgiving recipe, and you can adjust the amount of zucchini used according to your appetite and to the desired thickness of the finished product. Although I have included tofu in this recipe, I often make it without tofu altogether and it is delicious that way too.

3/4 lb zucchini squash, sliced but not peeled
1 or two slices onion, chopped, or to taste (less rather than more, in this case)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
zest of half a lemon
4 cups water or low-sodium vegetable stock
crushed chilies to taste
juice of half a lemon
half a pack of soft tofu, roughly cubed


Put all except the lemon juice and the tofu into a soup pot and cook until the zucchini is just done.

Blend the soup with a wand blender but preferably in a blender jug along with the lemon juice and the tofu. The soup should be creamy and a lovely fresh pale green colour. You may need to add a little water to get it to the consistency you wish.

Return soup to the soup pot and reheat gently. Serve garnished as you will - I used cilantro for the soup in the photo because we like the taste and it also goes very well with the lemon.

Variation: you may wish to use fresh or dried herbs along with the zucchini etc. in the soup pot. Italian herbs go well, but be careful not to overwhelm the fresh taste of the zucchini and lemon.

And now for a change of pace :)

THAI CURRIES



Wanting some Thai curry (yes yes, the whole thing with - gasp - coconut milk and all!) I decided to make my own for the first time in ages. The impetus was seeing some lovely fresh Thai basil and some fresh kaffir lime leaves along with lemon grass at our local asian shop. I also picked up some of their tofu - a real treat when we can get it. Stopping at another shop, I got a small jar (yes, I know it's cheating) of Thai
yellow curry paste - the kind without fish paste of creatures of any kind in it. It's good to make your own paste, but this was to be a relatively quick meal and I didn't think I'd have the time. I found organic light coconut milk at my health food store, so all was set.

No real recipe here, except to shred a few kaffir lime leaves, grate some ginger, peel and finely chop the lemon grass, chop a little onion and garlic, and defrost and chop some Thai red chlies which I always have in the freezer. This all went into a large pan with some cubed eggplant, a diced potato, and (a little later so that it didn't get overcooked) a red bell pepper - and of course the Thai basil and enough of the Thai curry paste to make it just right (which in our lexicon means HOT).



By the time the rice was ready, so was the curry!

We've had variations on this over the last week - including one with sweet potato and green snap peas - and it's been lovely every time. I do so love Thai food.

11 comments:

veggievixen said...

yum, that soup sounds so good!

and coconut curry is probably my favorite thing to make...and eat!

Anonymous said...

All your food looks delicious. I love Thai curry.

VeganWoman said...

I have added this to my recipe book. Thanks for sharing!

Emmy said...

The Thai curry looks so good. I will definitely put the Zucchini Lemon soup on my to try list. I plan on growing a bazillion zucchini in my garden this year :)

Carrie™ said...

Mmmmm! Delicious! I haven't had a Thai curry in a long time. Now I'm craving!

Judy said...

I'm loving all this zucchini - I can't get enough lately, and that soup sounds divine!

River said...

Thanks, everyone, for your lovely comments. I've been a bit distracted (family crisis - older generation) from blogging, but expect to be back to it soonest. Meanwhile, your kind words do help me not to ignore this blog! LOL Love those messages!!!! *hugs*
River

River said...

Hi there Vincent!


Thanks so much for your message and your kind suggestion to link this blog to your website. I hadn't thought to link to a non-vegetarian and/or non-vegan site, for reasons you will understand, but will take this under advisement (isn't that the cliche??? LOL). Meanwhile, I shall enjoy looking at the non-animal-exploitive sections of what looks like a most interesting webpage. And thanks again! Chat later?

Best, River

Unknown said...

I love curry!... and coconut, too!

I see you've been up to alot while I've been absent from the blogging world. Congrats for the ecookbook!

Dr.Rutledge said...

Hi Patricia,

I'm a physician and former faculty member at Harvard and Stanford Medical Schools. I discovered your blog while looking for the best health writers on the web. I reviewed your posts, and think your writing would be a great addition to the Vegan Community on Wellsphere, a top 5 health website that has nearly 5 million visitors monthly. If you would like to learn more about how you can join our Health Blogger Network, republish your blog posts and be featured on the Wellsphere platform, just drop me an email at dr.rutledge@wellsphere.com.

Cheers,
Geoff

River said...

Dear Geoff,
Thank you for your kind offer - it is always pleasant to be recognized as someone interested in health matters as well as to know that someone appreciates one's writing efforts!

I have, however, long decided to be involved only in Vegan and Vegetarian endeavours as far as health and cuisine is concerned. Moreover, I have looked at your website and am not comfortable with your TOS.

Thank you for thinking of me. All very best wishes,

River (aka Patricia)