recipe: quick chipotle tomato soup (creamy, vegan)

I was hungry.  This is what happened.

1 medium yellow onion; diced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
28oz can plum tomatoes
1 chipotle pepper, diced + 1-2T adobo sauce (from canned chiles)
2 qts vegetable stock
kosher salt
1/2c thick cashew cream (recipe here; freezes like a charm)

Sweat the onion slowly in olive oil; throw on a bit of salt to get this going.  When just getting translucent, add garlic and chipotle pepper.  Saute another minute.

Add can of tomatoes and liquid from the can, crushing tomatoes in your hand as you go.  Messy but oddly satisfying.  Add vegetable stock.  Then test for seasoning - probably needs a bit more salt.  Bring to boil.

Reduce heat and simmer soup for 20ish minutes.  Add cashew cream and cook 5 mn longer (this will actually thicken things up a bit).  Use immersion blender to get out the big chunks; alternatively, use your regular blender, but be prepared to do 3-4 batches.  Fill the blender only to half full, cover the top with a dishtowel and avert your eyes before you press any buttons.  Hot liquid volcano may ensue.

Adjust seasonings a tad (I liked a little smoked paprika to amp up the smoky chipotle flavor without adding more heat) and...mmm...you know what to do.

reconnecting

I’m not sure how it happened, but I lost touch with my food.

I didn’t put two and two together until I was giving myself a stern talking to about why my food cravings intensified and my will-power crashed proportionately. It would have been easy to slip into that mode where I beat myself up and make excuses, but the reality is, I just lost my way for a bit. And I was trying to put my finger on how, where and why that happened.

I love food. I love reading about it, eating it, cooking it, taking illicit iPhone photos of it, twittering about it, sharing it and writing about it.  I truly – in the most basic sense of the word - honor food.  Which is why it's so perplexing when I recognized some iffy eating behaviors that had taken over my life.  So what happened?  Well, generally speaking, life happened.  But along with the usual and expected effects of a too-busy, too-frenzied, too-blessedly-full life, I completely lost touch with food.

When I'm disconnected in the food department my fridge is empty and my visits to the co-op are further apart.  My kitchen stays clean, sure.  But it's a little sad and lifeless too.

When I'm connected I spend more time thinking about food.  I devour my Bon Apetit and Cooking Light magazines (ahem, amongst several others in the cooking vein).  I'm watching more of my favorite Food Network shows.  I'm picking up fresh veggies and experimenting with new grains.  The kitchen is humming.  People are dropping in after last-minute invites to nosh.  It's fantastic and it feeds my soul.

What happens, I think, is that the further I slide away from these engaged habits and connected practices, the less mindful I become about what moves from my fork to my mouth.  Even the effort of cooking (a practice which I really do enjoy) becomes less enticing.  Then I revert - as so many people do - to eating more packaged and what I call "quick fix" foods.  I'm pretty well-wired now to keep these foods organic and unprocessed as much as possible.  But when I'm on my 6th day of living on cereal and almond milk and nothing green has passed my lips, well then.  Houston, we have a problem.

So I've chosen to go back and dabble more.  Play mad scientist.  Try some new things that I normally wouldn't attempt.  I've turned May into "mostly vegan May" and am cooking out of my two new-ish cookbooks:  The Conscious Cook and The Kind Diet.  I made a somewhat scary (read: $140) trip to the co-op and have visited the St. Paul Farmer's Market.  I'm digging out the past few months of my cooking magazines and revisiting them, looking for inspiration.  And most importantly, I've invited a few people round for dinner, cocktails, brunch.  An excuse to cook and maybe even wow people a bit always inspires me to attempt new things.  And I can't wait to see how the month plays out. 

Also, stay tuned for vegan, vegetarian and unabashed meat recipes as I experiment through out the month.  And please, share your knowledge.  If you have some other great ideas for inspiration, recipes, mindful food habits, anything...please comment. 

Happy nibbling!