Curried Split Pea Soup

Curried Split Pea Soup

Ingredients:
1-2 T olive oil
1" ginger root, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped 
1 medium onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 celery ribs, diced

1 cup split peas (rinsed)
1 chipotle pepper
3 cups water (or vegetable stock)
1 cup spinach leaves

   Spices (heaping):
      1/2 tsp curry powder (I used the East Indian bottle spice mix from the book 660 Curries, below.)
      1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds (toasted and ground)
      1/2 tsp coriander seeds (toasted and ground)
      1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1-2 cups water (or vegetable stock)
Garnish with parsley or cilantro (optional)

For rice:
1 cup brown rice (rinsed)
1 3/4 cup water

In saucepan, saute onion, carrot, celery, garlic and ginger in olive oil 3-5 minutes. Add split peas, chipotle pepper and 3 cups water (or stock). Bring to boil, then lower heat to simmer covered for about 90 minutes.
If you want to serve this with rice, start it after the split peas have cooked for 45 minutes. Rinse 1 cup brown rice and put in saucepan with 1 3/4 cup water. Bring this to a boil and then lower heat to a simmer, cover and cook for about 45 minutes. (If you use white rice, it takes about 20 minutes to cook.)

When the split peas are soft, add salt, spices, and 1-2 cups water, depending upon how thick you like your soup. Bring back to a simmer, then remove from heat. Remove chipotle pepper.

Using a submersion blender (see picture below - I like this one, because it's versatile with the attachments), blend the soup until it has a nice consistency. Stir in the spinach leaves, cover and let the heat wilt the spinach. Salt to taste.

Serve over rice. Garnish with parsley or cilantro.
Serves four.

Tempeh Reuben Sandwich

   Angelica Kitchen Restaurant is one of my favorite places to eat, when I'm visiting New York City! If you can't make it there, then the next best thing is making the delicious food from home... This is one of my favorites. I was a HUGE fan of Reuben Sandwiches when I was a kid. This isn't quite pastrami, but it's darn good!

For the Marinade:

 1-lb tempeh, sliced to preference

1 1/3 c. apple cider or apple juice

3 T. Shoyu or Tamari

3 T. grainy mustard

1 tsp. ground Cumin

1 tsp. ground Caraway

1 clove minced garlic

pinch of cayenne pepper

1/4 c. Olive Oil

- Preheat Oven to 350
- Prepare marinade by whisking all ingredients (except Tempeh) together
- Lay tempeh in a baking dish large enough to hold all the pieces in a single layer
- Cover the dish and bake for 35-minutes.
- Uncover and bake 5-10 minutes longer until tempeh is nearly dry.

For the Dressing:

makes 1/2 cup

1/4 c vegan mayo

2T. ketchup

2T. stone ground mustard

1/4 finely chopped onion

- Mix and chill before serving.

Alternatively:

Russian Dressing

1/2 lb silken or soft tofu

1 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 T. Rice Syrup

1 T. Olive Oil

1 tsp. prepared mustard

1 T. minced red onion

2/3 c. sun-dried tomatoes, soaked and finely chopped

1/3 c. minced dill pickles

1/2 tsp sea salt plus additional for seasoning

- Combine the first four ingredients into a food processor or blender, puree until creamy
- Add tomatoes, pickles, red onion, salt; pulse a few more times to combine

- Layer some Rye Bread with Russian Dressing, Sauerkraut, and prepared tempeh (perhaps some leaf lettuce as well).