I made the most delicious carrot bisque tonight!

Carrots were $1 for seven at the farmer’s market last week, so I stocked up. By today, I had only used two, so I wanted to use them up, along with some baby spinach I bought at the grocery store last week. My solution? Carrot and spinach bisque. Now, usually, I would supplement homemade soup with something from my kitchen herb garden, but I decided to go for a different flavor this time. I spiced the soup with ginger, turmeric and cinnamon, for amazing results!

Carrots and spinach are obviously pretty amazing super foods, but turmeric and cinnamon have health benefits, too — turmeric has anti-inflammatory and cancer-preventing properties, and cinnamon can help regulate blood sugar and cholesterol.

Not only is this soup incredibly healthy (nearly fat-free, too), it is so delicious, I went back for seconds! Photos and recipe follow.

ready to eat

proper accompaniment

Ginger-Spiced Carrot and Spinach Bisque

2 T. vegetable oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 large cloves garlic, minced

~ 10 medium carrots, diced or shredded

~ one inch fresh ginger root, peeled and grated

1 t. ground turmeric

Ground cinnamon, to taste

Freshly cracked pepper

8 C chicken or good-quality vegetable stock

Several handfuls of fresh baby spinach leaves

~ a tablespoon of coconut milk (if desired)

Heat a large stock pot over medium heat. Cover the bottom of the pan with the vegetable oil; add the onions and sauté for a few minutes, until barely translucent. Add garlic and ginger, sauté until soft – be careful not to burn the garlic. Add carrots, cook, stirring occasionally, until soft.

Stir in turmeric, a few turns of freshly-ground pepper, and a few dashes of ground cinnamon, to taste. Once spices are fragrant, stir in stock. Bring to a simmer and reduce slightly. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

In batches, puree the soup in a blender. Transfer back to stock pot, bring to simmer. Taste and adjust seasonings. Stir in coconut milk and spinach – the spinach should wilt quickly. Serve hot.

Some pictures from a gorgeous evening last week:

evening clouds

moonrise over alley

I grew up in two places: my family’s home in Rolla, Missouri,

View from my front porch during summer storm.

and my best friend Jennifer’s family’s home, 10 miles south of town:

The back forty. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Bryant.

I often spent weekends out here with Jenn. We ran wild across her property all day, played Mario Cart or watched Pauly Shore movies and ate pizza and queso dip all night. Come Sunday morning, Jennifer’s mom, Barb, would drive us into town to drop me off. I remember one such morning specifically, Barb put an Arlo Guthrie tape on her Jeep stereo, and said it was our substitute for church that day. (My memory says the specific song playing was “Gabriel’s Mother’s Hiway Ballad #16 Blues,” but it mightn’t have been Arlo, at all.)

In the quiet drive that morning across the rolling hills of the Missouri Ozarks, listening to the troubled but hopeful song, out of the mouth of a long-haired hippie who in the same breath could sing about smuggling hash into Los Angeles, I think I first realized the power of different forms of worship and prayer. It can happen in many places and many ways, and doesn’t necessarily have to occur in a church setting. I have since come to broaden my idea of “going to church” to include hiking through the box canyon at Vedauwoo, silently meditating, enjoying God’s creation, being in His presence; or reading poetry in a quiet room; or tending to His creation; or really any time in which I can “be still and know that He is God.”

I remembered this today when I pulled up outside St. Matthew’s Episcopal in Laramie, excited to go to my church for the first time in a few months. The red doors were shut and locked. Two college women stood near the sign in the churchyard, reading a bulletin that announced eucharist that morning would be held at St. Alban’s Chapel, an outdoor worship space in the Snowy Range. We would not make the service, as St. Alban’s is a good 30-minute drive. Disappointed, I drove away, hoping to catch the United Church of Christ’s service, only to find it started thirty minutes prior. I settled for my favorite downtown coffee shop, and a serendipitous meeting with two good friends.

I’m still bummed about missing the St. Alban’s service, which would have undoubtedly been beautiful and moving. I’m just trying to remind myself: I missed eucharist today. But I didn’t necessarily miss church.

Happy Sunday.

View of the box canyon entrance.

One recent escapade in the Cowboy State.

Headed out to Vedauwoo last Monday, it was a gorgeous, clear morning. Hiked through the box canyon and up to the saddle, took a look-see at the other side.

See more pics here.

I started this blog last winter with my friends (see blogroll) in an attempt to get more thoughts on paper (screen). I have obviously utterly failed at said goal, or, at least accomplishing that goal through this blog, but I’m getting the blog itch again. We shall see.

I was almost in a car accident today. I thought I was fine, but I had to swerve fast, and at the time, could feel my body tense up to fight it. Now, things hurt, from the right side of my neck, most of the right side of my back, and all my lower back. Sweet. 

Following is what I posted as a Craig’s List “Missed Connection.” I know, the chick who almost hit me will probably never see it, but it helped to get my rage out there somewhere (and because this blog is new, I didn’t first think of it…). I should have called the police and reported her for careless and imprudent driving, but I didn’t… Lesson learned. 

For now, I’m off to dull the pain with a glass of pinot grigio. Drive carefully.

 

To the chick who almost t-boned me today on 4^th Street at Bradley (I think it was Bradley. I was too busy avoiding being t-boned to look at the street signs.):

 

You: Tan Jeep Grand Cherokee with temporary plates, eastbound on Bradley. Me: Small green Nissan, southbound on 4^th, driving the speed limit, obeying all traffic laws.

 

I’m just going to go ahead and assume that you had stopped to 1.) make sure I was OK after swerving across the intersection to avoid getting run over by you, and 2.) thank me for being such an alert and careful driver. You’re welcome.

 

See, the thought crossed my mind, as you looked to your right and proceeded to floor it through the intersection (through which I had the right-of-way, as you had a stop sign and I did not), to allow you to hit me. I kind of need a new car, anyway, and since the accident would have 1.) been entirely your fault and 2.) totaled my small, fuel-efficient car, it would have been a great way to justify a new car in these tough economic times. However, I graciously saved you all of that trouble, my Jedi-like reflexes being the only reason you didn’t get into said accident. Unfortunately, you didn’t stop, so I can only assume that you were thanking me for saving you all of that trouble with the insurance company and whatnot. Oh, or lawsuit, if you don’t have insurance.

 

Now, because you seemed like you were in a hurry to get somewhere (you know, flooring it through an intersection without looking both ways through a two-way street and then speeding off after almost causing an accident), such a hurry that your obligations are far more important than my safety or the safety of other drivers, I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt that there was some emergency that you really had to get to – for instance, your roommate had just called you and said the house was burning down and you had to go rescue your cat, or your boyfriend had lost a finger in a freak beer-pong accident and was being rushed to the emergency room, you know, something like that. Though, if you had hit me, you most certainly wouldn’t have made it to said hypothetical emergency in time.

 

I’m not sure if it crossed your mind, but you could have seriously injured someone. What if I had a passenger in the front seat? What if my 3-year-old niece had been in her car seat in the back?

 

I’m going to just assume that in addition to being thankful that I prevented this accident, you’re also sorry for putting yourself and your needs before the safety of other people on the road. Look both ways next time. 

February in Wyoming means we’re entering the fifth month of cold, snowy, windy weather. When the temps stay in the single digits for weeks on end and the wind howling around the eaves gets you down, there are a few remedies: Stay inside under blankets, watching movies, wearing the same pajamas all weekend; drink lots of hot toddies or just whisky or scotch on the rocks (that’ll warm you up!); or, learn to make lots of varieties of hearty soup to share with friends. (But really, any combination of the three could be quite enjoyable.)

Thus, I’ve began to make a lot of soup this winter, something I didn’t do often in Missouri. And as far as hearty soups go, a good gumbo is about the best you can do. And because all food is better when made and eaten with friends, I’ve decided to make the effort to come up with a recipe for vegan gumbo for my veg friends. (Hell, for me, too! As a flexetarian, I certainly don’t think something has to contain meat to be tasty.) This recipe, as you’ll note, is for a vegan gumbo with a seafood option: It starts out as vegan, and if you’d like to add seafood, simply have two stock pots on hand to keep things separate when the time comes. I really don’t mind the extra effort. You can also alter the recipe to make a traditional seafood gumbo by using butter in the roux (if you make your roux with butter) and seafood stock.

Most vegan/vegetarian gumbo recipes I found simply omitted any meat or seafood, but when I make veg variants of common dishes, I like to add a little something extra for more texture and oomph. And really, is there ever anything bad about more vegetables? Didn’t think so. So here, I call for zucchini, wild mushrooms or kidney beans. Use whatever floats your boat.

As I post this, I have to add the disclaimer that I haven’t actually made this yet — I’m planning on doing it this weekend. So no promises until then on quality, but I will say that I have pretty darn good cooking instinct, and thus high hopes for this recipe. Also, being in small-town Wyoming, some of these ingredients are hard if not impossible to find (fresh seafood, okra out of season), so I will be making a trip to Ft. Collins to go to Whole Foods — something I’m always OK with.

Edit: (A whole seven months later!) Both versions of this gumbo were a HUGE success. My veg friends and omnivores alike loved the vegan option, and the meat-eaters were similarly pleased by the seafood option. I highly recommend either recipe! Gumbo party will become an annual occurrence at my house.

Ingredients:

½ cup oil (pref. solid, such as butter, or coconut oil or vegetable shortening for vegan. SB prefers coconut oil, I think canola is fine, or Earth Balance solid veg. shortening.)

½ cup white all-purpose flour

2 yellow onions, chopped

2-3 large celery stalks, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

4-6 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound okra, cut into ¼ in. slices (fresh is far more preferable, but frozen can be used in a pinch)

~ t. sea salt

½ t. cayenne

½ t. Old Bay seasoning

1-15 oz. can chopped tomatoes, drained

3 bay leaves

3 sprigs thyme, leaves stripped from stems

2 quarts stock (use veg. stock for vegan option – I prefer Rapunzel’s, but use whatever you like, or seafood stock for non-vegan option, recipe follows)

1 T. Balsamic or apple cider vinegar

optional to make a heartier vegan gumbo: wild mushrooms (oyster, shiitake, chanterelle, etc.); red kidney beans; zucchini; other seasonal vegetables as inspired.

8-10 ounces firm-extra firm tofu (pref. smoked), cubed

1 ½ pounds peeled, deviened shrimp

1 pint raw, shucked oysters

Can add other seafood: firm-bodied fish, cut into pieces; lump crab meat; lightly seared scallops.

How to do the thing:

Heat fat in medium-low dutch oven, add flour and make a medium roux, about fifteen minutes. In the meantime, in a separate skillet, briefly sautee okra in a tablespoon or so of oil, drain on paper towels. To roux, add onions, garlic, celery, pepper, cook, stirring, a few minutes. Add okra and tomatoes, season with salt, cayenne, Old Bay, vinegar and herbs (and mushrooms, beans, zucchini if using). Cook until soft. Pour in stock and stir or whisk to combine. Bring mixture to a low boil, then reduce to simmer. Simmer 45 minutes, until gumbo is dark and thick.

If making vegan gumbo: at this point, reserve however much gumbo needed to serve the vegan crowd in a separate pot, keep warm. Can add tofu and simmer as you simmer seafood in other pot. Add seafood to main pot, simmer until cooked, about 15 minutes. Shrimp will be pink, oysters will have edges curled. Adjust seasoning for both pots. Serve over brown rice with crusty French bread.

To make seafood stock: Cover shrimp shells, heads and tails, one blue crab, halved, one onion, halved, 2 bay leaves, 5 sprigs fresh thyme, ¼ t. cayenne, 2 T. Old Bay, and 2 lemons, halved and squeezed, with 2 ½ quarts water. Simmer, uncovered, 45 minutes, skimming any foam from the top. Strain into another heatproof container.