To write requires an ego, a belief that what you say matters. Writing also requires an aching curiosity leading you to discover, uncover, what is gnawing at your bones.
~ Terry Tempest Williams, When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice
Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.
~ Rachel Carson, The Sense of Wonder
We do not understand the earth in terms either of what it offers us or of what it requires of us, and I think it is the rule that people inevitably destroy what they do not understand.
~ Wendell Berry, The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays
Next to jazz music, there is nothing that lifts the spirit and strengthens the soul more than a good bowl of chili.
~ Harry James
This week’s soup is not a soup at all, but a chili. I figure since restaurants get away with slipping chili into the soup categories on their menus, I can get away with slipping a chili into my Souper Sundays. The original purpose of my soup challenge was to make something different, but some days I crave an old (or in this case, fairly recent) standby and this chili is my go-to for warmth and comfort. I actually made this earlier in the week when it was quite cold outside.
This is a vegan chili although you could, if you wanted, add cheese and sour cream (or crema) for garnishes. M and I like ours garnished with avocado, green onions, and cilantro that I’ve mixed with some lime juice. It adds a nice, fresh, pop of color and flavor to the dish.
There are a variety of recipes for this chili. My favorite is this one, but I do change one thing. I use chipotle peppers in adobo sauce instead of ground chipotle powder. I’ve heard that some adobo sauces use a meat stock (chicken, usually), but the one I buy does not and is therefore vegetarian/vegan. When I cut up the chipotle peppers, I remove most of the seeds. I leave some for the heat/spice. It’s a difficult balancing act because some chipotle peppers are hotter than others, in my experience. The more seeds you put in the chili, the hotter the chili will be. I also add some of the adobo sauce because it adds even more smokey flavor to the chili. If you can find them, fire roasted tomatoes also add more smokey flavor.
Thanks for stopping by for another Souper Sunday. If you decide to cook up some of this chili, please let me know what you think of it and/or any variations you try.
Be good, be kind, be loving. Just Be. 🙂
A few of the 10,000 reasons to be happy: 151) Weekend beach time. 152) Foggy mornings. 153) The sound of the Laughing Gulls in the farm field next door. 154) Sleeping in on a Sunday. 155) Listening to New Orleans jazz music while typing up my Souper Sunday post.
In every outthrust headland, in every curving beach, in every grain of sand there is the story of the earth.
~ Rachel Carson
Cauliflower is nothing but a cabbage with a college education.
~ Mark Twain
This week’s soup was a very simple soup to prepare. You take one head of cauliflower (I used an orange or “cheddar” cauliflower), cut it into florets, and drop the florets into 2 cups of chicken or vegetable broth. Add one roughly chopped onion and three tablespoons of walnut pieces (or you can wait until the cauliflower is cooked before adding the walnuts; I prefer to cook the nuts because it’s easier on my gut). Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the cauliflower is cooked. Add two cups of half & half or milk, and salt and pepper to taste. Using an immersion blender, puree it until it is smooth and creamy, reheat, and when it is nice and hot, serve the soup with a sprinkling of paprika. You can also garnish it with toasted walnuts.
I would like to try this again using coconut milk and Thai curry paste. I think the flavor combinations would work well. Out of curiosity, I just went in search of a Thai cauliflower soup recipe and found this: Curried Cauliflower Soup. It sounds so yummy that it might be next Sunday’s soup.
I’m sorry I missed our coffee chat yesterday. It was a busy, busy day. Maybe we’ll meander tomorrow. In the meantime, thank you for stopping by for Souper Sunday. I hope all is well with you.
Be good, be kind, be loving. Just Be. 🙂
A few of the 10,000 reasons to be happy: 146) The master bathroom renovation is finished!! 147) Creamy soups. 148) Bubble baths (which can now be taken in the new tub!). 149) Words of wisdom. 150) A quiet, relaxed and relaxing, Sunday.
Everything flows and nothing abides, everything gives way and nothing stays fixed.
~Heraclitus
Gumbo, of all other products of the New Orleans cuisine, represents a most distinctive type of the evolution of good cookery under the hands of the famous Creole Cuisinieres of old new Orleans.
~ from The Picayune’s Creole Cook Book, 1901
breezes at dawn 