Meatless Monday! was a huge hit tonight. It may have been the best to date.

The soup and sandwich idea was inspired by a cold and rainy day

This meal was not just meatless but vegan deliciousness.

My kale obsession continues and I have made it kid friendly and so satisfying.

I had planned to put the white beans in the soup and serve with a gourmet toasted cheese sandwich. When I mentioned this to my daughter she turned up her nose at the cheese sandwich idea, which actually made me happy as I am all about vegan meals.

So I began “deconstructing”. What to do with the beans? What do we get from cheese that we like so much? The creamy, filling, salty goodness! I can do that with white beans!

A baguette thinly sliced and lightly coated with fragrant organic olive oil was the beginning.

I then lightly toasted them and put them aside.
I sautéed ¼ of a white onion with 5 cloves of garlic and about 2 big tablespoons of rosemary in ¼ cup of olive oil until the onions were transparent.
Then I placed the cooled mixture into the food processer with 2 cans of white northern beans and pureed and set this aside, also.
I then sliced 1 large roasted red pepper.

I also had a large bunch of fresh basil. I used 5-6 cloves of garlic and toasted about a half cup of pine nuts and combined in the food processer with ¾ cup of olive oil and set that aside to assemble right before dinner so that the crostini did not become soggy.

The kale soup was easy plus I cheated with vegan soup bullion.

In a large soup pot I sautéed ½ a white onion with 5-6 cloves of garlic and about ½ cup of olive oil.

I chopped the kale and sautéed it for a bit, then added cubed yellow organic potatoes.

I then added about 8-10 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of vegan bullion and allowed it to cook for about an hour and a half.

Parmesan cheese tops my daughters soup.

This wine was great with the soup.

This was my “cheat” ingredient!

My food processor was my best friend today. I couldn’t have done it without her! I could have but it wouldn’t have been as easy or as fun!

It all started with cake and a snow storm and the gorgeous organic produce in my refrigerator.

Sometimes when I’m shopping I don’t have any particular recipe in mind. I simply pick up things that catch my eye, are in season, especially ripe, smell good or are just pretty.

So that is how I ended up with a coconut, that gorgeous ginger root and a million organic carrots!

What to do with carrots on a cold snowy day in the middle of winter? Soup, of course!

But to begin my day, baking a cake seemed to be the most natural thing in the world to do to get things rolling. Chocolate, raspberry and fresh whipped cream was beckoning.

Cake would be a nice treat at the end of a long day.

Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs (1/3 to 1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 ounces melted unsweetened chocolate (cool)

Method

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease and flour baking pan, 13x9x2 inches, or two 9-inch or three 8-inch round layer pans.

Measure all ingredients into large mixer bowl. Blend 1/2 minute on low speed, scraping bowl constantly.

Beat 3 minutes high speed, scraping bowl occasionally.

Pour into pan(s). Bake oblong 40 to 45 minutes, layers 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool.

Coconut Carrot Ginger Soup

Ingredients

About 20-30 carrots
5-6 cloves of garlic
A nice sized piece of fresh ginger root 5-6 inches long
2 tsp ginger powder
1 can organic coconut milk
One whole coconut ( use the water and flesh)
2-3 cups vegetarian stock
2-3 Tbsp coconut oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Cilantro, for garnish
Avocado, for garnish

Method

Peel and chop the carrots then sauté with garlic and coconut oil.

Start grating the ginger and add to sautéing carrots.

Add the ginger powder.

Let things start to lightly caramelize then add the stock.

Allow to cool then transfer the mixture to the food processor and puree.

Add the coconut milk to the mixture and continue to puree.

Transfer to a soup pot and add the coconut water and flesh.

Add ginger powder if necessary.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve warm with fresh cilantro and avocado garnish.

Enjoy!

I added curry powder to the dough

Kale, yellow waxy potatoes, garlic, coconut oil, coconut milk, red curry paste, curry powder

Courtesy of Laylita’s Recipes

Making empanada dough is not as hard as it sounds, especially if you have a food processor, and even if you don’t it is still pretty easy because the dough should not be overworked and requires minimal kneading. Also, these days it is very easy to find the empanada discs already made (frozen) in Latin grocery store, and even though I was skeptical at first they are actually quite good, but it also always fun to have them homemade and you can also customize the dough by adding spices, herbs, etc that will complement or contrast with the fillings.

Ingredients for 15 medium size or 25 small empanada discs:

3 cups all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
6 oz unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks), cold and cut into 12 pieces
1 egg
4-5 tbs water
Mix the flour and salt in a food processor.
Add the butter, egg and water until a clumpy dough forms.
Form a ball and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
Roll out the dough into a thin sheet and cut out round disc shapes for empanadas (use round molds or a small plate).
Use immediately or store in the refrigerator or freezer to use later.