The last Kabocha squash was made into soup in mid-February. Last week the remainder of the frozen peas and last jar of canned roasted tomatoes were put into a soup. This week the remaining small bag of frozen tomatoes went into black-eyed pea soup with portobello mushrooms. And, yesterday, the last bag of frozen kale was given to a neighbor-friend.

As the winter stores from a season’s fun and beauty in the garden are used up, I smile with gratitude and sense of celebration. Mother Earth is amazing! Her bounty is unbounded, including the seeds gathered from my own produce which will grow into this year’s abundance; all to be eaten fresh picked and shared during season, plus put up for winter. Mother Nature does not create starvation or poverty. Human’s do. Curious thing. So, as I type this set of recipes with added photos, it is with seeds on my mind, new garden blog posts, and with you and the world in my heart. Healthy eating should not be a chore or a privilege. Grow something to eat this year, friends! It’s easy. Children love having their hands in soil or a pot of potting soil. You will, too.

Below are two yummy meals!

Indian Marsala with Great Northern Beans -or chicken -makes 6 servings (If chicken it is a Tiki Masala.)

Ingredients

• butter for sauté
• 1 can of Great Northern or Butter Beans or 1 C diced cooked chicken (use the leftovers from a rotisserie chicken)
• 1 pint jar of home-canned roasted tomatoes OR 1 12-16 oz. can of organic tomato sauce
• 1/2 – 3/4 C of whole milk or plant-milk (if you can get raw milk from happy cows, it’s the best!)
• 1/4-1/3 C coconut milk
• 1 sweet onion – chopped
• 3 stalks of celery- chopped
• 3-5 baby portobello mushrooms – chopped
• 1 C frozen mixed vegetables (Best for this meal is to not use a broccoli-cauliflower mix. Use a green bean, corn, carrot type of mix.)
• Optional: Half of a frozen flavor bomb, if you have it; i.e. spinach and parsley or such.
• Spices:
  • the 3-C’s: cumin, curry (yellow), coriander. Equal amount (1 t.) of curry and coriander. Slightly less cumin.
  • 1 t. garam masala
  • 2 t. (heaping) dried basil or 1/4 C of fresh
  • 1 t. dried cilantro
  • 2 heaping t. garlic powder or 3-4 cloves of garlic depending on size (my left hand often can’t hold the clove, so organic garlic powder purchased in bulk is the go-to. Ah, but yes, I still grow it!!)
  • 1/4 C limeade or juice of lime. Start with half. Don’t overpower the masala.
  • himalayan salt and ground pepper, just enough
  • optional: half a veggie bouillon cube. It often rounds out the flavor palette.

Method

• Rinse the can of beans in a colander or sieve.
• Use a small soup pot.
• Chop onions first and get the sauté going. Medium heat.
• Chop celery, mushrooms, and garlic -if using cloves; add them to the sauté.
• Cook to slightly soft and flavorful.
• Add the 3 C’s and garam masala, stir and let the heat begin to release their oils and flavors.
• Add the beans; stir in and coat with the flavors in the pot. Let be for a minute or so; long enough to get the frozen items from the freezer.
• Add the tomato sauce. Stir in.
• Chop the flavor bomb, if you have it and add.
• Add all the rest of the herbs and spices including s & p.
• Bring to a low boil. Stir frequently. Watch the heat. Don’t burn  the bottom of the pot.
• Add the frozen veggies, milk plus coconut milk, and limeade or juice. If using plant-milk oat is better than rice milk. It’s a little thicker. The coconut milk adds flavor and texture.  Stir in. Cover. Leave on simmer for 1o minutes. Then turn off the heat, let it sit for 10 minutes before tasting.
• Adjust according to your taste. S & P, lime, milk (any of them) might be desired. The medium-spice-heat quality will come out as it sits.

Serve with rice, or naan, or a quesadilla.

Black-eyed Pea and Portobello Mushroom Soup – makes 6 servings

Ingredients (to a certain extent, use whatever you have on hand. Play!)

• 1/2 C of dried black-eyed peas soaked overnight in 4X the water.
• 2 T butter or whatever you sauté in
• 5-7 baby portobello mushrooms or 2 full size – chopped
• 1 sweet onion -chopped
• 1 C of stewed tomatoes or equivalent of home-frozen or home-canned -not necessary for home-done to be stewed
• 1-2 carrots – diced
• frozen or fresh spinach (or chard). I had a frozen flavor bomb of 1/2 a bunch of spinach plus parsley together. Loosely chop.
• 1/2 C rice. I used a rice medley.
• spices:
  • 2 t. Thai spice
  • 1/2 t. chili powder
  • some fresh-ground black pepper
  • 2 t. garlic powder or 4 cloves of fresh garlic, chopped
  • 1/4 t. himalayan salt
  • 2 t. herbs de province or a combination of basil and thyme is adequate (H d P is a great herb combination to have on hand!)
  • I added extra thyme from my thyme plant, just cuz.
  • 1 t. dried cilantro
  • 1 t. coriander
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 vegetable bouillon cube
  • 1/4 C limeade or juice of one lime
• 4 C water

Method

• In a small soup pot, put the butter to melt.
• Add chopped onion and mushrooms. Sauté on medium-low temp until soft. Add more butter if the mushrooms absorb it all.
• Add all the spices, except bouillon and limeade. Stir in. Let the heat start to activate their oils and flavors.
• Add the black-eyed peas, tomatoes, chopped carrots, and rice. Stir. For 30 seconds or so, let the ingredients share flavors with each other.
• Add the water. Stir, cover, and bring to low boil.
• Add chopped spinach (and parsley, if you have it).
• Stir in, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes. Stir occassionally.
• Around 45 min. taste-test. It should taste a slightly tangy from the tomatoes.
• Add the limeade or lime juice and bouillon; both will tamp down the acidity.
• Simmer a few more minutes, then let it sit for 15 minutes before tasting again.

The peas and the rice that I use do not 100% soften, which I like. This soup has a chew-factor which is part of its yum!

• any light colored bean could replace the Black-eyed Peas, including canned. Chicken could, too.
• organic ingredients, please; for you, your family, the pollinator insects, the waters of the world, and the organic  farmers who don’t get the same government subsidies that polluting farms do. Curious again.
• forgot to take a photo! Boy, is it yummy!