It's Been a While

I haven't posted in a long time. Things have been busy and I haven't been playing with recipes I feel either 1) particularly like posting or 2) particularly like photographing so that I can, in fact, post them and make them at least somewhat visually appealing.

Recently, I started volunteering at a soup kitchen in my community. The guests who come have formed a community, a supportive community. They are, for the most part, grateful individuals and help those of us who are newer and don't know our way around that well. What surprises me is the number of children I see in the line on any given night. Fact: 1 in 5 people in line at a soup kitchen in America is a child. 1 in 5.

What's wrong with us as a country?

And what's wrong with us that we're not doing more to empower these people to move beyond their current circumstances? There are certainly plenty of options for programs that are more comprehensive than the one I volunteer at. Some provide job training, others have guests work in a community garden, or provide GED assistance, resume help, etc. How do these programs work? And how can we implement these successes in other places to help the guests move to a new position in life?

Yesterday, a volunteer asked me if the people who came to the soup kitchen were ashamed. He was a college student, a white male. I wanted to be annoyed with him, but his question was so earnest that I couldn't bring myself to be annoyed. Instead, I told him I felt confident some of the guests were ashamed, given the economic downturn. I'm sure some people thre never imagined they'd be guests at a soup kitchen. But, and this is the important thing, many of the guests likely see no reason to be ashamed--just as the volunteer saw no shame in asking the question he did.

Recently I listened to a Toni Morrison speech about the power of language--the power of language to subvert our racist qualities, our classist and sexist and agist qualities. Here's the link if your'e interested--it's about 40 minutes. Look for the September 24, 2010 podcast. http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/podcast.html

A long time coming - and a recipe!

It's been a while since I've written. Being a grad student is great because it means that (in my case) I'm being paid to do something I love and live in a wonderful little town. It also means that I go through weeks upon weeks where I feel like it's all I can do to keep my head above the water. Actually, this semester hasn't been too bad, but all my classes are night classes which significantly cuts down on the amount of time I spend experimenting in the kitchen. However, last night one of those classes was cancelled (hooray for small favors!) and I had a friend over for dinner. I wanted to make something I could store in my freezer and that used ingredients I already had on hand.

I decided on bean burgers because they'll make an easy meal later and are something I can easily take to campus with me if I need to. And because I haven't made my own bean burgers in a while and it's something I actually really enjoy doing. I'm strange, I know! Anyway, these use canned chili beans and the bit of nutritional yeast (in theory) makes them taste a bit cheesier than they might otherwise.

You can adjust the seasonings to make them as spicy (or not spicy) as you'd like but my very spice sensitive friend seemed to have no problem with these. On my own, I'd probably serve them with a chipotle sauce and/or a whole grain mustard. I served these with root vegetable fries (radishes, turnips, carrots, onions and garlic--these last two are not a roots technically, yes I know). They would also go well with sweet potato or green bean fries. In addition, because I had one that needed to be used up, I sliced an orange bell pepper and grilled it in the pan with the burger.

Chili Bean Veggie Burger
Yields 5 patties

1 cup finely chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons olive oil
3/4 cup grated or diced carrot
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon extra dark cocoa powder
1 15-ounce can chili beans (extra spicy), with liquid
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (I used a whole grain dijon)
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup oat or wheat bran
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes, optional
Salt

Saute onions and garlic in oil, over medium heat, about 5 minutes until onions begin to soften. Add carrots and saute another 5 minutes. Add cumin, cayenne, chipotle, and oregano and saute 2 minutes. Add cocoa and remove from heat.

Process beans in a food processor, or mash with a potato masher, until coarsely ground. Transfer to a large bowl and mix in mustard and sauted vegetables. Add oats, bran, and nutritional yeast (if using). Season with salt to taste.

Moisten hands and form into approximately 5 patties. Cook patties in lightly greased nonstick skillet about 5-8 minutes over medium-low heat, until patties begin to brown. Flip and cook another 5-8 minutes. Serve on a bun or tortilla!

Pumpkin-Chipotle Soup

So, I was biking along on a Saturday morning and what did I spy in the ditch? A runaway pumpkin! What more could I want out of life. I'm sure it escaped from a truck on the way to the farmers market. It was a lovely little pie pumpkin that suffered a hairline fracture when it fell. I rescued it...only to take it home, scoop out its guts, and slip it into the oven (lightly coated with oil, face down) for about an hour, until the flesh became tender.

Then I scooped out the meet and stuck it in a storage container. It was only then that I asked myself: okay, now what?

So, I made pumpkin butter (see my Autumn Harvest Butter). Only there was still pumpkin left.

Then I made this soup. The smoky chipotles compliment the sweet molasses and the lentils help thicken the soup and add a bit of protein. You can skip the cayenne if you want to make it a little less spicy, but I love having it in there. There isn't a lot of bite to the soup as its currently written (but note: I have a high spice tolerance), but if it's too much, you can smooth it out and tone it down with a dollop of yogurt (or sour cream) on top.

I serve this with fresh, whole grain bread usually, but if bread isn't your thing, then you could easily couple it with a side of a sauteed green or roasted Brussels sprouts.

Pie pumpkins differ from other types of pumpkins in that the flesh is a little sweeter and they tend to be less fibrous. But, if you've got another pumpkin handy, just use that. It should work out about the same--and don't get rid of those seeds. You can roast them with salt and/or spices, or you can candy them! Consider serving a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds on top of this thick soup.

Pumpkin-Chipotle Soup

1 teaspoon olive oil
¼ medium onion, chopped
1 rib celery, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ginger, minced
3 tablespoons split red lentils
15 ounces 100% pure pumpkin or fresh, roasted pumpkin
4 cups water
1 tablespoon (or to taste) chipotle pepper in adobo, minced
1 tablespoon molasses
¼ teaspoon (or to taste) cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Yogurt or sour cream (optional, garnish)

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, sauté onion and celery in the oil until onion begins to turn golden. Add garlic and ginger, sauté for 1 minute. Add red lentils and sauté 30 seconds. Add in the pumpkin, water, chipotle, molasses, and cayenne. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Use an immersion blender to puree the soup mixture, then stir in the cinnamon and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to heat once more. Serve hot with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream, if desired.