Sweet Potato, Red Lentil, and Peanut Stew

Sweet Potato, Red Lentil, and Peanut Stew

From My Bowl Author: Caitlin Shoemaker

Sweet Potato, Red Lentil, and Peanut Stew

This Sweet Potato, Red Lentil, and Peanut Stew is healthy, hearty, and satisfying. It’s a perfect dinner dish – and you only need one pot to make it!

• Author: Caitlin Shoemaker

• Prep Time: 10 minutes

• Cook Time: 30 minutes

• Total Time: 40 minutes

• Yield: Serves 6-8 1x

• Method: Stovetop

• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

• 1 yellow onion, diced

• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

• 3–5 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 tablespoon salt-free curry powder

• 1/2 tablespoon cumin

• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (reduce or omit for less spice)

• 1 6-ounce (170 g) can tomato paste

• 1/3 cup (85 g) natural peanut butter

• 1 28-ounce (790 g) can diced tomatoes

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2″ cubes (about 5 cups)

• 1 1/2 cups (309 g) dry red lentils, rinsed

• 3 cups (700 ml) vegetable broth

• Salt, to taste

• Optional: fresh cilantro and cooked brown rice, to serve

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot to medium heat and add a splash of water or neutral cooking oil. Add the onion to the pot and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes, until translucent. Add the ginger and garlic to the pot and cook for an additional 1 to 2 minutes, until fragrant. Stir in the curry powder, cumin, and cayenne and cook for 1 to 2 minutes more.

2. Stir the tomato paste and peanut butter into the mixture; once dissolved, add the diced tomatoes, sweet potatoes, red lentils, and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover and simmer over low-medium heat for 15-20 minutes, until the lentils have fully cooked.

3. Ladle into bowls and top with fresh cilantro; serve warm. Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to one week, or the freezer for up to two months.

This recipe is at: https://frommybowl.com/sweet-potato-peanut-stew/

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

Roasted Pumpkin Soup
Martha Stewart

Prep Time: 5 mins
Total Time: 40 mins
Servings: 4 

Cozy up with a bowl of our favorite fall soup—that also happens to be super easy to make.

The Pumpkin — Choose a sugar pumpkin that feels heavy for its size and does not have any soft spots. Store it at room temperature until you make the soup.
Alternatives — Instead of sugar pumpkins, you can use other winter squash in our Roasted Pumpkin Soup recipe. Kabocha, calabaza, and Hubbard are the best alternatives. 

 Ingredients

• 2 ¾ pounds sugar pumpkin or butternut squash, halved and seeded

• 1 onion, peeled and quartered through the stem

• 1 garlic clove, peeled

• ½ cup olive oil

• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

• 5 cups homemade or store-bought low-sodium vegetable stock

Directions
Preheat oven, cut pumpkin and toss with oil: 
Preheat oven to 450°F. Cut pumpkin into 2-inch pieces.

Combine pumpkin, onion, and garlic on a rimmed baking sheet. Add oil and 2 teaspoons salt; toss to coat, then spread in a single layer.
Roast pumpkin:  Roast until pumpkin is tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, about 30 minutes, rotating pan and tossing vegetables halfway through. Let cool, then remove skins.
Place vegetables in saucepan and add stock: 
Transfer vegetables to a medium saucepan; heat over medium. Pour in 2 cups stock.
Puree, add remaining stock: 
Use an immersion blender to puree until smooth. With the blender running, slowly add remaining 3 cups stock, and puree until smooth.
Heat, and serve: 
Bring soup just to a simmer. Remove from heat, and season with salt and pepper. Cover to keep warm until serving.
Storing 
Transfer the soup to airtight containers and cool completely before refrigerating. The soup will last for four to five days. Reheat it thoroughly on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Freezing 
Pumpkin soup is easy to freeze. Make sure the soup has cooled before freezing in freezer-safe airtight containers (Freeze in batches rather than one large container. So you can thaw what you need for one meal.) Leave some room at the top of the containers as the soup will expand as it freezes. Avoid freezing pumpkin soup that contains cream or additions like nuts or croutons. Pumpkin soup will last two to three months in the freezer.
Frequently Asked Questions 
What thickens pumpkin soup?
There are several ways to thicken pumpkin soup. The easiest method is to reduce the soup by cooking off some of the liquid. Alternatively, use a slurry of all-purpose flour or cornstarch and water, add a teaspoon or two of either thickener to a small bowl and stir in 2 to 3 teaspoons of the soup to create a slurry. Then stir the slurry into the soup and bring it to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes to allow the thickener to work and to make sure any raw flour flavor cooks off.
Why is my pumpkin soup gritty?
The most common cause of gritty pumpkin soup is if the pumpkin was not cooked enough. If it is not roasted sufficiently to become soft, it will not puree smoothly and the result can be a gritty soup.
Why is my pumpkin soup watery?
Your pumpkin soup might be watery if you didn't use a sugar pumpkin. Some varieties of pumpkin have a more watery texture and this would result in a thinner, more watery soup.
Other Pumpkin Soup Recipes to Try: 
Pumpkin Soup With Wild Rice and Apples
Pumpkin Chestnut Soup
Ginger Squash Soup With Parmesan Croutons
Pumpkin Soup With Pimenton and Preserved Lemon
Jamaican-Style Pumpkin Soup
This recipe is from MarthaStewart.com

Updated on September 13, 2023 by Victoria Spencer

Buttermilk-Marinated Roast Chicken

From Heather Burger

I recently watched Samin Nosrat's Netflix series Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat.  It's a delight.  A welcome departure from the now ubiquitous "cooking" shows challenging chefs to prepare a dish in 10 minutes combining ingredients like jellied eel, brie, pickled okra, and caramel corn.

Nosrat's series is a primer in how by mastering four elements anyone can prepare delicious meals at home.  Her recipe for buttermilk-brined roast chicken has three ingredients transformed by salt, fat, acid, and heat into a masterpiece easy enough for a weeknight dinner or a picnic lunch, but impressive enough for guests.
Get a local chicken from the Hey Day Farm Store or Bay Hay & Feed.  Use Grace Harbor buttermilk, which is full-fat and cream top, from a Pacific Northwest creamery.  Available at Town & Country.

Heather Burger, Executive Director
Friends of the Farms

Buttermilk-Marinated Roast Chicken

by Samin Nosrat

3½- to 4-pound chicken (about 1.5 kilograms)
Salt
2 cups buttermilk (475 ml)

The day before you want to cook the chicken, remove the wingtips by cutting through the first wing joint with poultry shears or a sharp knife. Reserve for stock. Season the chicken generously with salt and let it sit for 30 minutes.

Stir 2 tablespoons of kosher salt or 4 teaspoons fine sea salt into the buttermilk to dissolve. Place the chicken in a gallon-size resealable plastic bag and pour in the buttermilk. If the chicken won’t fit in a gallon-size bag, double up two plastic produce bags to prevent leakage and tie the bag with a piece of twine.

Seal it, squish the buttermilk all around the chicken, place on a rimmed plate, and refrigerate. If you’re so inclined, over the next 24 hours you can turn the bag so every part of the chicken gets marinated, but that’s not essential.
Pull the chicken from the fridge an hour before you plan to cook it. Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C), with a rack set in the center position.

Remove the chicken from the plastic bag and scrape off as much buttermilk as you can without being obsessive. Tightly tie together the legs of the chicken with a piece of butcher’s twine. Place the chicken in a 10-inch cast iron skillet or shallow roasting pan.

Slide the pan all the way to the back of the oven on the center rack. Rotate the pan so that the legs are pointing toward the rear left corner and the breast is pointing toward the center of the oven (the back corners tend to be the hottest spots in the oven, so this orientation protects the breast from overcooking before the legs are done). Pretty soon you should hear the chicken sizzling.

After about 20 minutes, when the chicken starts to brown, reduce the heat to 400°F and continue roasting for 10 minutes and then move the pan so the legs are facing the back right corner of the oven.

Continue cooking for another 30 minutes or so, until the chicken is brown all over and the juices run clear when you insert a knife down to the bone between the leg and the thigh.

When the chicken’s done, remove it to a platter and let it rest for 10 minutes before carving and serving.

Link to recipe:  https://www.saltfatacidheat.com/buttermilkmarinated-roast-chicken
Link to video on preparation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-pq7MA2ko4

Pickled Radishes!

Pickled Radishes!!
Time to shop at the farmers market.

Recently a dear friend and local foodie gave us a copy of Joshua McFadden’s new book called Six Seasons. His trattoria Ava Gene’s in Portland, Oregon we hear is a must-go-to. When I first cracked it open the page said ‘Pickles: Six Seasons in a Jar.' I was intrigued because pickling radishes had been on my mind since eyeing Persephone Farm’s bright red radishes at the previous Saturday’s Bainbridge Island Farmers Market. I returned last Saturday, bought four beautiful bunches from Rebecca Slattery, the Farm’s owner, went home and made this very straightforward recipe. Almost immediately, you can start enjoying these marvelous morsels in sandwiches, salads or straight out of the jar with a nicely chilled Sauvignon Blanc.

From Six Seasons:
This makes enough brine for about 3 pints of pickles.

• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups hot water
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon plus
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt ( I use Jacobsen Salt)

Mix together until all dissolved. Pack your cleaned & trimmed radishes in clean canning type jars, fill with the brine to cover, screw on lid. I kept most whole and a few sliced in half for ‘effect.' You are done! Put in frig for up to 2 months.

Guest Blogger
Robert Ross
Friends of the Farms Volunteer