Red Autumn Soup with Orzo

Living in L.A., I don’t get to enjoy many of the typical harbingers of the fall season, including widespread changing of colors on our trees. Thankfully, many fall foods are red and orange in nature, and I try to make it a point to appreciate the colors that I’m not seeing as much in my environment on my plate instead. This nourishing soup combines several foods in the autumnal color palette to create a lush red soup that is punctuated with chewy bites of orzo.

Prep time: 15 minutes | Cook time: 35 minutes | Serves 4

Ingredients:

1½ pounds red kuri or kabocha squash, peeled, seeds removed + cubed
⅓ cup red lentils
2 large roasted red peppers, roughly chopped (see note below)
1 teaspoon paprika
4 cups vegetable broth or water
2/3 cup orzo (see note below for gluten-free option)
¾ teaspoon salt (fine grain)
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar (see note below)
Chopped parsley, cilantro and/or chives for serving

Preparation: 

Place the squash, red lentils, roasted red peppers, paprika and vegetable broth/water in a medium pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower heat to medium-low and cover the pot. Cook the soup for 20–25 minutes, until squash is easily pierced with a fork. 

Meanwhile, bring a small pot of salted water to a boil and cook until it becomes just slightly al dente (about 1–2 minutes less than the package instructions suggest. It will finish cooking in the soup, so don’t work if it seems super chewy). Drain the orzo and set aside until the soup has finished cooking.

Blend the soup until smooth using an immersion blender (or carefully in a conventional blender in two batches). Return the soup to the stove over low heat. Stir in the cooked orzo, salt and sherry vinegar. Cook the soup for another 5 minutes or until the orzo is your desired texture. Taste the soup and adjust the salt and/or vinegar as desired. Serve the soup as soon as the orzo is cooked through, garnishing individual servings with a sprinkle of fresh herbs.

Recipe Notes:

• You can use canned roasted red peppers or make your own (instructions easily found online). If preparing your own, be sure to remove the skins and seeds before using.

• For a gluten-free orzo, I suggest using Jovial’s cassava orzo.

• You can also use red wine vinegar in place of the sherry vinegar if that’s what you have on hand, but I would highly suggest investing in a bottle of sherry vinegar if possible. Its unique flavor is really unlike any other vinegar.

Lemon Cucumber Salad

If you’ve never experienced lemon cucumbers, I recommend seeking them out. Their name speaks to their yellow-skinned appearance (not their flavor) and they tend to be slightly less bitter than traditional cucumber varieties. Sumac gives this salad a nice bright flavor, without the use of any citrus juice (cucumbers and citrus are considered a poor food combination in Ayurveda).

Prep time: 10 minutes | Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 pounds lemon cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 Tablespoons finely chopped chives
12 mint leaves, finely chopped
½ teaspoon sumac
2 Tablespoons crumbled goat cheese (optional – see note below for vegan option)
Salt

Preparation:

Place the sliced cucumbers on a serving platter. Drizzle the cucumbers with olive oil, and then sprinkle the chives, mint and sumac over the top, along with the goat cheese (if using). Finish the salad off with a couple pinches of salt and serve immediately. (You can also make this salad by mixing everything together in a large bowl.)

Notes:

• If you can’t find lemon cucumbers, any green cucumber variety will do in their place

• There are some nice plant-based soft cheeses on the market that could be used as a vegan goat cheese alternative

• Sumac can be purchased at Middle Eastern Markets, specialty shops, or online

Rustic Strawberry + Sage Galette

Galettes are the perfect summertime dessert – quick to make so that you have more time to spend outdoors, and also the best way to use up excess summer fruits (berries, stonefruit, etc.). This rustic style galette has a very simple crust that as my husband described it, “tastes very healthy.” For a sweeter crust, feel free to add a bit more sweetener. For a less “earthy” flavor, you can use a mix of whole wheat and all purpose flour.

Prep time: 20 minutes (plus chilling time) | Cook time: 30–40 minutes | Serves 4

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 cup (145g) whole wheat flour (I used Roan Mills Sonora Wheat Flour)
4 Tablespoons cold butter or non-dairy butter (I used Miyoko’s plant-based butter)
1 Tablespoon sucanat (or granulated sweetener of your choice)
4–5 Tablespoons ice water 

Filling:
1 pint of strawberries
4-8 sage leaves (use more if leaves are smaller; fewer if leaves are large)
1 teaspoon sucanat (or granulated sweetener of your choice)
1 teaspoon arrowroot (you can also substitute cornstarch)

Preparation:

Place the flour, butter and sucanat in a food processor fitted with the dough blade (this is the all-plastic blade that came with your machine). Pulse a few times until the butter is crumbled throughout the dough. (If you don’t have a food processor, place ingredients in a large bowl and use a pastry cutter instead.) Add 4 tablespoons of ice water to the machine and pulse a few more times to incorporate water into the flour mixture. You will likely need to scrape any excess flour up from the bottom edges of the food processor bowl and pulse a few more times. If there is still excess flour, add up to 1 tablespoon additional ice water in ½ tablespoon increments, pulsing until the dough has formed fairly uniform sized pieces that resemble small pebbles.

Transfer dough onto a lightly-floured work surface. Use your hands to shape the dough into a circular disc, about 1 inch thick. Place the prepared dough in a shallow bowl and cover with a tea towel. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.

While the dough chills, sliced the strawberries until you have about 1¾ cups of chopped berries (you will have a few extra berries left over to snack on). Place sliced berries in a bowl.

Chiffonade the sage: stack the leaves on top of one another (up to 4 at a time) and roll the leaves to form a cigar shape. Use a knife to slice the cigar into thin ribbons. Then chop the ribbons into smaller sections so that you’re left with what should resemble sage confetti. Add the chopped sage to the berries, along with the sucanat and arrowroot. Gently stir and let the berries sit while the dough finishes chilling.

Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees (F) and line a baking sheet with a sheet of parchment.

When the dough has finished chilling, return it to a lightly-floured surface and use a rolling pin to roll it into a circle about ¼-inch thick. (If your circle isn’t perfectly round, it’s okay – even an oval or more rectangular shape can still be folded into a beautiful galette).

Carefully transfer your rolled dough onto the center of the prepared baking sheet – here’s a quick tutorial if you’ve never done this before.

Add the berry filling to the center of the dough, trying to keep an even border of dough on all sides of your pile of berries.

Gently begin to fold the dough border in towards the center of the galette. If the creases as you fold, press each side of the crease together (this will help keep the juices from the berries from oozing out during cooking. If this does happen, don’t sweat it – your galette will still taste great).

Bake the galette for 30–40 minutes, until the bottom and edges are just lightly browned. The galette can be served warm or at room temperature.

Easy Quinoa + Veggie Porridge

Based on the empty bulk bins at our local Co-op last week, people have a lot of quinoa stored up in their pantries right now! If you’re one of them, here’s a versatile, nourishing recipe you can throw together using any veggies you have on hand.

Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 40 minutes | Serves 3–4

Ingredients:

2/3 cup white quinoa
1–2 cups chopped vegetables of your choosing (I like using green veggies – broccoli, chard, zucchini, etc.)
1 tablespoon mixed fresh herbs (thyme, sage, parsley, etc.)
½ teaspoon salt
Melted ghee or olive oil (for serving)

Preparation:

InstantPot instructions: Place all ingredients (except ghee/olive oil) in the bowl of your InstantPot, along with 3½ cups of water. Cook for 8 minutes at high pressure and let the pot release naturally. Top individual portions with a drizzle of ghee/oil as desired.

Stovetop instructions: Bring 3½ cups of water to a boil in a medium-sized pot. Add quinoa and veggies and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover pot and cook for 40 minutes, checking occasionally and adding more water if porridge becomes too dry. Stir in salt before serving and adjust as needed. Top individual portions with a drizzle of ghee/oil as desired.

* You can also substitute dried herbs - just use a bit less, maybe 1/2 tablespoon total.