Witchin' in the Kitchen

Latest Posts

artist interview with Meg Wachter of Got a Girl Crush

Published by Jess

Meg Wachter, a Brooklyn-based photographer, cycling activist, and all-around Renaissance woman is the kind of person who gets stuff done. In my experience, this kind of person is a rare breed. It’s all too common for someone to have good ideas and to pass them around or sit on them, never letting them come fully to life. It takes a different person all together to actually make them happen. That’s Meg.

In 2009, Meg started the Brooklyn Skillshare, a community-based, community-led, and community-building series of learning events organized and taught by Brooklyn residents. They’ve hosted classes ranging from basics of lacto-fermentation, Japanese bookbinding, intro to juggling and how to reclaim vacant public land.

Later that same year, Meg and her friend Andrea Cheng started up the Got a Girl Crush blog, a Tumblr featuring crush-worthy babes across time and place. The blog evolved into a magazine, which just released its gorgeous third annual issue.

Meg and I met through Instagram, and immediately connected over our mutual obsession with Iceland and Björk, DIY projects (she BK Skillshare and me DC Food Swap), and feminist attitudes. She generously agreed to be interviewed about her work and Got a Girl Crush. You can also find her on , , and and be sure to check out all of the Got a Girl Crush swag in their online shop too. Enjoy!

photo by Meg Wachter

How were you first introduced to photography, and how did you know this was something you wanted to pursue?

I have it in my blood. My great grand-father owned a professional photo studio in Jamaica, Queens and to say my grandfather was was a hobbyist is definitely an understatement – but I’m sad to say that the first I expressed any interest in photography was in taking a high school basic photo class because of a cute boy. I will always have a fondness for toiling in the darkroom (even though most of those chemicals cause alzheimer’s), listening to my portable discman (am I dating myself now?), and learn about dark and light. And eventually without an clear idea of “what I wanted to be when I grew up,” I applied to the School of Photojournalism program at Ohio University to which I was denied admission. But, I wouldn’t take rejection as a definitive and took all coursework required for the program anyways and reapplied after my Freshman year when I had a better understanding of my own style. I was accepted to the School of Visual Communications by a slim margin and worked hard to prove my mettle. Photography is something that still excites me even in the age where everyone’s a photographer (i.e. Instagram), and it really helped me come out of my adolescent shell and truly meet people.

photography by Meg Wachter, Iceland

How did the Got a Girl Crush magazine begin? How has it evolved over time?

Got a Girl Crush the blog started in 2009 when Andrea and I met through TUMBLR somehow. I started reblogging all her amazing mixes she’d post and vise versa and we finally became email pen pals. I called her my West-coast-taste-twin. My OG internet girl-crush. Emails led to a mutual catch-all blog where we’d express our adoration for other amazing ladies (like Carol Channing and Yookoo and the Guerrilla Girls). There’s enough societally forced competition between women out there and we really just wanted a positive place for some serious shine theory.

In its infancy, the blog was spontaneous and informal, but working as a freelance photographer with lots of free time on her hands from time to time, saw an opportunity to make something more of it. So that’s when we rounded up gals to photograph, illustrate, and interview for the first print issue in 2011. I personally saw it as a means to approach other women who I admired and also secretly hoped to be friends with (and as it turns out, have befriended quite closely a few ladies who I’ve met through the magazine and for this I am forever grateful).

Issue 1 was print-to-order through an online third-party which was perfect as a no-cost way for us to start. The second issue we funded out of our own pockets. It was a deeply imbued learning experience, littered with the trials and tribulations of distributing small-batch print in a digital age, but I’m happy to report that print is NOT dead! And that was definitely made apparent when we rallied our friends, family and readers to help us get our third and newest issue to print through an overly successful Kickstarter campaign. This third issue (designed by the über talented Celeste Prevost) has by far felt like our most legitimate effort. And you better believe I’m already working on a wish-list for the fourth issue.

Describe your creative process in developing each issue. What does each step along that process look like?

It’s always started with a list. Who we’re currently crushing on, life-long crushes, who’s work we admire. And we just ask these women to be involved. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Johanna Fateman (of riot grrrl zines and Le Tigre fame) was in our second issue and I got to meet and photograph her. Teen dream come true! Mary Roach (humorous science author) was in issue three. Amazing. I help cultivate this magazine and I still can’t get over some of these seriously notable women who agree to be in our humble little rag. But also getting the chance to pair friends and other creatives together to interview or document each-other is super fun. Since everyone is donating their times and talents to make this thing happen (all funding goes back into printing the next issue, we really make zero dollars off of this thing), and we all have other full-time jobs, the overall process takes about a year to suss out.

How has living and working in New York had an impact on your work?

I’m almost at my 10 year mark in this city, which blows my mind a little. As far as photography, you’ve got to stay on top of being creative. Especially with the advent of the internet, the saturation rate of who’s done what already can be terribly intimidating to generating original ideas. It has been a love/hate relationship and a constant test as well as validation. I try to stay unjaded (which is hard the older I get and longer I live here) and present to the fact of the glorious diversity and history of this city, while remaining aware of the world outside this bubble of an island. But, in contrast, for the magazine it has been an endless source of inspiration. It has connected me and inspired me and given me the most supportive chosen-family any woman could ask for. I am lucky.

Which artists have inspired your work in some way?

Nan Goldin, Cindy Sherman, Diane Arbus – all for sense of use of light and subject matter and for using the camera as a voice. And Jenny Holzer for putting it out there.

How about your top girl crush?

Björk. No question.

What are you working on now, and what’s next?

I’m currently planning a trip to Japan for next year (a lifelong dream), scheming the future of GAGC and planning out issue 4 of the magazine, and also working on a super secret public art project with my partner Dan hopefully out in spring of 2015!

music for autumn 2014

Published by Jess

Of all the seasonal playlists I put together every year, my autumn mix is always my favorite. The days are short as the earth is retreating back into herself. The mind, heart and body are inhaling, reserving their strength for the long winter ahead. October invites the comfortable and the strange, a contrast and tension that I try to weave into this playlist. Familiar and strange, grounding and ethereal, moving in the liminal space between two worlds, the one that came before and the one ahead.

This mix features some of my favorite new artists like FKA twigs and Sylvan Esso, and a new release from old favorites like The Future Sound of London and Zola Jesus. Hoping this music helps you get through your work day or tap into your power during this season when the veils are thin and the energy is wild.

Listen to the full Summer 2014 playlist on Spotify.

Explore past playlists for Summer 2014, Winter 2014, Autumn 2013, Summer 2013, Spring 2013, Winter 2012, and Autumn 2012.

FKA Twigs

Water Me
FKA twigs
EP2

Ibeyi

River
Ibeyi
Oya

The Knife

Silent Shout
The Knife
Silent Shout

A Hack and a Hacksaw

Nyisd Ki Rózsám (Hungary)
A Hawk And A Hacksaw
You Have Already Gone to the Other World

FSOL

Point of Departure
The Future Sound of London
Environment Five

Samaris

Tíbrá
Samaris
Silkidrangar

Sylvan Esso

Coffee
Sylvan Esso
Sylvan Esso

Le Loup

Go East
Le Loup
Family

Julia Holter

Don’t Make Me Over
Julia Holter
Don’t Make Me Over

Lia Ices

Grown Unknown
Lia Ices
Grown Unknown

Aphex Twin

Avril 14th
Aphex Twin
Drukqs

Minda Tindle

Lovely Day – Saint Michel Remix
Mina Tindle
Mina Tindle Seen By…

Zola Jesus

Dangerous Days
Zola Jesus
Taiga

Noodles in Shiitake Ginger Broth | Witchin' in the Kitchen

noodles in a shiitake ginger miso broth

Published by Jess

More than most, I’m prone to infections, colds, and the flu. When the seasons really begin to shift, I start supplementing my diet with herbal teas and syrups to boost my immune system. My go-to medicines include elderberry syrup and fire cider as a preventative, and a tea of mullein, linden leaf, chamomile and peppermint for strengthening the throat and lungs against the cold mornings and nights. I also add warming spices to my food, like ginger, cinnamon and turmeric, and eat a lot of antiviral and antimicrobial foods, like garlic and medicinal mushrooms.

Many mushrooms could be categorized as “medicinal” (and substantial information on them can be found across the internet), but some of the most common and well-known include reishi, maitake and shiitake. Shiitake in particular is known for helping fight the flu, bacterial infection, and even treating cancer, and is relatively easy to find in local markets. With their large, flat tops and thin stems, they’re not hard to spot and pack a flavor punch in cooking.

Shiitake originates from Japan, China and Korea and pairs naturally with flavors from these regions, like soy, sesame, ginger and miso. On Sunday afternoon, I filled a big stockpot with filtered water and threw in tough shiitake stems, dried shiitake (to add extra flavor), and a thumb-sized nob of fresh ginger root. Simmered low and slow for a couple hours produces an earthy, slightly spicy broth that is delicious on its own as a warm tea, or of course can be used in a soup. Separately, cooking thinly sliced mushroom tops for thirty minutes or more in a bit of oil, such as sesame, makes its nutrients bioavailable for uptake in the body. Stir in a little miso into the broth, add some noodles and mushrooms, and you have a delicious autumn tonic for the body and heart.

noodles in a shiitake ginger miso broth

30 fresh shiitake mushrooms
1.75 oz. bag of dried shiitake mushrooms
2 carrots, peeled if not organic, diced
2-inch piece of ginger root, peeled and sliced into thin coins
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 packages of soba noodles
1 teaspoon of white miso paste per serving
sriracha sauce, for serving

Begin by making the shiitake ginger broth. To a large stock pot, add the whole shiitake stems, dried shiitake, carrot, ginger and garlic and 12-14 cups of filtered water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer on the lowest setting for 1-2 hours until flavorful. You can also strain out the vegetables and continue to cook down longer if you prefer a richer broth. This recipe makes a lot of broth – store extra in the refrigerator or freeze for later use.

In a large pan, heat the sesame oil over medium-low heat. Slice the shiitake caps thin and add them to the pan, in separate batches, so the pan is never overcrowded. This allows for the mushrooms to brown evenly and not steam. Add a pinch of sea salt here and there to taste, but not too much because the soy sauce will add additional salt. If they begin to brown, lower the heat. Once all mushrooms are in the pan and cooking down, add the soy sauce and stir to combine. Cook for 30-45 minutes.

Cook the soba noodles according to package instructions. Meanwhile, in each bowl, whisk together a small amount of miso paste with 2 cups of broth until combined. Add the noodles to the broth and top with the cooked mushrooms and a drizzle of sriracha sauce, if desired.

Serves 6

ketchup pie

Published by Jess

If you’re the kind of person who eats french fries with her ketchup; if you like your pies as adventurous as your women; if okra slime really gets you going; then this pie is for you. With tart green tomatoes, sliced stars of okra, and an ample dose of brown sugar and golden raisins, this pie doesn’t sit squarely in the dinner or dessert category. And although there is no actual ketchup in this pie, you wouldn’t know it from tasting it.

Once I saw green tomatoes at the farmers market, I became fixated on finding some way to incorporate them into a pie. I made a delicious green tomato chutney last fall and am a big fan of fried green tomatoes, but felt that there had to be more versatile uses for the humble green tomato. Layering it with cheese and other nightshades seemed too predictable, and I knew the firmness of the tomato would have to be cooked down somewhat to be soft enough in a pie or tart. But I remembered that chutney – the sweet and tart flavors of green tomatoes, apples, raisins, and vinegar – and started experimenting.

The result is something reminiscent of summer barbecues and medieval mincemeat pies. Enjoy it on its own, or with a bitter green salad or a pork chop to provide some weight against the sweet, tangy flavor of the pie. If you do eat meat, incorporating some shredded pork into the filling itself would also probably be a pretty delicious modification.

ketchup pie

CRACKED PEPPER PIE PASTRY
(makes one six-inch disk)

1 cup white flour
1/4 cup whole wheat or spelt flour
1/4 t salt
1 T freshly cracked black pepper
1/2 cup *cold* unsalted butter
1/4 cup ice water
1/2 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice (pour it into the ice water)

Mix the dry ingredients together. Cut in the butter with your fingers until there are pea-sized bits of butter distributed throughout. If the dough gets greasy or warm, stick it in the fridge for 15 minutes. Dribble in the water/lemon juice mixture slowly, incorporating it into the dough with a spoon. Dump the dough onto the counter, knead together a few times, then divide into 2 balls. Flatten the balls with your hands, wrap tightly in cling wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour before using (ideally overnight). Keep refrigerated up to 3 days, or freeze in a freezer plastic bag for 4 months.

When ready to make the pie, roll out the disc of dough on a lightly floured counter and transfer it to a 9-inch pie plate. Store in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to relax.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 425. Prick the chilled pie pastry all over with the tines of a fork, line it with aluminum foil, and fill it with pie weights or dried beans. Bake in the center of the oven for 15 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights, and bake for 5 minutes more until starting to color slightly. Remove from the oven and prick any air pockets with the tip of a knife.

While still warm, fill the pie crust with the cooked and prepared pie filling (recipe follows) and bake.

PIE FILLING

1 small yellow onion, diced
4 green tomatoes, cored and chopped into 1/2-inch dice
1 cup sliced okra
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup golden raisins
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T tomato paste
1 T peeled and freshly grated ginger root
1 T fig jam
1 tsp. hot sauce
3 whole cloves
1/2 cup water
olive oil
2 eggs
1/4 cup half and half or cream

BREAD CRUMB CRUST

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs

In a large saucepan, saute the onion in 1 T of olive oil over medium heat until soft and translucent, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more, then add the tomato paste, ginger root, fig jam, hot sauce, and golden raisins and stir to combine. Add the tomatoes, okra, brown sugar, red wine vinegar and cloves, and continue to stir until the filling becomes saucy and thick. Continue to cook for about 30 minutes – if the filling becomes dry, add the water. You don’t want the filling to be runny, but you want the flavors and textures to begin to meld.

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs with the cream. In a separate bowl, combine the Parmesan and bread crumbs. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375. Once the filling is ready, pour it into the pre-baked pie crust. Pour the egg/cream custard over the top, and sprinkle the pie with the bread crumb crust. Bake for 35-45 minutes until the filling is set and the crust is golden. Serve warm.

peach habanero hot sauce

Published by Jess

Welcome to the new Witchin’ in the Kitchen! This blog just celebrated its fourth anniversary this summer, and it felt time for a change. Aside from a new look and feel, I hope that the new design makes it easier for you to discover seasonal recipes, preservation tips, herbal medicine techniques, and inspiration from some of my favorite artists and makers.

This summer has been a busy one. Our family doubled in size as we adopted two rescue cats, a pair of identical sisters with silvery gray coats, bright gold eyes, and big personalities. Meet Elvie (on the left) and Midi (on the right). They wake us up at 3 in the morning with head nudges and love bites, scale our bookshelves like seasoned mountain climbers, and are stalwart cooking companions. We’re in love.

Each Sunday, O and I bike down to the biggest, baddest farmers market under the 83 highway to stock up on our produce for the week. Although I haven’t been canning as much this summer as last year, I find an afternoon here and there to experiment in the kitchen with ferments, herbalism, and preserving pickles and sauces. One weekend, I came home with several pounds of hot peppers – cayenne, habanero, and serrano. I also brought home half a dozen peaches, all of which had been smushed by the time we made it home. I had intended them for hand fruit or pie, but given the circumstances, I improvised.

The result – peach habanero hot sauce.

This is definitely a hot sauce – not salsa for chip dipping. It has a sweet kick and a quick burn that gets the digestive fire burning, but doesn’t linger on the tongue for long. I’ve added it to kale salads, baked tofu, eggs and fish. It’s versatile and a wonderful way to celebrate the season before summer is gone.

peach habanero hot sauce

adapted from For Reals Life

2 pounds of peaches, about 6
10 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 onion, chopped
4 tablespoons sugar or honey, to taste
4 teaspoons sea salt
zest and juice of 2 organic limes
2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 cups water
24 habanero peppers, or a mix of hot red peppers – I used 18 habaneros and 2 cayennes
rubber gloves and goggles for handling the peppers

Peel the peaches and slice them into chunks over a big pot to catch the juices. Discard the peels and pits. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the peppers, to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the peppers. Please, for the love of unicorns, wear rubber gloves and goggles (or glasses) while preparing the peppers. You can easily find both at your local pharmacy. These babies burn, so if they do touch your fingers, do not rub your eyes, lips, or, erm, anywhere else for several hours. If pepper juice squirts you in the eye, rinse it out with milk, not water. And it’s worth noting that the heat of the peppers comes from the seeds, so if you would prefer a more mild hot sauce, use fewer peppers and discard most of the seeds.

To prepare the peppers, trim the stems and chop the peppers into rough chunks, adding them to the pot of peaches all at once. Bring the sauce to a boil once again, then reduce to low heat. Using an immersion blender (or normal blender very carefully), puree the hot sauce until it is very smooth.

Ladle the finished sauce into bottles or jars and refrigerate for several months. Alternatively, process in sterilized half-pint mason jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes to keep for longer shelf storage.

guest blog post on Oaxaca at Fringe Association

Published by Jess

I am so honored and thrilled to share that I’ve written a guest post on my recent weaving adventures in Oaxaca over at Fringe Association, one of my all-time favorite blogs run by the illustrious Karen Templer. Many thanks to Oaxaca Cultural Navigator for the opportunity and Karen for the honor of sharing my experience with her community. You can read the full piece here.

Jess Schreibstein Oaxaca

music for summer 2014

Published by Jess

Happy Summer Solstice! I put together a mix for you, perfect for a long drive to the ocean or hot kitchen mornings baking a summer fruit cobbler (see the last track). Lots of love and sunshine to you on the longest day of the year.

More soon. xo

Listen to the full Summer 2014 playlist on Spotify or 8tracks.

Explore past playlists for Winter 2014, Autumn 2013, Summer 2013, Spring 2013, Winter 2012, and Autumn 2012.

Future Islands

Seasons (Waiting On You)
Future Islands
Singles

'Til Tuesday

Voices Carry
‘Til Tuesday
Voices Carry

Lykke Li

I Never Learn
Lykke Li
I Never Learn

Hundred Waters

Murmurs
Hundred Waters
The Moon Rang Like A Bell

Bonobo

Days To Come
Bonobo
Days To Come

Fatima

Technology
Fatima
Yellow Memories

Geechie and Elvie

Skinny Leg Blues
Geechie & Elvie
Mississippi Blues Vol. 1

St Vincent

Huey Newton
St. Vincent
St. Vincent

GOASTT

Too Deep
The Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger
Midnight Sun

Cass McCombs

Big Wheel
Cass McCombs
Big Wheel and Others

Paws

Erreur Humaine
Paws
Youth Culture Forever

Tune Yards

Water Fountain
Tune-Yards
Nikki Nack

Kelis

Cobbler
Kelis
Food

spring goddess soup

Published by Jess

I wasn’t planning on writing another post before I leave for Mexico, but this soup came out so well, and its ingredients are so fleeting, that it would be shameful not to share it. It was inspired by a cup of spinach, parsley, lemon soup with sour cream that I tasted at Soup’s On, my local soup stop in Baltimore. The flavors were fresh and bright, a perfect blend of acidity and umami, and I couldn’t wait to try to recreate it at home.

My version has the spinach, parsley, lemon juice and sour cream. But! It also has some heat from the addition of curry, a little funk from a dollop of chèvre, and and a bit of a bite from a cluster of ramps, those much-beloved garlicky cousins to the leek and the onion that grow wild in the mountain forests of Appalachia. If ever a food were a tonic for chasing away the ghosts of winter from the body, this would be it.

But an important note on ramps: Due to their recent surge in popularity over the past several years, ramps are at high risk of over-harvesting at their current rate of harvest and consumption. The problem is exacerbated by the way ramps are harvested. Virtually all of ramp reproduction is not from seeds but from rhizomes, a web of underground stems that connect multiple ramp shoots together, which are uprooted along with the bulbs and leaves. When harvesters pull up the plants, they are also diminishing their potential to reproduce. As if that weren’t enough, a 10 percent harvest of ramps will take 10 years to grow back – and that’s a liberal estimate. You can read more about ramps in an article I wrote for NPR last year.

So. What is a ramp-loving cook to do? Eat them sparingly. Eat them lovingly (preferably sautéed with butter and mineral salt). Ramps have deep roots in Appalachian and Native communities and are interwoven with local traditions and ritual. They are one of the first foods to surge through the soil in the spring, staving off starvation, replenishing the winter body with green life. They are medicine, they are sacred. Treat them with the honor and respect they deserve. As for this soup, ramps are a worthy ingredient here. Of course, you can also substitute the ramps for green onions or a couple garlic cloves. The choice is yours.

spring goddess soup

1 pound spinach, rinsed, tough stems removed
1 small bunch of green onions, both white and green parts, roughly chopped
1 bunch ramps, cleaned well with the rough parts of the bulbs removed, roughly chopped (or substitute with green garlic or crushed garlic cloves)
1 pound yellow or Yukon potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2″ cubes
1 bunch parsley, stems removed
7-8 cups homemade vegetable broth
1 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 tablespoon chèvre
juice of 1 lemon
sea salt
1/4 cup sour cream per serving

Combine all of the ingredients, except the chèvre, lemon juice and sour cream, in a big witchy pot. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until the bulbs of the green onions and ramps are completely soft. Using an immersion blender, or a normal blender in batches, quickly puree the soup until smooth. Don’t over-process the soup, or you risk making the potatoes gummy. Add the chèvre and stir it in to melt it. Add the lemon juice. Taste for salt, adding more if needed.

To serve, put 1/4 cup of full fat sour cream in the bottom of a bowl, and pour a ladle of soup over it. Blend the sour cream and soup together with a whisk. Top off the bowl with more soup, and stir to combine with the sour cream. Enjoy immediately.

spiced coconut red lentil soup, and a trip

Published by Jess

In less than a week, I’m headed to Oaxaca (wuh-HA-kah). I have wanted to visit Oaxaca since I was about 17 years old, a city and region of southern Mexico famed for its crafts – pottery, weaving, and textiles, primarily – and its food. (Oaxaca is known affectionately as the Land of the Seven Moles for a reason.) And now, I have a reason to go – one of my closest friends is getting hitched to her Costa Rican sweetheart in the Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán, a cathedral built in the 16th century with a towering cactus garden on its grounds. And I’m a bridesmaid!

In addition to, you know, being in the wedding, I will also be completing a weaving and natural dyeing residency in Teotitlán del Valle, a small village famed for its long history of woven rugs. My instructor is Federico Chavez Sosa, a third-generation Zapotec weaving master who learned how to weave, spin, and card wool when he was eight years old from his grandfather. For those of you who are interested in the program, I signed up through Oaxaca Cultural Navigator, an incredible source of information and more in the region.

I have taken some weaving courses in the past when I lived in California years ago, but my skills are rusty at best. But I’m diving in, heart first. My fingers are ready for fibers, rough wool dyed the color of blood with precious cochineal. My skin is ready for the scalding desert sun. My tongue is ready for the song of chipotles, limes, chocolate and masa. And my deepest self is ready for the jolt of color – brilliant, unabashed, shameless color – that courses through everything.

Of course, if you’ve been to Oaxaca, I am all ears. Please leave your recommendations in the comments! And please follow along on Instagram at where I will be documenting my trip.

And now, for a most un-Mexican meal, but a colorful one that has become a regular feature in our home. Behold, this dreamy coconut red lentil soup.

This spring on the east coast has been stop and go, and soup season has been lingering much longer than usual. Not that frigid weather is the only proper time to eat soup – I’m a huge fan of enjoying a variety of soups year-round as an inexpensive and delicious way pack a punch of vegetable power into your meals. And this one, guys and gals, is a keeper. Bright red lentils and yellow split peas, blended with curry, ginger, and turmeric, stirs up the digestive fire and delivers a steady stream of energy throughout the day. Feel free to play up the spices to get the heat and flavor you want.

spiced coconut red lentil soup

adapted from 101 Cookbooks

1 cup yellow split peas
1 cup red lentils
7 cups homemade vegetable broth
1-2 carrots (depending on size), peeled if not organic, cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 tablespoons fresh peeled and minced ginger root
2 tablespoons curry powder or Thai red curry paste (Note: the latter might have fish sauce in it, if you’re vegetarian)
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon coriander
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
2 tablespoons coconut oil or ghee
2 shallots, minced
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 14 oz. can whole-fat coconut milk
pinch of sea salt
fresh cilantro and Greek yogurt or sour cream, for serving

Rinse the lentils and split peas in several changes of water until it’s no longer murky. Put them in your biggest witchy pot, cover with the vegetable stock, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer, adding the carrot and half of the ginger, until the lentils and split peas are tender, about 30 minutes.

In a separate saucepan, melt the coconut oil or ghee over medium heat. Add the shallots and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining ginger and raisins and cook 5 minutes more. Last, add the tomato paste and stir well into the shallots and ginger to make a paste. Add this mixture, along with the spices and coconut milk, to the lentils and split peas in the soup pot.

Let the soup simmer with the spices for another 30 minutes or more. Add more water if the soup get too thick for your liking (I like it). Add salt to taste. Serve with cilantro and yogurt on top.

rhubarb vanilla cordial

Published by Jess

Happy weekend! Here is a recipe for the springiest of springtime recipes, rhubarb vanilla cordial. I shared this illustration last year on The Great Kosmic Kitchen blog, but thought it worth revisiting with the warming sun and coming new moon upon us. Enjoy!