Curried Potato Spinach Soup. Vegan. Gluten Free.

Curried Potato Spinach Soup. Vegan. Gluten Free.

New Year, new me?  Ha. Not so much. I’m not a big fan of resolving things. Every day I try to be a better person. Ignore nonsense.  Be more organized. Patient. Do more kind acts for others.  And I try with my eating to be mindful of my choices.  And finally push my fitness.  Happily I  made it through the holidays shredding a few LBs.  Overall, a win-win.

This year I am vowing (not resolving) to make menus and stick with them.  That way my food bill stays in check and I stay on task.  I cook for me – a vegan, my husband – a budding vegan but claims to be vegetarian, my oldest who is gf and dairy free and my father and youngest daughter who are both carnivores.  Making food choices that can be modified each night can be a struggle but I really despise playing diner making many dishes for everyone so simplification is key!

Here is this week’s menu prominently displayed on my chalkboard wall in my kitchen. All items will be customized per each person’s dietary needs.  Remember to always have a leftover day so you don’t waste any food that may get “lost” in the back of the fridge.

This soup was on the menu for Saturday and it turned out great.  It’s inspired by a famous vegan restaurant in NYC named Candle.  It has a wonderful warmth of spices.  Perfect to make on a rainy or snowy day.  Makes a ton so you can freeze some for future use.
Ingredients:

Drizzle of olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 tablespoon of curry powder
1 teaspoon of fennel seeds
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
5 cloves of garlic, minced
4 medium Yukon potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 small head of cauliflower, washed and chopped
3 quarts of water or vegetable broth
2 cups of spinach leaves, washed and chopped
Salt

Directions:

In a large Dutch oven add a drizzle of olive oil to the bottom of the pan.  Add your onion, curry, fennel, turmeric, cumin and cayenne. Give a good stir to coat.  Cook for 4 minutes over medium heat.  Then add garlic and cook for about 1 minute stirring constantly to avoid burning.  Then add the potatoes, cauliflower and broth or water.  Bring to a boil, uncovered.  Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cook for 30-45 minutes.  With a hand immersion blender, puree the soup until creamy.  Prior to serving, add your chopped spinach.  Give a good stir.  Taste and add salt if necessary.  Serve immediately.  Remove from the heat.  Freezes nicely.

On the fitness front:

Well this week was a bit of a debacle with getting the flu on Monday – and getting on Tamiflu Tuesday.  I did the following this week:

Monday:  Treadmill 4 miles and weights
Tuesday:  Flu/bed
Wednesday:  No exercise – felt better.  Grocery shopping for NYE dinner.
Thursday: NYC
Friday:  Ran outside.  Cold and miserable.  5k.
Saturday:  Still tired.  Ran 5.1 on treadmill and weights
Sunday:  Longest run post surgery 3 weeks ago and flu – 8 miles in shorts!  Ran with my husband/dog for the first 4 miles and then finished out with 4 more miles.  Sore body from weights yesterday.  Today focusing on hydration and lots of protein today for recovering muscles.

Onto the first Monday of 2015 and everyone getting back to a schedule!  Wishing you a wonderful week.

 

— Knead to Cook