Necessity is the mother of delicious
It occurred to me today that getting PW Children's is kind of like the society pages sometimes. Oh, who's in it today? Look, I know her! And I'm a friend of a friend of her! Heehee.
I got my period today and Dade went to have lunch with a friend so I loafed around sleeping, talked to my friend Heather for an hour (catching up on the Chamberlin's news), and then I was hungry! And I wanted fruits and veggies! But there was nothing good around. It was going to be one of those pantry-diggin' days.
It all began because I had a can of pumpkin. That's a veggie, yup. What could I do with it?
I also had a can of coconut milk, which would be the start of a lovely soup. But I didn't want a soup with a 1:1 pumpkin/coconut milk ratio. More like 2:1. Which leaves me with half a can of coconut milk. Which is when I decided some rice pudding would also be nice.
So I made Pumpkin Coconut Milk Soup with Miso and Umeboshi Vinegar, and also what you might call Chai-Cocoa Rice Pudding. And it was good. Actually, it was perfect. I just bought the umeboshi vinegar, incidentally, and this was my first time using it. It has a salty, tangy flavor, just like umeboshi plums (yeah, I know most of you are looking at me like, "As if I know what those taste like either!")...but somehow in the soup, maybe I'm crazy, but it almost tasted like cheese! Like some salty, tangy cheese. Mmm. (You can find Umeboshi vinegar in health food stores, made by Eden, and it's not very expensive--around $2.50 for a small bottle?)
Soup:
--Saute 2 chopped garlic cloves and 1 chopped shallot (or onion or whatever, I just happened to have one lonely shallot) in a little oil in a pot
--Add 1 can pumpkin and 1/2 can coconut milk (full-fat, baby, because "lite" coconut milk is just fatty coconut milk with water added)
--You can also add a little chicken broth of water if you want it a little thinner
--Grate a little ginger into the pot and add 1 T. miso paste (I have this really dark ugly barley miso right now, but it worked fine)
--Heat on med-low heat until everything is warmed
--Blend soup if you want, to smooth out the garlic and shallots
--Pour into a bowl and add umeboshi vinegar to taste...maybe 1/2 t. in a bowl? It's fairly strong tasting.
Rice:
--Bring to boil in a pot with a good lid 1 and a half cups water
--Add 1/2 c. brown basmati rice, a cinnamon stick, and about ten seeds from inside a black cardamom pod, lower heat to low and cover
--Cook for 35 minutes until water is mostly kinda absorbed
--Remove lid, add 1/2 can coconut milk and 1 T. sweetener...the original recipe called for agave nectar but I used really dark molasses-y brown sugar
--Cook another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally
--Garnish with chopped nuts and dried fruit of your choice (I used what was on hand: walnuts and hunza raisins, the original recipe called for dates and almonds) and cocoa nibs
I got my period today and Dade went to have lunch with a friend so I loafed around sleeping, talked to my friend Heather for an hour (catching up on the Chamberlin's news), and then I was hungry! And I wanted fruits and veggies! But there was nothing good around. It was going to be one of those pantry-diggin' days.
It all began because I had a can of pumpkin. That's a veggie, yup. What could I do with it?
I also had a can of coconut milk, which would be the start of a lovely soup. But I didn't want a soup with a 1:1 pumpkin/coconut milk ratio. More like 2:1. Which leaves me with half a can of coconut milk. Which is when I decided some rice pudding would also be nice.
So I made Pumpkin Coconut Milk Soup with Miso and Umeboshi Vinegar, and also what you might call Chai-Cocoa Rice Pudding. And it was good. Actually, it was perfect. I just bought the umeboshi vinegar, incidentally, and this was my first time using it. It has a salty, tangy flavor, just like umeboshi plums (yeah, I know most of you are looking at me like, "As if I know what those taste like either!")...but somehow in the soup, maybe I'm crazy, but it almost tasted like cheese! Like some salty, tangy cheese. Mmm. (You can find Umeboshi vinegar in health food stores, made by Eden, and it's not very expensive--around $2.50 for a small bottle?)
Soup:
--Saute 2 chopped garlic cloves and 1 chopped shallot (or onion or whatever, I just happened to have one lonely shallot) in a little oil in a pot
--Add 1 can pumpkin and 1/2 can coconut milk (full-fat, baby, because "lite" coconut milk is just fatty coconut milk with water added)
--You can also add a little chicken broth of water if you want it a little thinner
--Grate a little ginger into the pot and add 1 T. miso paste (I have this really dark ugly barley miso right now, but it worked fine)
--Heat on med-low heat until everything is warmed
--Blend soup if you want, to smooth out the garlic and shallots
--Pour into a bowl and add umeboshi vinegar to taste...maybe 1/2 t. in a bowl? It's fairly strong tasting.
Rice:
--Bring to boil in a pot with a good lid 1 and a half cups water
--Add 1/2 c. brown basmati rice, a cinnamon stick, and about ten seeds from inside a black cardamom pod, lower heat to low and cover
--Cook for 35 minutes until water is mostly kinda absorbed
--Remove lid, add 1/2 can coconut milk and 1 T. sweetener...the original recipe called for agave nectar but I used really dark molasses-y brown sugar
--Cook another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally
--Garnish with chopped nuts and dried fruit of your choice (I used what was on hand: walnuts and hunza raisins, the original recipe called for dates and almonds) and cocoa nibs