Salsa Time!

Well, the weather outside may still be chilly, but I've already got my summer tastebuds on. This simple recipe for homemade salsa takes about 10 minutes to make. Serve it alongside slightly warmed corn tortillas as a dip, or to top off vegetarian burritos or tostadas. It also works really well on top of baked marinated tofu, veggie burgers, or vegetarian meat-style loafs. Or add a couple of cups of cooked chickpeas for tasty light lunch.

Fresh Raw Salsa
1–2 fresh red chillies, deseeded and chopped
2 medium-sized ripe tomatoes, diced
spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
1/4 cup coriander leaves, chopped
1 avocado, stoned, peeled and diced
juice of 1 lime
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
salt and pepper to taste

With your hands, mix together the chillies, tomatoes, onions and coriander in a bowl. Squeeze slightly as you mix.

Add the avocado, lime, olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss to combine.

Chill until ready to serve.

Cauliflower Soup

The other day the vegetable market near me had a special on cauliflower. I happen to love cauliflower, so a bought a few heads. My freezer was running low on prepared soups (great for lunches and unexpected guests!), so I decided to have an evening of soup-making. Or rather, about 30 minutes of soup making--this recipe is so easy. I also made a batch of cheese sauce for the freezer using a thicker and cheesier version of the same recipe (see end of recipe for how I did this). It's adapted from Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen.

Cauliflower-Cheese Soup
Serves about 6

1 large cauliflower, cut up
1 carrot, chopped
2 small onions, chopped
3-5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp salt
4 cups water
about 3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 to 2 cups cups extra old cheddar cheese, grated
1 tsp dill
1 tsp caraway seeds, crushed

Boil the cauliflower, carrot, onions, and garlic in 4 cups of salted water until soft. Puree everything in a food processor or blender. Add milk to adjust thickness. Transfer puree back into saucepan. Add cheese, dill and caraway seed. Heat and serve. (Garnish with a bit of fresh dill or caraway and grated cheese.)

Tips: Use the milk to adjust the thickness of the soup. If you have a really big cauliflower head, you may also need more water. This recipe also works well as a straight cauliflower soup without the cheese, however because of the carrot the soup will be a pale orange. To make a cheese sauce instead of soup, use less water or milk and more cheese.

When I made both the other night, I tripled the recipe without the cheese and made a lot of thick puree of the cauliflower 'soup'. Then I added about a cup of extra old cheese (grated) to about two cups of the puree. That give me a jar of cheese sauce for the freezer. I diluted the remainder of the puree with milk. That gave me the cauliflower soup, about half of which I froze like that. To the other half I added extra old cheddar to get a cauliflower-cheese soup.