Soup to the second power.

Because I was a good little Burnout all year, Santa brought me Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s newest book, Appetite for Reduction! I tested a few recipes before it was published, so I was excited to try the rest of them. Since it’s been cold and we’ve been busy, Red and I decided to start with soup.

First up was Lotsa Veggies Lentil Soup, which is just what it sounds like. I like cooking with green lentils, because I usually end up using red ones and the green ones are a nice change. Red lentils are awesome and I love them, but they turn into yellow mush when you cook them. Green lentils retain their recognizable lentil-ness. Anyway, this is an easy, tasty lentil soup with extra veggies. Finally, a use for the CSA zucchini and summer squash that I blanched and froze back in July, when it seemed that the tide of squashy goodness would never end! The recipe called for 6 oz. of tomato sauce, but the store only had 8-oz. cans, and what do you do with an extra 2 oz. of tomato sauce? I didn’t want to figure it out, so I plopped all 8 oz. in there and it was all good.

Why the hell is there a date stamp on my photo? Shit, guess I need to play with the new camera more.

The best part of this soup wasn’t the soup, though. It was that we ate it while watching Troll 2, which is pretty much the height of awesomeness. There’s a hilarious vegetarian subtext in there as well, and I shit you not when I tell you that the young hero is saved by the deus ex machina of a baloney sandwich.



Anyway, now that we’ve established that my husband and I are film connoisseurs, I ask you: What’s better than soup? A second pot of soup! Red was in the mood for a corn chowder of some sort, so I made Summer Lovin’ Curried Corn & Veggie Chowder. The rest of that frozen squash and zucchini went in here, along with frozen bagged corn (so not seasonal). It took a little longer than usual because I did all the chopping myself, but there was a Buffy marathon on, so I didn’t mind. This soup was delicious, but I bet it’s even better in the summer with fresh corn. It would probably be yummy chilled, with a side of lightly steamed veggies or a salad. I love anything curried, and this had a bold curry flavor that wasn’t too strong. Curry n00bs would probably love it.

It is the most gorgeous sunny yellow. Just looking at it makes me happy.

So far, I’m loving this cookbook. I think I usually stick to a very healthy diet, but during this past month, I’ve eaten more takeout and cookies than I usually do. It feels good to get back on a regular schedule and prepare my own food from scratch, and I think Appetite for Reduction will be a great resource for a healthy 2011.