Category: recipes

AKA we have too many veggies from our CSA and are trying not to waste any!

as mentioned above, each week we get a half-share of a CSA (community supported agriculture) from Rock Steady Farm, a queer worker-owned farm co-op. the veggies are always fresh and delicious but we aren’t always the best at daily cooking — this is where recipes like these come in! i easily used up the lion’s share of our fresh vegetables and made a delicious, healthy lentil soup. ingredients and instructions below — notably, i think any fresh veggies you have could easily be used in place of what i had!

ingredients:

• 2 bell peppers
• 3 whole fresh tomatoes
• 5 carrots
• 5+ cloves of garlic
• olive oil (or preferred oil)
• 2 cups of red lentils
• 1 can of coconut milk
• 1 can of chickpeas
• 2 cups of water
• garlic powder
• TJs onion salt
• salt or herb salt
• turmeric
• cumin
• smoked paprika
• oregano
• pepper
• NOTE: cayenne would have been good too, and an onion if you have it! (we didn’t)

steps:

1. prepare your vegetables. wash everything thoroughly and peel the carrots, if you like to do that. chop the bell peppers and tomatoes into cube-like shapes. slice the carrots into thin rounds. peel and chop the garlic finely.
2. heat the olive oil or whatever oil you prefer in a soup pot. sautée the garlic in the oil briefly but don’t allow it to burn. add the bell peppers and carrots and mix around. let cook for a few minutes then add tomato.
3. add spices/seasonings to taste, do whatever spices you like best! i prefer to just add a bunch of big shakes for each spice — i never measure, but i think people err on the side of less spice so definitely lean into adding the spices!
4. let this all cook for a few minutes, then add the cans of coconut milk and chickpeas.
5. add 2 cups of lentils and stir around, then add 2 cups of water and stir that in too.
6. bring everything to a boil, then put on a lid (you can keep it so steam escapes) and lower to a simmer.
7. let cook, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick, for 20 minutes.
8. using a blender, whatever sort you have, blend the soup until it’s sort of mushy and combined (or don’t if you don’t have a blender!)
9. serve with a splash of olive oil on top, avocado slices, black garlic or everything bagel seasoning.