Berkeley Bowl, fresh turmeric and a great soup

I was just visiting J in Berkeley and because she knows what I like, she took me to the newly opened Berkeley Bowl. Wow! Everything you could imagine in a grocery store, and more. At first I was dazzled by the intensity of the colors.

I wanted to bring home some of everything, but that was a little impractical with my carry-on luggage. So I settled for 2 colors of quinoa that I hadn't seen before, and some fresh turmeric.

I got yellow, of course (what's the point of white?). I've always thought of turmeric as a powder, but never considered where it came from. Turns out it's related to ginger. And fresh turmeric is an adventure in tasting that you will never get from the powder! (Think of the difference between fresh and dried basil.)
Turmeric appears as a stubby little thing that looks like ginger. Peel it and an Illini orange flesh appears. It's a really intense color, so beautiful! I shredded it in the finest grater I have and was relieved to find that, unlike ginger, it is not at all stringy. When I took a taste, it gave a tingly kick, kind of like ginger, but milder, more citrusy and only a hint of what dried turmeric tastes like. So delicious! Of course, I hadn't thought to read about it before I used it, I just relied on the old rule of thumb to gauge my measurements -- about 3x as much fresh as dried. It was subtle in the soup, but definitely present. Next time I'll use more ... if I can find fresh turmeric in town!
Here's the recipe for the soup. I have always called it Ethiopian Soup because I made it in imitation of J and V's favorite dish at the Blue Nile restaurant in Ann Arbor. It's a comfort soup with a pleasant surprise from the fresh turmeric.

Ethiopian Soup

1 Tbs vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
8 cups water
1-1/2 cups yellow split peas (not green split peas -- they taste very different!)
2 medium potatoes, in 1/2” cubes
2 tsp vegetable broth powder (or vegetable bouillon cubes)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt (to taste)
1 tsp dried turmeric or 1+ Tbsp fresh turmeric, finely grated

1. In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onions and carrots and saute, stirring frequently, until they begin to turn brown. Add the garlic and heat for a minute longer.
2. Add the water, yellow split peas, and potatoes. Bring to a low boil and skim off the foam that rises. Add the remaining ingredients.
3. Reduce heat to medium, cover (with just a little bit uncovered) and simmer, stirring every now and then, for about 1 to 1-1/2 hours. Soup is ready when peas are getting mushy and broth thickens. (You will need to add water to reheat the leftovers.)

And if you'd like to read more about fresh turmeric, I found this article in the New York Times. Note the date -- it was published the day after 9/11.

Two good meals

Doesn't this photo look like a smiling, googly-eyed dinner? :)
Sorry I haven't posted in awhile -- I was out in California eating good food with J, and then there was one thing and another when I returned home. A couple days after I got back, I decided to try out the French Lentil Soup from Veganomicon that everyone has been talking about. Yum! It was quite tasty, not noticeably different from other basic lentil soups, but easy and good. The leftovers, which I served over rice left from another meal (below), were even better. We made a salad with leftover roasted veggies, included roasted paprika potatoes that V had made the night before (no recipe, just tossed salt and paprika with the chopped potatoes before baking). Since there's paprika in the soup, it was perfect. And we used Trader Joe's artichoke and hearts of palm topping with sliced red onion and a crumble of feta over multigrain bread to go with it. We were happy campers!
I was tearing recipes from some old cooking magazines so I could toss the rest in the recycling and came across a recipe for Saag Tofu in Eating Well (such a great magazine -- not vegetarian, but so much plant-food based stuff that I use many of their recipes). It was super! As you can see by comparing my photo to the one shown if you follow the link, mine looks less creamy. That's because the yogurt, which I had brought to room temp and stirred in over very low heat, separated. It's really hard to keep yogurt from separating. I think next time I'll just leave it out. This was such a good dish, I will definitely be making it again. Also, the sauteed tofu (cooked more slowly than I usually do) was really tasty with just a sprinkle of salt. I was thinking it would be fun to cut it into thin sticks and cook it like that, then serve it with some dipping sauces (kind of like the tofu fries at Zao's in Palo Alto, for those of you that have been there).
V made our usual cauliflower and potato dish (alu gobhi) to accompany this. SO GOOD! I think it was even better than usual -- I may just turn all the cooking over to V! The recipe comes from Lite and Luscious Cuisine of India by Madhu Gadia, who is a dietitian from India. Many of our favorites come from that book. In looking up the link on amazon, I see she has an Indian vegan cookbook coming out in October -- though this one is pretty much vegan. I'll have to get the new one anyhow! I couldn't find this recipe anywhere on the web, so I'll post it here:

Alu Gobhi (Potatoes with Cauliflower)

Heat in nonstick frying pan (that has a lid) over medium heat:
2 tsp oil

Add and cook for a few seconds:
1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Stir in:
4 cups cauliflower flowerets
2 medium potatoes, peeled and
cut into 3/4” cubes

Add and stir well to coat:
1-1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
4 shakes cayenne pepper

Heat through, then cover, reduce heat to medium low, and cook for about 10 min, stirring occasionally, until veggies are tender but still firm. Remove lid, increase heat, and stir in:
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp lemon juice

Drizzle around inside edge of pan and stir fry for a few more minutes:
2 tsp olive or canola oil

Before serving, top with (optional):
chopped fresh coriander