The weather has taken a turn, and I’m ready to respond by grabbing a pot and heading to the stove.

Here is a quick Chickpea Curry that will allow you to greet the approaching fall deliciously.

– Linda Nelson

Chickpea Curry

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil, coconut oil, or water
2 onions, chopped
4 or 5 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon dried fenugreek
1 teaspoon cumin
3 cups chopped tomatoes
6 cups chickpeas
3 or 4 potatoes, in large chunks
5 cups chopped spinach
five cups chopped spinach
1/4 to 1/2 cup coconut milk, optional
sea salt

Directions:

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the garlic, ginger, and onions, and cook until softened in the oil or water. Add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds to a part of the pot that has been cleared of the onion mixture. Leave them alone for a few seconds before beginning to stir them until they pop. Incorporate them into the onion mixture, and add a bit of water. Add the garam masala, turmeric, fenugreek, and ground cumin, and stir well.

Add the tomatoes, potatoes, chickpeas, and two cups of water. Stir well and bring to a boil. Once boiling turn down the heat to allow the mixture to simmer for 15 or 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are fully cooked. Add the spinach and stir to wilt about 3 minutes before the cooking is complete. Add salt and pepper to taste, and add the optional coconut milk, if you’d like. Stir to incorporate everything, and serve.

What?! Soup in August? We say, “yes” to that as this soup is equally good cold or hot. A pot of this can be enjoyed now in the steamy weather and later in the cold of winter.

Armenian Spinach Soup

Ingredients:

12 oz. fresh spinach, chopped (The exact amount doesn’t really matter, but you do want quite a bit. I aim for about four or five cups)
1 can chickpeas
1 onion, chopped
2 to 5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup olive oil for sautéing, or use water
1/2 cup tahini
juice of about two small lemons
1 cup vegetable broth
four or five cups of water

Directions:

Saute the onion in olive oil or water until soft. Add the chopped spinach and half of the minced garlic, and sauté until the spinach is wilted. Add the vegetable broth, water, and chickpeas, and stir well. Simmer for about a half hour.

While the above is cooking, add the remaining garlic and the tahini to the lemon juice, and blend well. Add a small amount of the hot soup to the lemon/tahini mixture. This will prevent curdling of the tahini.

Add the lemon/tahini mixture to the hot soup, and mix well. Remove from the heat, and season with salt and pepper.

We could eat potatoes everyday and all day, but it is always fun to come up with a new way to serve them.

These easy Curried Potatoes might just be the thing to try.

– Linda Nelson

Curried Potatoes

Ingredients:

10 to 12 red skinned potatoes, cut in half or fourths depending on size, with skins or without according to your preference. I left them on.
1/2 cup vegan sour cream or yogurt
2 teaspoons curry powder, or to taste
1/4 cup chutney (I used my own, homemade mango chutney)

Directions:

Scrub and cut the potatoes. Place them in a pan with cold water 2 inches above the potatoes. Bring to a boil, and boil for 15 minutes until tender. Drain, and add the other ingredients. Serve.

I can clearly remember a moment in my life when I said to myself silently, “I’ll never be able to have a lassi again.” I said that about a great many things until I realized just how very wrong I was.

Being vegan doesn’t mean restriction. It gives us freedom! Our food choices are so varied, colorful, and so very much better for our hearts, minds, and bodies as we endeavor to do the least harm possible.

We eat and drink so many things we thought we’d be giving up. As my T-shirt says, “Anything you can eat, I can eat vegan!”

Vegan Mango Lassi

Ingredients:

1 cup plain non-dairy yogurt (I use soy yogurt for the extra tang)
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (choose according to your tastes, but I again used soy)
1 cup chopped mango (peeled and stone removed)
4 teaspoons sugar, or agave, to taste
A dash of ground cardamom (optional)

Directions:

Place all of the ingredients except the cardamom in a blender, and blend until smooth. Pour into a tall glass, and enjoy!