Over the Moon

On the 6th day before Halloween, my True Ghoul gave to me...a yummy Meatless Monday recipe.


I know I already posted a picture of that glorious weekend moon, but here it is again. It is so much fun jumping over it!! This weekend I had some great leaps forward on a couple of projects I am working on and I met some new people who share an interest in really getting to work on their body burden, from the skin in. And I am reading The Help which had some words in reviews which are very appropriate for today's thoughts, "small but steady triumphs" and "dreams for the future are limitless".

One of the projects I am working on involves the Arkansas Foodbanks Network that serves numerous agencies and hunger relief groups. I became dismayed watching a news report that many of the food pantries felt less full and able to help because they were short on meat. In other words, they felt less empowered to help feed people. Oh, goodness! You do not need meat to have a full pantry or a fully delicious and nutritious meal. Actually, quite the opposite. The project I am working with them on addresses this "fork on" and I will share more about it later.

For today, Meatless Monday, I challenge you to think of meatless meals as a cup half full of adventure and new tastes, not half empty. You are not missing out on a thing by serving meatless meals on Monday or every day for that matter. When I teach my classes, I am going to start talking about the Four Cornerstones of a dish and believe me, plant-powered vegetarian meals wrap themselves deliciously around every corner! And that is not to even mention the health benefits. From those, your cup will "runneth over"!

It is damp and post-tornado-y here and so I am sharing another one of Stuart's recipe, another wonderful soup. You "met" him in Friday's post. He makes his own corn broth which I do not and so I am going to make a substitution for the home cook.

Stuart's Corn Chowder

4 ears of corn, kernels removed (He uses fresh. Thawed frozen would be OK, too.)
½ a white onion, or one shallot, diced
¾ pound Yukon gold potatoes, diced
2 carrots diced
A couple of pinches of Aleppo Pepper flakes
Veggie broth*
1 c milk of choice, as needed
Cheddar cheese, shredded (optional)
Cooking oil or butter

Sauté the onion in a soup pot until translucent. Add the potatoes, carrots and Aleppo pepper and sauté for another few minutes. Pour in just enough corn broth to barely cover the veggies. Place the lid on the pot and cook until veggies are tender, about 15-20 minutes. Stir in one cup of corn kernels. Partially puree in a blender or with an immersion blender. Pour puree back into soup and add the remaining corn kernels. Add milk to reach the desired consistency. If using cheese, stir it in off of the heat, or pass as a garnish.

* Stuart's homemade broth has 1 teaspoon each of dried dill, sage and thyme. You may want to add these herbs in or experiment with fresh, using the 3 parts fresh to 1 part dried.