three sisters stew / bountiful vegan thanksgiving!

a few weeks ago i was surfing one of my many beloved food blogs, and i came across the small e-cookbook 'a bountiful vegan thanksgiving.' its technically a compilation of 65 recipes, although over the half the recipes are by nava atlas. it was only $9, and all the profits go to charity. i like cookbooks and i like charities, so it seemed like a win-win situation.

if you're still looking for recipes for this week - or just want some fun fall recipes - you should (click here) and check it out yourself.

last night, i finally got around to trying the 'three sister's stew (three sisters being the native american trio of corn, squash, and beans), and it was pretty good. nava has posted the recipe on her website, which you can check out (here)...

to begin with, you have to roast butternut squash. this, of course, means cutting the thing in half and dumping it in the oven. i was impressed that i was able to do this myself and not hurt myself.

the trick is roast until soft but still firm, so that you can then cut up the squash into little cubes when it is cool, like so...

then they sit aside for a second while you cook (wait for it).... onions and garlic.

now the squash can go back in...

plus tomatoes...

plus corn, chiles, peppers, beans, veggie stock, and spices.

here is what it all looked like before half an hour of covered simmering...

and after, which is kind of the same. some of you may be wondering what i do during such simmering periods that don't really require much except occasional stirring. this time, it was dishes. that, and an exciting random playlist. i had just finished transferring some random songs from old computer to new computer to ipod, and so i was treated to such delightful random old-yet-new songs as digital underground's 'humpty dance,' joni mitchell's 'help me,' and joseph arthur's 'honey and the moon.' all three are pretty good songs, if i do say so myself. anyway.

here is how i served the stew, which was pretty good, although i must remember to add red pepper flakes next time.

and, as proof that i do actually buy them, here is a baguette, which was eaten on the side. that is all.

tomato-rice soup with roasted garlic and navy beans!

yesterday i was still feeling kind of blah, and i wanted soup. the kind of soup that can be made without having to drive to the supermarket, that i could make out of the pantry.

i ended up with tomato-rice soup with roasted garlic and navy beans from veganomicon.

and, lucky you, i also happened to find one person who posted the recipe online - you can (click here) to get to it.

to begin with, i should probably point out that i made some alterations, based on the whole 'no supermarket' thing. the first being that i didn't have two bulbs of garlic to roast. so, i went with the alternative directions of taking around 6 cloves...

and throwing them in a soup pot with the finely diced onion.

after it cooked a bit, i threw in the rice...

and the rest of the spices and stirred things around for a couple minutes.

next came the tomatoes. a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes went in the pot...

as well as a 15oz can of crushed tomatoes and a few chopped fresh tomatoes lurking in the fridge. altogether, this is almost what the recipe called for.

and i don't care if this is now going to be called 'chunky' tomato-rice soup.

in fact, because i'm so crazy, i decided to add one of my organic veggie broth starburst creatures to the mix after i added all the water and it came to a boil. after this, i turned it down and it simmered for 45 minutes.

and then i added the beans and let them warm up:

and then i ate it. i should probably mention that, while all this was cooking, i did walk 1 block down the road to the panera to get a baguette to eat with this. this has happened pretty much every time i've cooked something that a baguette might go with - i've just never mentioned it or taken a picture. and, keeping with tradition, i forgot to take a picture last night. oh well - we'll have to make due with this: