Farm Notes
Ever slowly but surely, the farm (and me!) are getting back into spring shape! It was a deliciously sunshine-filled weekend, with chilly blue sky mornings that warmed up to t-shirt weather by the afternoon. I spent much of the weekend in the dirt prepping beds for our spring seedlings arriving this Thursday. There are over a dozen beds that each need to be weeded, broad-forked, covered with compost, and tilthed before they are ready for plants… so we’ve got some work to do!
In additional to prepping beds for the many thousands of plants coming this week, we checked a bunch of things off our farm to-do list this weekend… like pruning fruit trees, cleaning out the barn, weeding in the caterpillar tunnels, etc. But you want to know the MOST exciting thing that happened? I can’t believe I’m saying this, but getting our driveway re-graveled was one of the most satisfying things EVER. It’s been on my to-do list since we first moved here a year and a half ago, so needless to say it felt real good to cross that one off the list.
Pruning our very old and very prolific pear tree.
Is there anything more beautiful than a freshly re-graveled driveway?
Kitchen Notes
I’ll admit that I get into cooking ruts, where I’ll cook the same few recipes that I know and love over and over and over. And while there’s something comforting about cooking dishes that you know inside and out, I’m trying to be better about cooking more new-to-me dishes each week. Today I got some inspiration for our #SundaySoup tradition by combing through my (ever growing) stack of cookbooks. There were a few different recipes for red lentil soup that caught my eye, and ended up creating my own unique version that drew from elements found in several different recipes.
The result is a curried sweet potato and red lentil soup and DANG… it turned out so good! It all comes together super quickly and easily, and it was full of complex flavors from the classic combination of ginger, garlic, curry powder, coconut milk and lime juice. You can blend this soup until it is completely smooth, though I just gave it a few pulses with my immersion blender, as I wanted to keep some of the texture from the lentils and sweet potatoes. You do you!
Curried Sweet Potato & Red Lentil Soup
Photo credit: A Chef’s Kitchen
INGREDIENTS
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 onions, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, more as needed
Black pepper, as needed
2 small or one large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1/2” cubes
1 cup red lentils
4 cups chicken stock
1-2 cups water
1 (15-ounce) can coconut milk
Juice of 1 lime
INSTRUCTIONS
In a large pot, heat oil until hot and shimmering. Add onion with a pinch of salt and cook over medium-high until soft and no longer translucent, 4-5 minutes.
Stir in the garlic, ginger, tomato paste, curry powder, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
Stir in the chopped sweet potatoes and lentils. Pour in broth and 1-2 cups water (if you want a thicker soup, just add 1 cup and for a looser soup add 2 cups). Bring mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat; reduce heat to low and partially cover. Simmer until lentils and squash are soft, 25-30 minutes.
Stir in the coconut milk and juice of 1 lime and heat through. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Using an immersion blender (or working in batches in a blender), puree soup to your desired consistency (or don’t blend at all, if you like the consistency as-is). Enjoy topped with fresh cilantro, pumpkin seeds, and a dollop of plain greek yogurt.
Today’s Stats
Low temp: 28F
High temp: 51F
Sunrise: 6:39am
Sunset: 6:18pm
Moon phase: Waning Crescent
Additional notes: Chilly morning and evening, warmer in the afternoon and blue skies all day.