Soupe épicée à l'indienne

When I set out to make dinner last night, my intentions were to make a chinese style, clear-brothed vegetable soup, but when I discovered I still had a bit of fresh ginger left, it morphed mid-stream into this hot indian-style soup inspired by the spice concoction I picked up recently from a woman friend from India. The following recipe feeds two to four people, depending on if you serve it as the meal or an entree.

Mince one small onion and 3 large garlic cloves. Peel a small piece of ginger and mince. You should have at least a heaping tablespoon's worth. Sautee in olive oil until tender and translucent over low heat. While the onions, garlic and ginger are cooking, add a teaspoon of ground turmeric and about a half a teaspoon or more of coriander. Stir to coat and continue cooking.

Meanwhile, bring to a boil about 8 cups of water or vegetable broth or a combination of the two. Wash and cut up about 10 mushrooms and a good handful of green beans. Chop up 4 scallions.

When the water and/or broth is boiling, add the mushrooms and green beans. Drop to simmer and let cook for about 10 minutes or so. Add the scallions and continue to cook until the vegetables are just tender, about 10 more minutes.

In the meanwhile, put the onion, garlic and ginger mix into a blender with a little of the soup's broth and puree until smooth. Add this to the soup while the vegetables are still cooking.

Serve piping hot in deep bowls.

Curried onion pizza pie

To make this simple, filling dish, all you need is pizza dough (I followed Bittman's recipe, using whole wheat flour), one large onion, curry powder, ground coriander, frozen peas and a little creme fraiche.

Thinly slice the onion and sautee in olive oil over very low heat until translucent and very soft. While the onion is cooking, add salt to taste and a teaspoon or so of curry and a bit of coriander. Near the end of their cooking, add the frozen peas and a couple dollops of creme fraiche. Stir and allow to cook for a few more minutes.

Roll out a small ball of pizza dough to the desired thinness. Spoon a generous amount of the curried onion mix on the center of the dough. Pinch up the sides and bake in a 400 degree oven until the crust is golden brown. Time will vary depending on the thickness of the crust.

Serve hot with a green salad on the side. Enjoy!