Eight Things
One. When did I get so annoyingly healthy? Let me just tell you… eating wholesome Vegan Carrot Ginger Coconut Soup makes Nachos with jalapenos, sour cream, and extra guacamole taste AWESOME! I know this to be true.
Two. Does this shadow make me look fat? Don’t answer that…. unless you want to say that I look skinny. Then you can totally answer it. This is me and my best friend Rachel. Rachel just moved to Missouri. I didn’t cry when she drove away with her car packed to the gills with her belongings…. except I totally did, I just didn’t want her to see me.
Three. It’s hard when people go and you’re left to stay. It makes me want Nachos with jalapenos, sour cream, and extra guacamole.
Four. I spend more time than I would ever want to at the laundromat… that’s because I love clean sheets, and I don’t own 7 sets of clean sheets. There are a lot of lines at the laundromat. Lines of tables. Lines of tiles. Lines of baskets. Lines of Venice beach weirdos. There is time at the laundromat to sit without computers. There is time at the laundromat to stare at the swirling dryer… it’s like yoga, but not yoga.
Five. Why is it so hard to mature, and learn, and grow when it’s so easy to flub, slip and regress? The growth, the maturation, the learning…. man oh man that takes courage. The flubbing, the stumbling, the regression…. blerg… recognizing that takes courage too.
All of these things I told you about Turning TwentyOne… trust me when I tell you that I only know these things from thoroughly and frequently falling on my face.
Six. There is a certain amount of kindness that you must grant yourself to keep learning and growing… and slipping and flopping.
Kindness and green things. Give this to yourself.
Seven. There’s a lot I can learn from this animal: eat everyone’s food and always assume that everyone wants to play with you.
Eight. When in doubt… because we’re all in doubt sometimes… think of yourself as the underdog, play the Olympic theme song in your head, and root for yourself like crazy. That’s what I’m doing. It’s working. Know why? Because underdogs always win, even when they dont.
….and it’s totally ok if you’re looking at me like I’m crazy right now.
Vegan Carrot Ginger Coconut Soup
This soup is the picture of health. Sweet carrots are cooked down and mixed with spicy ginger and creamy coconut. It’s vegan. It’s healthy. Your insides will totally throw a parade in your honor. I like to serve this soup with crusty bread… I like to serve everything with crusty bread.
serves 4 to 6
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 tablespoons minced ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
4-5 cups diced carrots
3 cups vegetable broth
1 cup light coconut milk
salt and pepper to taste
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and saute until onions are translucent, about 4 minutes. Add ginger and saute for another 4 minutes, until softened and fragrant. Add coriander and diced carrots. Stir to incorporate. Add the vegetable broth, reduce heat, and simmer mixture until carrots are completely softened, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 20 minutes.
Using a blender, blend soup in batches until smooth. (You can also use an emulsion blender in the pot and never have to move the soup… if you’re into that sort of convenience.) Return soup to pot, stir in coconut milk. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve soup warm with crusty vegan bread.
Kale Chips
These are not potato chips. Don’t let anyone tell you that they taste as good as potato chips. They don’t. Potato chips are uuuuhhhh-mazing. These chips are also delicious. Believe it or not, kale bakes up into a crisp paper, chip-like consistency. The flavor is light, but green… and you can add just about any seasoning you’d like. Old Bay Seasoning? A total dream come true. Try them. The crunch is addicting. Oh! I like using dinosaur kale (the flatter kale variety) because they leaves are more easily removed from the stalk. Try any kale you can get your hands on!
1 pound bunch of dinosaur kale
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
any seasoning you’d like: Old Bay Seasoning, Grill Seasoning, smoky paprika, chili flakes, sea salt and coarse black pepper.
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Thoroughly clean and dry kale leaves. Remove the fiberous center stalk from the kale by tearing the leaves away from the stalk. The center stalk will bake up very tough, that’s why we remove it.
Place kale leaves on one or two baking sheets. Leaves should be in a single layer for the most part. Sprinkle with olive oil and seasoning. Toss with your hands. Add more seasoning if you’d like.
Place pan(s) in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove sheet(s) and toss leaves with tongs. Return to the oven to bake for another 15 minutes. after 30 minutes of baking, turn the oven off and allow the leaves to dry in the cooling oven for another 30 to 45 minutes. They’ll be crisp and ready to snack on in no time!
Store kale chips in an airtight bag. They’ll last anywhere from several minutes (because they’re an irresistible snack) to several days (because your husband doesn’t like kale).
DH
This soup is AMAZING. Thank you! So difficult finding delicious vegan soups. The less said about kale the better- gag!
Adi
This recipe rocks!! Like awesome yumminess. I live in India, and nothing screams summer here like mangoes, so instead of plain ginger, I used a special variety here called mango ginger which has the spice of ginger and sweetness of mangoes! So I just had my version of Indian Summer Soup, and thanks to you I feel super healthy (until I hit the pub tonight!)
Amy
This soup is wonderful and makes me feel quite virtuous…although, like some of the other commenters, I used almost a whole can of regular coconut milk. I topped my bowl off with a few splashes of Tabasco. Delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
Jenny
I tried a carrot ginger soup at a restaurant before, and I was so unimpressed that I haven’t touched it since. But this makes me want to give it a try once more!
Emily
Tonight I’m making the kale & farro dish from super natural everyday and had a ton of kale leftover so I decided to try out the kale chip recipe. I completely adore Joy, but I am a little disappointed at no advance warning as to how long this simple dish takes to actually make! It took forevs to wash and dry and tear the kale, and then with the time and attention it takes to bake these chips…for such a little quantity in the end (the chips shrink)…it just seems like so much effort for a snack that will, as Joy points out, be gone within the day. Is there a time saving process for rinsing and drying and tearing leafy greens that I don’t know about? If so, please share! :)
MeLisa
I made this last night. I didn’t have any vegetable broth so I threw in a cup of white wine and 2 cups water and 2 stalks of chopped celery. Delicious! Thanks for the recipe and the 8 things