Black Bean and Roasted Tomato Soup

It's not soup season in New York right now.
It's turned into a sauna... a furnace... a sweat lodge... a manure pile... I've got a million of these.
But at 52 and rainy in Juneau right now, soup season never ends. So enjoy.
I'm going to go hang out in the free AC on the subway.

Black Bean and Roasted Tomato Soup

2 lbs tomatoes- halved
2 15 oz cans, or 3 c uncooked black beans (cook them first).
2 red peppers- whole
3 dried chipotle peppers (soak in hot water for 15 mins before)- whole
2 carrots- peeled and diced
6 garlic cloves- peeled
1 1/2 red onion-sliced
2 Tbsp olive oil
Black pepper
2 c uncooked rice
2 c (at least) vegetable broth
1 c frozen corn


-if you need to, cook the black beans (soak in water for 6-8 hours. Put in pot with 3 c water and some seasoning (I used onion powder and black pepper), let boil, then simmer until cooked, about 45 mins).

- Roast the vegetables- heat over to 350, cover a baking sheet with foil. Put the tomatoes, peppers, carrots, onions and garlic on the tray, splash with olive oil and pepper. Roast for about 55 mins, stirring occasionally, until they're brown.

- cook the rice.
-Take out the vegetables, let them cool enough to handle. Seed the peppers.
-Put half the vegetables in the food processor, add in 1c vege broth and 1 c beans. Process until smooth. Transfer to soup pot. Do the same with the remaining vegetables, 1 c vege broth and 1 c beans.

-Once all the vegetables have been processed and put in the soup pot. Add the remaining beans and bring to boil. Reduce heat, add in corn and rice. Let simmer and get good for about 10 mins, adding in more broth if needed.
- Season with salt, pepper, avocado, a little cayenne (if that's your style), serve with sour cream, yogurt or whatever your little heart desires.

Things have been busy and I'm epically failing to keep up with all the new music coming out.
Billboard posted the top 10 summer songs from 1985 to 2011 and not to be outdone, NPR quickly followed suit with the top summer songs from 1962 to 2011.

I've tried to top them all by creating my own ultimate summer playlist.
Good for every summer from here on out.

(I don't actually know what constitutes a summer playlist... so here's a list of songs I'll probably be listening to until my deathbed).

Paul Simon- Graceland
Simon and Garfunkel- Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard
Carly Simon- You're so Vain (In honor of my summer working selling cheap t-shirts to tourists, where we literally listened to this song on repeat, for 3 months)
Rick Springfield- Jesse's Girl
Old Crow Medicine Show- Wagon Wheel (in honor of every Allen Marine summer)
LMFAO- Party Rock Anthem
Nickel Creek- Scotch and Chocolate
Tune-Yards- My Country
Punch Brothers- Rye Whiskey
Rilo Kiley- Teenage Love Song
Daft Punk-Around the World
The Decemberists- Don't Carry It All
Jurassic 5- Freedom
M.I.A- Paper Planes

And to be completely honest. I spent the summers from ages 14 to 18 listening to this on repeat.

Curried Lentil Dip

Liz bought me a copy of The Moosewood cookbook for Hanukkah (in April, but it's the thought that counts).
It brings me back to my childhood. I remember my mother skimming the recipes, looking for kid friendly vegetarian meals. I also remember abhorring everything the cookbook stood for (that we weren't going to have hot dogs and mac n' cheese for dinner).
But the circles have turned. I own my own copy. I use it on a regular basis. I read it when I'm bored.

I'm turning into my mother.


Curried Lentil Dip (From The Moosewood)

1 c red lentils
2 1/2 c water
1 tbsp olive oil
1 c diced onions
1 1/2 c apples- peeled, cored and diced
3 garlic cloves- minced
1/4 c raisins
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 c coconut milk
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt

-Boil the lentils and water. Lower heat and simmer until the lentils are soft, about 20 mins.
-heat oil in a skillet, saute the onions, apples and garlic for about 5 mins. Add the raisins, curry powder and garam masala and saute for another 10 mins.
-Put everything in the food processor. Process.

This is amazing with tortillas, vegetables and fruit.
Hummus, you finally have some competition for that special place in my heart.

I've talked about Black Prairie (The Decemberists side project) on here before, but they've come out with a new album, The Storm in the Barn.
It definitely feels like a concept album, but I'm not totally sure what the concept is.
This trailer cleared it up for me:

So there's that.

In other news, I listened to Fiona Apple's new album on NPR First Listen. Girl is still angry.

Pizza Dough, Wine and Body Paint

Make your own pizza parties are a regular occurrence here at KDP (see here).
I came across a new pizza dough recipe that claimed to be "no- knead, no-fuss".
That was kind of a lie.
To be fair, 4 glasses of wine tends to be my "this is too hard" threshold and that was greatly surpassed on this ladies night

No-Knead Pizza Dough from (Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery and pizza spot Co)
Makes six 10"-12" pizzas
Start at least 24 hours early!

7 1/2 c all purpose flour (plus more dough shaping)
4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp active dry yeast

-Whisk flour, salt and yeast in a medium bowl, with a wooden spoon.
-Add 3 cups of water, stir until well incorporated. Gently bring it together and form into a rough ball.
-Transfer to a large, clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise at room temperature (I use the oven) for 18-24 hours.

-Transfer dough to a floured surface, break apart into 6 even portions. Working with 1 at a time, mold into a ball and set aside. Repeat with the 5 other balls. Let the dough rest, covered with plastic or a damp towel for about an hour.
-Working with 1 ball at a time (and lots of flour, it's really sticky), gently shape into a round 10"-12" disc with hands.
-Put things on the pizza. Be creative.

-If using a pizza stone- place the stone on the oven rack, preheat oven to 500 degrees F. When oven is ready, turn to broil. Place pizza round on the stone. Broil pizza, rotating halfway through, for 5-7 mins, until the bottom of the crust is crisp and the top is blistered.

-If using baking sheet- preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Put the pizza's on the baking sheet, bake for about 10 mins, until bottom is crisp and top is blistered. 

I liked this dough, despite the planning ahead. It's very soft and doughy and had I had more patience, I might have rolled it out to the correct size, shape and thickness. These pizza's ended up being blobs of dough/bread with yummy stuff on top. Which is a first world problem. 

The Best Part

For this party, we had:

Peanut Sauce, Pesto, Tomato Sauce and Olive Oil

Onions, Black Olives, Green Olives, Mushrooms, Basil, Oregano, Sprouts, Carrots, Cilantro, Peanuts, Tomatoes, Sundried Tomatoes, Artichoke Hearts and Spinach

Mozzarella, Parmesan and Feta

Dessert Pizza- fruit and goat cheese

And about 10 bottles of wine (hence the progressively bad photos, the overcrowded kitchen and the pizza triangles). 

Note: pizza toppings also make excellent hungover omelets for the next morning. 

I have vague memories of listening to Vertical Horizon and playing 10 fingers, neither of which are terribly blog worthy (sorry VH, you bring up too many awkward and emo flashbacks to 14 year old me). 

So I'm currently listening to Goyte's 2011 album, "Making Mirrors" 

I kind of love it, it's widely ranged and versatile. I go into the album expecting atmospheric, emotional easy listening, but am constantly side swiped by the 80s pop ballads. The album takes you on a journey and isn't 45 minutes of the same sound, which I find refreshing every once in a while. 

This is great. especially when you compare it to the following, from the same album:

Let's be honest here, sometimes the best break up songs don't send one running for the hammock, a PBR and Vic Chesnutt, Bon Iver and co. Sometimes you have to dance it out a little. 

Plus, I'm a little jealous of whoever had to do the body paint for the video.