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A few weeks ago I went to visit my mom in Tucson and together we went to a  dinner/wine tasting at the Forty-Niners Golf Club. It was so much fun, and of course, tasted amazing.

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Ever since I watched the movie “The Future of Food” in my Environmental class, I have been trying to eat more organic foods. The film talks about genetically modified food, what they are, and what their impacts are both on humans and the environment. It was shocking to me some of the things that are going on, untested and unleashed into the environment–and what the impact on local farmers is. If a farmer chooses not to grow genetically modified crops and a bird comes and drops some GM seeds into their fields the farmer can then be sued for copyright infringement.  The suing of farmers as well as the rise of agribusiness has really put local/small farms in jeopardy.

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As you all know Alan and I have been trying to be more adventurous in our cooking. Two weeks ago it was Alan’s turn and he cooked up an awesome Jambalaya. Last week it was my turn and I decided to make Carrot Ginger Soup (I found the recipe on the Humane Society Web-page). So with out further ado here is my experience and the directions.

Overall I found the soup to be quite simple. To make it you will need:

7 carrots (chopped)

2 medium potatoes (peeled and chopped)

1 onion (chopped)

2 cloves of garlic (chopped)

4 cups vegetable stock

2 1/2 teaspoons of fresh ginger (chopped)

1/2 teaspoon salt (I eyeballed it, so I probably used a little more than that)

1/2 teaspoon white pepper (I used fresh ground black pepper and again eyeballed it)

Next you saute the onion and garlic in olive oil and a little bit of stock  until the onion is translucent.

You  then add in all the rest of the ingredients and cook until the carrots and potatoes are soft. This took around 45 mins.

The recipe then tells you transfer the soup into a food processor and puree until creamy. Not being in the possession  of such a device, I improvised and threw into the blender. It worked out quite nice.

Then put it put it back into the pot and viola’ dinner is served!  As a side note, I loved it while Alan liked the taste but didn’t  like the texture.

Haha. Ok so you don’t usually think of Chorizo when you think of delicious spicy jumbalaya.   I tried to find andouille sausage, but I couldn’t find it in Safeway. Perhaps I didn’t look hard enough.  Anyway I digress.

Between the chorizo and the cayenne, this is a ridiculously hot dish, if you prefer it less spicy cut down the amount of cayenne pepper. Chorizo is normally pretty hot already.  With plenty of rice, and vegetables in the pot, it’s also a pretty hearty dinner.

Active Time: 20 Minutes

Total Time: 40 Minutes

Yield: Serves 4

You've got a lot of chopping to do...

RECIPE INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 pound chorizo
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
• 4 cups canned chicken broth
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• As much as needed of McCormick’s Cajun seasoning…

DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add sausages and cook until browned, about 8 minutes.   Chorizo won’t stay formed like normal sausages in jumbalaya so don’t worry.  Once it’s browned enough set it aside.  It will look kind of like ground beef.

Oh god this is going to be spicy

Add onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic to saucepan. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add rice, broth, sausage, cayenne, cajun seasoning and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.

Adding the fixin's

Remove from heat. Let stand, covered, about 2 minutes.

Dinner is Served

I did warn you it’s hot right? You might want to have some sour cream ready!

I love coffee and tea! Nothing can perk me up like a nice steaming cup of either of these delightful beverages.  I was so excited yesterday because I finally found a box of my favorite, yet elusive, tea Earl Grey Lavender. I have searched far and wide, and finally found a single box of it sitting on the shelf of Safeway last night! In fact I am enjoying a cup of it right now!

One thing that makes drinking these beverages so enjoyable is a giant, cute mug that you can wrap your hands around. I have an embarrassingly large amount of mugs to choose from everyday and there is no way I could pick a favorite. Here are some mugs that I am currently have my eyes on.

these breakfast mugs are from Crate and Barrel

super cute starbucks mug!

helpful mug to indicate your preferences. Check it out here

Clever Shakespearean Insults mug. check it out here