Rainy days

Rainy days + fall = ...?
SOUP
and even better

Spicy Pumpkin and Coconut Curry Soup

1 cup of cubed tempeh

1/3 cup of chopped onion

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup white wine

1/2 lemon grass stalk (cut into four 2 inch pieces)

~1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger

water

3/4 can of pureed pumpkin (or 3/4 cup fresh pureed pumpkin, even better!)

1 cup coconut milk (I used Silk brand coconut milk, it's a lot less fat and a thinner consistency than the canned coconut milk)

* You can sub the coconut milk for soy milk as well (If you want to omit the coconut flavor).

1 Tbsp cumin

1 Tbsp curry powder

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Squeeze of fresh lime

2 fresh kale leaves (I used dinosaur kale)

salt/pepper

Fresh cilantro for garnish

Step 1 sautee onion and tempeh in olive oil until onions are somewhat translucent and tempeh is a little bit browned. (You can also add garlic at this step.) 

Step 2 add white wine, and cook down. Once wine is cooked down, add a little bit of water and let it steam (put the lid on), because you want the tempeh to be fully cooked.

Step 3 add lemon grass, and ginger. Immediately add the coconut milk and pureed pumpkin. Let it simmer for about 5-10 min on med/low heat. The longer the better, so you can even go up to 20 if you let it go on low heat.

Step 4 Add all spices, and let it simmer again, just about 5 minutes this time. Once the 5 minutes are up, add some fresh squeezed lime. It's a perfect compliment!

Step 5 Add salt/pepper to taste. Once it's to your liking, the last step is to add the fresh kale. Make sure this is the absolute last thing you do because you don't want the kale to turn brown. Keeping it green guarantees maximum nutritional content. You don't want to kill it with heat.

Step 6 Take out the lemon grass stems, and serve up and enjoy with fresh cilantro for garnish!

It's so good, you'll probably die. Just warning you.