Roasted Cauli-Garlic Soup - VEGAN

It was a bit cold yesterday, and grey and rainy - a cool, wet, spring day. I'm not complaining, everything looked very green and I was a bit chilled so the weather made the perfect excuse for a spring soup.

I had saved a recipe on pinterest that looked interesting so I hunted it down to determine if I had the ingredients required and it looked makeable for a big, warm pot of dinner.  Here is the original pin from the recipe that inspired my version of this soup.  I had a bit of a time pulling up the original recipe on mobile as the blog has so many ads and I kept accidentally clicking on them.  It made the original recipe on the phone an annoying experience - watch out.

What caught my attention when I found the recipe was that the soup called for the addition of hummus - that to me seemed wonderfully odd and I liked it!  I have a vegan lasagna recipe that uses garlic hummus mixed with tofu to create the "ricotta cheese" filling and it works really well so I felt good about trying hummus in soup.

Ingredients for Roasted Cauli-Garlic Soup

(I prefer to use all organic ingredients)
1 large onion (white yellow or red)
1 large or 2 small heads of garlic
1 small head of cauliflower
1/2 cup smooth and creamy hummus
1/2 cup quinoa
1/2 cup raw cashews
32-48 oz vegetable broth
1/2 lemon or 1/4t dried lemon peel
1/4 c fresh chopped cilantro
olive oil
salt and pepper

Photo directions -- here goes.

Set a 1/2 cup (mine was heaping) of raw cashews in a bowl and cover with boiling water.  Since I had to set the kettle to boil, I went ahead and enjoyed a cup of tea.  I left the cashews soaking about one hour 15 minutes.

 
Start the quinoa cooking according to package directions.  I used tri-color quinoa.

Prepare veggies for roasting.  I managed to get them all on one pan, lined with baking paper.  For the garlic heads I just cut off the very top of each.  Drizzle the veggies with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  I roasted the veggies on convection roast at 425F for about 30 mins.  The most important thing is that the cauliflower be soft enough to stab a dinner fork into.

I usually turn the veggies half way through the cooking to get them browned on all sides.  This was half way.

I pulled asided some of the smaller cauliflower pieces to add back into the soup whole for a bit of bite to the pureed finale.

Into the blend went the big chunks of cauliflower and all of the onions.  I also added enough broth to each blender batch so that the blender could do its thing without the mixture being too thick.  My broth was room temperature so the batch wasn't very hot.  If you are blending hot ingredients and especially pureeing a soup - remember to remove the center section from your blender top so that the steam doesn't make the blending dangerous.

I ended up using about 1.5 of these containers by the time the soup was done.  How much broth you use will depend on how thick you want your final product or how much help your blender needs to smooth and blend your ingredients.

Here is the blended cauliflower and onion.

Next, pop the roasted garlic cloves into the blender.  Then add a heaping half cup of hummus.  The original recipe creator called specifically for Sabra hummus because maybe they sponsor her? But I don't use Sabra since their soybean oil and other ingredients are GMO and I avoid all GMO products.

 

I think the original recipe called for garlic hummus but I didn't have that - mine was original which is why I used two small heads of roasted garlic in my recipe.

 

It was a bit smoother and thinner and I did add more broth.

 

 

 



Next in - the cashews and quinoa!  Crazy but awesome - love the inventiveness of this recipe by the original creator.

I have a large blender so the entire recipe filled it to the top but it did fit.  Add the blended ingredients all at once or in batches to a soup pot.  Once in the pot, I added more broth until I had the consistency I was looking for and then added in the reserved pieces of cauliflower.

Taste the soup and season.

I added quite a bit more salt but the soup tasted like it needed a bit of brightening up.  I felt like half a lemon squeezed in would have done the trick but I was plum out of lemons.  However, on my last trip to Mom's Organic Market, I had picked up some dried lemon peel from their bulk spice section.  I used about 1/4 teaspoon, maybe a bit more... I didn't measure.  That definitely brightened things up but I thought the soup still needed something herb-y.  Cilantro seemed like the right thing.  I had frozen some freshly chopped cilantro about a week earlier so I grabbed it from the freezer and dumped in the whole bit.

I stirred it in (about 1/4 cup in total).  I tasted again, added a bit more salt, thinned the soup a tad bit more and claimed it ready for dinner.

The original recipe calls this soup a chowder.  It uses a potato and miso paste.  I didn't have either so my recipe differed that way as well.  Also - the original doesn't use the roasted onion but since I wasn't going to use Miso paste I thought I needed the added flavor of the onion.  This soup didn't say chowder to me, it was more like a nice thick bowl of soup puree.  It was delish.  Enjoy. Cheers. Sher.

Tee Baskets

For a while I've wanted to try to make a basket out of tee shirt yarn.  One of my crochet friends did also - so we got together last week to give it a try.

I asked her to pick a pattern that she liked and we'd both follow the same pattern and make a basket.  We cut our tee shirts into balls of yarn.  I use these instructions.  I make my yarn strips about 1" wide and then tug on them which stretches them from a flat piece of tee shirt into a curled piece of tee shirt yarn.

Once we had our shirts done, we got straight to work.  We used this pattern.  We both failed miserably.  I think one of the reasons it didn't work is that we didn't understand when we were crocheting from the outside of the basket towards the inside and when we were going the other way - this made some of the instructions completely backwards... tho. I think it was our mistake and the pattern is probably fine.  Our resulting basket didn't have nice straight sides, it was slumped and mis-shapen.  I don't know what we did wrong.  I'm quite an advanced crocheter but what a mess.  I knew I would never use the basket I had made the way it looked - I wish I had taken a photo of it.

Since the basket was pretty easy to UNmake, I did just that.  Then, using what I had learned from the failed basket, I made up my own pattern.  Now there are a ton of tee shirt basket crochet patterns floating around.  I've been collecting them.  I have a whole pinterest board called Crochet Baskets which you might want to check out - there are oodles of designs and patterns, most of them are free.  If you make one of the patterns from my pin board, please let me know - I'd love to keep track of what patterns are good.

The first basket I made that was successful was a bit smaller than what I would have wanted.  I made it small in case I had to pull it all out again.  So, both to test my new method of making and also to have a bigger basket, I made a second basket.  It worked well twice so I consider my pattern to be somewhat successful.  The little basket has handles, the bigger one does not - just to try it differently, I left it without handles but I could still go back and add to it to make handles.  I didn't write the directions for handles - so take a look at another pattern with handles if you decide to add them.

Also - please note a few things about tee baskets.  First, making one is not relaxing!  The big fat yarn, tight stitches and hook combo made my hands very tired.  I'd make more, but this type of crochet it like battling with the yarn to get it to the shape you want, not like smooth, happy and carefree stitching.  Second, it takes a lot of tee shirts and tee shirt yarn to make a basket.  The tee shirt yarn making process requires a lot of cutting fabric, and I have THESE FISKARS scissors to make it easier and still my hands were tired after cutting and creating all the tee shirt yarn.

Sizes... my bigger basket (the one in the photo tutorial) is about 8 inches in diameter across the bottom and 8 inches high about and it took me 7 large tee shirts to have enough yarn for this size.

Step 1: Create a flat round circle.  If you don't know how to do this, use this method.  I started with 8 stitches in the first round.  I also started with a magic ring.  It doesn't matter how you do it - just make a flat circle.  Remember in the example I refer to above about the flat circle, she is using UK crochet terms so her htr is a US hdc.  Make the circle as big as you want the bottom of your basket.  Because I was using such a small hook (size M - 9mm) for this size yarn I found I had to increase more than I normally would on my last round in order to keep the circle flat.  You can probably use a size N (10mm) hook and it wouldn't be as much as a struggle.  I made my circle with all hdcs (half double crochets - American terms).  OH... throughout the pattern, you make a round and then join with a slip stitch before starting the next round.  If your next round is going to be sc, chain one at the beginning of the round.  If your next round is going to be hdc, chain two at the beginning of each new round.

Step 2:  Once your circle is the size you want, make one final round on the circle doing a flsc all the way around and don't increase.  When you are making this front loop single crochet, remember that it is the front loop if you are working from the inside of the circle going out... I'm not sure if this makes sense, but it does matter if you are working from the inside of the circle out - or the outside of the circle in.  I am working at this point from the inside of the circle outwards.

see how my hook is only going under the front loop of the VEE at the top of the stitch.

if you are doing the flsc correctly, you will see a ridge or line form on the outside of your basket

if you correctly completed your flsc row, your bowl will look a bit like a dish with an edge

this is my little basket (the first one I made using my own pattern) sitting inside the bigger second basket bottom

Step 3:  Now, here's where I did something different from the other basket pattern I tried.  I worked the rest of the basket working my stitches from the outside of the basket inwards.  In other words, I poked my crochet hook into the stitches from the outside of the basket.

For this first side row, I worked all hdc stitches around the basket, working from the outside in.  Work the hdc stitches by going under both loops on the VEE as with any normal stitch.  I switched to green yarn because I had run out of grey.  You can change colors or change yarns as you need to throughout the pattern.

here's how it looks after adding a few hdc stitches and working from outside in.

Step 4: The next round I made using blsc.  I used blsc because it makes a little line around the outside of the basket and I liked that textural detail.  I'm sure the basket would be fine making all the rounds hdc or alternating between stitches however you prefer the look.

Continue adding rows and changing colors or yarns as needed until your basket is as tall as you like.  You can see the little line around the outside which is the where the blsc shows up.

I finished my last round as sc.  I thought it finished off the basket nicely.

And - if nothing else, your little crochet baskets will at least be a place you can hold the rest of your tee shirt yarn!

Enjoy - Sher

Chocolate Heart House Bunting

Did you see my Happy Heart House Bunting?  Well, here's another take on that.  It was inspired by Valentine's Day chocolate.

and also inspired by a little Gingerbread crochet house that I found when I was looking for a way to add snow to the roof of my happy heart house bunting.  In the gingerbread inspiration house, Ursula makes an ornament.  It's single thickness and doesn't have the final edging of single crochets around the outside that mine does.  She also uses a different pattern to make the little red heart on the front of hers.  But, nonetheless great minds think alike, right? I've made my chocolate bunting the same size as hers as we both came up with basically the same house pattern and I liked the size of her gingerbread version.

I'm calling mine:  Chocolate Heart House Bunting and it's a baby version of the "Happy" one.  I've made a photo tutorial and also have typed up the pattern so you can follow it exactly as I made mine if you so choose.  Here goes:

This pattern uses American Crochet Terms
Yarn used: Knit Picks Dishie 100% cotton yarn (light worsted/~dk); size G/6 - 4.25mm hook
also white carpet warp and a size C crochet hook

Row 1: To begin, make a slip knot and chain 9, turn.

Row 2: sc in each stitch (8 stitches), ch 1, turn.

Row 3 - 8; Repeat Row 2.

Row 9: sc2tog, 4sc, sc2tog, ch1, turn.

Row 10: sc2tog, 2sc, sc2tog, ch1, turn.

Row 11: sc2tog twice, ch 1, turn.

The basic house is now constructed.  Next, single crochet around the outside edge.

Starting at the top of the roof and continuing down the left slope of the roof, make 1 sc in each stitch.  Make 2sc into the same stitch at the place where the roof meets the house and 3sc into the same stitch at each bottom corner of the house.

Make 2sc into the roof tip and finish off at the top of the house.

GREAT!  Now make a second house the same way.  Each bunting house requires two of these.

My bunting has 5 houses, so 10 house sides are needed.

Now, onto the heart.  I made all of my hearts in light pink.  I used this pattern here:

For my bunting I needed 5 hearts.  Stitch the heart to the right side of 5 house parts.  The back doesn't need to look neat because it won't show.

Once the houses and hearts are complete and the hearts are sewn on, it's time to join the two house parts.  Put two house parts wrong sides together and tuck in any yarn tails.  They fit nicely right inside, no need to even clip them.

Single crochet the two house sides together.  Again, put 2sc into the stitch where the roof meets the house, 3sc into the stitch at the bottom corners of the house and make a (sc, ch3, sc) into the very tip of the house so that there is a bit of a loop at the top of the house - the loop is what you will use when you connect the houses to form a bunting.

Let's add the snow (tho. today, where I live, this would definitely be a layer of ICE on the roof - oh my the weather we are having here!  take a look at THIS POST to see photos).

To add the "ice" to the roof, I switched to a C sized hook and a very thin white cotton.  Poke the hook into the stitch just below the final edging and pull a loop of white thread thru.  Yarn over and pull through to attach the white.  Now, single crochet, ch 1, single crochet up one side of the roof top and down the other.  It did the stitching by starting on the right side of the roof just below where it meets the house, the right side is facing me.

When you get the to top of the house, stitch the white ice in front of the loop as you see in the photo below.

Next, weave in any remaining tails and get ready to join the houses.

I used the same pink yarn as the hearts to connect the bunting.

Make a slip knot and chain 15.  Slip stitch into the first chain to form a hanging loop.  Chain another 15, put the hook through the top loop of the first house.  Make 3sc into the roof top loop.  Chain 15 between each house and the next house.  Make 3sc into the top loop of each house.  After all the houses are attached, chain 30 and then slip stitch into the 15th chain from the hook to form the final hanging loop.  Weave in the ends of the bunting connector and TA DAH - find a lovely place to hang it up and enjoy it for Valentine's Day.

Remember, this is way more low calorie than the actual chocolate candy!

A Rather Dishie Rainbow of Crochet

Rainbows are very happy - I mean with all those bright, fun colors striping together right next to one another in a curvy little arc... what more could you ask for color happy!

A rainbow comes at the end of a rain when the sun is peeking out again - that's pretty happy.

So, I'm sharing a bit of crochet rainbow happiness with you today.  For my crochet booth (see this post at my failed attempt at selling crochet) I made some happy little rainbow arches.  They are part of my Happy Hanger series.  What's a Happy Hanger?  Well, it's just a little something to hang around the house in a place you can enjoy it for no other reason than just looking at it might make you happy.

Here's my design, instructions and photo tutorial.  Enjoy.

First - I'm using Knit Picks Dishie Cotton Yarn.  I love this Dishie!!! (however, the yellow is a bit dull and they often run out of colors - but the shipping is fast and the price is right).   That said, in this example, I substituted Knit Picks CotLin dk for the yellow (canary).  The CotLin dk works up about the same as the Dishie - clearly making the Dishie a very very light worsted.  I used They say it's a worsted weight but I'd call it a slightly heavy dk if anything.  It's much thinner than any worsted here in the US.  I made rainbow Happy Hangers using E, F and G hook sizes... the small-ish hook makes for a nice tight rainbow that is good and firm.  For my photo tutorial, you can see I've used an E (3.5mm) hook.  You can of course vary the hook and yarn to your liking.  The tutorial instructions should work out the same.

Start with a magic ring.  Chain 2, make 10 hdc (American Crochet Terms) in ring.  Join ring with slip stitch and pull tight to close.

Join the next color (mine is orange).

Ch 2 and hdc in same stitch. 2 hdc in remaining stitches from round 1.  (20 hdc).  Finish off orange and join next color. (mine is yellow)

NOTE:  There is a great tutorial on making a flat circle from my all time, most favorite crochet gal - Lucy at Attic24.  Go here for her tute.  It's a common method for circle making but she describes and shows it very well and in great detail.

For the yellow round, ch 2, hdc in same stitch then hdc in next stitch *2hdc in next stitch, hdc in next stitch.  Repeat from * to end.  Join with sl stitch.  Add on next color (mine is green).

For the green round, ch 2, hdc in same stitch.  *hdc in next 2 stitches.  2hdc in next stitch.  Repeat from * to end of round, join w/ slip stitch.  Finish off.

Join next color (mine is blue).  ch 2, hdc in same stitch.  *hdc in next 3 stitches.  2 hdc in next stitch.  Repeat from * to end of round, join w/ slip stitch.  Finish off.

Join next color (mine is purple).

Make purple round the same as previous rounds but make hdc in 4 stitches and then 2hdc in next stitch and repeat that pattern to end.  Always join w/ a sl st and finish off.  OR.. use any joining method you like.  Sometimes I finish off and join each new round in a totally new place so I don't have a whole line of joining stitches in a row.  Sometimes I pull a new color thru to complete my sl st on the joining stitch.  There are a bunch of ways to join a new color when crocheting in the round - use your favorite method.

Next, join a final color (mine is pink).

Continue in same method.  Increase a stitch every 5 stitches.  You can increase more or less if your circle starts to curl or ripple.  At the end of this round, finish off.

I often weave ends in as I go.  In this circle I weave some ends in and others I don't.  The good thing about the rainbow hanger is that you don't have to weave the ends in.  They just live inside the rainbow - see the next photo.

Tuck all the strings in and fold the rainbow circle in half to form an arc.

To close the rainbow I use red.  I like to start and finish the rainbow with red.  Use a single stitch to join the two sides of the circle.  Go under both stitches (four loops), join the red yarn and then complete a single stitch.  Tuck the end inside the rainbow and continue single stitching around the arc.

Here the rainbow is finished in sc all the way around.  Finish off the red yarn but don't put it away.

To make a hanger loop, join the red by putting the hook under both loops of the center stitch on the sc row.
Make as many chain stitches as you wish or until the length of your hanger is at it's desired height when folded in half.

Join by making a sc in the same stitch where the yarn was joined.

Finish off the red.  I usually tie the ends in a tight knot then weave them in pulling the knot down into the top of the rainbow so it can't be seen.

TA DAH!  Your rainbow hanger is ready to make you happy!

 In this sample, you can see I crocheted the colors in reverse order from my tutorial.  I made several of these in both color orders.  I figure some people prefer to see more of the warm colors and other like the cooler colors... the rainbow can make even the warmest and coolest people happy!

Enjoy - Sher

Stay tuned for a few more Happy Hangers...