Paula's Butternut Squash Soup
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 apple, diced
1 tsp curry powder
1/3 chipotle pepper, pounded to powder
1 veg bouillon cube
1-1/2 cups water
1 butternut squash, cooked, peeled and cubed (or 4 cups puree or 2 packages frozen squash)
orange juice to taste
Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot. Add the onion and apple and saute for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the curry powder and chipotle dust and cook for 1 more minute, stirring. Add the bouillon cube, water and squash and let simmer for 20 minutes, or until everything is soft. Puree about half the soup with a stick blender. Taste and add orange juice until all the flavors wake up.
Crispy Eggplant Strips
1 eggplant, cut into 1/4-inch thick strips
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup bread or cracker crumbs
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
a few shakes black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
all-purpose flour
plain soy milk or water
canola oil
1/3 cup marinara sauce for dipping
Sprinkle the eggplant strips with salt and let sit for a few minutes. Mix the bread/cracker crumbs, yeast, pepper and garlic powder together in a bowl. Set up your assembly line: eggplant strips, bowl of flour, bowl of soy milk, bowl of breadcrumb mixture, frying pan. Heat a thin layer of canola oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Take each eggplant strip, dip it in flour, then in soy milk, then coat it in breadcrumbs. Fry on each side for 3-4 minutes. Serve warm with warmed marinara sauce.
