I am seven again, prancing like a gazelle through the waist high field of grass next to our farm house. My braids bounce like stray ropes on my back, my mouth is smiling, gulping in the crisp cool Fall air. Cheeks tingling with pink, eyes sparkling with eager anticipation, I spin around quickly, scanning in circles. “Did you hear that?” I whisper both as loudly and as quietly as I can to my friend Sandy who lives across the field.
“Shhh!” she hisses back with a smile. We freeze. Our big eager deer eyes search like hungry dogs, aching, thirsting, begging for confirmation. A gust off the ocean ripples across the grass, playing it like piano keys, the sound whispering secrets, still more for our imaginations to sop up like soup.
“Sandy…Sandy! Where are you? Dinner!” Our bodies turn sloppy, our arms now noodles at our sides, “Aw, shoot. Just my mom calling for dinner.”
“I wonder what you get tonight?”
“I dunno. Probably something brown.” We giggled.
“I hope my mom made some soup. Yummy magic potion soup.”
“Does she really make stuff like that or are you just playin’?”
I shrugged my shoulders and decided to change the subject. “Wanna look again tomorrow…after school?
“Sure.” she said.
“I know they are out here. I just *know* it.”
“Me, too,” Sandy yelled as she ran across the field toward her house, “See you tomorrow!”
I turned for home, glancing up to the warm light oozing from the kitchen. Why didn’t I tell her that my Mama makes magic potion soup? Maybe I didn’t want her to feel bad since she usually gets brown junk, or maybe I didn’t want to disappoint myself in case Mama didn’t make any tonight. Oooo, I hope she made the orange one, the orange one with peanut flavor. Or maybe the yellow one, the yellow one with the yummy spices. And if she didn’t, maybe it was enough magic for one day to hunt for leprechauns in the middle of Fall. Everyone always says they only let themselves be found in March. Everyone except me.
Spicy Orange Magic Peanut Soup
(good after a long day hunting leprechauns in the Fall)
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cups diced onion
1 pound carrots, peeled, sliced thin
½ teaspoon cayenne
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups Vegetable stock/broth
½ cup peanut butter
½ cup chopped dry-roasted peanuts, for garnish
Heat olive oil in a saucepan. Saute the onions until soft and golden. Add carrots, sauté for 5 minutes. Add cayenne, salt and broth, cover and cook for 20 min. or until carrots are very tender. Puree the carrots and onions in a blender or food processor, and return to the pot. Add peanut butter and whisk well. Adjust seasoning to taste. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts. Serves 6.
Yummy Spice Yellow Soup
(good for making magic night dreams on a school night)
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium sized onions, chopped
1 cup red lentils
3 medium sized carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 can coconut milk
1½ teaspoons salt, or more to taste
1 bay leaf
3 cloves garlic
1 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 Tablespoon curry powder
½ cup chopped cilantro
Heat 2 Tablespoons oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring often until they start to brown, about 10 minutes. Add 4 cups water, lentils, carrots, coconut milk, salt and bay leaf. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, partially covered, until the lentils are tender, about 20 min. Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a small saucepan over medium heat and sauté the garlic, ginger, curry powder and cilantro, stirring until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add to soup. Remove the bay leaf. Put the soup into a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Taste, adding more salt if needed. Serve hot. Serves 4-6
** both soups courtesy of Vegetarian Times
