foods

I found some gorgeous purple carrots at the Upper Haight farmers
market today. Mind you, I hate carrots, but they were so pretty I
thought I'd see what I could do.


Lentil soup with roasted purple carrots and okra:


1. blanch halved carrots with ginger, salt, thyme and habanero
peppers
2. drain, toss with olive oil, more minced ginger and garlic. get
rid of the peppers and the blanched ginger.
3. roast at 350 until you are done with everything else, and they
should be cooked perfectly.
4. boil some red lentils with water enough to cover. add salt and
a tiny bit of curry or cumin. let it simmer covered for a while,
and add water when it starts to reduce.
5. caramelize some onions and set aside
6. while your pan is hot, throw in some whole okra (minus the
stems) and let them saute covered for a few minutes. add a
touch of water to let them steam, and then toss them in the
oven with the carrots. if you played your cards right, the
steaming water in the pan should pull the last of the habanero
residue out so your okra have a tiny bit of spice.
7. when the soup is ready, serve with the onions and some
lemon juice, with veggies on top.
8. add raita if you have the ingredients: plain yogurt, cucumber,
basil or mint, leftover lemon juice

follow this meal up with some dessert!

Habanero gluten-free chocolate chip cookies:

(the chewiest crunchiest gluten free thing I've ever had)

cream together:

1/2 c butter
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla extract

mix in a separate bowl:

1/2 c white rice flour
1/4 c sweet rice flour
5/8 c tapioca starch
1/8 c brown rice flour
1/4 t xanthan gum
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt

combine everything

add 1 t warm water and mix.

add chocolate chips and a tiny tiny bit of chopped pepper.

bake at 350 for 11-12 minutes. cookies hold their shape best if you
grease the pan, refrigerate the dough before forming into small balls,
and let cool on the pan.

mmmmmm