The coconut-curry soup I made a couple of days ago was SO delicious, but a bit rich for a soup, so I decided to pimp it up a bit and turn it into a full-on curry to serve over rice.

The result is super lush and SO delicious–it’s definitely company food! Even omnis will enjoy this one!

Chickpea Coconut Curry

Blend in the Vitamix (set on “soup” function so it preheats):

• 28 ounces fresh, chopped tomatoes (or 1 28-ounce can)
• 1 can coconut milk
• 4 TBS red curry paste
• 1 TBS Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base
• 2 TBS sambal oelek
• 1 thumb-sized chunk of ginger
• 1 TBS coriander
• 1 TBS cumin
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp freshly ground pepper

Meanwhile, saute in the Instant Pot:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 serrano pepper, chopped (keep the seeds in for some extra heat)
• 2 carrots, grated
• 1 yellow pepper, chopped
• 1 orange pepper, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped

Once, the onion is translucent, add the contents of the blender and…

• 2 cups halved grape tomatoes
• 2 zucchinis, chopped

Close the Instant Pot and set for 0 minutes. Yes, you read that right: ZERO minutes. By the time the pot is up to pressure, the zucchini, peppers, and grape tomatoes will be cooked and the soup will be heated through.

While you’re waiting for the Instant Pot to achieve pressure, throw the following into the Vitamix and blend until smooth:

• 1 cup cashews
• 2 cups boiling water
• 3 Tbsp miso
• 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes

Do a controlled quick release and open the Instant Pot. Pour the contents of the Vitamix into the Instant Pot and add…

• 1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 2 cups frozen peas

…and hit “saute” until it re-heats. Next, stir in…

• 2 TBS lime juice
• freshly ground pepper

Serve over brown basmati rice with a sprinkling of chopped cilantro and a dollop of mango chutney.  Don’t forget to bake a fresh pita or naan!

The other cool thing I discovered today is a quick way to make fresh pita. Because I don’t like to heat the oven up to 500 degrees for one or two measly pitas, I often just slap some dough on my sandwich grill and make flatbread. Up to this point, I haven’t really worried about rolling the dough out thin and perfectly round as I would for a pita.

Well, today, I was trying a new technique and rolled out a small round of my no-knead whole-wheat dough into a thin round, and slapped it on the sandwich grill.

Lo and behold–that sucker puffed up into the most perfect pita I have ever produced!

Just look at that nice thin pita!

I did attempt it also with the no-knead white dough, but it was a bust because that white dough is just too tenaciously elastic to roll out. It just keeps rolling back into a little snowball of dough.

And the song of the day is an old song from a new album: “Gentle on my Mind” from Alison Kraus’s new album, Windy City. It’s kind of a cheesy song and not to my usual taste, but I’ve developed a bit of a soft spot for old Alison because James likes her so much.

Also, the song reminds me of watching Glen Campbell’s show–almost FIFTY years ago–with Biddy. His show was a summer replacement for The Smothers Brothers in 1968 and, for some bizarre reason, Bid and I were completely obsessed with the show.