Thursday, August 8 Summer Lovin’ Curried Corn & Veggie Chowder, Naan and Samosas Rating: 4.5

Sadly, our CSA farm had to close up shop for the year. The weather was just too wet and many of the fields were flooded. We feel so bad for them. Since there were still several weeks left on the shares, they decided to fulfill the financial obligation all at once. They bartered and bought from neighboring farms and packed as much as possible into the boxes (there were multiple for each member) this week. This meant we got a lot of stuff that would keep well in the pantry, like potatoes and winter squash. It also meant a lot of stuff that would need to be used up or frozen pretty quickly, like lots of corn on the cob and tomatoes. Now, we love corn on the cob as much as the next vegans, but 12 ears is a lot for two people, no matter how you look at it. We normally don’t eat soup during the summer, but the Summer Lovin’ Chowder recipe in Appetite for Reduction uses so many delicious summer veggies and is so crazy yummy, we’re willing to make an exception for it. It’s loaded with corn, bell pepper, zucchini and carrots. It also calls for a full cup of chopped shallots; I was a little short, so I substituted red onion. No biggie. It’s vaguely Indian in that it has a fair amount of ginger and curry powder in it, so we like to have naan and/or samosas as a side. We used to buy vegan naan from Nazifa’s Bakery at Sevananda, and it’s good, but nothing beats fresh, homemade bread in my opinion. If you have a copy of Vegan Eats World, you have the recipe for the naan and should run to your kitchen and make it right now. If you don’t have it, what the hell is wrong with you? Go get a copy! Seriously, if you make one recipe from the book, make this one. Well, or the spinach pie. Or the seitan gyros, or the… never mind. Just go get the book and use it often. Back to the naan – the recipe isn’t complicated, but it will take some time because the dough needs to rise and the loaves get cooked individually in a skillet. We always make the garlic variation, because, garlic. The one place I deviate completely from the recipe is cooking the loaves. I don’t use any kind of margarine or vegan butter in the pan – I found that it burns and the loaves scorch a little. I just do them in a dry cast-iron skillet and butter them when I serve them. Seth is a big fan of cilantro, so we chop some and sprinkle it on his before serving too. I like to use parsley on mine, when I have it on hand. The naan is a perfect accompaniment to the spicy chowder.  We also really like Sukhi’s brand samosas (freezer section at places like Whole Foods) and so we had a couple of those with dinner too. The only thing missing was an Indian beer…