Foodie Friday : Vegan Leek and Potato Soup

Quick Vegan Leek and Potato Soup for Busy People

Directions:
- Peel and chop a few potatoes + slice a medium sized leek
- Place in covered bowl and microwave for 5 minutes- Pour into blender; cover with a non-dairy milk of your choice (I like almond milk); add fresh or dried thyme, salt, and a pinch of nutmeg to taste
- Blend until smooth (approx 1 minute, depending on your blender)
- Dish, garnish and serve! In this image, I've topped the soup with more dried thyme and a sprinkling of coconut bacon

Voilà! Fresh, home made soup in 7 minutes or less, no joke Enjoy!

Recipe by Milena of Just the Goods

Foodie Friday : Summer Squash Soup with Coconut Milk and Banana

Hi everyone! It's Foodie Friday and I'm back again this week to share another recipe that I whipped up intuitively. This time it's a soup and while I apologize for the absence of measurements to accompany each ingredient, this dish welcomes even more flavour flexibility, so you're able to fine tune it as you wish :)

Summer Squash Soup with Coconut Milk and Banana

Ingredients:

• Summer squash
• Bananas
• Fresh or dried garlic and onion -- I used both
• Water
• Spices: coriander seed, red chili flakes, cardamom, ginger, cassia, turmeric, clove and nutmeg
• Coconut milk (if desired)
• Minced herbs for garnish (if desired) -- I used chives and shiso leaf

Method:

1. Wash, peel, de-seed and chop/cube summer squash
2. Sautée squash in a well heated pan with olive oil with a bit of dried onion until lightly golden on all sides. If you're making a lot of soup using a lot of squash, you may need to do this in multiple batches. In either case, when finished, set it aside. The purpose of sautéing in advance is to enhance the natural flavours of the ingredient before boiling it into soup. This step also helps the squash cook faster, so you can dig into the soup faster :)
3. Using the same pan, sautée bananas into a mushy consistency, and put them aside as well.
4. In a soup pot, brown finely diced onion and garlic until the scent increases, then add the squash and banana and stir everything together.
5. Once stirred, add enough water to cover the contents of the pot.
6. Add the spices mentioned above to taste, and don't be shy about the quantity. You might have noticed this recipe doesn't use soup stock, so all of your flavour will come from the ingredients you've added, including these spices.
7. Allow the soup to boil briefly, then lower the heat to a simmer
8. Taste the blend and add more spice if desired
9. Allow the soup to simmer until the squash has soften enough to either transfer to a blender, or use an immersion mixer to purée everything to your desired consistency.
10. Ladle the soup into bowls, heavily pour coconut milk so it creates an aesthetically pleasing swirl and top with fresh  fresh herbs for garnish. 

You will probably have left over coconut milk. If so, add it to the leftover soup still in the pot and stir -- tomorrow's soup will taste different without any work to create variety ;) Whooo! Who says leftovers are boring? *lol*

Enjoy!!

Post and Recipe by: Milena from Just the Goods 

Check out her Etsy shop HERE

Foodie Friday : Eggplant with Pomegranate and Tahini

Hi! This is Milena from Just the Goods, and this is my first contribution to WEST's deliciously awesome series, Foodie Friday.

When I make skin care products, I follow my own formulas very carefully, measuring to the milliliter and/or gram. However, when I'm in the kitchen, I like to cook intuitively and take inspiration from whatever ingredients I happen to have on hand at the time. As a result, I don't think I've ever cooked the same thing twice, but sometimes I have the *same* ingredients on hand, so I try to mix them up in different ways. This vegan seared eggplant with pomegranate seeds and a tahini dressing was created under such circumstances. I didn't keep track of quantities, so I hope you'll pardon the lack of measurements and take this as an opportunity to adjust ingredients to your personal preference :)

Eggplant with Pomegranate and Tahini

Ingredients:

• Small/young eggplant (I prefer Chinese long eggplant for this type of preparation method, but I imagine any variety will do)
• Olive oil
• Sumac, cinnamon, cloves, salt (I like Himalayan pink salt)
• Pomegranate syrup
• Tahini
• Lemon juice
• Fresh pomegranate seeds
• Sesame seeds, cilantro or parsley, and/or chives for use as flavour enhancing garnish

Method:

1. While washing and cutting each eggplant in half cross-wise, heat your frying pan or griddle
2. Brush both sides of the eggplant with olive oil
3. Dust the flat interior side of the eggplant with sumac, cinnamon, cloves and salt.
4. When the pan is hot enough, oil your pan/griddle, then place the eggplant flat, seasoned side down.
5. When the eggplant is half-way done searing, add some pomegranate syrup to the pan, and allow it to caramelize gently, then flip the eggplant
6. While the eggplant is searing, make your tahini based sauce by whisking together tahini, lemon juice, some of the spices mentioned above, plus a bit of the sweet pomegranate syrup used earlier
7. To help the eggplant cook through evenly without burning, flip the eggplant three times to cook each side twice instead of once, and cover the eggplant while cooking with a well fitting lid so it partially steams while searing. Keep an eye on it while preparing your sauce and garnish.
8. While still hot, plate the eggplant flat side up, drizzle with tahini sauce, more pomegranate sauce (for flavour and complimentary colour) and sprinkle with fresh pomegranate seeds, sesame seeds, cilantro, chives etc., then serve and enjoy!

I hope you like this dish! It is an awesome side dish, but equally delicious as a main if you happen to make enough of it ;)

Post and Recipe by: Milena from Just the Goods 

Check out her Etsy shop HERE

Customer Service Sundays ft Just The Goods!

Welcome back to Customer Service Sundays! What better way to bring back Sunday posts featuring WESTies that go the extra mile for you, than to sit down with Milena of Just The Goods!

(source)

"Hi everyone!

Milena from Just the Goods, here =-)

WESTies care a great deal about customer service, and given this opportunity to share some thoughts with you, I'd love to mention the things I like to do so each person who contacts me and/or makes a purchase knows that they matter.

Yes, I always write a personal note on each parcel packing slip, and I always include a free sample with every parcel sent by mail but -- based on the feedback I've received -- it appears that the most important customer service I deliver takes place well before a purchase is ever made, and that's offering personalized advice and/or tips.

I am happy to spend time each day with people to help them clarify their skin care needs and this involves helping them read/understand the ingredients listed in their current skin care products, and explaining the types of issues that can be caused by these ingredients in relation to their current concerns. For example, I receive many messages from people with acne prone skin that is both greasy and flaking. In fact, this problem is far more common that most people realize and it can usually be traced back to the alcohol, benzoyl peroxide, and other drying ingredients in so many conventional, petrochemical-based products. And, the more and more I receive messages from people, the more I'm able to recognize patterns and offer assistance. No, I'm not a doctor or a registered health professional of any other kind, but I can share my observations while keeping in mind that the condition of our skin is affected by a range of issues including the products we use.

With that being said, I'm totally a-okay with sharing my accumulated knowledge even when I realize someone might apply that to purchases elsewhere. It's not only the sale that matters, but helping people access information that they might not have had an opportunity to explore prior =-) That's genuinely important to me, and I'm glad those who find Just the Goods feel the same way =-)

So if you ever have any questions, please know that you can always ask -- I do my very best to reply as quickly as possible =-)

Thanks!
Milena / Just the Goods"

WESTie Wednesday - featuring Just The Goods!

Welcome to WESTie Wednesday, where each week we better get to know a proud WEST member and their Etsy shop! Let's meet Milenna, of Just The Goods, who creates natural and affordable skin care products for everyone!

(source)

"The products are plant and mineral based, certified cruelty free, and recognized with Champion level status by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. I take ingredients very seriously and always clearly indicate which items are nut-free, gluten-free, unscented, etc. I also make a point of offering products that are gender neutral. And of course, I aim to keep products priced as affordably as possible. In fact, since my retailers mark up to reflect the costs associated with a bricks and mortar shop, I describe my rates I offer public wholesale =-)"

(source)

"I have an Etsy shop because its an ideal way to be encountered by people eager to discover and support unique items made by hand. I realize Etsy is a really large company itself, but as a forum for helping others connect with small scale makers, I think it's unparalleled."

(source)

"I've really enjoyed connecting with other Winnipeg makers through Etsy and WEST =-) I think we make an amazing team and I'm looking forward to everything we do together going forward =-) Thanks so much for inviting me tell you a lil' about what I do and why =-) =-)"

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