Roasted Curried Butternut Walnut Soup with Spicy Cheese Straws

uickly browsing through my recipe categories, you will realize that I am not much of a soup person. There are very few kinds, actually only a couple, that I would even allow myself to taste and that too made at specific places or by specific people. This soup is one of them. My first encounter with butternut squash was aboard a Caribbean cruise liner out in the middle of that vast blue spread of the Atlantic. It was an acquired taste. Hubby tells me I made a sorry face when I first tasted it but the expression soon changed with the second and third sips. Very seldom happens to me. I either like something or I don't. Things don't normally 'grow' on me, but this was different. Having remembered seeing butternut squash on the shelves of the grocery stores, yes of course I decided I would try it at home. 

Since then this soup has been either a part of the entire dinner for us on several occasions. I normally accompany it with some salad and bread toasts or these cheese straws using puff pastry sheets - the supermarket wonder. Of course the cheese sticks are a winner combo so I picked them for the post here. A savory, spicy, cheesy crunch is all you need to clean your palate when enjoying this hearty soup. A few touches that I prefer with this soup is I like the version with the squash roasted better. Also I add some Indian masalas and some walnuts for that spicy nutty taste. Regardless of the twists and the masalas, each time I make this soup, the fond memories of the cruise vacation still pass my mind and I feel myself seated on the deck looking at the vast blue nothingness with the breeze in my hair sipping slowly from a hot bowl.

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Samosa Puffs

 
uys lets face it making samosa from scratch is a tedious job, one that mostly requires teamwork! Of course I have posted one here and I do make it now and then, but for those unexpected guests or for that terrible samosa craving on a cold rainy day I do follow the easy route with what I call the super market wonder ~ the PUFF PASTRY  (an always present ingredient in my freezer). One thing that we miss here in the US is the luxury of having good Indian food available at any street corner you turn which we used to take so for granted in India. I am sure a few of my readers will identify with that. We used to crave for good samosas and other street food every now and then. Given that it takes a little effort to make your own, I mostly find myself not having the enthu to make it often neither to drive 10 -15 miles every time to the nearest Indian restaurant in the area. Now you probably have had those vegetable puffs (a million times) in possibly each and every single potluck or dinner you have attended so far. This time I wanted to take the same concept and make it a little more presentable and interesting and closer to our beloved Samosa ~ only open faced!

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Vegetable pot pie

Pot pies are very fuss free, easy breezy, scrumptious, very pretty and elegant looking meals with which you can always impress your guests. They are a wonderful treat for oneself too. A pot pie is basically a savory, cheesy pie filling baked in a pot with a flaky top crust. Chicken pot pies are more famous and are more readily available, but that doesn't mean us vegetarians should be deprived of this delicacy. So here goes my recipe for veg pot pie.

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