The Most Heavenly Soup Ever to Come Out of My Kitchen

So last weekend I was in Victoria, home of some of the best gluten-free and vegan eats in the province (although with places like Bandidas and The Wallflower, Vancouver is still definitely in the race). But anyway, I was at Santé Gluten-Free café (which is on Quadra near Hillside, and I recommend it to anyone gluten-free in Victoria - lots of dairy-free options too!), and I noticed that in their frozen soup section, they had a coconut-kale blended soup.  Well, this sounded like pretty much the greatest thing ever, so I made a mental note to try making it as soon as I had a chance.  I did a bit of googling for recipe suggestions, but mostly put together a soup with what I already had on hand.  The end result was a creamy, rich deliciousness that I haven't experienced since I could have potato-leek soup with real cream.  I am in soup heaven.  (And to think that two years ago I was convinced that I could never make a decent pot of soup.) Plus, in addition to two bunches of kale, the soup is also full of red lentils, for protein and fiber, and sweet potatoes, which have a shockingly high number of nutrients.  So it's delicious AND healthy!  (Except for the coconut cream, anyway...)

Luscious Lemon Cupcakes - the Holy Grail of Gluten-Free, Vegan Party Treats

A year and a half ago, I made the most amazing cupcakes.  They were lemon-vanilla, with a lemon-coconut frosting, and a big hit with everyone that tried them.  I had discovered a perfect recipe, gluten-free, vegan, soy free, and fairly easy to make sugar-free; and as soon as I finished the batch, I resolved that I would make these cupcakes again soon.

One problem: I couldn't find the recipe.  

Recipe Outlines: Potato Salad and Curried Fava Bean Pasta

It's been a long time since I posted.  A very, very long time.  Lots of things have happened since then - among other things, I went to Asia and fell in love with Thai and Cambodian food, then came home and decided the ingredients were just too expensive to bother cooking it myself, and now obsess over trips to Thai House and Banana Leaf.  And I constantly think "oh, remember when I made the amazing ____ (lemon cupcakes, shepherd's pie, etc.)?  I wonder what I put in it" and then dutifully rush to this blog to look it up, because of course I remembered to write down this wonderful recipe for posterity - but then of course I didn't.  And so, because I have gotten so frustrated with myself, over and over, I am going to include some very basic recipes - no measurements, bullet point instructions, no photos - so that in eight months when I think "remember when I made that awesome potato salad?", I can actually figure out what I made!

Two recipes to start today: mayo-free summer picnic potato salad, and curried pasta with caramelized onions, roasted cauliflower, and fava beans.