Wednesday, September 15, 2010

The Color Orange

Cooking Adventure: Carrot & Red Pepper Soup
Source: Nutrition MD
The Bellydance Soundtrack: Sabah El Kheir by REG Project
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30-40 minutes
I'll admit it. I own several Silver Ravenwolf books. Way back when I was a fluffy witchlette I worshipped the woman. And as much as we like to rag on her for her unfortunate advice towards newbies, we have to give her a bit of credit for being one of the only Wiccan authors at the time to directly address teenagers. Having said that, I would also like to point out that now that I'm in my twenties, the SRW books have quite the amount of personal notes written in the margins. The note next to her section on color magick in To Ride a Silver Broomstick, reads:

Why does she associate orange with business dealings, legal matters, and career goals? Where did she get this from? Is this a traditional color interpretation?

Really, if anyone has an answer for this I would love to hear it. To me, color meanings can very much be in the eye of the beholder, so it's hard to put any specific meaning on any of them. While some people see red and think of roses and hearts and kisses, others might have blood, guts and zombies on the brain. Heck, when it comes to elements the Chinese have five. So even that is up for debate.

When I think of orange I think of fall, and a time of change. I think of the part of the fire that's exactly right for browning marshmallows (although I usually burn mine to a crisp). For me, orange represents the changes in life that involve the least amount of gambling. It's the end and beginning of things (sunrise and sunset). And I suppose that it could also represent a desire to be a clown fish, but that's a stretch.

If orange really does stand for general success and business ventures, then I must be close to getting a humongous raise with all the orange food I've been eating. This last week I kept up with the 21-Day Vegan Kickstart meal plan and tried out carrot & red pepper soup. And, since I don't tend to like carrot soup ,& because I'm not vegan, I added my own toppings along the way.

Ingredients
1 onion, chopped
6 carrots, thinly sliced
2 cups water or vegetable stock
2 red bell peppers
2 cups soy milk (**Regular milk works just as well too)
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons  balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Place onion and carrots into a pot with water or stock and simmer, covered, over medium heat until the carrots can be easily pierced with a fork, about 20 minutes.
2. Roast bell peppers by placing them over an open gas flame or directly under the broiler until the skin is completely blackened. Place in a bowl, cover, and let stand about 15 minutes. Slip the charred skin off with your fingers, then cut the peppers in half and remove the seeds.
3. Blend the carrot mixture along with the bell peppers in a blender or food processor in several small batches. Add some of the soy milk to each batch to facilitate blending. Return to the pot and add lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and black pepper. Heat until steamy.

***For non-vegans: Add a dollop of sour cream to the middle, sprinkle with paprika and thyme.

For next time: Make more!

1 comment:

Chris in the Emerald City said...

I guess I naturally associate the color orange with success, abundance and prosperity, so I guess that makes sense. I have a few SRW books, all spell books that I get ideas from. When I read that she suggested using glitter and mini marshmallows in spells, well, that threw me a little at first. I met Gavin & Yvonne Frost last Saturday and will be posting about it next week! I was soooo excited!

Good going on the vegan diet! I could be vegan... if I had a personal chef.