Mango Gazpacho, Bean Brownies!?, Purple Soup, Memorial NotDogs

Mango-Orange Gazpacho
Summertime... time for a refreshing chilled soup.  I've made tomato-based Red Gazpachos, and White Gazpachos based on green grapes.  This was a first -- a real revelation -- Gazpacho based on tropical flavors; and out favorite tropical fruit at that!

2 cups Fresh squeezed Orange Juice
2 cups Fresh Mango filets
1 Red Bell Pepper, diced large
1 sweet White Onion, diced large
1 Cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
3-4 Tbsp fresh Lime Juice
Chopped Parsley, Basil, Mint and/or Cilantro to taste
Salt, White Pepper and sweet/hot/smoky Chili Powder or Paprika to taste.
6-12 oz Lemon-Lime soda or Seltzer Water as needed

Take the mango and OJ for a spin in the food processor, then transfer to a pitcher or large bowl.  Stir in the soda or seltzer water, lime juice, diced vegetables and spices, tasting as you go to get just the right balance of flavors.  

Chill several hours before serving.

Black Bean Brownies?  
Have I ever steered you wrong?  These bean-based brownies are outa sight!!   A birthday treat for one of Sally's work friends who is vegan.  You simply cannot tell that these brownies use black beans instead of flour!  All you taste is chocolate-y yumminess!  Based on a FOK recipe with the usual tweeks because they never quite get things right.

1 can Black Beans, rinsed & drained
1 cup Date Syrup -- expensive!!  Cane or Maple syrups will work too with a couple Tbsp of Molasses.
1/2 cup unsweetened Cocoa Powder
3/4 cup Oat Flour or ground Rolled Oats
1/2 cup unsweetened Applesauce --  don't leave this out!
1-1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1-1/2  tsp Baking Soda
1-1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract -- Peppermint or Orange extracts also work well
1 tsp White Wine Vinegar
Optional:  1/2 cup Walnut Pieces or a dusting of Confectioner's Sugar for topping

Take the beans, syrup and cocoa powder for a few pulses in your FP, to break up the beans.  Add the rest of the ingredients and spin to combine into a smooth batter.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan (add walnuts if using) and bake for 35 minutes @350F.

 Cool on a rack for 15 minutes (if you can wait that long) before slicing into wedges...

Purple Cauliflower Soup
Vibrant colors of cauliflower are all the rage.  They taste the same, but the colors can seriously enhance the appearance of a recipe.   This would be beautiful with the orange cauliflower as well.  Simple, and simply delicious.

1 head Purple Cauliflower disassembled into florets.
1 medium Onion, diced
5-6 cloves Garlic, minced
4-5 cups clear Broth or water (I used water + mushroom powder)
Salt and White Pepper to taste
Optional Garnishes including green pistachios, a dollop of Skyr (home-made naturally) or a dusting of sweet and/or smoky Paprika.

Saute the onion and grlic in your soup pot, in a splash of EVOO.  Add the broth and cauliflower, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cool for 30+ minutes. 

When the cauliflower is fork tender, scoop it from the pot, puree in your food processor, and return to the broth.  You can simmer to reduce the liquid and thicken, add a cornstarch slurry, or a tablespoon or two of Bistotm gravy crystals like I do.     Plate, garnish and serve with some nice fresh bread or rolls.

As The Kilted Cook, I once catered a posh luncheon for a chapter of the ladies Red Hat Society (check them out!), where I featured all red and purple foods (their signature colors).  Then,  made a red beet borscht as their starter.  Sure wish I'd had this recipe back then!

Irish Soda Bread Biscuits
I made these non-purple biscuits to accompany the soup, using a pretty standard Irish Soda Bread recipe:

2 cups Self-Rising Flour or AP Flour plus Baking Soda
large pinch of salt
2 Tbsp cold Butter, cut into slices
3/4 cup Buttermilk or Whole Milk with lemon juice

Mix the flour and salt.  I used about 1/4 of the measure of Whole Wheat flour rather than all AP, and added a couple teaspoons of baking soda. 

Cut the butter into the flour using your Mark I mixer (hands) until you get 'gravel'.

Stir in the milk to make a shaggy dough,  then pat it out with a bit more flour into a 1"  thick disk, and cookie-cut 2" or 3" biscuits.  Bake on a parchment paper lined tray for about 15 minutes at 350F.

Memorial Day NotDogs
It's become a tradition for me to make these NotDogs for holiday picnic type meals.  Look again -- that's not a hot dog or sausage!  

That's a carrot-dog!  Better tasting by far than any of those faux sausages usually offered to vegetarians/vegans!!   The taste is phenominal.  The mouth feel is similar too.  On a roll with your favorite toppings it's heavenly.

Here's the link to where I gave the recipe a couple years ago:
Fooding Around With The Kilted Cook: Search results for notdogs (foodingaround-kiltedcook.blogspot.com)

Basically you peel some large carrots  (you could also use parsnips) into hot dog.sausage shape, make a marinade that flavors the carrots, and marinate the carrots for 12-18 hours.  Then you par-cook them in the microwave until fork tender, and finally fry them in a splash of oil.

There's no reason you couldn't make a marinade with the herbs and spices used to make bratwurst, for example and create your own NotWurst or similar spicy sausage.  Hmmmm let me check my spice cupboard...