Fork and Beans

Making food fun for the family

Brooke’s SouperHero Guest Post

by

Brooke over at Crackers on the Couch is the kind of person you want to know: down-to-earth, hilarious, creative, and full of love and encouragement. You might remember her during the holiday series, The 12 Days of Christmas Cookies, that she so graciously invited me to convert her cookie recipes and post alongside of her. I can always count on this girl to make me laugh so hard with her comments! She is one well-worth keeping an eye on…

Cara, thanks so much for allowing me to guest post today!  You are so playful with your food and really inspired me as I was working on this project.  I am so excited to share my final post in the series here with your readers!  To give everyone an update, this week I’ve been posting a series of Superhero soups that were kicked off by my son asking for Batman Soup.  You wouldn’t believe how excited my boys have been to be test subjects for these! Now they expect everything I serve them to have a Superhero theme! (Today we had “Twisty Man” pasta.  Never heard of “Twisty Man?” Yeah, that’s ‘cuz Mama got desperate.  His superpower is the ability to taste yummy under beans, tomatoes, and sour cream…) Today’s superhero actually exists outside our household, though he may be slightly less known than most.  He is: The Thing.

Unlike the rest of my Souperheroes, I don’t have a dim, fond memory of The Thing.  I really don’t know much about him except he’s strong and he has super thick skin and a crummy attitude.  And he’s part of the Fantastic Four and he got his superpowers accidentally when the experimental spaceship he was flying was pelted by cosmic rays.  And I know all this because Wikipedia is awesome.  But what I did know about him (before my enlightening Wikipedia visit) is he’s yellow and rocky looking.  And you know what I love to eat that’s yellow and rocky looking?  Daal.  I love Indian food.  This recipe is inspired by Indian cooking, though not super authentic because, well… you know… I’m not Indian… It’s as authentic as a Southern girl transplanted to Seattle by way of California can get…

The (Yellow Split Pea Daal) Thing
Yield: 6 Servings

1 large onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, sliced
2 tsp whole cumin seed
1 tsp turmeric
1 Tbs olive oil
2 C yellow split peas
4 C water
2 C vegetable stock
Salt and pepper
3 C cooked Jasmine rice
plain yogurt

Heat olive oil in a large stock pot and brown onion and garlic.  As onion becomes translucent, add cumin seed and turmeric.  When onions are done browning, add yellow split peas, water and stock.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until split peas have softened, 20-30 minutes.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with rice and yogurt.  And maybe a nice roti if you can get your hands on it…

Review:
Thing #1 loved it.  Thing #2 not so much (“Too spicy!,” he says.  It’s totally not spicy, he just didn’t want to eat it.)  Mr. Crackers and I like it very much.  Next time, I think I’ll try some fresh curry leaves in it and see what happens.

 

 If you enjoyed this post, I’ve got a week’s worth of vegan, gf Souperheroes waiting for you over on my blog and more to come as I think of them!  Thanks again, Cara!  You’re the best!

Check out Brooke’s other super creative SouperHero soups:

Incredible Minted Green Pea Soup

Wonder Woman Watermelon Soup

Batman Black Bean Soup

Iron Man Roast Borscht

About Cara

Based in Chicago with her husband and son, Cara is the creator behind the site Fork and Beans: A place where kids can have fun with their food.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. GiGi

    Yay for Souper heros who have thte ability to hide under kale!!! This is great. Twisty man, hahaha. That’s what I call Psycho boy hubby (when he is particularly nutzoid).
    Clever, Clever, Clever post!

  4. Lou

    This is so cool… although I think my (grown up) partner Viper would enjoy this more than my son (not so grown up) at the moment…. he’s a huge comic/super hero fan and needs some encouragement to eat more veggies – I reckon this method would work for a 35 year old, no?

    • Brooke

      I have no doubt. And if that doesn’t work, try spoon feeding him. “Open up the hanger! Here comes the airplane!” That aughta do it…

  5. Richa@HobbyandMore

    awessomee! i love all the soups.. how cool is that wonderwoman and the fantastic batman! love the ” thing 1 likes it .. thing 2 not so much”. :)).. i am sure they think mama is super cool!
    i saw that wonderwoman 2 days back somewhere.. and its still sitting in one of my open tabs! and nothing can beat good old daal for me anyday! love those superheroes peeking here and there in the pictures.
    Amazing job Brooke! and another great guest post Cara!

    • Brooke

      Thanks, Richa! The Wonder Woman soup has sort of taken off. I am surprised how much people love Wonder Woman! I think it’s because she’s the best female superhero by far…

  7. Laurel

    This is what all the great chefs say, that you eat with your eyes as well as your stomach. You are one smart, creative momma. I especially like ‘Twisty Man.’ Those are some lucky little boys at your house. I had a giggle about ‘The Thing’ because I didn’t know who he was until my husband brought home the Fantastic 4 movies. In fact, we own copies of every super hero movie going so I guess some boys never really grow up. All those animated Disney classics have absolutely nothing to say about MY mental age. Nothing! Do you hear? Great job, Brooke.

        • Cara

          Both you and Brooke seem to have difficulty with compliments. I will have to figure out a special potion that forces the 2 of you to accept them with ease…

    • Brooke

      When it comes to phrases to live by, I think that what I’ve discovered this past week is “It takes a geek to please a geek!” And I like it… *eyebrow wiggle* 😀 I haven’t seen any of the Fantastic 4 movies, now I feel like I’m missing out…

      • Laurel

        Eyebrow wiggles are positively ‘de rigeur’ when it comes to geek pleasing. It takes a geek to please a geek. Fun-ee.

          • Laurel

            Is your nickname Snidley by any chance or are you Pauline? Where, oh where are the RCMP when you need them anyway? Do they think flashing the Batman light absolves them of all responsibility? Seriously. 😀

          • Cara

            I was just told by a certain 5 year old that I have hair on my face…so I can definitely pull off mustache twirling, apparently 🙂

  8. Kristina

    genius soup genius!! I love the wonder woman, I saw that the other day, so you must already be in my reader! (I have a very fuzzy mind these days…) 🙁

    playing with food is GOOD – you and Cara both do it well!

    • Brooke

      Thanks, Kristina! Wonder Woman has kind of taken a life of her own. She’s showing up everywhere! But I hope it’s because I’m in your reader! 🙂

  9. Cadry's Kitchen

    What creative and fun ideas! And I love that Brooke’s boys tried some unusual and varied foods because they were superhero themed. Great pictures too!

  10. Brooke

    Cara, I’m so glad to be a “People You Should Know”! You’ve got the best readers (probably because you’re the best!) Megalove, lady!

    • Cara

      They really ARE the best aren’t they??? I have no idea why they like me but I am not going to fight it 🙂 And it’s a no-brainer that you are a Peep to Know…

  11. Heather

    Her boys are so lucky- what a great mama!

    This has got to be the most creative way I have ever seen soup presented to kids; Super Hero Soup, Genius 🙂

    Love, love dal- what a great Guest post!

  13. Nora @ Natural Noshing

    I’m giggling with delight and excitement – how adorable and creative is this?!?!? This is soooo something my mom would have done when my brither and i were growing up 🙂 food should be fun and Brooke (and you Cara) are masters at this!!

  14. Caitlin

    OH MY GOSH! brooke is SO creative! this is the most creative/freakin adorable thing i’ve seen in a while! bravo to brooke for creating superhero soups! 😉