Happy Beltane!

Beltane is May 1st. Here's what's cooking at our house this May Day:

Beltaine Sorrel Soup

WeightWatchers POINTS® Value: 2, Servings: 7

This is a May Day tradition in my family. Our daughter and I pick the sorrel right from our garden in the morning, after washing our faces in morning dew -- supposedly doing so will give you lifelong youthful beauty. Of course eating this soup is so deliciously good for you it will surely contribute to true beauty...the kind that radiates from within as a result of good health!

The lemony taste of sorrel is distinctive, but any green could be substituted to make a delicious brew.

Ingredients:

1 pound potatoes

1 medium onion

8 oz asparagus

1/2 pound baby carrots

2 1/2 cup cooked lentils
2-3 cups chopped sorrel

Instructions:

In the bottom of a large heavy pot lightly coated w/grapeseed oil, saute the onion till softened. Add 4-6 cups veggie broth, the diced carrots & potatoes. Simmer till nearly tender. Add lentils & chopped asparagus, simmer till all veggies are soft. Add the sorrel, waiting just a minute or so for the sorrel to wilt. Salt & black pepper to taste.

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I am serving this soup with a salad of spring greens and a May Day basket of bread twists -- braids, knots & weaving are symbolic of the season. I'm purchasing the dough this year and baking them off myself.

After lunch we'll be hanging May baskets on some of our neighbor's doors -- a sweet old custom. We've made our baskets out of decorated recycled soymilk containers and have filled them with pansies. Read my Earth Day blog entry for more about these.

When we get back home, for dessert we are having these wonderful cupcakes, dusted with powdered sugar and topped with a strawberry slice:

Easy Chocolate Cupcakes

WeightWatchers POINTS® Value: 3, Servings: 12

These cupcakes are the yummiest I've tried -- moist, light and soooo easy! I halved the recipe from the original, so double it to make a traditional sized cake. Aside from my substitution of applesauce for some oil, the recipe is exact as gotten from: http://www.boutell.com/vegetarian/cake.html

Ingredients

1/2 tsp table salt
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup water
1 tsp baking soda
3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Instructions

Mix the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients. Stir until smooth. Bake in papered muffin pan at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Happy spring!!!!