Closing In on the Last of the Harvests

Fall is definitely upon us.  The last couple of days have been cold - actually cold - in addition to windy.  So it seems not long now before any remaining little fruits and leaves wither away or get blown off.

Tonight, with scant other post-workday food options to be found in the kitchen, the never-eaten-upon-arrival Mulligatawny soup that comes as a standard-issue bonus with each of our Indian food orders from Mumtaz became the prime candidate.  Not clear why the Mulligatawny soup is always relegated to wallflower status on Indian dinner nights; the main orders are just the natural belles of the ball.  But, especially now with the loose vegetarian days, the Mulligatawny can take a star turn - it makes for a fantastic main course over the brown rice/quinoa blend.  Plant protein over plant protein - perfect!  And to think, the Mulligatawny never even used to receive the invitation - we just did not know what the mysterious sauce was supposed to be used with/for.  And then, one pick-up order, years back, the owner, perhaps mildly offended at our refusal, asked why we did not like the Mulligatawny soup?  Well, with that introduction, we accepted, and the Mulligatawny has been a guest at the ball ever since.

On its own, Mumtaz's Mulligatawny soup is rather mild, a bit boring.  Maybe it's meant to be a palate cleanser for our generally more-robustly-spiced main orders - if that's the case, then it's perfect.  But alone, perhaps a bit bland.  But some time ago, I discovered that whatever is the main spice in the soup (cumin?), pairs fantastically well with - ready for it? - shiso!  Bizarro, I know, but it works.  So, emptying the refrigerator and eating up the stores also serves as an opportunity to salvage the shiso for consumption before Fall inflicts any more of a toll.

Shiso leaves, stacked and ready to be scissor-chifinaded.

Chifinade of shiso leaves, over Mulligatawny soup, over brown rice/quinoa blend - enhanced with lemon pepper and garlic powder.  Quite tasty.

And, while it would have been easy to be too lazy to go out into the dark after work to harvest what little was left, it really was worth the effort.  The leaves are not so big anymore, so quite a few had to go into the pile.  The shiso has pretty much gone into full seeding mode, and I DO want it to come back next year, so I do not want to discourage seeding altogether.  Therefore, leaves were cut from several plants, somewhat sparingly, so as not to stress any one plant too much... do plants need to have leaves for their seeds to continue to mature?  Not sure, but better not to take the chance.

The shiso just enhances the flavor of the Mulligatawny; they are very complementary.  The upcycled Mulligatawny soup over the grains - perfect for an evening single-portion meal during a busy midweek evening.  Yay me, and thanks, Mumtaz!