By Angela Stephens
Gannett News Service

For her Curried Squash Soup, chef Triset DeFonseka purees butternut squash with other vegetables and spicy curry powder. (Brandi Stafford photo)

The cold evenings of early winter call for quick meals that warm you to your soul in a hurry. Soups and stews are perfect, and they don't have to be chocked with meat to be hearty and filling. Vegetarian soups hit the spot and help you comply with your resolution to eat lighter and healthier in the new year.

Instead of rich broth, meatless soups are based on vegetable stocks. They are often thickened with pureed vegetables, sometimes studded with tender chunks of carrots or beans and seasoned with intriguing herbs and spices.

For her silky Curried Squash Soup, Triset DeFonseka, chef-owner of Aralia restaurant in Loveland, purees butternut squash, onion, garlic and celery, adding curry powder for a taste of her native Sri Lanka. To create her Lentil Soup with Spinach, DeFonseka simmers lentils with tomatoes, adds a heavy dash of cumin and finishes with fresh spinach, cooking until just tender.

Beans, potatoes and corn are main ingredients in thick, New England-style chowders, which are made with milk or cream and typically contain some sort of seafood. But vegetarian corn and potato chowders work just as well, and are simple to make.

The base of chowders is milk, rather than broth, and typically slightly thickened by potato. But without seafood, a thinner consistency allows the delicate flavors of vegetables to come through. A thinner chowder also leaves room for side salad and fresh bread.

CAMPBELL'S SOUP

Restaurant critic Polly Campbell makes her picks. Roly Poly, downtown, Blue Ash, Mason, Clifton Heights Soups change daily, but include:Vegetarian chili, Potato leek, Wild rice and mushroom Myra's Dionysus, Mount Auburn A changing assortment, including: Gypsy soup with sweet potato and garbanzos, Potato and cheese with dill, Vegetable miso, Tomato cilantro Manna, downtown All vegan soups, including: Caribbean vegetable, Vegetable chili, 7-bean barley, Barcelona sweet pea Udipi Cafe, Roselawn Indian soups, including: Tomato soup, Rasam, a sour, spicy soup Aralia, Loveland Soups change daily, but include: Curried squash, Lentil soup with spinach

Fresh ears of corn make the sweetest corn chowder, but thawed frozen corn works easily and still has good flavor. An interesting spin on plain corn chowder recipes is to roast your corn before scraping it off the ears, or to add roasted garlic to the recipe.

Roasted peppers - anything from red bells to poblanos - also add a delightfully smoky, rich flavor to a chowder. Add roasted pine nuts or pumpkin seeds for an interesting texture and bit of a nuttiness. A sprinkling of minced green onion adds zest to the finished soup, too.

Curried Squash Soup

21/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks

8 cups water or vegetable stock

1 small onion, chopped

8 cloves roasted garlic

1 rib celery, chopped

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon vegetable curry powder*

1 teaspoon paprika

Lemon pepper, to taste

Dash, roasted curry powder for garnish*

In large saucepan, combine squash, water or stock, chopped onion, garlic, chopped celery, bay leaf, Italian seasoning, curry powder and paprika. Bring to boil then reduce to medium heat; cover and cook until squash is tender. Let soup cool and discard bay leaf.

Transfer soup to blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Return to saucepan and thin with more water or stock if too thick. Add lemon pepper to taste. Bring to gentle simmer to warm. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with dash of roasted curry powder. Makes about 10 servings.

Easy Vegetarian Cooking with Herbs and Spices (Morris)

*Triset DeFonseka sells vegetable curry powder, roasted curry, other Sri Lankan ingredients and her cookbook, Easy Vegetarian Cooking with Herbs and Spices, at Aralia Restaurant in Loveland. Information: 697-8777.

To make your own vegetable curry powder, heat non-stick heavy skillet over medium heat. Add 1/4 cup coriander seed and heat, stirring, until heated through. Remove coriander to bowl. Repeat with 1/3 cup cumin seed, 2 teaspoons fennel seed and 3 teaspoon fenugreek seed. Transfer all to bowl. Add 3 tablespoons turmeric powder and mix to combine. Grind finely in coffee grinder and let cool completely. Store in air-tight container.

Lentil Soup with Spinach

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 ripe tomatoes, diced

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 cup red lentils, washed well under running water

8 cups water

2 cubes vegetable bouillon, mashed

1 bunch fresh spinach, washed well, trimmed and roughly chopped

Salt, to taste

Heat large saucepan over medium heat. Add oil and saute onions, garlic, tomatoes, parsley and cumin for about 2 minutes. Add washed lentils, water and bouillon. Bring to boil on high heat, then reduce to low. Cover and simmer until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally. Discard any foam that comes to top.

Add spinach and simmer until tender. Season with salt to taste. Serve hot or cold. Makes about 10 servings.

Easy Vegetarian Cooking with Herbs and Spices

Corn Chowder with Green Chiles

2 fresh Anaheim or poblano chiles

2 tablespoons corn oil or vegetable oil

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 large onion, minced

3 cups corn kernels scraped from the cob (about 6 medium ears) or thawed frozen corn

3 cups regular or low-fat milk

1 (12-to-14-ounce) russet baking potato, peeled and diced

11/2 teaspoons salt, or more to taste

1/2 cup whipping cream

Pinch white pepper

1/4 cup dry-roasted, shelled pumpkin seeds (optional)

Roast green chiles under a broiler or over a hot grill until blistered and nearly black. Place in a plastic bag to steam. When cool enough to handle remove from bag and peel off blistered skin - it should come off easily. Remove seeds and chop. Set aside.

Heat oil and butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. In a blender puree 1 cup of corn with 1 cup of the milk. Pour into pan along with remaining corn and milk, potato and salt.

Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 15 to 20 minutes, or until potato is tender. Do not allow soup to boil. Stir in cream and heat through. Taste for salt and add more if needed. Ladle into bowls and top with chopped roasted chiles and pumpkin seeds. Makes about 8 servings.

Vegetarian Times magazine