Sept. 25: Fall soups!

Yesterday I had my first cup of butternut squash soup (with coconut milk!) of the season. It was delightful. The night before, I made potato-white bean soup, with red potatoes from our garden, which is also quite lovely. The weather has turned so quickly, and the darkness at both ends of the day is creeping in without regard for my love of light and sunshine. But, it is fall, and my love for autumn weather is well noted, so I'll just zip it (my mouth!) and keep making soups.

Here are a couple more that I am looking to make very soon:

chili

minestrone

Don't those soups just shout out, "Fall!"? I think so.

Besides soups, I am also looking forward to roasting vegetables more--the root ones and brussels sprouts especially--and enjoying pomegranates and various citrus fruits too. (Trying to look on the bright side, as I am already mourning the fresh fruit, berries and waning tomato crop... sigh.)

What autumn food are you looking forward to making? Do soups make your list?

Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

It's so easy being green

When I saw a recipe for green minestrone recently, my first thought was "Why didn't I think of that?" Because I really hadn't, ever. And if there's anything I appreciate, it's green! I get routinely teased for green shoes, coats, toenails... but I can handle it. What good is a favorite color if you can't take a little teasing?

So I tucked away the basic idea behind the various green soups I saw online, gathered every green vegetable in the house and went to town.

Green vegetable soup 
Makes 12 cups
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 stalks of leeks, halved lengthwise and sliced thinly
6 green onions, chopped finely
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 Anaheim peppers, seeded and chopped semi-finely
3 cups kale leaves, destemmed and chopped finely
1.5 cups edamame, shelled
4 baby zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 bunch asparagus, cleaned and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
8 cups vegetable broth
Salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and add the leeks, onions and garlic. Saute until tender and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the kale and edamame and broth, and bring to a simmer for 10-12 minutes, add the zucchini and asparagus and cook for 5-7 minutes more. Taste the soup for desired vegetable tenderness, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Tip: this soup is a great one to make one evening and eat the following. The flavor is, as with most soups, really better the next day.

This is a really healthy soup! Maybe a little too healthy for some of us (me)... so I trotted out a bit of ricotta and whipped up a quick batch of ricotta gnocchi to go along with the healthy goodness. Lovely. Just the right bit of cheese to counteract the rolicking good health of the soup, and fabulous flavor, to boot.

The variations on this could be somewhat endless... is it green? Toss it in! And if one wanted to make it a true minestrone, little pasta shapes could help toward that end, as well as maybe some cannellini beans...

Enjoy!

Pierogi chowder with braised red cabbage

ome years when I make pierogis with my Canadian girlfriends, the precious dumplings get packaged up and spend a great deal of time in the freezer before I remember they are there and pull them out for the family. (Or maybe I consciously block out that they are there?) But this year no such forgetting has gone on; we have enjoyed a lovely pierogi meal a couple of times already. Tragically I think there's only one more meal in the freezer and now I want to save them, guard them...

So rather than make more pierogis, my lazy self turned to shortcut possibilities. Doh! I have seen a few recipes around and about that purport to make a faux pierogi casserole or soup, so I decided to try this one out for my men. And as I had recently enjoyed a stellar side of red braised cabbage at Gustav's in Portland when Jen and I met up in early December, I had to give that a whirl as well. I harbored an idea that they would go well together, and I have to say the results were quite delicious.

We haven't had a truly wintery winter yet, it doesn't seem. Today was sunny and mostly clear, and while chilly, certainly not our usual January fare. But the soup and cabbage combo tasted quite lovely and comforting, which is good no matter the weather. But snow still may come, I suppose... (I hope). I am making this again, next time it snows, for sure!

Pierogi chowder
Serves 6-8
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups chopped onion
8 cups water
3 cups diced potato
2 cups instant potato flakes (I used a small packet I had from Costco. It was 1.5 cups and ample to thicken the soup.)
2 cups milk
1/2 pound American cheese, shredded or cubed (I used a cheddar, it was lovely)
6 ounces wide egg noodles, cooked until tender
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large soup pot over medium heat and add oil. Toss in onion and cook until translucent. Add water and diced potatoes. Simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. When potatoes are tender, mash until broken up well. Add potato flakes and stir well. Pour in milk and stir until smooth. Stir in American cheese and mix until cheese is melted. Blend in drained noodles and add salt and pepper to taste.

Braised red cabbage
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, peeled, crushed
1 2 1/2-pound red cabbage, quartered, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds (I did not have these on hand, so I skipped)
1 1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté until beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Add cabbage and caraway seeds; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss until cabbage is wilted, about 4 minutes. Add broth. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 15 minutes. Add vinegar. Cover and cook until cabbage is tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Soup for a warm day: Creamy gazpacho andaluz

o, with a post title like that, what we'll need, then, is a warm day, right?! That seems to be the plea throughout the Pacific Northwest right now: Where's summer?

When picnic planning for last weekend, I assumed warmth would be a factor--in the weather. Well, you know what happens when you assume, right? Sigh. We ended up eating it in a picnic shelter alongside the river, while raindrops fell and our (well, my) feet were wrapped in a blanket. Warmth, ha!

But this soup was warm in another way. I made a slight pepper adjustment (jalapeno instead of serrano), and it warmed us, all the way down! Actually quite lovely for my sinuses, but next time I'll stick with the pepper they suggest...

Creamy gazpacho andaluz
3 lbs. ripe tomatoes, cored
1 small cucumber, peeled, halved and seeded
1 medium green bell pepper, halved cored and seeded
1 small red onion, peeled and halved (I had and used shallots)
2 medium garlic cloves, peeled and quartered
1 small serrano chile, stemmed and halved
Kosher salt
1 slice white sandwich bread, torn in one-inch pieces
1/2 cup EVOO (here I deviated from the recipe and used a 1/4 cup olive oil and made up the rest with V8 juice)
2 Tbsp. sherry vinegar
2 Tbsp. finely minced parsley, chives or basil leaves

Roughly chop 2 lbs. of tomatoes, half of cucumber, half of bell pepper, and half of onion and place in bowl. Add garlic, chile and 1 1/2 tsp salt; toss until well combined; set aside.

Cut remaining tomatoes, cucmber, and pepper into 1/4" dice; place in medium bowl. Mince remaining onion and add to diced vegetables. Toss with 1/2 tsp salt and transfer to fine mesh strainer set over medium bowl. Set aside 1 hour.

Transfer drained diced vegetables to medium bowl and set aside. Add bread pieces to exuded liquid and soak 1 minute. Add soaked bread and any remaining liquid with roughly chopped vegetables and toss thoroughly to combine.

Transfer half of vegetable bread mixture to blender and process 30 seconds. With blender running, slowly drizzle in 1/4 cup oil and continue to blend until completely smooth, about 2 minutes. Strain soup through fine mesh strainer into large bowl, repeat with remaining bread mixture and 1/4 cup oil.

Stir in vinegar, minced herb, and half of diced vegetables into soup and season to taste. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

My variations include what I stated above in the ingredients list, and also: I didn't keep any fine dice of vegetables aside to add later. I like my soup all one consistency or another--smooth or chunky, not half of one, half of another. I also didn't push it through a fine mesh seive. I kept adding V8 juice until I got the consistency I wanted in the blender (a VitaMixer, so I was able to get it very smooth), and called it good.

While the flavor of the soup was lovely, it will be SO much better once using our garden tomatoes. Can't wait! Also, can't wait for the sunshine again.

I think the sweet dear we saw along the side of the road on the way to our picnic agrees, though she looked lovely in all the lush green.

Mexican cabbage soup

efore this dish disappears completely from memory (we appear to have moved into summer eating, it seems, the past two weeks), I want to get it down on "paper" so that I can return to it when the weather cools again. Of course, knowing the wacky weather we've had the past few months, it could be that I'm hauling out the soup pot next week and putting on my wooly socks...

This soup has (almost) endless variations, but the basics are as follows:

Mexican cabbage soup
1 onion, chopped finely
1 cup carrots, diced fine
1 cup celery, diced fine

Saute in a large soup pot until onion is translucent and the carrots and celery soft. Then add:

2 tsp. cumin
1 bag of chopped cabbage (oh, the ease of prepackaged salads) (3-4 cups, if you're using "real" cabbage) (I also chop the cabbage a bit more than it comes)
2 (19 oz.) cans of red enchilada sauce
3-4 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
2 cups chopped zucchini
2 cans (16 oz.) of Great Northern Beans

Make sure you have enough liquid to cover the soup adequately, to your tastes. We like a more stewy concoction, so tend to go a little shy on extra liquid. But feel free to add extra broth as desired.

Bring the soup to a gentle boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes, until the zucchini and cabbage are tender.

Like all soups, the flavors tend to improve with a little sitting around, so enjoy the leftovers over the next couple of days. Or make ahead, if you're wanting the prepared soup all flavor-ready for guests and such.

As for variations, I have added extra tomatoes (stewed), skipped the zucchini, added green chiles for a little extra heat, and added green and red peppers just because I had them around. All were yummy in their own way...

This soup is a real lunch favorite for husband, and I think it will be for some time (even through the summer months). I hope you enjoy it too!

Borscht: Childhood memories in a bowl

can't count the number of times I've eaten borscht in my life. It was a winter staple during my growing up years, and in spite of a very well documented and loudly stated hatred of beets themselves, for some reason I have always enjoyed borscht. Can't tell you why, it just is.

Here I am, decades later, still making borscht! Love the smell, the flavor, the excuse to eat big spoonfuls of sour cream... And while there are many versions of borscht around that incorporate beef and beef stock, I tend to stick with the vegetarian version--it's just a clean, earthy flavor that I appreciate. 

When I make borscht, it's like my childhood is alive in my kitchen. I can make believe this is an ancient family recipe that's been handed down and handed down... well, in reality, it's a little of this, a little of that. I think my mom made it one way, my Grandma Kandt had a few variations, and I probably add my own little twist as well... My Aunty MJ took the time and effort to write down her best approximation of my Grandma Kandt's borscht; it's pretty close to what I've always done. (Thanks for that, MJ. It provides a very good roadmap!)

Here's my take. More or less...

Borscht
1 small cabbage, finely chopped (I use a bag of preshredded coleslaw cabbage and it works just great)
1 large onion, diced
3-4 celery stalks, diced
3-4 carrots, diced
2 large potatoes, cubed
3 large beets, cubed
1 large tin crushed tomatoes
Dill, fresh if possible
Salt and pepper
Sour cream

In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon olive or canola oil and add the onion, celery and carrots, having diced them each to the same approximate size dice. Saute until onions are translucent.

Add the cabbage, potatoes and beets and mix until thoroughly blended. Fill pot with water until the vegetable mixture is just covered, and bring to a gentle boil. Turn down heat and simmer until the beets and potatoes are tender.

Add finely chopped dill. I like a generous amount of dill, so I would probably put about a half cup in a large pot of soup. Go for it! Stir to incorporate the dill. Ladle into bowls and be ample with the sour cream too.

A bowl of this soup brings back wonderful memories of family suppers around the table, lots of fresh bread and warm soup. In my little Norman Rockwell fantasy, it's probably snowing outside. I'm undoubtedly winning at some verbal sparring match with my brother while my mom is keeping peace (or at least working at it) and my dad is rolling his eyes (and joining in). Ah, bliss.

Thursday 13: Thirteen soups I'm looking forward to making this fall

is soup season, and I'm happy for it. Even though we're still having warm and wonderful days, it's quite obvious that fall is all around us, and the craving for soups begins.

I have never been completely confident in my soup-making abilities. I think my throw-it-all-in-a-pot approach can work great sometimes, and then not so much at others. Lack 'o consistency, that's how I phrase it. So I have decided that THIS winter, I'll pay more attention to recipes and seasonings and try to really master the soup. In pondering the soups I'm most looking forward to making, I concocted a list of 13 (shocking, I know!)--some from this very blog, some from around the interwebs. Enjoy!

1. Cauliflower soup. There's a local restaurant that serves an amazing cauliflower soup--very rich (truffles, I think) and creamy (cream, of course). The recipe I linked to seems like a good start... I will have a flavorful time experimenting with this one, I think.

2. Megan's gingered pumpkin pear soup.

3. Lentil soup. I devoured a bowl of lentil soup already this fall at yet another local restaurant and it was sublime. The best I've ever had of the lentil variety. I have very little faith I'll actually be able to duplicate it, mostly because I was enraptured with eating it and not with figuring out what was in it. I guess maybe I'll have to go back for another bowl. Soon.

4. Corn chowder. Loving the idea of the chipotle in this recipe... I think that flavor would prove quite popular around here.

5. Tortilla soup. This is one I make all the time, but have yet to post here. Time to remedy that situation!

6. Roasted tomato soup. Found this yummy sounding recipe, and the best thing is the accompaniment to the soup--click on over and check it out. (Oh, the mystery! You know you want to.)

7. Borscht. I can't believe I haven't posted a recipe for borscht here before... I recently saw it written up in a great little book one of my aunts created of my Grandma's recipes, so there's really no excuse for not doing that, very soon.

8. Mushroom soup. I am torn between a creamy puree (below) or this one that looks more like a stroganoff... might have to make both!

9. Homemade noodle soup. This will make my son very happy. He loves this one in his thermos on a cold day.

10. French onion soup. I am ready for this smell to permeate the house! And the cheese, glorious cheese!

11. Roasted ratatouille soup. This just sounds like the best of summer in a bowl...

12. Thai pumpkin soup. In this recipe, pumpkin = butternut squash. I can do for that.

13. West African peanut soup.

Hope my list has you craving soup too! Now I just need to decide which one is first... what do you think? Let me know and I'll take it under advisement.

For more Thursday 13s, go here.

Thursday 13: Thirteen soups I'm looking forward to making this fall

is soup season, and I'm happy for it. Even though we're still having warm and wonderful days, it's quite obvious that fall is all around us, and the craving for soups begins.

I have never been completely confident in my soup-making abilities. I think my throw-it-all-in-a-pot approach can work great sometimes, and then not so much at others. Lack 'o consistency, I think that's what it's called. So I have decided that THIS winter, I'll pay more attention to recipes and seasonings and try to really master the soup.

In pondering soups I'm looking forward to making, I collected a list of 13--some from this very blog, some from around the interwebs. Enjoy!

1. Cauliflower soup. There's a local restaurant that serves an amazing cauliflower soup--very rich (truffle oil, I think) and creamy (cream, of course). The recipe I linked to seems like a good start... I will have a flavorful time experimenting with this one, I think.

2. Megan's gingered pumpkin pear soup.

3. Lentil soup. I devoured a bowl of lentil soup already this fall at yet another local restaurant and it was sublime. The best I've ever had of the lentil variety. I have very little faith I'll actually be able to duplicate it, mostly because I was enraptured with eating it and not with figuring out what was in it. I guess maybe I'll have to go back for another bowl. Soon.


4. Corn chowder. Loving the idea of the chipotle in this recipe... I think that flavor would prove quite popular around here.

5. Tortilla soup. This is one I make all the time, but have yet to post here. Time to remedy that situation!

6. Roasted tomato soup. Found this yummy sounding recipe, and the best thing is the accompaniment to the soup--click on over and check it out. (Oh, the mystery! You know you want to.)

7. Borscht. I can't believe I haven't posted a recipe for borscht (beet soup, in case it's not a part of your soup vocabulary) here before... I recently saw it written up in a great little book one of my aunts created of my Grandma's recipes, so there's really no excuse for not doing that, very soon.

8. Mushroom soup. I am torn between a creamy puree (below) or this one that looks more like a stroganoff... might have to make both!

9. Homemade noodle soup. This will make my son very happy. He loves this one in his thermos on a cold day.

10. French onion soup. I am ready for this smell to permeate the house! And the cheese, glorious cheese!

11. Roasted ratatouille soup. This just sounds like the best of summer in a bowl...

12. Thai pumpkin soup. In this recipe, pumpkin = butternut squash. I can go for that. And the coconut milk!

13. West African peanut soup.

Hope my list has you craving soup too! Now I just need to decide which one is first... what do you think? Let me know and I'll take it under advisement.

For more Thursday 13s, go here.

Homemade noodle soup

ell, it was just one of those days. One of those low-energy (me), sick-work-from-home (husband) kind of days. A real recipe for getting not much done. Which is okay, I guess, every once in awhile. It was nice to have a partner in my not-doing-much. The to-do list is chock-a-block full for the rest of this week, for both of us, and hopefully there will be a little sunshine to go along with it.

But for today and the fog, there was soup. I simmered the broth on the stove most of the afternoon and the garlicky smell permeated, nicely, without being overwhelming. I would have made it chicken-ish too, but couldn't find any organic free-range chicken at the grocery this morning and I've just turned a corner about the hormone-filled stuff. So it was a noodley, brothy bowl of healing.

Noodles in warming broth
1 large onion, diced
4 carrots, peeled and diced
5 celery ribs, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 container vegetable stock (mine ran out last week... used Safeway Organics and it's good)
1 container chicken stock (ditto)
3 whole bay leaves
3/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
2 tsps. MacKays Chicken Seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

I was most attracted to the noodle recipe below because of the boiling water. I hunted high and low and can't believe I haven't shared it here before (this could have something to do with my slap-dash labeling...), but my favorite all-time cobbler recipe has boiling water in the crust, which I believe is key to the dough's heavenly consistency. I found it on cooks.com.

If you are in any way intimidated by the idea of making noodles, let me just say this: I understand. It's not hard once you get that you can drop completely imperfect pieces of dough in the soup and it will all taste lovely. That, and you can use whatever noodles you might have in the cupboard and skip this step. Either.

Noodles
2 cups flour (I used half whole wheat flour, half regular)
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
2 tbsp. oil
1 c. boiling water

In a large bowl, mix flour and salt. Make a hole in the center of the flour and add eggs and oil. Pour in water and stir quickly until a stiff dough is formed, working in as much of the flour as possible.The amount of flour used will depend on the size of the eggs--you may need a little more or less flour. (Here's the main ammendment--I added substantially more flour, probably almost one cup. I was doubling the recipe, but still...)

Place dough on a heavily floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. Cover and let stand for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Cut dough in half. Dust work surface with flour.

Roll out each half to about the thickness of your favorite commercial noodles. The dough may also be passed through the rollers or a pasta machine.

Cut with a sharp knife into 1/2 inch wide strips. Separate strips and let dry on a floured surface for 1 hour. Repeat with remaining half of dough. (Second ammendment. No waiting. I started this too close to supper to impose waiting on the dough to rest, and then cutting and resting again. Didn't impact the noodle quality, in my humble, hurried opinion.)

 The best compliment I've had in awhile from Seth: Mom, can I have this in a thermos for my lunch tomorrow? Why yes, you can!

West African Peanut Soup

s the bowl of soup appeared before me, I heard the word "peanut." My first thought was, "No way. Not gonna like that." And was a little frightened, frankly. But one taste and I was converted. Completely. Granted, this was more than 20 years ago, but I do get that the idea of peanuts + soup is not something that most people would automatically put together. But my plea would be to give this one a whirl. It's delicious.

I hadn't made it in quite some time, but saw a version of it somewhere online and was reminded me how much I missed it! I did quite a bit of online looking around for recipes, but when push came to shove, I went back to the original that I've always made from Sundays at Moosewood. And it turned out as lovely as it always has.

West African Peanut Soup
Serves 6-8

2 cups chopped onion
1 Tbsp. peanut or vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. cayanne or other ground dried chiles (I used tubed chile paste)
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger (again, I also used the tube ginger)
1 cup chopped carrots
2 cups chopped sweet potatoes
4 cups vegetable stock
2 cups tomato juice (I use V8)
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 Tbsp. sugar (optional--I never add this)
1 cup chopped scallions or chives (garnish, also optional)

Saute the onions in the oil until translucent. Stir in the cayenne and fresh ginger. Add the carrots and saute a couple more minutes. Mix in the potatoes and stock, bring the soup to a boil, and then simmer for about 15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

In a blender or food processor, puree the vegetables with the cooking liquid, tomato juice and peanut butter. Return the puree to a soup pot and taste for sweetness. Add sugar if desired and reheat slowly. (I also taste for heat. If it needs a bit more, add a touch of chile/cayenne.) Also according to preference, add more stock or tomato juice for a thinner soup. Serve topped with scallions or chives.

I served this soup today over white rice. I got that idea from one of the online recipes... it was only OK, in my humble opinion. I get how that might be a worthy idea, but the soup itself is so tasty on its own, I don't think it needs anything added.

Side note: I do have to say that white rice is like crack, man (not that I know, of course...). I haven't had white rice in ages (we're a brown rice family) and it was quite yummy--I made a little bowl with sugar, cream and currants after lunch and boy-oh-howdy that took me back to some rice puddin' days. Maybe I'll post on that a bit later... if there's any rice left to take a picture of!

White bean rosemary soup

hite beans and rosemary... before I gave it a try, I'd never thought of it before. But once I'd had it, the flavors became forever entwined in my mind. This one is a keeper. During the catering days, I made it almost every week for months and months... It was a regular for delivery lunches! I haven't had it in ages (years?) and was craving some soup goodness in all that gray last week... this hit the spot. I made a pot, ladled myself a happy bowl and dipped some toasted wheat bread in it as I went along. Heaven. The rosemary is key. If you're not a rosemary fan, you might give this a pass.

I think I originally got the idea from Ina Garten, but have since adapted it to my quirks. I like it simple, very simple. And I found, too, that the rosemary oil imparts a great deal of flavor that the rosemary twig only hints at. Who needs a rosemary hint? I like to really know it's there.

White bean rosemary soup
Serves 3-4

1 medium onion, diced
3 Tbsp. rosemary oil (grapeseed or olive oil, see below)
3 cups cooked white beans (I've used cannellini, great northern beans and butter beans--all are great.)
3 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup half-and-half
Salt and pepper (I've been using white pepper lately and loving it, but go gentle.)

Saute the onion in heated rosemary oil over medium heat. Stir until translucent, about five minutes. Add the white beans and vegetable stock and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the beans have started to lose some shape. Take a potato masher and mash the soup a few times, taking care to leave some beans whole, for texture. Turn the heat down to low and add the half-and-half, and heat through, adding salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve, with a swirl of rosemary oil on top for color (and flavor!).

Rosemary oil
Take 1 cup of fresh rosemary leaves (off the branch) and wash and dry them thoroughly. Place the leaves in a small saucepan and pour in 1 cup of olive or grapeseed oil and bring to a simmer. Once the oil is simmering, shut it off and let the leaves steep for 15-20 minutes. Pour oil through a strainer into a clean glass jar and store in a cool, dry place. Enjoy!

If you're not up for making rosemary oil, it is usually available in grocery stores, with other specialty oils. Usually flavored grapeseed oil, since it takes on flavors really well. But don't hesitate to try making it either--it's very easy and you'll be drizzling it over everything once you've tried it.

I took a little extra joy in making this soup last week since I had homemade vegetable stock AND homemade rosemary oil on hand. Can't really think when the last time THAT happened! (Never. That's when.)

Summer photo shoot delights

Summer is the best time to take food photos. The ingredients... the ingredients... the ingredients! Produce abounds and it's so fresh from the farm!

I recently made four dishes that we shot for our editorial team at work to choose from. Since I can't really show you the pretty pictures... they belong to "work," and since I forgot (as ALWAYS) to take my camera with me to the shoot, my pictures are from home, and of only two of the recipes. But they are all worthy of a try. Check out the American Institute for Cancer Research and the Centers for Disease Control, where I found the recipes as well; both have many healthy options that are easy and delicious.

Other than the two recipes posted here, I made Savory Fresh Apricot Bites and Bruschetta with Plums and Fresh Basil--both lovely and summer-fresh beautiful.

Santa Fe Chilled Nectarine Soup
2 lbs (8 small) nectarines, sliced
1 cup apple juice
1 cup cranberry cocktail juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Combine nectarines with juices, salt, pepper flakes and vinegar in electric blender. Whirl until smooth and blended. Add cilantro leaves and whirl in a stop-and-go fashion a few seconds, just to chop. Serve chilled.

This soup was just a lovely and refreshing surprise. The fruit flavor came through loud and clear, with a bit of zip from the red pepper flakes, and a bit of zing from the balsamic. Definitely a make-again!


South of the Border Watermelon and Sweet Onion Salsa
2 cups chopped seedless watermelon
3/4 cup Walla Walla sweet onion
3/4 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped and seeded jalapeno chilies
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbsp brown sugar
Pinch of salt

Stir together all ingredients in bowl. Refrigerate, covered at least 1 hour to blend flavors. Stir before serving.

A nice blend of flavors and textures. I would not normally think of putting black beans and watermelon together, and this was a bit of a "sell" for the husband, but it was good. If I were to make it again, I would absolutely add some lime juice to the mixture, for the zing.

Soup of many beans (four to be precise)

Admittedly, we're on a bit of a soup roll over here. Can't really explain it other than a) the weather begs for something warm, and b) the guys like it--especially the big guy. And, they are easy, for the most part. At least, the way I choose to do them.

I have been wandering around tastespotting.com and various food blogs, as is my way, and do indeed see that there ARE other things to make and eat besides soup... and I'll get to it, really; tapioca is top on my list again since I burnt a batch last week... But for now, I'm pretty content to put the pot on, go away and putter around, and come back every now and then for stirring and adjustment.

The inspiration for this was finding a couple of different soup recipes online--one used refried beans, which I've never done, and the other had green enchilada sauce in it; again, I've never tried that or even considered it. So I thought, what the hey, let's give it a whirl. It's pathetically easy really quite yummy. All you need is a can opener, almost. But the taste is really good and quite different than the other black bean soup I posted a couple of weeks back.

Four bean soup (it started out three bean, but it was a little brothy so we stepped up the beans!)
1 large onion, diced

1 15 oz can pinto beans

1 15 oz can chile beans or kidney beans

1 15 oz can black beans
1 15 ozcan refried beans

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes

1 28 oz can green enchilada sauce

1 7 oz can of green chiles

1 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 cup chopped green onions

Saute the onion in a large saucepan in a dash of vegetable oil until translucent. Add the beans (and their juices), tomatoes and enchilada sauce and heat on medium until simmering, stirring occasionally. Reduce to low for an additional 10-15 minutes. Add the cilantro and green onions, and serve. Great garnishments: crushed corn chips, avocadoes, cheddar cheese, more cilantro and green onions, and sour cream, of course! Enjoy!

The soup picture above is pre-garnishment. The one below shows what I actually had for supper... and yes, I do love me some sour cream!

Wonderful onion soup!

I adapted my recipe from The Best Onion Soup Ever, but since it's still stewing away downstairs and I can only smell it so far, the tentative title is simply Wonderful Onion Soup... I may update that later. (Later: it's good. Maybe not the best EVER, but quite yummy.)

This was one of those random cravings that just zinged through my brain and I had to come home and make it immediately. Luckily I had all the ingredients except some gooey white bread to make croutons, but I'll figure that out later. There are worse things than healthier bread croutons, I suppose, and I may even just make do with lovely sprinkles of shredded gruyere on top. (Later: I managed to get out and find a baguette before we devoured the soup. I couldn't really bear to use whole wheat sandwich bread.)

On to the recipe. I found it on a blog that sent me to the original from Cook's Illustrated, which is a big fave of mine. I couldn't help but change it according to my whims and what was in the cupboard. Of course.

Onion Soup
(Serves 6; or me and husband, twice.)
Notes: For the best flavor, make the soup a day or 2 in advance. Alternatively, the onions can be prepared through step 1, cooled in the pot, and refrigerated for up to 3 days before proceeding with the recipe. (I was able to wait a day before eating, and I choose to believe the flavors deepened wonderfully!)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 3 pieces
4 large yellow onions, sliced thinly

Table salt
1/2 cup dry sherry
6 cups vegetable broth

3 bay leaves
Ground black pepper
1 small baguette , cut into 1/2-inch slices
8 ounces shredded Gruyère cheese (about 2 1/2 cups)

Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Generously spray the inside of a heavy-bottomed large Dutch oven with a nonstick cooking spray. Place the butter in the pot and add the onions and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, covered, for 1 hour (the onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume). Remove the pot from the oven and stir the onions, scraping the bottom and sides of the pot. Return the pot to the oven with the lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until the onions are very soft and golden brown, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours longer, stirring the onions and scraping bottom and sides of pot after 1 hour.

Carefully remove pot from oven and place over medium-high heat. Using oven mitts to handle pot, cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until the liquid evaporates and the onions brown, reducing the heat to medium if the onions are browning too quickly. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the pot bottom is coated with a dark crust, adjusting the heat as necessary. (Scrape any fond that collects on spoon back into onions.) Stir in the sherry and cook, stirring frequently, until the sherry evaporates, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the broth and bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, scraping up any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot.

Increase heat to high and bring to simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaves, then season with salt and pepper.

For the croutons:
Lightly toast baguette slices in a toaster. Set aside.

To serve:
Set individual broiler-safe crocks on baking sheet and fill each with about 1 3/4 cups soup. Top each bowl with 1 or 2 baguette slices (do not overlap slices) and sprinkle evenly with Gruyère. Bake until cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, 10-15 minutes minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving. (As you can see from the picture above, I did soup-for-two in a small shallow baking pan and it worked just perfectly.)

Do you think we liked it?

Healthy veggie soup, or is it stew?

This is a one-pot warm winter soother!

Healthy vegetable soup

2 tsp. olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 cup mushrooms, cleaned and chopped roughly

1 cup carrots, cleaned and chopped

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed

3 small zucchini, sliced into half-moons

1 large can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes

2-3 cups vegetable broth

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a midsize soup pot with the olive oil. Add the onion, mushrooms and carrots and saute for 5-10 on low/med heat, until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and saute a couple of extra minutes. Add the potatoes and squash and stir, then add the crushed tomatoes and vegetable broth. Bring to a simmer and cook 10 minutes until the potatoes and squash are almost tender. Add the zucchini and cook for another 10 minutes, until ingredients are fully cooked.

If you like your soup a bit wetter, you might add more broth. We're a bit more of the stew type around here, so chunky and hearty is how we roll! I actually got Seth to eat some this week, and didn't tell him all the ingredients until he was done. A small "mom triumph;" butternut squash is NOT how he rolls!

Favorite black bean soup

Black bean soup
2 tsp. canola oil
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 yellow pepper, diced
1/2 orange pepper, diced
1 T cumin
1 can (7 oz.) chopped green chiles
2 cans (15 oz each) black beans
1 can (15 oz) pinto beans
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 c cilantro, chopped

Heat oil in the saucepan, add onions and peppers. Add the cumin and saute until onion is translucent. Add all the rest of the ingredients except cilantro. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes. Add the cilantro and pull from the heat.

This soup is always better the next day, like chili, but we have a hard time waiting that long...

I make this soup or some variation on it (corn is a nice addition, as are cubed yams) quite often, especially in the cooler months--husband loves it. It's uber-healthy and easy. If healthy isn't your thing, you can dress it up quite handily with cheese and sour cream and crushed tortilla chips.

Super solo supper

There are those who find the title of a book I'm currently reading--Alone in the Kitchen with An Eggplant--a tad odd. I can understand that. When I'm alone in the kitchen, an eggplant would be one of the last things I'd reach for. Nothing against the beautiful aubergine, it's just not one of my "craveables."

The book is a collection of essays specifically about those meals you eat when you are by yourself, especially if that is not how you cook and eat on a daily basis. The writers confess to their own indulgences, from one-pot spaghetti to a kippers mash (no thanks!) to salmon and lentils quite elegantly prepared. There are also a few tales of solo restaurant adventures, that somehow "all eyes are on you" endeavor that unnerves many. Together they make up a quite readable and occasionally inspirational book that fits handily into one of my favorite genres of essay + recipes, a la Cooking for Mr. Latte and The Soul of a Chef.

When I have one of those rare evenings to myself, it's a fab opportunity to have exactly what I want to eat. Not that my men's tastes and mine differ so dramatically, but there are a few things I favor that neither of them find extremely palatable. My solo suppers over the years have varied according to mood and season and what's in the pantry/fridge, of course. I went through a major phase of pasta carbonara a few years back when I ate alone more frequently. In those days I threw cream on just about everything; that's a whole other, more wild-thyroid-related post. I do still treasure the basil-tomato-pasta combo, but tonight, with fall so well and truly entrenched, soup once again hit the menu.

Along the way I was able to not only indulge my whims, but also to illustrate four of the 13 favorite foods at the same time... how handy!


I made a curried butternut squash soup late last week, with a coconut milk base. Between that and the fruity salad of grapefruit, pomegranate, arugula, blue cheese and hazelnuts, the boys would have hit the speed-dial for pizza delivery! What is it about the male tastebuds and fruit in salads? (How's that for a wild generalization?!) I'm sure there are men who do appreciate berries and apples and pears in a salad, I just haven't ever met one.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup
1 butternut squash, roasted
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 tsp. curry powder
2 cups of vegetable stock
1 can lite coconut milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Halve the squash, scoop out the seeds, cut into quarters and place on a baking sheet. Roast in a 350-degree oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the flesh pierces easily. Remove from oven and cool.

Saute diced onion in 1 Tbsp. olive oil in 2 quart saucepan. When translucent, add the curry powder and stir, toasting the curry, until it is fragrant. Scoop out the butternut squash in spoonfuls and add to the onions, pour the vegetable stock over and bring to a simmer until squash is so soft it falls apart, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

Put the squash mixture and coconut milk in a blender and puree in batches, blend until smooth. Add more broth or coconut milk to taste, to achieve the desired consistency. Pour back into saucepan and warm through on the stove. Add salt and pepper to taste. If a stronger curry flavor is desired, add a half to 1 additional teaspoon curry powder.

Serves 4.

Sher's Favorite Fruity Salad (one of many!)
Arugula
Grapefruit sections (click for help on sectioning)
Pomegranate seeds (click for tips on cracking a pomegranate)
Chopped roasted hazelnuts
Blue cheese
Brianna's blush wine vinaigrette
This is pretty willy-nilly, and completely according to mood. Arrange the arugula in a salad bowl, layer the grapefruit sections, pomegranate seeds, hazelnuts and blue cheese on top; drizzle with dressing and you're good to go! You can portion this individually or to feed as many as you'd like. If you have leftovers, call me. I will happily polish it off!

As you can see from the picture, entertaining oneself while dining alone is critical. I'm afraid I'm not one for sitting at the dining room table, fully set with candles lit. I've seen that in movies and thought, who on earth really does that? Maybe it's a sign of civility... which I am obviously lacking. While I'm not a big one for eating standing up in the kitchen, I am all over the book/magazine/dvd/tv as meal companion. Tonight, Mad Men (Season 1, now available on dvd) kept me company as I also put together a couple of soups (more soup, it's almost like the Soup Nazi moved in) for a board meeting tomorrow night.

To come: Cream of Cauliflower Soup and Vegetarian Tortilla Soup.

Election day/late birthday soup lunch

My good friend Megan had me over for lunch today... a much delayed get-together that one or the other of us had been postponing (sick, overbooked, sick, guests in town, sick) for a few weeks... and it was the perfect day for soup. We had big big rain in the morning with lots of wind and gustiness (and snow on the mountains, too soon!) and it all cleared out this afternoon for a sunny-ish sunset.

But the highlight of my day was having lunch with Megan and Grace, her almost-4 year old. When I thanked Grace upon leaving for sharing her mom with me, she looked at me and most earnestly said, "I don't want to share my mom with you," like I had just uttered absolute nonsense. Very sweet.

It was too early to really pay too much attention to what was going on with the election, so we had a chance to catch up on kids and work and husbands and such. A real treat. And far too rare these days.

And the soup, oh the soup. She's made this before, for our now fairly-defunct book group. I loved it then, and I loved it today. A perfect fall soup. I begged the recipe, and warned her it was getting world-wide-web posting.





Gingered Pumpkin-Pear Soup

½ cup chopped sweet onion
2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 T. butter
3 pears, peeled, cored and sliced
1 15-oz. can pumpkin
1 ½ cups vegetable broth
1 cup milk
¼ cup light sour cream
½ tsp. finely shredded lime peel
1 T. lime juice
Lime peel, optional

In a large saucepan cook onion and ginger in butter until onion is tender. Stir in pears; cook one minute more. Stir in pumpkin and vegetable broth; heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, about five minutes more or until pears are tender. Cool slightly. In a blender or food processor, cover and blend or process half of the pumpkin mixture at a time until smooth, about one minute. Return mixture to saucepan; stir in milk. Heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, stir together sour cream, ½ tsp. lime peel and lime juice. Top each serving of soup with a drizzle of the sour cream mixture. Garnish with lime peel. Makes 6 side-dish servings.

Enjoy! And at the very least, let the country unite over soup.