Carrot Ginger Soup

Our "Loyola Cookies", aka members of our own Loyola Cooking Club, have done it once again.  The host of our recent club lunch has a friend whose daughter is a food blogger.   The Loyola group is loyal to friends and we always want to support those kids who are venturing into projects that they love.  Like this blog.

Pink Brandywine is the name of a tomato.  Our blogger was treated to this little gem and fell in love with the taste, the smell, and the experience of something that she found divine and which inspired this blog.  If we think back through our lives, we have all experienced an "aha"! moment with a food or recipe.  Taste is innate and special taste experiences stay with you and form how you feel about cooking and eating.

The pinkbrandywine.tumblr.com blog has tons of recipes.  Dishes presented yesterday featured Kale Winter Super Salad, Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Lemon Garlic Tahini Sauce, Beets with Almond Mint Pesto and Goat Cheese, Spicy Balsamic Honey Mustard Chicken, Cauliflower Alfredo and Zucchini Noodles, and Creamy (creamless) Carrot Ginger Soup.

Every recipe prepared was really, really good.  Some took a little license with the recipes (like me), and some altered how the recipes were presented. For example, the beet salad on the blog shows the beets cut into cubes and served, whereas our beets were sliced and layed out in a line on a narrow plate.  The pesto was drizzled over in a line and the goat cheese sprinkled around.  Very pretty.  (I can't seem to remember to take pictures when we are wowing over all this food!)

My Carrot Ginger soup recipe was super simple to prepare.  I doubled it thinking it would serve six small cups at lunch and four men at dinner.  Next time I will triple the recipe because that soup pan was scraped bare.  That is a testament to how good it is.  Since there is no dairy in the soup, it should freeze nicely.

Since the soup will be pureed, there is no need to fuss about chopping everything just so.

Serves:  6
Prep and Cook time:  One hour of which 40 minutes is just simmering

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 small onion, chopped
A knob of ginger root, grated or chopped
4 large carrots, chopped (just less than 3 cups)
Better than Boullion vegetable base broth
Salt and pepper
Fresh mint, chopped, for garnish

Saute the onion and ginger in the oil until softened.  Add the carrots and just enough broth to cover the carrot mixture.  Cover pan and simmer about 40 minutes or until the carrots are thoroughly softened.

Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.  Blend the soup with a hand-held device or in a regular blender.  Be careful of hot soup splashes.

To serve, top with a sprinkle of fresh mint.

My family enjoyed this soup as a starter for dinner that included grilled salmon, rice pilaf, greens salad with avocado and a light vinaigrette, and steamed cauliflower with lemon.

Calories per serving of soup is approximately 60 with 8.5 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram protein, and about 2.5 grams mostly monounsaturated fat.  Two-thirds of your vitamin A requirement for the day is met with just one serving of this yummy soup.

- Kim Fielding

http://pinkbrandywine.tumblr.com/

Creamy Mushroom Soup with no Cream



A drizzle of olive oil, a reserved sautéed mushroom, and a sprig of
fresh thyme make for a lovely presentation.

I can't rave enough about the My New Roots cookbook written by Sara Britton.  Plant-based recipes are beautifully photographed and easy to follow.  Sara has been writing a blog for some time and if you prefer vegan (mostly) foods, her inventions are divine.

This mushroom soup is an adaptation of the Oyster Mushroom Bisque featured in the cookbook.  I swapped out the oyster mushrooms for regular mushrooms and otherwise improvised where needed.  My sons and husband loved this.  Not a drop remained in their bowls.

The key to creaminess is the use of pureed white beans.  What a concept!  Pureed beans can be used in other recipes to add protein and fiber with none of regular cream's calories.  I will be making this for company because it is that good.

Serves 4 - 6
Prep and cook time:  45 minutes

3/4 lb. white mushrooms, wiped clean
1 Tblsp. coconut oil
3 medium onions, chopped
2 large leeks, sliced, tough dark green tops discarded
Fine sea salt
1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves, plus additional sprigs for garnish
3 large garlic cloves, minced
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 quart vegetable broth
1 can white beans (navy, cannellini, Great Northern, butter), drained
Freshly ground black pepper
Cold-pressed olive oil, for drizzling

Make sure to remove any grit out of the leeks.

Chop mushrooms, leaving several slices for garnish.  Heat coconut oil in a large pot and cook the onions, leeks, salt, and thyme for about 5 minutes or until the onions and leeks are soft.  Add garlic to pot and stir.

This smells heavenly!

Sprinkle the lemon juice into the pot and stir to loosen any browned bits.  Stir in the mushrooms and cook on medium heat until mushrooms are soft, about 7 minutes.

While the mushrooms are cooking, whir the vegetable broth and beans in a high-speed blender until smooth and creamy.

Once the mushrooms are cooked, remove your garnish mushrooms and set aside.  Add the bean/vegetable broth mixture to the vegetables in the pot and stir well.  Simmer for at least 5 minutes.

My reserved garnish.

Spoon the soup mixture into the blender.  Blend on high speed until completely smooth.  Add more broth or water if you think the mix is too thick.  Season soup with a generous dose of black pepper and more sea salt if necessary.  Mix again.  Pour the soup into bowls and drizzle a small amount of olive oil over, then top with reserved mushroom(s) and a sprig of fresh thyme.

Each serving (1/6 recipe) offers 200 calories, over 5 g fiber, 9 g protein, 5 g fat, lots of B vitamins, and almost half your daily requirement for copper, iron, and manganese.  Copper helps maintain the health of your bones and connective tissues, helps keep your thyroid gland functioning normally, helps utilize iron, helps preserve nerve's myelin sheath, and protects cells against damage by free radicals. 

My measure for a successful recipe.

- Kim Fielding

Chili Chicken Soup

This soup warms your tummy.  It is a comfort food and the
toppings allow you to customize it.

I have this friend Betty who is a marvelous cook.  At our last First Friday potluck, she volunteered to bring this soup to our home.  We worked out the logistics of serving soup to 20 people with simple cups and plastic spoons and it served as a great first course for our meal.  Although it has the texture of a cream based soup, there is no cream in it.  This is also a great meal in itself with its toppings and a side salad.

The soup has five ingredients.  Not counting the toppings.  Yup, that easy.  The toppings are vital  to make it so yummy.   I chose to make it in a crockpot, as Betty did, and let it simmer all day with the bonus of making our house smell so inviting.  Normally I would use my own homemade tomatillo sauce and chicken broth in this recipe but chose to purchase all the ingredients (well, except for the broth mix) from Trader Joes.  I was not disappointed.

This particular salsa was a little spicy but I couldn't find basic green salsa.
 Flavor was great though.  Second time around I did find green salsa
and used a mix of the two.  The heat was lower.

This soup can be prepared in a crockpot or on the stovetop.  Below are both preparation methods.

Slow-cooker method:
Serves: 6 - 8
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time:  Crockpot on low, 6 - 8 hours until chicken is cooked through

6 C. chicken broth
2 - 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 15-ounce cans Great Northern beans, drained
2 C. green salsa
2 tsp. ground cumin
Topping suggestions:  cilantro, sour cream, shredded cheese, diced avocado

Add chicken broth, uncooked chicken breasts, beans, salsa, and cumin to a slow cooker and stir to combine.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours until the chicken is cooked through and shreds easily with a fork.  Remove the breasts, shred the meat and add back to soup.  Stir thoroughly before serving.

Serve warm with desired toppings.

Crockpot cooking leaves time for other activities although the
stovetop cooking method goes fairly quickly.

Stovetop Method:
Serves 6 - 8
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time:  10 minutes

6 C. chicken broth
2 - 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 15-ounce cans Great Northern beans, drained
2 C. green salsa
2 tsp. ground cumin
Optional toppings:  cilantro, sour cream, shredded cheese, diced avocado

Place chicken broth in a large saucepan.

In a separate pan, poach chicken breasts and shred the meat.  Add to the saucepan with drained beans, salsa, and cumin.  Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes.

Serve soup in bowls and offer your choice of toppings.  Cheddar cheese is shown below, but Monterey jack melts nicely into the soup.

Add what you like!

Each serving (1/6) provides approximately 370 calories, 7 g fiber, 40 g protein, 33 g carbohydrates, and 9 g fat.  This does not include toppings which are discretionary.  A large green salad is a perfect compliment.

I am pretty sure this is an adaptable recipe if you wish to swap out chicken for firm cubed tofu and substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth to make it vegetarian.  Explore!

- Kim Fielding

Cauliflower Soup

 

Golden cauliflower

Cauliflower is a blank palette for me.  With its mild flavor and pretty colors, it can be used in a variety of ways.  It is delicious roasted with garlic, olive oil and herbs, or mashed and mixed in with potatoes for a light gratin.  Last evening featured a quick and easy-to-make soup using cauliflower in the refrigerator that needed to be used up. 


The key with mild vegetable soups are the toppings.  In this case I added sautéed shallots for a vegan version, and sautéed bacon for those with heartier appetites.



Servings:  4
Prep and cook time:  25 minutes



3 cups cauliflower florets
1 cup vegetable broth
2 large shallots, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 slices bacon, cut into small squares and cooked (for the non-vegans), optional
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut the florets and stems into even-sized pieces.  Simply cut out and discard any
dark spots on the cauliflower.

Boil the cauliflower in a large pot until tender.  Drain.

While the cauliflower is cooking, saute the shallots in the olive oil and cook the bacon if using.

Place drained cauliflower in a blender and add half the broth.  Blend and add more broth as needed until you reach a creamy consistency.  You need not add all the broth.  Note that because this is a broth-based soup, as opposed to cream, it will be thinner.  Season to taste.  Pour into small bowls or mugs and add the toppings.


Stir the shallots into the soup so that each yummy bite captures their flavor.

Each bite of soup with shallots and bacon is divine.

Each serving of soup offers approximately 100 calories and about 75% of the daily requirement of vitamin C.

- Kim Fielding