Posts tagged soup

Next time I have the brilliant idea of cooking my way through a preset list of other people’s recipes, please smack me upside the head before I commit.

Leek Soup with toasted Almonds and Gruyere

For all my complaining, this one was actually pretty decent. It was everything you would imagine a leek soup to be—very leek-ey. The toasted almonds really break up the texture and gruyere, well what isn’t it good on?

I omitted the dill oil from the original recipe because she soup had plenty of flavor without it and I thought it might funk up the taste.

Leek Soup with Toasted Almonds —adapted from 101 Cookbooks

• 1 bunch leeks (3 stalks)
• 1 tbs butter
• olive oil as needed
• 1 medium potato
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1-2 cups broth or water
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Toasted almonds and gruyere (could sub in any hard cheese) to top

1. Cook the potato until it’s almost done. (I slap mine the microwave for a few minutes)
2. Clean the leeks (yeah, it’s gonna take awhile). Roughly chop them and the potato.
3. Cook the potato and leeks over a high heat in the butter and oil until the leeks have softened. Turn off the heat and add in the garlic (it’ll cook from the residual heat).
4. Blend the leek potato mixture with liquid of choice.
5. Season to taste.
6. Top with the almonds and gruyure.
7. Enjoy!

Okay, only 4 more days. We can do this.

Tomato Soup—classic, simple, delicious.
All the best photographers catch themselves in spoon reflections. Look it up.

Throughout this soup series, I’ve tried to stay somewhat true to the original recipe. That did not happen here. I love Ina Garten and I’m positive that her soup was phenomenal—but I was in the mood for a simple soup with just a few fresh ingredients. Sorry Ina, it’s nothing personally (you’re still Contessa over my heart). I like quickly cooking things on a high heat rather than slowly cooking over a long period of time. I think that flavors are heightened without being turned into a slow-cooked, bland, nutrient-reduced mush. I call it blitzcooking. Okay, no I don’t really. But it sounds cool, right?   

Simple Tomato Soup
Serves 4ish

• Olive oil
• 6-8 Ripe Roma Tomatoes or 3-4 of a larger variety
• 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• Half a large bunch of fresh basil leaves (roughly maybe a cup, it’s kind of hard to over-basil.)
• 1 cup Tomato paste + 1 cup water (or equivalent tomato sauce)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: A tbs or so of any hard cheese and/or heavy cream to make a creamier soup and/or sun-dried tomatoes.

1. Roughly chop the tomatoes and then cook them in a well-oiled skillet on high heat. Let them sizzle for a few minutes, occasionally stirring. Add the garlic and turn off the heat (the garlic will cook a little from the remaining heat).
2. Toss all of the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Add more liquid and season if need be.
3. Add any of the optional ingredients that you want—they’ll all be tasty.
4. Garnish with a splash of cream or fresh basil.
5. Eat.

Gimme a second. I have to muster enthusiasm for more soup. Okay, we’re good.

White Bean Soup=pretty tasty.

It’s sort of like eating a big bowl of white gravy, which is great if you like eating copious amounts of faux gravy. Apparently my boyfriend does, but his palette isn’t the most discerning.

White Bean Gravy Soup — adapted from Kitchen Confidante

• Olive oil
• 1/2 Medium Onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2-3 cups veggie or chicken stock or water
• 2 cups cooked white beans* 
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Parmesan or similar hard cheese grated on top and/or a lil sour cream

1. Rough chop the onion and garlic. Pan sear the onions until they have a little color. Throw in the garlic for a minute then remove from heat.
2. Blend onion, garlic, beans, and enough liquid to reach desired consistency.
3. Season to taste and top with cheese and/or cream.
4. Enjoy!

*You could canned, OR you could be classy and use dried. It’s better for you and cheaper in the long run. Just soak dried beans overnight and simmer for 20 minutes or so the next day. Voila. (Roughly 2/3 cup dried=2 cups cooked).

Tomato Soup Coming Soon!

Greek Lentil Soup puts us at the halfway marker.
Tired of soup yet?

I never thought I could have such mixed feelings about a soup. Do you ever eat something, find it unpleasant, and then immediately crave another bite? That’s kind of how I feel about this soup. All of the flavors seem like they’re locked in an intense battle playing out on your tongue. It’s all at odds with itself—but somehow I still like it.

Greek Lentil Soup—adapted from healthygreenkitchen

• Olive oil
• 1 onion
• 1 stalk celery
• 2 carrots
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1-1/2 cups green lentils
• 4 cups homemade stock or water
• 5-6 Roma tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons each olive oil and red wine vinegar, plus more for drizzling on top of the finished soup
• Feta cheese and roasted red peppers* for garnish
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook lentils until tender in a covered pot. (You can use the water leftover from this in place of stock.)
2. Finely chop onion, celery, carrots, tomatoes, and garlic. Saute everything but the garlic for a few minutes in the oil until the carrots have softened a little. Add the garlic at the last minute. Turn off heat.
3. Stir in cooked lentils, stock/lentil water, oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper.
4. Garnish with feta, roasted peppers, and additional oil & vinegar before serving.

*Roasting your own peppers is super easy—don’t buy something canned or jarred that you can make fresh in minutes. Cut bell peppers into 3-4 sections and either broil or char over a gas burning stovetop. Once the skin is blackened, put in a ziploc bag and let it steam itself for a minute or two. The skins should slip off. Voila.

Look out for Soup #7, Roasted tomato basil coming soon

Coconut Black Eyed Pea Soup has officially supplanted the Cauliflower Green Tea Soup as my favorite (cauliflowers the world over are weeping).

Like all of the soups thus far and to come, this was super easy. Unlike some of its beet soup brethren, this was delicious to the last sip/bite.

Confession: I know black eyed peas are sort of integral to the dish, but I subbed in navy beans because I realized too late that I was out of black eyed peas and didn’t want to go back to the market. Laziness you say? That’s harsh. Let’s call it efficient time management.

Yeah, that’s milk in a mason jar hanging out back there. That’s how it’s done.

Coconut Black Eyed Pea Soup—adapted from Boulder Locavore

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (or coconut oil)
  
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, any color (I used red), finely chopped + extra slivers for garnish
  
• 3-4 roma tomatoes, chopped (or 1 cup)
  
• 2 cups cooked black eyed peas*
  
• 2 cups unsweetened coconut milk**
• a dash of stevia or honey
• 3/4 cup cooked rice
• 1 tsp curry powder (or to taste)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Fresh grated coconut for garnish if you’ve got it.
  

1. In a skillet, sear the onion, tomato, and bell pepper on high in the butter/oil for a few minutes.
2. Turn down heat and add remaining ingredients until heated thoroughly. Remove from heat.
3. Taste and adjust spices if need be
4. Top with red pepper slices & grated coconut before serving.
5. EAT!

*You could canned, OR you could be classy and use dried. It’s better for you and cheaper in the long run. Just soak dried peas/beans overnight and simmer for 20 minutes or so the next day. Voila. (Roughly 2/3 cup dried=2 cups cooked).

**I used canned because I didn’t think to buy a coconut, but if you’re a better planner than me (not a high bar), I would recommend making your own coconut milk. Peegaw gives a great tutorial on making coconut milk and cream from scratch.

Soup #6, Greek Lentil, coming soon.

Carrot and Parsnip Soup with Parsnip Crisps* = considerably tastier than the dread Pirate Roberts beet soup.

*Just ‘cause it sounds cooler than chips.

The parsnip is the carrot’s spicy albino cousin. It almost has a really subtle cinnamon/nutmeg flavor (imo). Plus, it has more vitamins and minerals than the carrot (which is odd, because I usually go by the rule of thumb of the darker the better).

This soup is definitely hearty and packs a lot of flavor but something about it feels off. I would love to make it again but would tweak it for round 2. For me, the chips totally upstaged the soup itself. So, if nothing else, make them.

Carrot-Parsnip Soup With Parsnip “Crisps” —(adapted from the NY Times)

• Olive oil for coating the pan and frying the chips
• 1 onion
• 3-4 medium parsnips
• 2-3 medium carrots
• 2-4 cups veggie or chicken broth depending on how thick you want your soup
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Chives for garnish (check your yard, you might have some growing wild)

The Chips

1. You’ll need a mandolin for this part. You could use a sharp knife and spend thrice the time and still end up with uneven chips OR you could spring the $15 for a mandolin. It doesn’t need to be pricey.*
2. Scrub parsnips and cut off the greens if attached. Hold the parsnip fat-side to the mandolin grate for bigger chips and slice on the second thinnest setting. Before you wreck your hands trying to get that last bit of parsnip, stop slicing about half-way up the parsnip. Set aside the skinny half. Repeat with remaining parsnips, saving skinny halves.
3. If you have a go-to frying/baking chip method, go for it. Otherwise, drown coat your largest cast-iron in olive oil (only about 1/8in deep, if that) and crank up to high heat.
4. Once the oil is sizzling, lay in the parsnip chips in batches, careful not to overcrowd. Remove to a paper towel once they start to brown. Add in more chips and oil as needed and lower the heat if they crisp too fast. Eat immediately. Set aside for the soup.

The Soup

1. Chop up those leftover parsnip ends along with the carrots and onion. Sear on high heat for a few minutes.
2. Add in the broth, cover, bring to boil. Lower heat and let simmer until carrots and parsnips are tender.
3. Run through a blender with salt and pepper.
4. Top with chips and fresh chives. Enjoy!

*My scarred hands might recommend splurging on an expensive, safe one that doesn’t occasionally eat your skin. However, I’m a clutz and would probably injure myself either way.

Soup #4, Cauliflower Green Tea, coming soon.

Soup 2 of my 12 Days of Soup is Beet and Fennel with Kefir.

Apparently kefir is pronounced kuh-feer, not kee-fur. That revelation put an end to all my Sutherland puns. Not cool.

(Sun glare—hipster Soup)

Lemme just say that I like beets. I really do, honestly. But this soup…ehhh. I choked it down for its nutritional value but it’s definitely not a fav. I’ve never had a similar soup for comparison, so I’m just going to assume that I hate all beet soups rather than blame the recipe.

In case you want to give it a whirl yourself:

Beet and Fennel Soup with Kefir (Adapted from Bon Appétit)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 1 medium fennel bulb, roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 1 1/2 cups beets, peeled and chopped
• 2 cups chicken or veggie stock
• 1 cup unflavored kefir + extra for garnish
• Fennel fronds for garnish

1. Sauté onion, fennel bulb, and beets in olive oil for 5 min or so.
2. Add stock and cover. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer for 20 min or until beets are tender.
3. Remove from heat and blend until smooth. Add in the kefir and salt & pepper to taste. Garnish if you’re feeling fancy.

Soup #3, Parsnip and Carrot, coming soon.

So let’s pretend that I’m really clever and actually planned this to parallel the 12 days following Christmas. Just mentally shift this post back a week and a half so that I can imagine myself as witty.

I was tumbling (correct usage?) and happened upon an amazing list of 12 healthy soups over at Hello Brit’s blog. The compilation of nutrient-dense, 4-word-titled, seasonal soups had me drooling. I knew what had to be done.

Meet soup #1, Roasted Garlic Broccoli (only three words, but we’ll let it slide on account of it’s delectability).

Lemme give the disclaimer that this is not the best soup ever. However, it is pretty damn good for being almost entirely broccoli. Will it knock your socks off? Maybe… Will it be surprisingly tasty for how incredibly nutritious it is? You betcha. My vegetable-hating, fast-food addict bf even ate his whole bowl full. Best praise possible.

The only changes I made to the original recipe were to decrease the amount of stock and add a little bit of asiago cheese—there’s a paucity of things that don’t improve with a nice helping of cheese, cream, or butter (life motto).

Roasted Garlic Broccoli Soup — Adapted from Noms for the Poor

Served 4 of us perfectly

• 1 Head of Garlic
• 1/2 cup Mung Beans or Green Lentils (I used lentils)
• 4 heaping cups Broccoli*
• 3 cups Chicken or Veggie Broth (More or less depending on desired consistency)
• 2 tbs grated asiogo + some for sprinkling on top
• Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Roast the head of garlic. My lazy method: break up the head, loosely cover with tinfoil and pop into a 375 oven for 40 minutes or so then peel/pop out of skins. I don’t like even a little waste, so I don’t cut the ends off, but if you prefer a much more official method, here it is.
2. While garlic is roasting, rinse the mung beans/lentils and toss in a covered pot with the stock and some salt. Bring to a boil and then simmer on low for 45 min (25 for lentils), or until tender.
3. Once beans are mostly cooked, dump in the broccoli (since you’ll be blending, it can be rough chopped). Cook the broccoli just until it has turned bright green then remove from the heat.
4. Blend together the beans, stock, broccoli, pepper & asiago if desired, and garlic until smooth.
5. Garnish with additional asiago before serving. Eat.

*A note on broccoli: Once peeled, THE STEM IS EDIBLE. So eat it. Use the whole buffalo, buddy.

Soup #2, Beet And Fennel With Kefir, coming soon.