Carrot Ginger Soup

Growing up I was told to eat carrots for better vision {as I am sure most little tots are told}. I especially took it to heart because I rocked some nerdy thick glasses at the time. Thankfully, I have always loved carrots and it was never a push to get me to eat any vegetables for that matter. As I grew older, carrots not only became a staple in my diet, but I grew to appreciate them in other forms other than just raw.

Ginger and I are very very good friends. I am avidly obsessed with anything that is digestive-friendly. I literally keep a jar of pickled ginger in the fridge to munch on, and knobs of it hang around our fridge as if it was going out of style. So when the opportunity comes up to add it to something, I of course do.

There is something warming and also refreshing about soup, and this one happens to be one of my favorites. 

Carrot Ginger Soup

 After making this soup, I felt like I should have added more ginger, however, that was my preference and I believe that you could alter this to your own liking. I really wanted to add coconut milk to this to give it a creamier texture and still think it would have been divine, but the Mr. requested I keep it out. I topped it with a few micro greens and drizzled it with lime infused olive oil but any twist really will add to this soup.

1 medium onion, chopped

2 TB coconut oil 

4 cloves of garlic, minced

large thumb ginger, minced

1 lb carrots, peeled and chopped roughly

4 cups vegetable broth or water

salt and pepper to taste

On medium, saute the onion in the coconut oil until soft, then add the ginger and garlic and saute for another minute, then add the remaining ingredients {minus the s&p-do that at the end}.

Let the ingredients lightly simmer on the stove until the carrots are very soft, then use an immersion blender to puree until smooth. {s&p to taste now}

Ladle into bowls, top {or not} with your favorites, serve and enjoy.

Butternut Squash Soup

I must admit that sometimes I can be a bit of a snob. I can spend countless hours deciding on something because .a. I only every really want to buy something once (which is partially why I am mad that my can opener, which i bought 7 years ago no longer works)   .b. I want it to be good quality (which is why I have spent close to 3 months researching which new can opener I should purchase-if you have a recommendation, please tell me!) .c. I want to really want it and actually use it, or else .d. I really don't want it. This extends to clothing, kitchen appliances, gadgets, tools, food, anything really.

Ry bought a PS3 two years ago. Not that I needed some sort of video-gaming-dvd-hd-streaming thing, but he honestly thought he would utilize it more. Its two years later, and the only thing we have actually accomplished with that technology is streamed Netflix. We even canceled our Netflix movie rental service because we truthfully never used it. So here I am, two years later and all I want to do is get rid of the dang thing because we don't use it to its potential. In my mind, why not give it to someone who will and get something that is more practical for us, like... may I dare say it, a streaming box.

I'm the same in a restaurant. I take forever placing an order. Sometimes, I will review a menu before we go to a restaurant just so I have a head start. The Mr. always gives me a knowing smile when he looks at me in restaurants and I am in pure silence peering at those picture-less words with my ever so expanding  nearsighted pupils. Menus that are four pages long and packed with options scare me. I. just. get. so. over. whelmed. I will analyze every ingredient, every possible way I might feel afterward, like, "could I have done that better" and "was that really worth the calories" (yes, I know, shameful). I truthfully always think I am going to order something I will regret later. 

I stood at a ordering window at a local dig the other day, and asked the young flamboyant gentleman behind the counter what their soup of the day was, "Squash Soup, well wait, technically, buttttttternut squash, it's soooo yummy, with a drizzle of delicious oil and homemade croutons". He sounded so convincing. This was something I absolutely had to have, even though he was lacking some simple knowledge in the actual components. I dove in, "I will take one" I said, so sure of my decision.  Needless to say, I ate it in my car, while driving back to work (a no-no, I know).... and in the end, it was good, not great. I was happy to have taken the plunge to try this "delicious soup", but I was without a doubt convinced I could do better.

Butternut Squash Soup

4-5 cups Butternut Squash, chopped

5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1 large leek, chopped

3 TB olive oil

1/4-1/2 cup heavy cream

water

salt and pepper

(yes, thats it.)

Simmer the leeks with the olive oil in a large pot, covered, stirring frequently

After leeks are translucent to golden brownish, add the garlic, and cook for another minute.

Add the butternut squash and enough water to cover it.

Allow to cook until soft, then blend using an immersion blender.

Add cream, salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy this easy meal.

(preferably with a delicious baguette)

Minestrone Soup

It drizzled this week. It was light, airy and cleansing. During harvest, the first sign of rain turns most people into a commotion. To me, it is a refreshing reminder of the changing of the seasons.

I could not help but think about something warming. Soup. It was the first thing on my mind when I stepped out of the door on that first rainy day. Yesterday, the rain lightened and eventually turned to sunshine, however, the inexplicable desire to warm my belly was unavoidable. Knowing the Mr. was a work till late getting wet and was probably going to come home hungry and the fact that I needed to ultimately clean out the fridge of elder vegetables , I made what I felt was the most suiting, Minestrone.

It was perfectly really, because at the time, I was also trying to juggle making tomato jam from the massive influx of tomatoes onto our table that had occurred the day before the rain came. It allowed me to "chop and chuck" so to speak, and allowed me to let it simmer while I continued with my project. And despite its humble ingredients, it was absolutely delicious.

Minestrone Soup

1 large onion, chopped
1 TB dried oregano
1 TB dried thyme
1 tsp dried tarragon
2 small fennel bulbs, chopped
3 large carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 slices of bacon, chopped
1 medium zucchini, chopped
3-4 large tomatoes, chopped
3/4-1 bag (16oz) frozen spinach
1 box quinoa shells 
2 quarts of chicken broth
olive oil


Amazingly, I made this all with one pot. Well I suppose it isn't amazing, but I was short on pots and space, so I was attempting to utilize the kitchen as best as I could, so feel free to do several of these tasks at once if you feel inclined.


Bring a pot of water to a boil, and then salt the water and add the quinoa shells. Allow to cook al dente, then strain into a colander and set aside.


I then used the same pot and coated the bottom with olive oil and added the bacon, after about a minute of the bacon simmering alone, add the herbs and onions, and saute for about a few minutes until the onions become translucent, then add the garlic and saute for another minute.


Add the tomatoes, fennel bulb, carrots & celery and saute for 1-2 more minutes, then add the spinach and chicken broth.  Bring this to a hard boil, then turn to medium to allow this to simmer for approximately 30 minutes.


Add the pasta and zucchini and allow to simmer for another 5 minutes.


Salt and pepper to taste.


I would like to apologize that there are no pictures available at this time, but should I so concoct some in the next few days I will post.

Heirloom Tomato Soup

It's harvest time again. Which for me means countless hours and days spent at the winery. Hours that I would secretly like to spend cooking or going on a long run instead. Some people live for this time of year. They plot plan and thrive on the grapes and the energy. They try and scheme how the can spend more time at work. I however dread it. In spite of all of this, I happen to be quick when I want to be and found myself in my car and on my way home yesterday at 4:30. I relished in this car ride and spent the entire trip home mentally scanning through recipes, until I thought about how many tomatoes we had at home, and how I had yet to even think about making tomato soup with them.

I have never made tomato soup, but I make a lot of soup. Tim calls me the soup goddess.  I have come to the realization that a soup can never go wrong when you take something in its pure form, add it to some cooked onions, wine, broth, garlic, seasoning and salt, (sometimes a little cream doesn't hurt either), and blend the whole thing up.

Tomatoes, I assume might be tricky though.... seeds, skin, etc. I consulted with about 12 different recipes. All different. Most used canned tomatoes. The only reason I say it with disappointment is that canned tomatoes have already been skinned and seeded- and I needed to know what to do with fresh tomatoes. And I don't have one of those really cool things that can just strain out the unwanted skins and seeds at the end. Finally I realized that I would have to skin them. Easy enough. Secondly, seed. Damn. all of my heirloom tomatoes are marbled-squeezing them would turn them into mush. I said screw it, and just left the seeds, threw it all in a pot and voile, soup for dinner.

Recipe:

1/2 onion chopped ( i used red, but just cause it was what I had)

5 whole garlic cloves

2TB butter

1TB olive oil

 Throw these all in a pot on med to med-high and cook for about 5 minutes

3/4 cup white wine

then throw the wine in

simmer for about 5 minutes

then add about a dozen large peeled tomatoes or 3 Large cans of peeled and diced tomatoes (i think)

i added 3/4 cup of veggie broth here and let simmer for about ten minutes.

After about 10 minutes, blend it. (i used this) and I swear by it. If you don't have one and like making soup, get one, I insist.

Note: I usually blend, then let is simmer for a couple more minutes, then blend, then repeat the process until I like the consistency

ADD salt and pepper to taste and 1/8-1/4 cup heavy cream (optional and to your taste)

Serve and enjoy!