Curried Lentil Soup

Made this Epicurious recipe on Sunday. A nice, warm meal to get through a long evening of poll watching.

I hope you all voted today!

CURRIED LENTIL SOUP

Olive oil
1 medium onion chopped
1 medium carrot diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 1/2 Tbsp curry
1 cup green lentils
4 cups water
1 15-oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1-2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Salt & pepper

- In a large pot or dutch oven, heat approx. 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the carrot and onion, season with salt & pepper and cook until onions become translucent, about 5 minutes.

- Add the garlic and cook until vegetables are softened, about 4-5 more minutes.

- Add the curry and cook for 1 minute

- Add the lentils and water, bring to a boil, decrease heat and let simmer for 30 minutes.

- Meanwhile, add the chickpeas, lemon, 1/4 cup water and 2 Tbsp olive oil to a small food processor and blend until smooth

- Add the chickpea blend to the soup. Continue to season with salt, pepper and curry as desired!

Easy Tomato Vegetable Soup

4 cups homemade chicken or vegetable stock (if store-bought, use low-sodium)
12 oz. fire roasted crushed tomatoes
1 bag mixed frozen vegetables (I used a squash, zucchini, carrot, onion, red bell pepper mixture)
1/2 cup (approx.) frozen edamame
salt & pepper
1 tsp sambal
1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
Freshly grated horseradish
2 large handfuls fresh spinach
squeeze fresh lemon juice
fresh parsley

- In a large pot add the stock and the tomatoes with their juices. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Continuously taste and season with salt and/or pepper

- Add the sambal, red wine vinegar, and some freshly grated horseradish (amounts are up to you, I add a little at a time and keep tasting)

- Add the mixed frozen vegetables and simmer for about 8 minutes

- Add the edamame and continue to simmer

- Keep tasting and adjusting seasonings. Near the end add the spinach and simmer until it wilts. Add a splash of lemon juice and some freshly chopped parsley before serving.

Christmas Eve 2011

• Parsnip apple soup
• Pork loin in the style of porchetta
• Roasted brussel sprouts with bacon and pepitas
• Roasted kabocha squash with pomegranates, walnut oil, pomegranate molasses and thyme

Aitor's Gazpacho and Vichyssoise Soups

The men recently did some supper club cooking and Aitor supplied a trio of soups (red, white and blue for 4th of July!). The Gazpacho and Vichyssoise were absolutely amazing. The blueberry soup was delicious, but sweet, more of a dessert. Either way, they will all make appearances frequently through the summer. The recipes for the gazpacho and vichyssoise are below

AITOR'S GAZPACHO

6 ripe tomatoes
1/2 cucumber, peeled
1 small green pepper, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic
2 slices white bread
3 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp vinegar
**dash hot sauce (optional)

-Put all ingredients in blender and puree until smooth. Pass soup through a colander and chill before serving

AITOR'S VICHYSSOISE

2 leeks, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup thinly sliced potatoes
2 1/3 cups chicken stock
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
1 1/8 cups heavy whipping cream

- Sweat the leeks and onion in a sauce pan with the butter

- Once softened, add the potatoes, stock, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Simmer gently for 30 minutes.

- Add to blender and puree until smooth. Chill. Stir in cream before serving.

Chilled Cucumber Soup

Adapted from this month's Food & Wine. Perfect porch eating dish.

CHILLED CUCUMBER SOUP
3 cucumbers (abt. 4 oz. each) peeled and coarsely chopped
1 cucumber (abt. 4 oz) peeled and diced
1/2 cup ice cubes
1/4 cup cold water
2-3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1-2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 jalapeno seeded and minced
2 Tbsp shredded mint leaves
1/4 cup plain yogurt
salt

- In a blender combine the 3 cucumbers, ice, water, olive oil, lemon juice, half of the jalapeno and half of the mint leaves and puree. Add salt and refrigerate

- When ready to serve, pour soup into bowls and garnish with the diced cucmber, yogurt and remaining jalapeno and mint

Borlotti Bean and Farro Soup

Shopping with my mom at a west suburban Italian grocery store I came across a treat, fresh borlotti beans!  I talked about the dried version here and my husband's new found obsession with them.  Finding them fresh was quite a treat and I gave them to Jason as a present!

As you can see the borlotti pods and beans, also known as cranberry beans or roman beans are a beautiful mottled cranberry red and off-white color.  They have a slightly nutty flavor which works great with the nuttiness of the farro.

Browsing at Crate & Barrel the other day I saw a recipe for a borlotti bean and farro soup in a tuscan cook book which inspired this dish.  I did some online searching and created a hybrid of recipes I saw along with the availability of what was in my fridge at the time, which included the fresh borlotti beans!

If you do not have fresh borlotti beans, you can always use dried beans.  Soak them overnight and then simmer for an 1 - 1 1/2 hours until tender.  You may have to adjust some of the cooking times in this recipe, I feel like the fresh beans took a little longer to tenderize during the first part of this recipe, than if I had used cooked dried beans.  However, as with most soup recipes, times and quantities are approximate, adjust as you see fit!

Recipe...

Lentils, Celery & Caraway Beef Broth Soup

I wish I had a more creative name for this dish.  I've been dreaming about the flavor combination of celery and caraway ever since I made the lima bean soup with celery and caraway which obviously was the basis of my inspiration here.  But I had an overabundance of celery tops I had saved, tons of thyme, some spare carrots and a bit of leftover onion as well as some lentils I had cooked earlier in the week.  I decided to try to change it up by using beef broth which I had in the pantry.  I thought the lentil, beef and caraway might be a nice combination and while I can get overwhelmed by the flavor of thyme I thought it would really help round out the flavors.  So while this is a true kitchen sink soup, didn't leave the house to get anything, I think it turned out pretty well!

LENTILS CELERY & CARAWAY BEEF BROTH SOUP

Approx. 2 stalks celery finely diced
1/4 red onion finely diced
1 medium carrot finely diced
0live oil
salt and pepper
1 garlic clove
1 1/2 tsp caraway seeds
2 cups beef broth
water
1 bay leaf
2-3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 1/2 cups cooked lentils (if you don't have pre-cooked you can rinse and add the lentils to the soup to cook)
hot sauce
red wine vinegar
Worcestershire

--In a heavy bottom pot heat oil over medium and add the carrot, celery and onion with a bit of salt and pepper.  Saute about 10 minutes

--Add the garlic and caraway and saute another 10 minutes or so

--Turn the heat to high and add a splash of the beef broth to scrape up any bits that have formed on the bottom of the pot

--Add the rest of the beef broth, 1 cup water, 1 bay leaf, thyme sprigs and a couple splashes of hot sauce

--Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer and add the lentils

--Let simmer for almost an hour, tasting and adjusting seasoning as you go.  Add more water if necessary.


--About halfway through I added some more hot sauce and a splash of red wine vinegar and a little Worcestershire at the end. 

--Pull out the bay leaf and thyme sprigs before serving

Coconut Red Lentil Soup

I've been a little soup crazy and adapted yet another recipe from 101 Cookbooks.  I wanted to use much of what I had on hand which included red lentils, fresh ginger and golden raisins plus some of the staples including curry which I've been using much more of recently.  I thought the soup came out fantastically.  I would perhaps use a hotter curry or add a little chili pepper to add a dash more heat but we have been enjoying the soup for days.

COCONUT RED LENTIL SOUP

1 cup red lentils
1 cup green lentils (or yellow split peas)
7 cups water
1 carrot diced
2 Tbsp fresh peeled and minced ginger
2 Tbsp curry powder
2 Tbsp butter
8 green onions sliced thinly
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 14-oz can coconut milk
2 tsp salt
chopped cilantro

--Rinse the lentils

--Put lentils in a large stock pot, add the water and bring to a boil.

--Reduce to a simmer, add the carrot and 1/4 of the ginger and simmer until the green lentils are soft

--Meanwhile, in a small dry sauce pan, toast the curry powder lightly and set aside

--Heat butter in a pan over medium heat and add half the green onions, the ginger and raisins and cook for about 3 minutes while stirring

--Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes

--Add the toasted curry powder to the lan, mix and add all of this to the soup along with the coconut milk and salt

--Simmer for another 20 minutes or so, until the flavors meld nicely

--Serve sprinkled with green onions and cilantro

Lima Bean Soup with Celery and Carraway

I came across another recipe I just had to try at 101 Cookbooks.  I made a couple of changes but think that it turned out great.  The caraway and celery is an incredible flavor combination.  We have a big batch of the soup to get us through the better part of the week.

LIMA BEAN STEW WITH CELERY AND CARRAWAY

3/4 lb frozen lima beans (substitute 3/4 lbs of any bean you would like)
Scant 2/3 cup olive oil
2 large heads celery, with leaves, trimmed and cut into 3/4 inch pieces
2 bunches scallions, green and white parts sliced
8 garlic cloves thinly sliced
2 tsp carraway seeds, lightly crushed
sea salt
28 oz chopped tomatoes, drained
celery salt (homemade, see previous post)
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 1/2 cups water
oil cured black olives, pitted and chopped
thin lemon slices

--Heat the scant 2/3 cup olive oil in a large pot on med-high

--Add the celery, stir to coat and cook for about 10 minutes

--Add the scallions, garlic, carraway and some salt.  Cook for another 15 minutes, until everything is softened

--Add the tomatoes and 2 tsp celery salt and cook for a few minutes

--Add the beans, water and stock

--Bring to a simmer, season to taste with salt

--Serve bowls topped with chopped olives and a squeeze of lemon

Turkey Leftovers - Spicy Turkey Lentil Soup

I still seem to be fighting off a cold.  Nose running, achey, all the good stuff.  I wanted tomake a dish with all the healthy, immune enhacing, cold-fighting spices I could and came up with a great way to do so and use up the last of the leftover Thanksgiving turkey.  Ginger, garlic, turmeric, cayenne and curry powder wrapped up in a nice warm broth with lentils and turkey for protein sounded perfect. 

1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 onion, diced
2 celery stalks
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves minced
2 in piece of ginger, peeled and minced
1 Tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 cup chopped tomatoes
8 cups water
1 cup red lentils
any leftover turkey bones
chopped turkey meat
salt

-- In a large soup pot heat the oil, add the onions, carrots and celery with some salt and sautee about  5 minutes

--Add the garlic and ginger and sautee about 2 more minutes

--Add the curry, cumin, turmeric and cayenne and stir in about 2 minutes

--Add the chopped tomatoes and stir

--Add the 8 cups of water, the turkey bones and lentils and simmer for about 30-45 minutes.  The bones will come out, I'm just adding them here for extra flavor.  Instead of water you could use chicken or vegetable stock.  I only had chicken on hand and didn't want to mix my poultry

--Continue to taste and season as necessary.  At the end, pull out the turkey bones and add the chopped turkey meat to warm through.

FRENCH ONION SOUP

It spontaneously turned into Bistro Night at our house yesterday evening.  Braised chicken with carrots, onions and fennel and roasted fingerling potatoes served as the main course with a Pinot Gris.  The starter was my first attempt at homemade french onion soup.  I love french onion soup and am frankly surprised I have never tried it before.  The results were very good.  In retrospect there were a few changes I would have made and I have included them here.  One thing to bear in mind is that this recipe does take about an hour and a half to prepare.  My onions weren't browning and I just had to let them go for over an hour.

FRENCH ONION SOUP

4 Tbsp butter
6-7 (a bit over 2 lbs) sweet vidalia onions, sliced thinly into half moons
Fresh thyme
1/4 cup sherry
2 cups chicken stock
4 cups beef broth
salt and pepper
french baguette, cut into thick slices on the diagonal
grated gruyere cheese

--In a dutch over, or other heavy pan, melt the butter over medium heat

--Lower the heat to med-low and add the onions, the leaves of 1-2 sprigs fresh thyme and salt.
--Cook the onions until they start to brown.  This took me literally over an hour.  Be patient. 

--Once they have started to brown, add the sherry and cook until the sherry has evaporated

--Add the chicken stock and beef broth and simmer for about 30 minutes.  Continue tasting and adjusting with salt and pepper as necessary

--Turn on the broiler and place 1 baguette slice per soup bowl on a baking sheet

--Broil the bread for croutons about one minute

--Ladle the soup into over-safe bowls.  Place the baguette, toasted side down in the soup.  Top with the grated gruyere and place under the broiler for just under two minutes

Spicy Thai Soup

I was feeling a little under the weather today.  When that happens I often crave soup.  And when my throat is a little sore, and my stomach a little funny, I want spicy, delicious soup!  Usually, that's a Tom Yum.  There is no Tom Yum that compares to the soup they serve at Spoon Thai, but I figured I would try something similar that I could make at home.

So while this isn't really an authentic Tom Yum, it is an amlagamation of a few recipes I found online along with a little inspiration.

SPICY THAI SOUP

6 cups chicken or vegetable stock (ideally homemade, preferably low-sodium and organic if not)
1 stalk lemongrass, tough outer leaves removed, sliced into 1/2 - 1 inch chunks on the bias
2 Tbsp fish sauce
1 large chunk ginger grated
2 tsp red chili sauce
1 cloved garlic crushed
zest of 1/2 a lime
juice of 1 lime
1/2 can straw mushrooms rinsed and halved
1 head baby bok choy chopped, stems and leaves separated
1 red bell pepper sliced thinly
1/2 small onion sliced very thinly
1/2 can coconut milk
cilantro

**optional - tofu
--In a large stock pot bring the stock to a boil

--Add the lemon grass, fish sauce, ginger, chili sauce and garlic and reduce to a simmer until all the flavors start to meld together

--Add the mushrooms, bok choy stems, pepper and onion slices and continue to simmer

--Add the coconut milk and bok choy greens, simmering for just a few more minutes

--Ladle into bowls and serve with fresh chopped cilantro on top

**throughout the process I was constantly tasting and adjusting seasonings.  The ratios listed above are approximately what I ended up using.  You may prefer more or less of any of the ingredients.  You may also want to add a dash of sugar to combat some of the spice.

Beet and Potato Soup

OK, so it's been months and months since I posted.  I regret that I didn't get to document and share all the wonderful cooking we did this summer, but sometimes that's how it goes.  I aspired to live every second to the fullest this summer and enjoy the outdoors to the best of my ability, and given the gorgeous summer, sitting at my laptop just never happened.

But fall has arrived full force, and grad school, so my inside time has increased dramatically.  And with grad school comes fiscal awareness and a renewed pledge to cook all our food, as easily and simply as possible (most days), to waste as little as possible, and still enjoy delicious meals.

This soup got us through more than a week, filling in meal gaps here and there.  The gift of a peck of beets I received made this a no-brainer.

ROASTED BEET AND POTATO SOUP

2 lbs beets - scrubbed, peeled and diced
1 lb potatoes - peeled and diced
2 shallots - chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
A few sprigs of thyme
Salt
Pepper
6 cups broth (vegetable or chicken, low-sodium)
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
Sour Cream (optional)

Preheat over to 400

Toss the beets, potatoes, thyme, olive oil, salt and pepper together

Line a baking sheet with tin foil and bake the mixture about 45 minutes, until the beets and potatoes are cooked through. 

Remove thyme and add vegetables to soup pot along with the broth and bring to a simmer.  Using an immersion blender, blend the mixture until desired consistency.

Stir in vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Asparagus Soup with Garbanzo Beans

I found this recipe through some internet searching on About.Com: Local Foods.  Kind of a strange place for me to be pulling recipes from but it was really good.  The chickpeas give it a creaminess without any actual cream or dairy.  And I happened to have hydrated some dried garbanzo beans earlier in the week and had leftovers that needed to be used.  I tweaked a couple of the ingredients slightly and added tabasco to my leftover portions for a little extra kick.

ASPARAGUS SOUP WITH GARBANZO BEANS
1 bunch asparagus
2 cloves garlic, minced and separated
4 cups homemade chicken stock (or a low sodium, organic prepared vegetable or chicken stock)
7 oz (about half a can) of garbanzo beans
salt
1/2 cup parsley
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp lemon zest
fresh ground black pepper

Rinse the asparagus, snap off any tough ends and separate the tips and stalks

In a stock pot bring the chicken stock to a boil. 

Add the asparagus stalks, 1 clove minced garlic, the chickpeas, salt and simmer until asparagus is very tender, about 5-8 minutes and let cool for a couple of minutes

Meanwhile, mince the parsley and combine with the remaining garlic clove, olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, black pepper and salt.  Set aside.

When the asparagus it tender, using an immersion blender, process the soup until smooth (if you don't have an immersion blender, process in a regular blender in batches and return to pot).  Return soup to a simmer, add the tips and cook about 3 minutes until the tips are tender.

Ladle into individual bowls and serve topped with the parlsey gremolata

Spring Menu: Asparagus Soup, Israeli Couscous and Grilled Chicken

A leisurely Saturday with no plans often results in a delicious home cooked meal for J and I.  Tonight I was craving a nice seasonal spring menu.  And since it was to be our activity for the evening, I wanted to make a few different dishes.  I had some leftover hydrated garbanzo beans that needed to be used, and some California asparagus (I couldn't resist).  After some discussion and a little research we came up with:

Asparagus Soup with Garbanzo Beans

Israeli Couscous with Ramps, Asparagus and Mushrooms

Grilled Chicken with a Shallot and Mustard Sauce

It was delicious, the israeli couscous a particular hit, with leftovers for the next day or two.

Vegetable Soup

Returning home from San Francisco and Sonoma after an incredible vacation of friends, good food and lots of wine tasting (more on that to come!) I needed to get back on track with my eating and exercising!

The first thing that came to mind as a meal to get us through a few days was a rustic vegetable soup.  I picked up a few ingredients at lunch and assessed what, if anything, we had left in the fridge once I got home.  I let it simmer for quite awhile while sorting through our vacation photos.  Luckily J came home with a spare loaf of bread with roasted garlic to round out the meal!

VEGETABLE SOUP

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion chopped
2 carrots peeled and sliced
1 clove garlic minced
1 zucchini, halved and sliced
1/2 head cauliflower, broken up into very small florets
12-15 green beans, sliced
1 red potato diced
1 handful parsley chopped
1 small bunch kale chopped
32 oz. chicken stock
1 can crushed fire roasted tomatoes
a pinch of celery salt
1 tsp or so chili paste
a few dashes worstershire sauce
salt and pepper
1/2 can white beans, rinsed

In a stock pot, heat the oil over medium heat.  Prepare the onion, carrot and garlic and add that to the oil with some salt and pepper.  I let those soften while I chopped the rest of the veggies.

Next add the cauliflower.  While that cooks, chop the potato and run it under water to try to get rid of some of the starch and chop the kale, parsley and green beans.

Add the stock, canned tomatoes (with their juices), potato, green beans, kale and parsley.

Toss in the chili paste and a couple of dashes of the worstershire.

Bring the soup to a boil and then lower to a simmer for about an hour. 

If needed, add a little extra water.

Add the beans a few minutes before you are going to turn off the soup so that they heat but don't get mushy. 

Taste and adjust spices if necessary.

Onion and White Bean Soup

I took my inspiration for this recipe from Fabio Viviani's Sweet Onion and Mixed Legume Soup recipe.  Fabio was one of my favorite contestants ever to be on Top Chef and to top off all of his successes, according to his Food Network bio he is also William Shatner's private chef???

This winter I keep finding myself with excess bags of onions and so this soup was born.  I made it tonight and have tasted it but, as with most of my soups, I really prefer to make it in the evening and not eat it until the next day.  The soup ended up being quite sweet which I cut with worcesteshire and hot sauce. 

Maybe with my next spare bag of onions I'll finally try to make a true french onion soup!

ONION AND WHITE BEAN SOUP

1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large carrot diced
3-4 stalks celery diced
2 cloves of garlic sliced
2lbs onions sliced
1 cup dried white beans soaked overnight, rinsed and simmered the next day until tender (or about a can and a half of cannellini)
6 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper
worcesteshire sauce
hot sauce

Heat the oil in a stock pot.  Add the carrots, celery and garlic and sautee for about 6 minutes with a healthy dose of salt and pepper. 

Add the onions and 1 cup of the stock.  Simmer until all of the liquid is absorbed and the onions are almost stringy, about an hour. 

Add the rest of the stock and the white beans and continue to simmer. 

Add salt and pepper to taste.  At this point the soup should be pretty sweet.  Add some worcesteshire and hot sauce in small doses, continuing to taste.

Remove from the heat and blend with an immersion blender (or the boat motor as my husband calls it!).

Cannellini Bean Puree with Barley

This is the second puree soup recipce, or Vellutata, I have taken from my new La Cucina Italiana subscription.

The beauty of the cauliflower puree from last week and this Cannellini Bean Puree is the simplicity and velvety texture of the soup, combined with an additional textured food spooned on top to serve.  In this case, the silky smooth cannellini puree is topped with herbed barley. 

The soup is delicious, hearty, comforting and healthy.  It was also my first time using dried beans instead of canned (can you believe I have never used dried beans before?).  The difference was measurable and even my husband, who has pooh-poohed the idea of using dried beans in the past, is a convert.

I made it last night and reheated some tonight after a big glass of fresh vegetable juice as part of my revamped eating plan to kick of 2010!  Cannellini are very high in folate and iron and a good source of non-meat protein. 

CANNELLINI BEAN PUREE WITH BARLEY

2 cups dried cannellini
1 slice of onion
1/4 cup pearled barley
2 Tbsp good extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, gently smashed and peeled
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mixed herbs, I used parsley, basil and oregano
sea salt
white pepper
black pepper to taste

Place the beans in a pot.  Cover with cold water by 3 inches and let sit overnight.


Drain beans.  Add 5 cups of cold filtered water and the onion.  Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium low and simmer until beans are very tender, adding water if needed to keep the beans covered.  I ended up cooking mine about 1 hour 15 minutes and adding another 2 cups of water overall.


Meanwhile, bring about 4 cups of salted water to a boil.  Add barley, reduce heat to med-low and simmer until tender, approximately 45 minutes.  Drain.


When the beans are tender, transfer in batches to a blender and carefully puree until smooth.**(see note).


Pour the pureed beans through a fine mesh sieve and with a rubber spatula, push the puree through the sieve, leaving behind the bean skins which can be discarded.  While this is labor intensive the result is a perfectly silky smooth puree.


Return the beans to the pot, whisk in 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil and heat gently.  Season generously with salt and white pepper.  I used white pepper to keep the pristine white color.  At this point you may need to add more water to thin soup.  My soup was very thick and definitely needed water.  When eating leftovers I added additional water prior to reheating.


In a large skillet heat the remaining 1 Tbsp oil over med-high heat.  Add the barley and garlic clove and cook while stirring about 2 minutes.  Add the herbs and cooking another minute or so.  Remove from the heat, discard the garlic clove and season with salt and pepper.


Ladle soup into bowls and spoon barley on top.  Sprinkle with a little extra salt and pepper.

**I've learned my lesson pureeing hot liquids.  First of all, start small!  The first time I ever tried to puree a soup in my blender I filled the blender to the top and almost got sprayed the second I turned it on.  Pureeing in several small batches, while a hassle, is much easier than cleaning puree off your kitchen walls.  Secondly, remove the plastic cap from the lid and instead, hold a dish towel over the hole.  The hot air can blow the plastic cap right off if you're not careful. 

I know I waxed pontific about the virtues of the immersion blender for the cauliflower puree.  In this instance, since we want to separate the bean skins from the puree, using the blender was the best idea.

Cauliflower Puree Soup

After the decadence of the holidays, it's time to get back to some normal eating and cooking!  I recently discovered the magazine La Cucina Italiana, and a good friend was kind enough to give me a subscription for Christmas!

I adapted this recipe from one I found in the current edition.  It also gave me a second time to use my new Immersion Blender which I got in the Family Christmas Secret Santa Exchange!

I was hoping to make a nice, healthy vegetable based soup.  And while it is primarily vegetable, overall I would use much less butter than the recipe called for.  I might actually just sautee the leeks in only oil.  And the bacon is just an optional garnishment to sprinkle on top.  The recipe I got my inspiration from actually used veal.

CAULIFLOWER PUREE SOUP

2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 of a very large onion sliced thinly (about 1 - 1 1/2 cups)
1 head cauliflower cut into small florettes (approximately 1 lb)
1/2 lb yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced into 1 in. pieces (approximately 1/2 lb)
3 1/2 Tbsp butter, divided
3 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1 leek, white and yellow parts chopped
2 slices of bacon diced
salt and pepper to taste

In a large stock pot heat the olive oil on medium heat, add the onions, lower the heat to med-low and sautee for about 5 minutes or until they are soft

Add the cauliflower, potatoes a healthy pinch of salt and 2 Tbsp of the butter.  Cook for about 10 minutes.

Add 2 cups of broth, bring to a boil and simmer on low, covered for about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, start the leeks and bacon.  In one pan, heat the remaining 1 1/2 Tbsp butter over medium heat and sautee the leeks for about 15 minutes.

**again, in the future I would not use this much butter

After 15 minutes, add 1 1/2 cups of stock and a dash of salt and simmer on low for another 15 minutes.

In a separate pan cook the diced bacon on med-low until it is nice and crispy. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

Drain the cooking liquid from the leeks into the soup pot and reserve the leeks.

Remove the soup from the heat and with an immersion blender puree the soup.  Test the consistency, you can always add more stock or water to thin out the soup if you like, but I found this consistency perfect.

**if you do not have an immersion blender, puree in batches in a blender

Ladle soup into bowls and top with leeks, bacon and some freshly ground black pepper

Raw Creamy Celery Soup

In sticking with my new found resolution for weight loss and pursuit of overall health I had a nice polenta square with ragu with some leftover salad for lunch and decided to do a raw dinner after a run on the treadmill at the gym. 

P.S.  not having tv at home does make going to the gym more inviting.  I got to watch the Biggest Loser!  And if that won't inspire you to run, I don't know what will....

I came across this recipe on the Raw Epicurean website and tweaked the ingredients and portion size just a bit.  You need the juicer and blender, although the RawEpicurean site says instead of juicing the celery you can remove the fibrous strings in the celery by hand and just blend. 

RAW CREAMY CELERY SOUP

1/2 cup celery juice
1/2 avocado pitted
1/2 cup water
1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp agave
Sea salt and pepper to taste

After juicing the celery, add all ingredients to the blender.  Blend until smooth and creamy.  Refrigerate prior to serving.  Garnish with celery leaves, parsley leaves or fresh chopped celery.

I enjoyed this although it wasn't as creamy as I would have liked.  I might cut the water a little bit next time.  The original recipe called for the addition of either red onion or shallot but raw onion sometimes gives me a headache so I eliminated it.  I might instead add a little heat in the form of cayenne or hot sauce.