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Category: Soups

  • Creamy Dreamy Cauliflower Soup

    Fast and easy, 6 ingredient soup. No roasting anything, just dump-simmer-blend-eat.

    What’s not to love?. You cut up your vegetables and add-in whatever liquids you like, simmer for about 30 minutes, blend it and dinner is ready!

    You can add roasted vegetables like leeks and make cauliflower leek soup or serve it with grilled cheese ‘croutons’ or leftover rotisserie chicken for a hearty meal. I chopped up some roasted green chilies and added cheese for a really delicious souper (haha) easy meal.

    Cauliflower Soup slightly adapted from a recipe by Recipe Tin Eats.

    • 1 medium cauliflower, florets broken off
    • 2 small potatoes (peel if you like) roughly diced
    • 1 onion peeled and chopped
    • 2 cups milk any kind, non dairy or dairy
    • 2 cups broth, any kind or even water will work
    • salt and pepper to taste
    • endless optional add-ons like roasted leeks or any other vegetables-carrots, leeks, rutabagas, celeriac. Top it with cheese, herbs, roasted chilies or even things like apple slices would be great

    Put everything in a pot and bring it to a simmer for about 30 minutes (that round thing at the top of the photo is frozen chicken stock and some milk splashed on it…just reference for what you are looking at)

    When the potatoes and cauliflower are soft enough to mash use and immersion blender or just a potato masher and blend the soup. This photo is before I blended it when the vegetables were all done.

    Taste the soup and add salt and pepper and if it is too thick add more milk or just water and anything else you want to make it your own creation. I doubt it will be too thin. If it is just simmer it a little longer.

  • Any Vegetable Coconut Milk Soup

    I love a ‘clean out the refrigerator’ simple meal. I like this because it’s quick, adaptable and uses up any and all vegetables you want to throw at it. Any protein you like too can easily be added, chicken, salmon, tofu. You are basically making a tasty broth that will compliment any vegetables you like.

    Start by gathering and chopping into bite size pieces any vegetables you want to use. I find about 4 cups of chopped vegetables and 1 cup of protein (if you are adding that) is about right for 4 servings .

    You’ll also need;

    1 14-ounce can full-fat coconut milk
    4 cups of any seasonal vegetable chopped plus protein if you are using any
    1/2 can water or broth(use the coconut can to measure)
    2-inch knob of ginger, peeled and grated (~1T grated), more if you like ginger a lot.
    1 cup minced shallots, onions or leeks
    1 1/2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt, or to taste
    Optional, but highly suggested ingredients; lime, sweetener like (raw) sugar or agave, curry paste or powder. I used about 1 tablespoon of curry paste and 2 tablespoons of agave and one (sad) lime, I wish I had more lime. Herbs like basil, cilantro or mint are great too.

    I added the tomato, radish and jalapeno raw to the dish at the end, like a garnish/side salad, but you can add anything at anytime. I LOVE winter squash in this dish and serve that with rice. Depending on what vegetables you use like broccoli or eggplant, this would be great over mashed potatoes or mashed cauliflower. Collards are really good here too if you blend them into the broth it reminds me of saag.

    These are the vegetables I had today.

    Cook whatever allium you are using with some oil, ginger and the curry powder or paste if you are using it, until the alliums and ginger soften.

    Add the coconut milk, water/broth and vegetables and any of the optional ingredients you are using and taste taste taste. Lime, salt and agave or sugar add so much here.

    That’s it. Serve it with noodles, potatoes, rice, naan, anything you like.

    Fall is in the air. Only two more weeks of Main Season CSA. Then the winter CSA starts.

    See you at pickup.

    Mo

     

     

  • Simple Winter Squash Soup

    This soup feels like an indulgence. It’s creamy and filling, and complex tasting using just a few ingredients and it takes just a few minutes hands on time to make, and just one pot.

    My favorite thing about this soup is thinking of delicious toppings and food to dunk in the soup. Here I sauteed some apples and added bacon and some cheddar cheese.

    Basic is always good too, here I had some sage butter with croutons and it was so good.

    You can use any orange flesh winter squash. I used a butternut squash.

    Gather your ingredients.

    • 1 pumpkin, butternut squash or any orange flesh winter squash, about 2 1/2 to 3 pounds seeded, peeled and cut into cubes
    • 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling
    • 1 large onion, or a couple leeks chopped
    • 1 teaspoon salt and 1 tsp pepper
    • 4 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
    • 3 to 4 cups vegetable broth or water. I used Better than Bouillon
    • 1 to 2 tablespoons butter or oil
    • Sage, ginger or other herbs are optional but delicious
    • Any fun additional topping or dunking vessels you like! Black beans! Tortellini! Grilled peanut butter and jelly! Granola! Leftover roasted vegetables! Add some cream, coconut cream, or curry! Kale or collards! Blue cheese and walnuts!

    Warm the butter or oil and sauté the onions until they are soft, about 5 minutes.

    Add the peeled and cubed squash, herbs if you are using any, garlic and salt and pepper and cook that for about 8 to 10 minutes until it just starts to soften.

    Add the water or broth and simmer until the squash is really soft, about 30 more minutes. You should have just enough liquid so the squash is poking out like a crocodile’s head in a swamp. You can adjust as needed.

    I used an immersion blender to mix mine. You can move it to a blender and blend until smooth, leave it chunky or mash it with a potato masher until it semi-smooth. It does have a lovely shiny creamy texture if you blend it.

    Leftovers are of course great.

    Hope you are all the winter squash in your CSA share!

    Mo

  • Winter Minestrone Soup

    This is one of those ‘clean out your vegetable drawer’ meals and a testament to the adage that what grows together tastes great together.

    I accidentally deleted the photo of the vegetables I used to make this before I chopped them up. It kind of doesn’t matter because you can use any of your CSA vegetables you have and a few pantry items you probably have too. You need 4 to 5 cups of cut up vegetables. I had lots of leeks, celery, parsnips, carrots, kale and a kohlrabi. Celery root, onions, potatoes, rutabagas and any leafy greens would work too.

    I peeled and cut vegetables until I had 4 cups and then I added the kale to make a heaping 5ish cups of vegetables.

    Winter Minestrone Soup

    • 4 to 5 cups winter vegetables washed and chopped into bite size pieces
    • 1 1/2 to 2 cups navy or cannellini beans and broth if homemade. 1 can of white beans, drained and rinsed if you are using canned beans.
    • 1 15 oz can of tomatoes and their juice. I canned my tomatoes, that is why they are in a jar. Store bought is fine.
    • 2 cups of water
    • optional 1/2 cup pasta
    • Croutons, parmesan cheese and olive oil for garnish

    In a large pot heat a few tablespoons of oil and add all the vegetables, except leafy greens, and a few pinches of salt. Cook for about 5 minutes.

    Add one cup of water and let that simmer for about 10 minutes and the vegetables are about 1/2 way cooked-tender but not all the way soft.

    Add the tomatoes, leafy greens if you are using them and beans.

    Stir and decide if you need more water. I added another cup of water.

    If you are adding the pasta, bring the soup to a low boil and add the pasta now and cook until it is done.

    Taste and see if it needs any salt and add a few good grinds of pepper.

    That’s it. This is a quick satisfying meal loaded with tons of CSA goodness and love.

    I like to serve this topped with croutons, parmesan cheese and a drizzle of olive oil. Hearty and delicious.

    Have a great week.

    Mo

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Brothy Simmered Beans

    I love making beans from scratch. Canned beans are ok, fine even for some things but slow simmered homemade beans are just so much better.

    It’s all about the broth with homemade. Canned bean water is not good-ever.

    There are probably as many ways to cook beans as there are bean varieties. I make pinto beans in my pressure cooker because I almost always want to mash them into refried beans and I find the pressure cooker cooks them quickly and just fine but I end up with broken beans, which I don’t mind for refried beans.

    I like to slow simmer beans on the stove when I want a rich broth and intact beans. That is what I am making today.

    To make delicious beans  you don’t need much more than beans and salt and maybe an onion. I added a few more ingredients because I had them from our CSA share this week.

    One pound of beans makes about 6 cups of cooked beans. Cooked beans keep in the refrigerator for at least a week and can be used to make so many quick meals like greens and beans or quick soups, or make some toast and spoon some beans and broth on it, add an egg! If you don’t think you will use all of them in a week or so freeze them, they freeze beautifully.

    Soak or not to soak beans? I soak if I remember, I just cook the beans a little longer if I didn’t remember to soak them. The beans I am cooking today were soaked for about 6 hours.

    After soaking your beans you want to drain the soaking water and start with fresh water. There is a protein called lectin on the skin of legumes, lectin is why some people can’t digest beans very well. Lectin is water soluble and you want to get rid of it, so rinse and drain your soaked beans. You can read more about it here if you want. If you didn’t soak them just rinse them really well.

    I used;

    • 1 pound of cannellini beans, you can use any type you like.
    • 1 onion-a large carrot-a couple stalks of celery-a few garlic cloves.
    • Optional-parmesan rinds (adds great flavor) olive oil
    • Salt

    Now put your beans in a large pot and cover them in fresh water and bring that to a low boil for about 10 to 15 minutes. The beans will foam, I don’t know why but they all do.

    Skim off the foam and add your vegetables and parmesan rids if you are using them.  I added a couple of bay leaves too.

    How long it takes to cook beans is anyone’s guess. It depends on how old the beans are, how big they are and probably other things. It takes as long as it takes, I’d say usually 1 to 3 hours. Leave them on low making sure to check that the beans are always covered with an inch or two of water. Add more hot water as needed.

    After an hour of simmering I add a couple of teaspoons of salt and some olive oil. The beans are just starting to get soft. I am guessing these will need an other hour or two. I added more hot water and I’ll just leave them simmering and check back in an hour or so.

    OK. It’s been another hour and they are almost done. The parmesan rinds have melted and you can see the beans are much bigger and the vegetables are breaking down. At this point taste a couple beans. These are really soft and just a little ‘grainy’. “Grainy’ tells me they are just about done. They are done when the beans are creamy not grainy. I’ll leave these another 1/2 hour.  The broth is so so good.

    Now I have beautiful beans and broth for several meals. I’ll start with just beans and broth.

    I hope you are enjoying your winter vegetables. I know I am.

    Mo

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Marcella Hazen’s Cabbage and Rice Soup

    If you aren’t familiar with Marcella Hazen’s recipes you should sit down and give her a Google. Her recipes are simple and use everyday ingredients and the dishes you create are almost always more than a sum of their parts.

    This soup is no exception. It cooks for at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours and it becomes almost like risotto-but it’s soup. The cabbage collapses and is sort of silky sweet.

    You will get all the vegetables you need to make this in your share this week. You’ll also need some broth or stock and rice.

    Here is a list of what you need and the amounts. I forgot to take a picture of the olive oil and vinegar. You probably have everything you need in your pantry.

    Marcella Hazan’s Rice & Cabbage Soup

    1 cabbage about 2 lbs, shredded or sliced very thin into bite size shreds (I used about 3/4 of this cabbage)
    1 onion, diced
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    1/2 cup olive oil (yes, 1/2 cup)
    1 tablespoon white wine vinegar (I only had cider vinegar)
    4 – 6 cups vegetable or beef stock (I had 4 cups chicken broth in the freezer so I used that)
    2/3 cup rice
    2 tablespoons butter
    1/3 cup fresh grated parmesan, plus more for serving
    Salt and pepper

    Start with 1/2 cup of olive oil and diced onions in a large pan with a tight fitting lid. It seems like a lot of oil but that is part of the magic of this dish. The oil cooks down differently than water or broth.

    Cook that until the onions are translucent.

    Add the shredded cabbage and toss it until the oil covers everything evenly. I forgot to take a picture of that. It filled up the pot but quickly collapsed down to look like this.

    Now add the vinegar and some salt and pepper and cover it and simmer it on your lowest setting for 1 to 1 1 /2 hours. You should see and hear a little liquid simmering. If you don’t think it is enough add a couple tablespoons of water. I had to move my pan a little off my burner because it was simmering a little more than I liked.

    Check and stir it every 15 minutes or so and see if you need to add a few tablespoons of water. I had to add water a couple of times. I think late season cabbages are a little more dry that early and mid season cabbage so you will probably have to add a little water.

    This is how it looks after an hour.

    Add the stock and rice. Make sure you taste this and add some salt or pepper or more vinegar if you need to, I added a little more vinegar. Remember you add some butter and parmesan cheese at the end so don’t worry if you taste and think it needs something, it does. Simmer this for at least 20 minutes or until the rice is done.

    NOW add the butter and parmesan cheese and taste.

    This is a nice light warming meal. If you try it I hope you like it.

    Have a great week.

    Mo

  • Tomato Egg Drop Soup

    This is a fast, easy to adapt dish that can pull anything you are having for dinner together. I like it with rice or any grain to make it into a meal. I also like to throw any leftover vegetable in at the end, corn is especially good. Chinese dumplings or won tons are good too.

    I sometimes leave out the sesame oil and soy sauce and add Parmesan and tortellini, so good, not authentic, but really tasty.

    Oh and it is good hot or room temperature. I prefer any leftovers at room temp for breakfast or lunch.

    I added rice and some chard today.

    IMG_3283

    The recipe/method is super easy and found here, on this great website. You need just a few pantry ingredients and about 5 minutes.

    Chop up a tomato, beat an egg and make a slurry out of cornstarch and water.

    IMG_3273

    Cook the tomato and add the other ingredients and stir in the beaten egg and then the cornstarch.

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    Do taste it carefully at this point. It will need salt and maybe more pepper.

    Keep it simple.

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    Or make it more of a meal.

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    Have a great week.

    See you at pick-up.

    Mo

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Miso Soup with Bok Choy

    Wyatt suggested this healthy quick meal because it is so adaptable to any array of vegetables that may come your way via CSA.

    I used bok choy, green garlic, a handful of kale, soba noodles and an egg. But feel free to replace or add any vegetables or protein you have.

    IMG_2025

    Here is the basic recipe, it makes enough for 2 bowls and takes about 10 minutes to make.

    • 3 ounces dried soba noodles
    • 2 – 4 tablespoons miso paste (to taste I used white miso, I like red too)
    • 4 cups of water or broth
    • 2 – 3 ounces firm tofu or 2 eggs or chicken
    • a handful vegetables washed and chopped
    • 2 or 3 green onions or green garlic (garlic scapes would work too) finely chopped
    • Grated fresh ginger to taste- I used about 2 tablespoons

     

    • Cook the soba noodles in salted water, drain, run cold water over the noodles to stop them from cooking,  set aside.
    • In a medium sauce pan bring 4 cups of water or broth to a boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and add the chopped vegetables, onions and garlic and simmer for 3-5 minutes until they are just cooked.
    • Pour a bit of the hot water (or broth) into a small bowl and whisk in the miso paste – so it thins out a bit and keeps the miso from clumping.

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    • When the vegetables are cooked turn off the heat and stir the miso into the pot. You don’t want to boil the miso because will kill the probiotics in it. Taste, and then add more (the same way) until it is to your liking. Taste and see if it needs any salt, some misos are saltier than others.

    Split the noodles and grated ginger between two  bowls, and pour the miso broth over them and divide up the vegetables between the bowls.

    Serve and enjoy!

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  • CSA Vegetable Stock

    People often ask me if they can use the tops or peels of vegetables. The answer is almost always YES!
    When you are in a CSA once a week you are inundated with vegetables, making stock is a great way to use up all the parts of your CSA share and open the door to some healthy quick meals.

    This is most of my CSA share this week and some leftovers from last week, the corn is from the Farm Stand and was lonely in the vegetable drawer alone. I like to do an inventory once a week to keep things fresh and it helps me plan meals better.

    Mixed Vegetables
    *gack! look at that fly on the leek!

    I am going to trim the parts of the vegetables we won’t eat, like leek tops and chard stems, and green bean tips, and make some stock. There is no right or wrong here. Use what you have. I have read not to use cabbage or broccoli in vegetable stock. I disagree. I like the taste of broccoli and cabbage stock. Just make sure you balance it with some onions or leeks and maybe some herbs if you have them.
    Here are the trimmings of this weeks vegetables in my stock pot this week. I like to eat beet greens but I had chard this week so I sacrificed my beet greens for the sake of the stock.
    The red beet greens will make the stock dark. Keep that in mind if you want a lighter stock, for say a leek risotto you might want to leave the red beet greens out, or use golden beets.

    Chopped Vegetables

    Now I have a more manageable harvest of vegetables that will use up much less space in my refrigerator.

    Leftover Veggies

    Most everything is wrapped up to be returned to the vegetable drawer for meals later this week.

    Next, add enough water to your the pot to leave some of the vegetables above the waterline. I like to add bay leaf or two, oh. I forgot I had some celery leftover from last week so I added a few stocks of that last minute.
    The vegetables have lots of water and will break down quickly, unlike stocks made with bones. Less water is better than more when making vegetable stock.

    Simmer in water

    Put the burner on high and as soon as the water warms up start tasting the stock. You will cook this for about an hour. Vegetable stock can taste muddy of you cook it too long so taste, taste, taste.

    Salt to taste

    My stock has been cooking while I have been typing this and the house is smelling wonderful. It’s been a little longer than an hour since it started to boil and I can tell by the smell we are getting close to being done. See how the the color is deepening, it’s a little darker than it looks in this picture. See how the vegetables are breaking down and turning darker. They are giving up all their flavor and nutrients to the liquid. Remember when you are tasting you will add salt later, salt will brighten up the flavor. At some point it will start to taste round and balanced, that is when it is done. You won’t taste just one vegetable, you will taste a balanced stock.

    Stock check

    All that is left is to strain the spent vegetables from the liquid and pat yourself on the back for making something beautiful out of next to nothing.

  • Vegetable Ginger Coconut Milk Soup

    I hope everyone is recovered, or well on their way to recovering from the flood and all the rain.

    Fall is in the air. The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cooler. That means the fall crops are on their way! Yeah for broccoli, cauliflower, and braising mix!

    There are a couple of weeks where the summer and fall crops over lap and that time is now. This is a great soup to use all those summer and early fall vegetables. This is sooooo easy, delicious, and uses only one pot!

    I love recipes that are adaptable to whatever vegetables I have available to me and this is one of the best. I used almost every vegetable I got in my CSA share this week, in this soup. I can’t wait to make this again with some winter squash.

    The original recipe is here Ginger Cocounut Milk Soup.

    This made a boat load! When I make it again, and I will make this again and again. I will only use one can of coconut milk and 1/2 can of water.

    Here is what I used.
    mixed vegetables

    If you got cauliflower instead of broccoli you could use that instead. Zucchini would be good. I used peppers and carrots that I had. I also added garlic and tofu with the ginger and coconut milk in the first step of the recipe.

    coconut milk and vegetables

    Here are all the vegetables in the pan, cooking to just soften them. I cooked my vegetables about 5 to 10 minutes, longer than the recipe says, and I didn’t use noodles I made some brown rice and used my basil instead of cilantro.

    serve with rice

    So tasty and easy. I can’t wait until we get some winter squash and make this again.