Soup for Studying!

The fall semester is coming to a close, and I too have been doing what Cara called "survival" cooking most nights.  I wanted to make sure I had plenty to eat while I was cranking out those final papers so last night I made a simple, yet delicious savory butternut squash soup.  This easy soup was done in less than an hour.

ingredients:
1 1.5 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into small cubes
16 oz. of vegetable broth
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 tsp. garam masala
1 tsp. curry powder
1/3 C light coconut milk
olive oil
salt and pepper

heat olive oil in a large soup pot.
add onions, salt and pepper and cook until onions are soft and fragrant.
add squash and cook for a few minutes before adding seasoning and broth.
reduce heat to medium/low and cover, simmering for about 20 minutes until squash is soft.

carefully transfer your soup to a blender (the real deal, this is not a job for your immersion blender... I found it to be way easier in the real blender after I tried mashing the whole pot of squash with my immersion blender) and puree until it reaches the desired consistency.  Add coconut milk and stir or blend.

This made 3 16 oz. ball jars full of soup to stock in the fridge!  Re-heat for about two minutes in the microwave and voila!  Lunch!!

Here's what it really looked like on my desk, next to my computer, as I ate lunch.  

Weekly Menu

This week I was inspired by the cold temperatures that's are starting to be more normal than just a random occurrence.  The menu consists mostly of Fall and Winter comfort-food favorites from the binder of recipes.

The triumphant return of my favorite Black Bean soup!  so many people I talked to read and tried this recipe last year!  I can't wait to taste it again.  With corn bread on the side.

Spicy Sloppy Joes

Baked salmon with wild rice and frozen peas
I use frozen salmon, take it out of the freezer in the morning and it's good to go in the evening.
I will season it with grated ginger (about 2 teaspoons), soy sauce and olive oil (just a drizzle of each on each salmon piece).
Bake at 400 for roughly 20 minutes

Vegetable and quinoa bowl:  broccoli, frozen peas, onions, carrots and peppers-- perhaps some warm spices like cumin and cayenne!

The Squash Soup Experiment Continues!

Shout out to my Mom for bringing me a nice butternut squash!

This is Butternut with a butternut.  Do you know how hard it is to pose your cat with a vegetable?!

Here is another, very slightly different (mainly different in technique with a few more details than the previous) recipe, for squash soup.
1 Butternut squash, halved, peeled and seasoned with olive oil and about 2 T garam masala and roasted at 425 for about 30-45 minutes.

1 large clove garlic, roasted (leave it in its skin and place on roasting pan with squash for about 20 minutes).

1 carrot
1 onion
1 potato
carrot, onion and potato diced (carrots and onions unpeeled).

1 T olive oil
1 T butter

1 T curry powder
1 t cayenne
1 t cardamom
1 t ginger powder

4-6 cups veggie broth

roast the squash.
with about 15 minutes left on the squash, cook onions, potato, carrot in butter and oil over medium high  in a big soup pot, cook until onions are soft.  this smells SO GOOD!
remove the squash from the oven and cut it into chunks.  add to pot with seasonings, roasted garlic and about 1 C of the veggie broth.

Let sit covered for 5 minutes on medium heat.

Add more broth and let simmer, covered for 15 minutes.

Blend with immersion blender.  Remember, blend and add more or less broth depending on your preference to how thick or soupy you like.

P.S. I know not everyone (including me!) has 2 hours to spend making soup.  But, when I need to do something that isn't school related, and need some "me" time in the kitchen, this is what I do.  Roast the squash the day prior to save time, or just cook the squash in the soup pot to save time.  Whatever you do, if you do make this recipe, make it your own!  That's my favorite part of cooking.  Thanks for reading.

The Annual Fall Squash Soup Experiment

Yes, it's finally a little chilly in the air and Fall is showing its signs.  That means, of course, squash soup.  I bought a kind of squash at the farmer's market that I'd never cooked with before:

what kind of squash is this?

The soup was delicious, warm, spicy not spicy hot but spicy from the garam masala and smooth! Serve with a side of roasted beet salad!

Here's how I made it!

1 squash -- (Honestly, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with my squash when I started cutting it up.  I decided to roast it, and cut it into long slices.  This was a mistake, it was really hard to get the squash flesh off the blazing hot squash rind and into the pot!  If you are going to roast your squash, just cut it in half, then roast, then scoop.  Or, you can peel it prior, cube it, then roast it. Or!  Just peel it, cube it and skip roasting. Add it to the pot with the potato, carrot and onion)

I roasted my squash at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes, with about 2T garam masala, salt and pepper and olive oil.

1 potato, diced.
1 carrot, diced.
1 onion, diced.

1 T olive oil
1 T butter

4-6 C vegetable broth, depending how thick you like your soup!
1 T curry powder
1 T ground ginger (I didn't have real ginger, but I'd rather use the real thing!!)
1 t cayenne
2 cloves garlic, roasted if you're already roasting, minced otherwise.

heat oil and butter in large pot.  add potato, carrot, and onion. sautee on medium heat, stirring often.  veggies should soften and become deliciously fragrant and caramelized a little.

while the veggies are working, prepare squash  then add squash (in my case, this involved me cutting the rind off and adding it to the pot, if I could go back, I'd just scoop the roasted squash out of the rind into the pot).
add garlic and seasonings.
add broth.
stir.

let simmer for 20 minutes, then blend with immersion blender.  slowly add more broth if you like it soupier, remember you can always add more, but you can't easily take it out!

garnish with cilantro, and sour cream!

I made your lunch: creamy pea soup

I took a few minutes Monday afternoon to make some lunch.  I used Cara's recipe for a healthy pea soup with creamy avocado instead of actual cream.  I didn't miss the cream at all!  I thought the avocado taste (which I like, don't get me wrong) might be overpowering and it would make the soup too thick. I was wrong on both accounts!  What a delicious simple soup.  I topped it with some of that cilantro, pumpkin seed and lime pesto as those flavors go very well with avocado.  I only made a half recipe and look forward to making it again tomorrow with the other half of the avocado that is tightly wrapped in plastic, just hanging out in the fridge. 

spring cleaning

Hello Kitchen Table Friends! I'm been away for a bit, blogging over on the Bliss Journal about my Spring  cleanse. I'm just wrapping it up and thought I'd share with you a few clean and simple spring recipes that I've enjoyed this week.

If you want to learn more about what sort of "cleaning" happens in my spring cleanse, read this post: Six Tips for Spring Cleansing.


Ginger Banana Breakfast Shake

Beet Salad with Lemon & Mint and Blender Beet & Carrot Juice

Steamed Asparagus and Vietnamese Noodle Bowl

Creamy Pea Soup

Weekly Menu: The first week of April

In my planning for this week's menu, I looked back on past weekly menu posts.  Sharing my love of food was one reason to make this blog, an added bonus outcome has been an archive of what I've been eating! While it's turning to Spring and has been unseasonably warm, I'm having a difficult time transitioning to Spring time foods. It's just too early for the spring vegetable dishes that keep popping up in my food magazines.  Farmers' markets aren't even open yet, but when they do, perhaps we'll see a dramatic change.  Enjoy!

stacked enchilada from Taste of Home

frittata with leeks, potatoes, cheese (feta, parmesan, or goat: whatever strikes me at the moment, tomatoes, and rosemary.

shell pasta with veggie sausage, mushrooms and tomatoes. 

Indian corn soup with chicken

roasted salmon with rosemary and garlic green beans

Notes on a recipe

Last week, I made the Indian spiced corn and chicken soup Cara posted at the beginning of winter. 

Here's what I did differently:

Added potatoes.  I love potatoes and they are nearly a requirement for any soup I make that doesn't have beans.   One small potato added a nice texture. Plus, potatoes and leeks seem to be best buddies (in soup, frittatas, on pizza, etc.).

Experimented with spices.  I added 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin seeds and mustard seeds to the oil while it was heating in the pan.  And I added 1 teaspoon cumin. Added a few dried red chiles to turn up the heat a little. 

Used less of some ingredients. Cream (3/4 Cup).  Curry powder (1 teaspoon).

Just a few changes while keeping the main idea of the soup intact.  The results were so delicious!!  So much so that it made it back to the menu this week. I'm glad I took notes.  It's important to take notes while you're experimenting with a recipe, or while you are still eating it.  That way you can be sure your memory is fresh!    I like to use adorable kitchen sticky notes like these....

I use the little page flags for flagging recipes in my food magazines!  With an extra piece of clear tape or two, these make great little labels for my glass containers in the pantry too. 

Weekly Menu February 26-March 3

Here is what's on the list this week.  Check back for some fun posts from Kitchen Table Friends this week!

Ryan's Turkey Chilli

Pasta with broccoli and fake sausage  from Everyday Food March 2012-- The recipe isn't online yet, but this one is pretty close...

Salmon patties with beans

Spaghetti with brussel sprouts and bacon

Inger-Anne's Indian corn soup with chicken.
      I added some things to this recipe and it was so good I'm already going to make it again.  Look for a post about this tomorrow.  

Have a great week everyone....

Weekly Menu February 13-18

It's Winter.  I'm taking 12 credits this semester. And, I work. It's a busier than usual week at my house. So, let's use the crock pot!  This week's menu includes two soups to warm us up... and should be relatively easy to prepare with limited time.  In planning the menu this week I browsed food gawker and came up with recipes from some other food blogs out there.  I also "phoned a friend",  actually we Skyped, for a recipe.  I love hearing about others' go-to recipes..

chunky tortilla soup with black beans

slow cooker squash stew with chickpeas

salmon Patties and steamed broccoli (one of my go-to meals)

Jordan's go-to baked fish with veggies.

    

Goes well with white fish such as sole, tilapia, etc.  Cut up a few medium sized tomatoes, one good sized zuchinni, chopped onion.  throw in about half a can of chickpeas and throw it all in a baking dish, drizzle all over with olive oil, cumin (go heavy on the cumin!), paprika (also consider using turmeric, coriander, garlic, and/or fennel) and a little bit of cayenne pepper, cover and throw in the oven, 450° for about 35 min. 

I mostly blog about dinner here, but thought I'd include a breakfast or snack recipe for a sweet, cinnamon quinoa.  I'll probably try it sometime this week.  

Have a great week everyone.

Sunday Night Dinner

Perfect Winter Sunday Night Dinner.

Black Bean Soup Revisited

I discovered this  delicious black bean soup last winter and have now made it countless times. I've had it on the menu for two weeks in a row, and both weeks I made it on Saturday afternoon. It's a perfect Saturday afternoon soup, because I have found that it is best when stewed for about 45 minutes to an hour (there's usually no patience for that on a weeknight) and it makes nice leftovers for the rest of the weekend.  However, to make it even better, I've been modifying the recipe in cooking method and ingredient ratio and lucky you, I kept track of my changes this time.  Here's what I've come up with so far.

ingredients:
5 slices bacon
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
32 oz. chicken broth
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1.5 cans diced tomatoes with green chiles
1.5 tsp chili powder
1.5 tsp cumin

1/2 cup frozen corn*
2 Tbsp sour cream

cook the bacon in a dutch oven or large soup pot.  while bacon is cooking mince the onion and garlic in a food processor.  when bacon is brown, remove and set aside.  chop into small pieces later.

add onions and garlic to pot (which should be generously coated with bacon grease-- if you prefer to omit the bacon just add a splash of olive oil). when onions are soft add the broth, beans, diced tomatoes, chili powder and cumin. cover and bring to a boil.

once soup has come to a boil, reduce heat and remove lid.  allow soup to simmer on medium low until it reaches desired thickness. if you like your soup more soupy, just allow it to simmer for 10-15 minutes or so to let the flavors combine.  I like it to be thicker, so I let my soup simmer for about 45 minutes while some of that liquid evaporates and the flavors mingle.

add the corn and chopped bacon at the last fifteen minutes. 
add the sour cream at the last 5 minutes.

*My Secret Weapon!!  I recommend using Iowa sweet corn that was purchased at it's peak and frozen on a thoughtful afternoon, but fully admit I am totally biased on the corn opinion.  

AND another variation....
Cara made it  in a crockpot this week!

Black Bean soup in a crockpot.

I made this in my tiny 2 quart crockpot. I adapted the recipe, basically halving most ingredients, using 1 can black beans, but sticking with the one full can of diced tomatoes. I threw everything in the crockpot (except the lime and cream) then filled to top with chicken stock (maybe 1.5 or 2 cups?). Stewed it on high for 6 hours. Served with a squeeze of lime and a dollop of whole fat yogurt. This made about 4 generous bowls, and it was delicious!

Try this soup. Tell us what you think and how YOU made it!  

Response to Cook Report Carrot Soup

Chris is out with his coworkers this evening so I'm cooking for one tonight. Your post from yesterday had me thinking of carrot ginger soup. I worked late today and just didn't have it in me to spend much time cooking, but I still needed a good, warm home cooked dish. So, here is what I did!

Quick & Easy Carrot Ginger Soup with Coconut

Combine in a small pot:

3 large carrots, roughly chopped (or 5 medium ones)
just enough water to cover carrots
1/2 tsp veg bouillon or half cube

Bring to a boil and simmer until carrots soften. 6-7 minutes.

Add:

a half can of coconut milk
1 inch roughly chopped ginger
spices to taste (I used cumin, coriander and turmeric)
salt & pepper

Blend it all together in the pot with the immersion blender and voila! A beautifully carroty orange and delicious soup. In about 10 minutes. Serves 2. Or just me if I'm really hungry.


About adding cream to soup: I do make a carrot and coriander soup which is just lots of carrots and broth with no cream, but for this one I find the coconut milk is just an awesome healthy food especially on these winter evenings. I don't really worry about the fat content, if I keep it in moderation. I put coconut milk in lots of things, and I actually think it makes my skin look better! More on that later :)

Allison, later this week I'm going to make that slow-cooker sweet potato and lentil soup you put on your weekly menu. Have you made it yet? Any tips?

Cooking Report: What I Made Yesterday

I made the carrot ginger soup yesterday, creating my recipe from others I found online.  Here's what I used....

1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced with the slicing tool on my food processor (!!!).
one onion, minced.
2 inch piece of ginger, minced.
2 cloves garlic, minced.
2 cups vegetable broth.
2 cups water.
1/4 teaspoon cayenne.
2 teaspoons cumin.
1/2 teaspoon curry powder.
salt and pepper.
olive oil.

heat olive oil in a large pot on medium heat.
put the onions and garlic in the large pot and cook for about 5 minutes.
add carrots, ginger, spices.  cook for about 5 minutes.
add liquid and cook for 30 minutes. leave uncovered if you desire soup to be thicker, or leave lid on to preserve the liquid. I did about half covered, half uncovered, but found the soup to be a little too watery so next time, I'll leave the lid off most of the time for a thicker consistency.
puree soup with immersion blender (turn off the heat first, for safety!).

I liked my soup,  but there was something left to be desired.  Maybe it was the omission of dairy... many recipes I looked at used heavy cream or coconut milk, which I didn't have or want to use this time around to create a more healthy soup.  Due to the large amount of ginger, it was a little too spicy and not carrot-y enough. I am going to try again.  Suggestions encouraged!!!

I also wanted to share how I made the black bean burritos... 

1 cup brown rice.
1 can black beans, rinsed.
1/2 green pepper, chopped.
1 green onion, chopped.
1/4 -1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes with green chiles.
homemade taco seasoning.         ----------->
olive oil.
salt and pepper.
shredded cheddar cheese.
cilantro.
whole wheat tortilla.
salsa.




cook rice, using 1 1/2 to 1 water to rice ratio.
prep other ingredients and mix homemade taco seasoning.
when rice is almost finished cooking (approximately 15-20 minutes in) start heating olive oil in a medium pan.  add green peppers and green onion.  season with salt and pepper.
when veggies start to soften, add beans, tomatoes and 1-2 teaspoons of the taco seasoning. 
Mash some of the black beans with the back of a spoon.  Mix and keep on low.
Stir 1 teaspoon taco seasoning into the rice.  When it is done, add rice to bean mixture. Mix it together and if you want a little more liquid, add more diced tomatoes.

I topped my bean and rice mixture with a little bit of cilantro, salsa and shredded cheese and rolled it up in the tortilla.  My husband created a salad with spinach, green onions, shredded mozzarella (resourcefully from a piece of string cheese), and topped it with a little lime juice and the salsa. 

This hit the spot. Healthy and delicious!

Weekly Menu: Finals Week! And Green Bean Update

Here we are again, another Monday weekly menu post.  Thanks to all who have commented either here in person or otherwise. It's nice to know that you are reading our little blog.  We sure enjoy sharing the kitchen table with you.

This week's menu is a little more extensive.  I have some lunches planned because I'll be around the house more, studying and writing final exams (I'm a grad student!).

But first let's revisit the green bean hints I asked about...   I went the rosemary and garlic route.  I had bought some rosemary for that frittata (rosemary, garlic, potatoes, spinach!!!) and had plenty left over.  I love the smell of fresh rosemary!  I steamed the beans for about 5 minutes then threw a couple minced garlic cloves and rosemary in a pan with olive oil. Next went in the green beans for a few minutes. Delicious and easy.

Weekly Menu, December 12-18

slow cooker sweet potato and lentil soup  from Food Network Mag Dec. '11
with homemade flatbread or naan

black bean burritos with salad
I usually just wing this one, adding homemade seasoning to black beans and whatever veggies I have around. They may not actually be burritos proper, but that's what I call them.

Bombay sloppy joes ... another good one from Food Network Magazine I have made over and over again, this one is good enough to be in "the book"( more on that later!)
 with Indian spiced rice with veggies

Pasta with arugula/spinach, white beans and walnuts from Everyday Food June '09  (spinach was on sale in a giant container and will sub just fine, though will have to try this in the summer with arugula!)
with frozen peas

spicy turkey and bacon stirfry also from Everyday Food December '11

Lunch:
carrot ginger soup ... most recipes online have been similar and pretty straightforward. I'm most likely going to do a non-dairy one and am looking forward to experimenting with this in between studying.

roasted butternut squash with  quinoa

Here is a photo of the menu board I keep on my fridge with a handy little magnetic file holder to hold recipes and cooking magazines.  It's not very fancy but does the job.  

Oh, and yes, that is an Ira Glass finger puppet. :)

Have a great week!

Yours truly,
Allison

My Nordic Chicken Soup w/ Indian Spice Tradition

I like to make this soup every December, before Christmas. Its spicy and warming, and reminds me of my visit to Norway in December 2007. While there I met a young Scandinavian woman named Inger-Anne. I have two memories of her: we sang karaoke together at an old sailor bar in Porsgrunn, and she made me this delicious soup. Its one of my favorite recipes.

This afternoon Chris roasted and de-boned a chicken, and made up a delicious stock with the remnants. (He told me how he did it, but I think that's enough material for a whole other post!) We used the stock as the base for this soup. We were out of curry powder so we used green curry paste instead. The result was delicious, and the taste transported me back to those cold, wintry days with the warm and welcoming Norwegians.

Inger-Anne's Indian Corn Soup with Chicken

1 large white onion
1 large leek
1 red bell pepper
5 cups chicken stock
16 oz frozen corn
2-3 cups cooked chicken (2 breasts or half of a whole chicken)
2 tsp curry
2 tsp Garam Masala
1 cup cream

Kittaroo was curious.

salt & pepper to taste

Rinse, cut and fry the vegetables (except corn). Add curry and Garam Masala. Add chicken stock and cream and bring to a boil. Add the chicken (cooked). Simmer for 5 minutes. Add corn and bring back to a boil for a few minutes. Add salt, pepper, additional curry and Garam Masala to taste.

Vegetarians sub roasted seitan for the chicken and use veggie stock. Try coconut milk instead of cream!

Allison, I shared this recipe with you in the girls' cookbook. I know you've made it before. Now you know where it came from! I hope you enjoy some warm and cozy meals in your kitchen this week. Wish I could be there.

xoxo

Cara

Post Thanksgiving Butternut Squash Soup

We are all out of Thanksgiving leftovers here! They didn't last long, there wasn't much of it, and after all of the celebrating and indulging I am thankful to get back to a more reasonable dining routine. I love celebrating, but if I do it everyday I start to feel like the stuffed turkey!

Your weekly menu reminded me of this delicious, simple, sweet & savoury butternut squash soup I like to whip up and keep in a big bowl in the fridge for easy winter meals. I roast the squash ahead of time (great on a winter Sunday afternoon, pop it in the oven around 3 or 4 and the kitchen is toasty warm AND its ready for soup making at dinner). I also use ghee instead of oil because of its wide ranging health benefits. Its easy to make (I'll blog on it later!) but if you don't keep a jar handy in your kitchen, you can use oil for this recipe.

Butternut Squash & Apple Soup

1 butternut squash, roasted
2 tbsp ghee or oil
2 large sweet potatoes
2 medium apples
1 inch knob of fresh ginger, chopped
5 cups veg broth
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 cup coconut milk
salt & pepper to taste

Prepare the squash in advance: Roast whole by piercing the top with a knife in several places, set upright in a baking dish, and keep it in a 375 degree oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Or cut into pieces, place in a dish with 1/4 inch of water, cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.

Peel and cut sweet potatoes and apples into 1 inch pieces. Melt ghee or oil in a soup pot and add sweet potatoes, apples and ginger. Saute until everything starts to turn a bit golden (7-8 minutes). Add the broth, bring to the boil, and simmer for 15 minutes or until sweet potatoes soften.

Meanwhile, cut the roasted squash in half, scoop out the seeds, peel and cut into large pieces. Add squash, spices and salt and pepper to the pot. When heated through, remove from heat. Add 1 cup coconut milk and blend with a handstick blender.

This soup is great out of the pot, but even better a day or two later!

Enjoy your week,

Cara