Beet Soup with Three Legumes

We are so glad to have signed up for a CSA this year. Since it is only the two of us, we opted for a half share and it has been more than enough food for us. It is so nice to get a surprise bundle of fresh produce every week. There is only one vegetable that we are still trying to love...

Beets...

::sigh::

We are trying. We really are. We love beet greens. I add them to pasta, soup, I even made beet greens ravioli. But those beets...

At least, I have this recipe. It is delicious and a great way to ease you into beets. And the garnish is soooo good. It adds a nice kick to this hearty soup. Make sure you add a little bit of garnish with each bite of soup. 

Do you have a favorite beet recipe? Send it my way :) ...please!

Beet Soup with Three Legumes:

Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison
Ingredients:
15 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
4 medium beets, peeled and diced
1/2 cup brown or green lentils
1 cup cooked chickpeas
3-4 cups chopped beet greens
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 bunch scallions, choppped

Garnish:
3 tbsp butter
1 onion, finely diced
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (optional)

Directions:
Place beets, lentils, and 8 cups water in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes. Add kidney beans and chickpeas and simmer for 15 minutes. Add beet greens and 2 tsp salt. Simmer until greens tender, about 5 minutes. Add scallions and cook for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off heat.

For the garnish, melt butter in a small saute pan. Add onions, tumeric, cayenne pepper and cook until onions soften, about 15-20 minutes.

Ladle soup into bowls. Top with garnish and yogurt.

Nordstrom's Tomato Basil Soup and Roasted Vegetable Panini

Every few months, my mother and I will meet up to do some shopping and have lunch at the Nordstrom Cafe. I can't help it but I get the same thing every time I go: tomato basil soup with a roasted vegetable panini. So yummy.

I decided to make a copycat version. The results are delicious. It does take some time because you have to roast the vegetables but the soup and sandwich are so close to the original, I have to stop myself from making this every week.

Nordstrom's Tomato Basil Soup
adapted from www.seriouseats.com
Ingredients:
3 tbsp olive oil
6 medium sized carrots, peeled and diced
1 large onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 tbsp dried basil
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
2 28 oz cans peeled, whole tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup light cream
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and carrots until beginning to soften, about 10 minutes. Add basil and garlic, stirring frequently, until vegetables have softened.
Add tomatoes and chicken broth and simmer for 30 minutes. Turn off heat and puree with an immersion blender (or allow to cool a bit and use a regular blender).
Over low heat, slowly stir in light cream and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm with a yummy panini.

Roasted Vegetable Panini
Ingredients:
Sliced Harvati cheese
Ciabata bread, slice in half lengthwise
balsamic glaze (I used Colavita Balsamic Glace)
baby spinach
Garlic aioli  (I used this recipe from allrecipes http://allrecipes.com/recipe/garlic-aioli/)
Oven dried tomatoes (2 tomatoes, sliced and placed on a baking sheet, roasted at 275 degrees for 30 minutes, turned halfway)
Roasted red and orange peppers (three red and orange peppers, cut into thick slices and roasted at 400 degrees for 45 minutes)
Directions:
Drizzle a bit of balsamic glaze on one slice of bread, add baby spinach, cheese, one layer of tomatoes and one layer of pepper. Spread some garlic aioli on a slice of bread and top off your sandwich. Press in a panini grill. Enjoy!

Roasted Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup with Collard Greens

OK OK I know what you are saying. Collard greens again, Jessica?! And this looks surprisingly like the sweet potato soup you made. And the carrot soup you made. And collards again! Come on!

OK, so I like orange vegetables.

And maybe I eat a lot of collard greens. I am Portuguese, people. We sustain ourselves on collard greens soup and chorizo.

The difference is I roasted an entire butternut squash and a bunch of carrots. The squash family is all new to me. Growing up we NEVER ate squash. This past year I ate more squash than I did in my entire lifetime...acorn, sweet dumpling, buttercup, butternut, spaghetti. It didn't hurt that the farm stand up the street was practically throwing  free squash at us. Not literally of course, because that would hurt like something else.

We had friends with babies over for dinner the other night. I put aside some carrots and butternut slices on their own tray to roast without salt and olive oil. After roasting, I added them to a small saucepan with two cups of water and pureed with a handheld immersion blender. Heated it up, and voila! Instant baby food. The babies loved it! I think, lol

Peeling squash does take a little time so put on some Pandora and get to it!


Roasted Butternut and Carrot Soup (with Collard Greens)
Ingredients:
1 butternut squash, peeled, cut in half lengthwise, seeds removed, and sliced in 1 inch width pieces
1 pound of carrots, peeled and cut in quarters
3 tbsp of olive oil
salt
1 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 quarts of chicken stock, (I made my own in a another stock pot with a skinless chicken breast on the bone, one onion diced, salt and 1 tbsp crushed red pepper.  Simmer on medium heat until chicken cooked through. Remove chicken and use stock in this soup)
1 bunch of collard greens, removed from center stem, coarsely chopped in ribbons

Directions:
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Mix squash and carrots and spread onto two baking sheets. Drizzle 2 tbsp olive oil and some salt over veggies and mix well with hands. Roast for 30 minutes or until softened. Half way through you may want to flip over veggies to prevent burning.

In a stock pot, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil. Saute onions for a couple minutes. Add garlic and saute for several minutes, stirring frequently. Add roasted vegetables and stir well. Saute for a couple minutes. Add stock and heat through. Puree with immersion blender. Season to taste. Add collards and cook until tender, about 10-15 minutes. Serve.

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Sausage, Potato and Swiss Chard Soup

After work, I went to the store to catch up on some Christmas shopping. Luckily, I knew exactly what I needed and was in and out pretty quick. But, by the time I got home it was late. We tend to eat really late at my house. Most people are PJing it up and watching Dancing with the Stars and I am starting dinner. The hubby gets home from work late so I try to time it so I finish as he is getting home.

I opened the fridge and noticed the chard was starting to look a little sad. Compared to collards and kale, Swiss chard does not hold up as well after a day or two. I had chicken and turkey sausage and a few potatoes. Voila! Easy sausage chard potato soup.

This soup is perfect for a chilly day. The spice of the soup warms you to the core. It is so easy. Plus, by using chicken and turkey sausage, you cut down the amount of fat in half. I like to use Applegate Organics sausage. I tried a few of their other flavors and they are all delicious. Plus, they're Gluten and Casein Free for those who have dietary restrictions.

Sausage, Potato and Swiss Chard Soup
Adapted from canadianliving.com

Ingredients: 
4 links (12 oz total) spicy chicken or turkey sausage (I used Applegate Organics Fire Roasted Red Pepper chicken and turkey sausage), sliced into 1/2 wide pieces. If spicy is not your thing, use Italian chicken sausage.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups cubed peeled potatoes, (about 4 potatoes)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp hot pepper flakes or to taste
2 cups chicken stock
3 cups water
1 bunch Swiss chard, leaves removed from center rib and coarsely chopped
salt to taste

Directions:
Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Brown sausage, stirring occassionally. Remove sausage and place on paper towel lined plate to remove excess oil. Drain a bit of the oil from the pan. There won't be much if using chicken/turkey sausage. Add onions, garlic, potatoes, pepper flakes and pepper, and saute for several minutes until onions are translucent. Add the stock and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are cooked. Add Swiss chard and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Season to taste.

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Sweet Potato, Kale and Chorizo Soup

I spent three hours doing yard work today and really tried to make a dent in the thick blanket of leaves surrounding our home. After three hours, I was sore, hungry, and ready for some lunch. After lunch, I looked out the window and the yard looked exactly the same! It looked as if I hadn't done any yard work at all. Argh, I need one of those sit-on tractor mower thingies to pick up the leaves. I probably am not allowed to buy one if I call them "tractor mower thingies".

Good thing a hearty soup was waiting for me. I made this soup to use up my supply of kale. I bought some Lacinato kale on sale at WholeFoods and it sat in my fridge forgotten. I scrambled to find a new recipe to try before it ended up in the compost. This recipe sounded different and delicious. I have never made soup with sweet potato or lacinato kale so I was pleasantly surprised with how hearty it was. Definitely recommend it after a long day of yardwork.

Mr. Yoshi loves rolling in the leaves.

Sweet Potato, Kale and Chorizo Soup

Adapted from SmittenKitchen.com and Bon Appetit

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 10 oz fully cooked, smoked chorizo link, sliced in 1/4 inch thick pieces
2 large onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 large red skinned sweet potatoes (yams), peeled and cubed
2 white-skinned potato, peeled and cubed
6 cups chicken broth
4 cups chopped lacinato kale or any kind of leafy greens you would like to use
salt and pepper

Directions:
Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add chorizo and saute until brown. Remove chorizo and place on paper towels to drain. Add onions and garlic to pot and saute until translucent. Add potatoes and cook until beginning to soften, stirring often. Add broth and bring to a boil. Turn down heat, simmer until potatoes cooked, about 20 minutes. Using an emulsion blender, puree soup until smooth. Add chorizo and kale and simmer until kale is cooked, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into bowls and serve. 

Carrot and Collard Greens Soup

It is snowing. Not those dinky, little snow flakes but the big monster ones. I didn't believe the weathermen. I laughed at those at work who spoke of upcoming flurries. And here I am pulling off my boots and removing clumps of snow off my dog Yoshi. He likes to bulldoze through the snow taking in mouthful after mouthful. I blame it on the ice cubes I give him in the summer.

We still have two months until winter officially arrives and here I am with a few inches of snow on my deck. Knowing New England and it's crazy weather, we will be back to wearing flip flops next week. In the meantime, it is time for some warm, tasty soup.

This is really easy. I had some left over collards that I needed to use before they went bad. I pulled out the bag of carrots, an onion, half a chicken breast on bone, hot chopped peppers, and of course salt. Easy. I also make my own stock because it allows me to have leftover chicken for chicken salad or chicken pot pie or any other recipe that requires chucks or shreds of chicken. Plus, it is how my mother taught me.

Carrot and Collard Greens Soup
Ingredients
2.5 quarts water
One large onion, chopped
1 tbsp of hot chopped pepper (see photo)
1/2 chicken breast on the bone, skinless
1 tsp salt
8-10 carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
5 collard greens leaves, removed off stem, rolled up and cut into strips
one chicken flavored bouillon cube (optional)

Directions

Place first five ingredients in pot and cover. Bring to boil and cook for approximately 20 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove chicken and set aside for pot pie. Add celery and carrots to pot, and cook until tender. With a handheld immersion blender, puree soup until chunks are no longer present. Or, you can put in food processor if you do not have an immersion blender. Place collards and bouillon cube in soup and simmer until collards are tender, approximately 10-15 minutes. Season with salt.