Creamy Carrot Soup

Before I begin, let me say that this meal is EASY...and fast...and cheap...and did I say EASY?  And I guarantee most of the ingredients are right there in your fridge or pantry.  Need I say more?  Besides that's it's utterly DE-lish.  The fresh ginger adds that special kick that sets it apart from most of my other throw-together-at-the-last-minute soups.  I've never met a man, woman, or child who didn't like this dish...and that's including my two year old who recently decided that he won't eat carrots.

That is, unless mom is sneaky enough to blend them into a soup.

Haha.  Moms are so smart.

Anyway, moving on.

Start by dicing the carrots.

(Note: I'm making a double batch here, intending to freeze the extra soup and pull it out for a mid-week dinner pinch...because I'm lazy like that.)

Start the butter a-meltin'.  Aren't they beautiful?  Don't skimp on butter.

Butter = delicious.

And again, keep in mind that I'm making a double batch here.

Dice the onions.

And now, introducing...

Fresh ginger.

If you've never cooked with it before, (or if you think it just looks plain weird) never fear.  It's super easy.  And PLEASE...please, please...for the love of all things good and yummy, DO NOT substitute with powdered, ground ginger.  Your soup will be crying if you do.  Seriously.  Take my word.  You can pick up this fresh ginger root in the produce aisle for about $0.40.  

Peel it with a veggie peeler and give the appropriate amount (about 1-inch of ginger root per batch) a rough chop.

Wrap up the remaining root in sturdy plastic wrap and freeze.  It'll freeze well for a month or two, during which time you can pull it out and cut off chunks as needed.

Throw the carrots, onion, and ginger in with the butter and cook until onions are translucent.

And meanwhile...while the veggies are all getting comfortable in the pot...

Ready the stock.

The recipe calls for vegetable stock, but I'm using chicken.  For the sake of rebellion.  And because going to the store again with a toddler sounded like death.

Ready the potatoes.

When the carrot-mix is ready, pour in the potatoes n' liquid.  Put the lid on and let simmer for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, kick your feet up and revel in the awesomeness of letting the stove do the cooking part for you.To check for done-ness, try crushing a piece of carrot with a fork.  If it crushes, it's ready, and you can proceed to...

 Blend the heck out of the thing.

This can be done in small batches in a blender, or...

An immersion blender.  If you don't have one, I would seriously consider buying one.  Sorry, I don't usually promote products in my posts, but if I could have a love affair with a kitchen appliance, (sorry, hubby) this would be IT.  Making blended soups, spaghetti sauce, pancake batter, popover batter (oooh, that is a WHOLE 'nother post) and a whole lot more SOOOO much easier.  For this recipe, you can blend the soup right in the pan without getting a steam-explosion facial.

And last, but not least, TAKE THE PAN OFF THE HEAT to add in the cream and season to taste with salt and pepper...and a dash of nutmeg, if you're feeling adventurous.  (Note: Never, ever let the cream boil.  It'll curdle it.  Blegh.)

Again, DO NOT substitute with half and half or milk.  That would be beyond scandalous.  The taste of real cream is absolutely essential.  If you want to cut back on fat, add a little less cream (I often do that).

If you need something to use the extra cream on (besides making this soup again), pour it over fresh berries or canned peaches with a sprinkle of powdered sugar.  Voila.  Instant dessert.

Serve with a crusty french or garlic bread.

Can I say, de-li-cious?

My husband could eat this stuff all week.

Enjoy, my friends.

RECIPE:  CREAMY CARROT SOUP

Makes:  About 5-6 servings

2 T butter

2 cups diced carrots

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tsp (about 1-inch) diced ginger root

1/2 cup cubed potatoes

4 cups (or 2 cans) vegetable stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a small saucepan.  Sweat the carrots, onion, and ginger with the butter.  Add potatoes and broth, and then bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender.  

To blend, strain liquid into a separate container.  Put vegetables into a blender, and pour in just enough of the liquid to cover the vegetables.  Puree in stages if necessary.  Return vegetable puree and remaining broth to the pan.  (This can also be done in the pan with an immersion blender.)

Stir heavy cream into the pan with the vegetables.  Season with salt and pepper.  Heat but do not boil, and serve immediately.

-From the kitchen of Alyssa H., adapted from a recipe by Giada De Laurentiis

Ratatouille

This is a great recipe for this time of year when gardens are starting to be ready to be picked!

Ingredients

1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
1 cup tomato puree
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small eggplant
1 smallish zucchini
1 smallish yellow squash
1 longish red bell pepper
Few sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Pour tomato puree into bottom of an oval baking dish, approximately 10 inches across the long way. Drop the sliced garlic cloves and chopped onion into the sauce, stir in one tablespoon of the olive oil and season the sauce generously with salt and pepper.

Trim the ends off the eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash. As carefully as you can, trim the ends off the red pepper and remove the core, leaving the edges intact, like a tube.

On a mandoline, adjustable-blade slicer or with a very sharp knife, cut the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and red pepper into very thin slices, approximately 1/16-inch thick.

Atop the tomato sauce, arrange slices of prepared vegetables concentrically from the outer edge to the inside of the baking dish, overlapping so just a smidgen of each flat surface is visible, alternating vegetables. You may have a handful leftover that do not fit.

Drizzle the remaining tablespoon olive oil over the vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs with your fingertips, running them down the stem. Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the dish.

Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside. (Tricky, I know, but the hardest thing about this.)

Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, until vegetables have released their liquid and are clearly cooked, but with some structure left so they are not totally limp. They should not be brown at the edges, and you should see that the tomato sauce is bubbling up around them.

Tips: The recipe calls for an Italian eggplant, I can never find one or when I do it's more expensive, so I just look for a long skinny eggplant and make it work.

From the kitchen of Megan.

Original recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/07/rat-a-too-ee-for-you-ee/

Eggplant Rollatini

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant(2 pounds), cut lengthwise into 1/2inch-thick slices(about 8)
salt and pepper
1 cup marinara sauce
1/2 cup part-skin ricotta(I just used cottage cheese)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for garnishing
1 large egg
1 garlic clove, minced(I used 1/2 tsp. of jarred minced garlic, it's keeps longer)
1 cup shredded mozzarella
Crusty bread for serving, optional.(I used a bagette from Crumb Brothers that they sell at Lee's)


Directions:
1-Season eggplant with salt and pepper; arrange in a shallow 2-quart microwave-safe dish with a lid. Microwave on high until tender and pliable but not fully cooked, 6-8 minutes.


2-With a spatula, transfer eggplant slices from dish to a paper-towel-lined baking sheet, and arrange in a single layer. Blot baking dish dry and spread bottom with 1/4 cup marinara sauce; set aside.


3-In a small bowl, mix together ricotta, Parmesan, egg, garlic, 1/4 tsp. salt, and 1/8 tsp. pepper. Pat eggplant dry with paper towels. Dividing evenly, spoon ricotta mixture onto the wide end of eggplant slices, leaving a 1-inch border on the wide end and a 1/4-inch border on either side. Starting at the wide end, roll up slices; arrange seam side down in a single layer in prepared baking dish. Top with remaining 3/4 cup marinara sauce.



4-Cover dish, and microwave on high until eggplant is very tender, 15-17 minutes. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese; microwave until cheese is melted, 2-3 minutes. cool 5 minutes. Sprinkle with extra Parmesan for garnishing, if desired. Serve with crusty bread.



*Tips on picking a good eggplant(I got the instructions from the produce guy at Lee's.)
-Make sure it's uniform in color.
-It needs to be firm.
-Try to get one that doesn't have a bunch of brown scars(or spots) on it.

From the Kitchen of Kym Allen (Thank you so much for giving us a recipe Kym).

Spinach and Artichoke Soup

Spinach and Artichoke Soup

From:Crackers & Co. Café in Mesa, AZ

¾ lbs. margarine

8 oz. diced onion

2 c. flour

2 qt. half and half

1 tsp. white pepper

3 tsp. Tabasco

3 oz. chicken base

1 ½ c. sour cream

1 c. parmesan cheese

Salt to taste

Milk as needed

½ lb. cooked diced spinach

½ of #10 can (about 2 ½ lbs.) diced artichoke hearts

1 TBSP balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. Sherry

In a 4 gallon pot melt margarine on low heat. Add diced onion-sauté for about 5 minutes. Add flour and cook an additional 5 minutes. Add half and half 1 qt. at a time and cook over low heat. Leave heat on low at all times.

Add spices and sour cream, add cheese, sherry, vinegar and cooked drained spinach and artichoke hearts. Stir soup will not burn or stick.

Add more regular milk if soup is too thick. Note this soup will thicken as it cooks, due to being started as Roux base first. Yields 2 ½ gallons

Enjoy!

-Delia

Black Bean Soup

This is...hands down...my favorite soup. Even my husband loves it and my kids, a picky four year old, and older baby will eat some.

This is from my favorite cookbook: The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
but modified to fit how I cook it, plus pictures.

Serves 6 to 8
Prep time: 15 minutes, Total time: 50 minutes

1 TBSP vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped fine
1 jalapeno chile, stemmed, seeded and minced
6 garlic cloves minced
2 tsp. chili powder
dash of cayenne pepper or "red ground pepper"
4 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
salt to taste
limes weges (opt - but I LOVE it with it so I wouldn't dream of leaving it out)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro (opt)

Heat oil in Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat until shimmering. Cook onion, jalapeno and garlic until softened, about 5 minutes.

Stir in chili powder and red pepper. Cook for about 1 minute.
Rinse beans. Add beans, broth, salt, and 1 1/2 cups of water to pot. Bring to simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
Blend three cups of soup in blender until smooth. Sorry for lack of picture. This part is a little tricky. The hot soup creates a lot of pressure in the blender and can make a mess. I have had this soup pop the lid off by sheer pressure build up even with me pushing down on the top. Unless you have a vitamix, be sure to adjust the lid to release the steam as you blend.
Add mixture back to the soup and add remaining 1/2 cup of water if necessary.
Off heat, season the soup with lime wedges and salt. You can also add cilantro, avocado, and sour cream.

Add some yummy cornbread or tortillas...I made squash cornbread casserole... and you have a light vegetarian meal.

We ended the night with a virgin pina colada shake also from this blog. Click here.

enjoy!

Southern Tacos

1 can kidney beans (drained)
1 can sliced olives (drained)
1 can corn (drained)
1 can chopped tomatoes (un-drained)
1 cup uncooked rice
Tortillas
Sour cream (optional)
Shredded cheese (optional)
Salsa (optional)

Make rice according to directions. While rice cooks, open and drain all the canned ingredients (don’t drain tomatoes). I also usually buy whole olives and just slice them myself. When rice is done mix all ingredients together and warm on stove. You can also add shredded beef or pork, ground beef or turkey, or chopped chicken.

While taco mix is warming up - heat up the tortillas (microwave works fine, but I like to fry them on the stove). When tortillas are warm put down a layer of sour cream, then taco mix, then shredded cheese. Roll up and eat!
Tips:

This is a quick (but tasty) meal to make as long as you get the rice cooked first. It is a vegetarian dish, and I never add the meat, but you could of course if you wanted to. It is a strange type of taco but very yummy. Sometimes when it is warming up it tends to get sticky or dry, so when I drain the olives, beans, and corn I don’t drain them strictly all the way so there is a little extra moisture. Using tomatoes with a Mexican spice or tomatoes with jalapeño peppers can add a different flavor and spice. This is pretty big dish so most of the time I half the recipe. I use half cans of everything and then use the other half of the canned ingredients to make a taco soup later on in the week.