Category — Soups

One of my goals for this winter was to make more soup, and another constant aim of mine is to cut down on food waste.  The two are compatible – soup’s a great vehicle for combining odds and ends from your fridge and freezer, and that’s just what I did last night.

The key to being able to do this kind of thing on the fly is to have a pantry that’s stocked with some staples.  Those of you who’ve been over here know that I have a lot of food stored in my “pantry” at the base of our basement stairs.  Low-sodium chicken broth, diced tomatoes and canned beans (remember, Eden Organics have no BPA in the liners) are always in residence.  I also always have peeled garlic cloves in my fridge (Trader Joe’s has some good ones that are vacuum packed so they last longer than those you get loose at Whole Foods).  From these ingredients with some additions, you can create myriad quick meals.

I wanted to make something hearty and comforting for D., who’s fighting both a cold and a wicked work schedule.  I’d planned on a funky tofu stir-fry, but for D., tofu stir-fry doesn’t equal hearty or comforting.  He loves the tofu, but not on a cold winter night when he’s feeling hit by a bus.  I got inspired by a post by The Kitchen Witch, and I was off and running . . . .

All the items were things I had on hand – this lends itself to tinkering and modifications, so go crazy!

Bit o’ Everything Tortelloni Soup

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven or stock pot.  Add the leeks and saute until tender, about 3 minutes.  Stir in the carrots, kale, garlic and beans and toss to combine.  After the kale has begun to wilt, add the tomatoes and the broth and stir to combine.  Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to a simmer for approximately 10 minutes, until the carrots and the kale are just tender.  Add the tortelloni and cook for another 5 minutes or until tender.  Add salt and pepper to taste and serve, topped with Parmesan cheese.

Serves 4, and takes about 40 minutes from start to finish (I was “paged” several times by L. during the course of prepping this, so this is a generous estimate!).

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Remember this Kale, Kielbasa & Tortellini Soup from the other day?  It is sooooo delicious leftover, people, that I am almost tempted to recommend that you make it day-before and then refrigerate it ’til ready to reheat and serve.  The flavors came together so well in the overnight, and now, on the second day, it’s outstanding.  So if you’re trying it and thinking “Meh?  It’s OK . . .” seal it away in the fridge and try again tomorrow. 

Oh, and I’ve been eating the leftovers without any tortellini . . . it’s plenty hearty and tasty, and let’s just say I’m gettin’ enough carbs and fat elsewhere, these days before Christmas!

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Yowza, did we get some snow on Saturday night and Sunday!  I love me a good weekend snowstorm, though – nowhere to go first thing in the morning . . . we just hang out inside and watch it fall.  And then later, I hang out inside and watch my intrepid husband wrangle our giant snow-blower around for a while.  L. played in the snow a bit, but we also took the opportunity to whip up a batch of her favorite Christmas cookies, along with a big pot of this soup.  

Kale, Kielbasa & Tortellini Soup 

Heat the oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add the kielbasa, onion, garlic, thyme and red pepper and sauté until the onion is translucent and the kielbasa is brown, about 12 minutes. Add broth and bring to boil. Stir in kale and cannellini. Reduce heat to low and simmer until kale is wilted, about 4 minutes. Add the tortellini to soup*.  Simmer until pasta is just tender but still firm to the bite, about 5 minutes.  Add the soy sauce, and salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle soup into bowls. Serve, passing cheese separately. Serves 6.

*A note:  If you think you’re going to eat all the soup at once, prep it this way.  But if you think that you’re going to want to have soup as leftovers, I’d cook the tortellini according to the package directions and then add it to individual serving bowls.  Otherwise, next day you’re going to have lifeless, bloated tortellini floating in your soup, and that’s just gross.

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In anticipation of picking up my last CSA distribution on Saturday, I was trying to clean out my stock of root and leafy veggies.  We got notice that because of the warm weather, there would actually be some green leafies in Saturday’s distribution – so I needed to clear the decks.  This sweet/spicy soup is colorful, nutritious and a nice departure from the ordinary.  Bright chunks of sweet potato swim with lovely purple kale in a milky bath of chicken broth and coconut milk.  And to top it off, I killed the last of my stock of sweet potatoes and a beautiful head of purple kale, making room for lots more goodies!

Caribbean Kale & Sweet Potato Soup

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over moderately low heat.  Add the onion and cook stirring occasionally until translucent about 5 minutes.  Stir in the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Stir in the kale sweet potatoes broth and salt and bring to a boil.  Sprinkle the cayenne pepper to taste.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer, partially covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.  Add the coconut milk and just heat through.  Add additional salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, prepare your rice.  Put a mound of rice in the center of each of 4 bowls and ladle the soup around the rice.

Serves 4.

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Still working my way through my CSA inventory . . . and the last of the greens are getting tired.  I decided the escarole wasn’t going to hold out much longer, so I made this on Friday night – D. and I both think it’s “a keeper.”  I consider this a one-dish meal because it’s got a decent amount of greens and decent protein and fiber from the beans . . . but if you want to serve this with a leafy green salad, it’d be great.  Whichever way you serve this, it cries out for a delicious, crusty loaf of bread to sop up the flavorful broth.

This way, using canned cannellini beans, is the quicker way to prepare this soup – 45 minutes to 1 hour total time.  If you prefer the taste of dried beans, this’ll take significantly longer, but the beans will have more flavor and will be more firm.  Up to you!

White Bean and Escarole Soup

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally until golden, about 10 minutes.  Add the garlic, rosemary and pepper flakes, cook until translucent, about 3 minutes longer.

Stir in the escarole and cook until just wilted, about 2 minutes.  Add the broth, beans and tomato and bring to a gentle simmer.  Season with salt to taste.  Cover and cook until slightly thickened, about 10 to 15 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve in bowls with a drizzle of olive oil and Parmesan, if desired.

Serves 6.  Even better leftover on day 2+!

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Monday, Monday – here we are again, new week, new recipes . . . still workin’ the CSA loot here.  Saturday night, D. and I had a lovely, but super-rich dinner.  We had killer food hangovers yesterday.  So I wanted to keep dinner very light, and this soup did the trick.  I had a nice-sized head of Napa from my share – super-crisp, lovely light-green and tasty.  This is another quickie soup – 40 minutes or fewer from counter to table. 

Napa Cabbage Soup

Place the oil in a large, deep saucepan or casserole and turn the heat to medium.  When the oil is hot, add the cabbage, onion, salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring frequently, until both the onion and cabbage are tender.  It’s OK if they brown a little bit in the process.  Stir in the ginger and cook for 1 minute.  Add the broth, sesame oil, soy sauce and fish sauce.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes.  Finish by adding the lime juice, then taste and adjust the seasoning.  Serve hot.  Serves 4.

There are infinite ways to create a meal around this.  I drained and pressed, then cubed up some firm tofu (our favorite is Chang Shing tofu, made in Cambridge – they just started carrying this at the Fresh Pond Whole Foods which saves a trip to Super 88 or Russo’s) and put it in the bottom of the soup bowl before I ladled in the soup.  Another way to add heft to the meal would be to serve steamed dumplings alongside . . . .  Enjoy!   

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Aw yeah, I love love love all this fresh produce!  Sunday night we had an improptu pizza dinner at home, so I whipped up a quick tossed salad with what I had on hand – some of the delicious lettuce I got in my share on Saturday.  I added some diced super sweet red peppers that were also included . . . and it was delicious.  Even D. (a.k.a. “King Carnivore”) was raving about the tasty veggies.

So some of you have been wondering “what the heck is a CSA?”  CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and here’s how it works.  The CSA I bought into is called the Shared Harvest CSA (formerly the Belmont CSA), which offers items from a few different farms in each share.  So far, so great!  I have one more distribution, next month, but I’m completely sold on them and will re-up for the spring/summer months if they go forward with that.  I don’t have the space or growing conditions (too shady) to have a vegetable garden in the backyard, so this is the next best thing.  Sure, I lack some control over what I get, but you know what?  It’s an adventure, and I know I’ll be trying things I never have before (rutabaga, anyone?).  Bring it on!

One of my goals for this fall and winter is to make more soup – it just hasn’t been something I’ve cooked often.  Dunno why.  Last night I made this Garlicky Lentil Soup using some of the garlic and onions I received in my share.  It’s pretty quick to prepare – about 10 minutes to chop up the onions and garlic and throw it all in the pot, then approximately 25-30 minutes to cook.  So you could come home from work, throw it together, then get lunches packed, answer emails, throw in laundry, etc. while it simmers. If you want to make it vegan, use vegetable broth instead of chicken.  In either case, your house will smell yummy from all the garlic and thyme. 

I served this up with a fresh green salad (I had more of my lettuce and peppers).  It’d be super-delish with some crusty bread or toasty open-faced grilled cheese sandwiches on the side . . . .

Garlicky Lentil Soup

In a medium-sized saucepan, saute the onions and garlic in the 1 T. of olive oil until the onions are translucent.  Add the lentils and the thyme, then pour in the chicken broth.  Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 25 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.  Stir in the parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Serve the soup drizzled with a little olive oil and red wine vinegar – the oil adds richness and the vinegar adds brightness.  This recipe serves 2, but could easily be doubled.  I ate one portion of this, and I imagine the leftovers will be spectacular today because the flavors will’ve had a chance to meld.

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This recipe for tomato, white bean & bacon soup from the Simply Recipes site looks so delicious . . . and although it’s not been a good year for tomatoes, there are still a bunch at the farmers’ market every week.  Might have to try this for Friday. 

And you might know my motto:  “everything’s better with bacon!”

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