Category Archives: Soup

Zucchini and Fennel Soup

Side Dish, Soup, , ,

Summer zucchini is around the corner and this is an enjoyable soup that’s quick cooking especially if you prep your veggies in advance, otherwise prep is about 5 minutes! Thank you Vito Varriale for the fine photos and tip for quick cooling soup leftovers for refrigeration.

Recipe is from 28 Days to Summer Weight Loss Challenge Recipe Manual and it’s both healthy and tasty. See below for ingredients, directions and photos!

Ingredients
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 zucchini, chopped and peeled
1/2 sweet onion, chopped (Vidalia, red onion is good here)
1/2 fennel bulb, chopped
3 cups chicken stock (low-sodium)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Heat olive oil in a large skillet or soup pot with zucchini, onion, and chopped fennel. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 10-15 minutes. Add stock, bring to a boil and then simmer until soft. Put everything in blender and blend. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Heating soup with all ingredients.

Blend until smooth, can use blender!

All blended, so smooth and silky.

READY TO EAT!!!

Quick cool leftovers in bag placed in pot with icy water!

Everything in the pot vegetable soup

Soup, , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’m Karen, and I’m just back from the Farmer’s Market and am making a big pot of soup for the week. So nutritious plus a real weight loss aid for me. I’ll make a large amount and vacuum seal in Ball jars to keep it fresh longer.

Here’s the final product. We’ll add rice or noodles or Farro to our bowl if we want when we serve to individualize.

Follow along as I add ingredients to my pressure cooker pot.

Bottom layer has 1 ear of corn cut off cob, 3 stalks celery chopped, 2 carrots thick chopped, 1 cup wax beans cut, and 1 sliced zucchini.

Next is a bunch of Swiss Chard, picked today! Wash and remove the thick center stem, then chop and add to soup.

Add 1-2 leaks! First chopped, soaked to clean to remove dirt.

Add herbs (thyme, Herbs de Provence, salt, pepper). And minced garlic. I didn’t measure these, just throw in what seems right.

Next I added a can rinsed Canelli beans, and a can fire roasted tomatoes.

In goes my quart of home made stock that’s been waiting for this soup vacuum-sealed in my fridge.

But look, not enough liquid.

Adding water and 3 tbs tomato paste to increase volume of liquid. Also added two bay leaves (remember to remove those later).

Now the wait begins, 10 minutes at high pressure in my Fagor LUX LCD Multipot. I can set it and walk away and when it beeps done let it come down from high pressure on its own, or very carefully open and release pressure using a long tong so steam escapes but no where near my hand.

Yum! Time to eat.

Garden Fresh Mixed Veggie Turkey Soup

Main Dish, Soup, , , ,

True it’s a hot summer day but that’s what makes this recipe so good. Pressure cook or slow cook or stove top heat is basically no heating the home.

Final soup looks delicious!

Prep pics are at the bottom. Make this in advance and serve room temp or even cold. Personally I love cold vegetable soup. Do you?

Want it vegetarian? Just substitute vegetable stock and veggie meat product for the turkey).

What’s in the Zavor LUX LCD multipot used to make this?

Turkey or veg stock quart, tomatoes, corn cut off cob, string beans and broad beans, carrots, yellow squash, 1/2 uncooked cup quinoa, torn basil leaves, and cooked turkey pieces.

Pressure cook on low for 10 minutes and let come down from pressure naturally.

This is a dish where quantities don’t matter much.

Season to taste with salt, pepper, and favorite herbs – we used basil.

Serve with crusty bread from the farmers market! Yum.

Follow prep pictures!

Winter Squash – 3 Ways

Main Dish, Side Dish, Soup

Love winter squash? One squash, three different ideas! It’s easy to be creative with an ingredient that’s so versatile. We turned one winter carnival squash into three different recipes – and the fun is each recipe builds on the other, so you can even turn one recipe into the next. Feel free to substitute any winter squash – it will be equally delicious. Pick what you’re in the mood for – or try all three!

Let’s get started!

Recipe 1 – Baked Stuffed Squash with Apples and Onions StuffedSquash
Ingredients
1 carnival squash (wash the outside, cut in half, reserve seeds for Recipe 2)
1 apple (we used gala)
Zest of 1 lemon, juice of half a lemon
Quarter red onion, chopped fine
Half teaspoon vanilla extract
Quarter teaspoon salt
Quarter teaspoon cinnamon
Eighth teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon butter (separated in two pieces)

If baking squash seeds (see recipe 2, below) while prepping this recipe, raise oven temperature to 375°F after removing the seeds from the oven. Otherwise, preheat oven to 375°F.
Wash the carnival squash, apples, lemon, and mince red onion.
Cut squash in half, remove the seeds and use in recipe 2.
Place seeded squash face up on baking pan, lightly salt and then fill with minced onions and apple pieces.
Top each squash half with half a teaspoon of butter.
Drizzle one-quarter teaspoon vanilla extract over each half. Sprinkle halves with cinnamon and nutmeg. Drizzle with honey. Zest the peel of one lemon, sprinkle on each squash half. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over both squash halves. Lightly salt squash again.
By the time you have prepared these halves the Toasted Squash Seeds will be done. Take out and taste – yum! – either crack open and enjoy seed within (or some people even eat the entire crunchy seed).
Raise the oven temperature to 375°F and preheat.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, then remove and smell the goodness!
Now time for Recipe 3! (If you have any left after this comes out of the oven!)

***

Recipe 2 – Toasted Squash SeedsToastedSeeds
Ingredients
Carnival squash seeds (from recipe 1 prep)
Salt or other desired seasoning

Preheat oven to 275°F.
Place seeds on a baking sheet, salt or season them, and cook in the 275°F oven for 20 minutes. Don’t worry about removing all of the pulp, it toasts nicely and tastes great!

***

Recipe 3 – Cream of Squash SoupSquashSoup
Ingredients
Finished Baked Stuffed Squash (from Recipe 2, above)
Coconut creamer (or any liquid to thin puree into soup)
Additional salt and pepper, to taste

Remove skin from the Baked Carnival Squash with Apples and Onion.
Place cooked ingredients in blender, or food processor.
Puree and add coconut creamer (or other liquid, such as milk or stock) until it reaches your desired thickness. This can be a thick, creamy soup or thinner consistency, depending on your preference.
Taste and season with salt and pepper, if desired.

Dilled Potato and Corn Chowder

Main Dish, Side Dish, Soup, Uncategorized

Type of dish: Main Dish, Side Dish, Soup

Creamy potato soup with dill! This recipe makes 24 servings – enough to feed a crowd or save some for later.

1/2 cup butter
2 cups onion, finely chopped
4 ribs celery, finely chopped
3 1/2 quarts vegetable stock
4 cups frozen corn kernels
6 large all-purpose potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup dill, chopped
2 Tablespoons salt, to taste
1 teaspoon white pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons dry mustard
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 quarts milk
1 1/2 cups flour, sifted
In a large pan, saute carrot, celery, and onion in butter about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add stock, corn, potatoes, dill, salt, pepper, and dry mustard. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer uncovered 15 minutes.

Gradually stir milk into flour until smooth. Slowly stir milk mixture into soup.

Boil several minutes until thickened.

Recipe courtesy of Gazy Brothers Farm

Sweet Pepper and Lentil Soup

Soup

Type of dish: Side Dish

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion or 2 leeks, chopped
3 to 5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon paprika or smoked paprika
1 to 3 frying peppers, depending on their size, seeded and finely chopped
1 cup dried brown or black lentils, picked over and rinsed
5 cups vegetable stock or water
salt and pepper, to taste (you’ll want at least a teaspoon of salt)
1 to 2 Tablespoons champagne vinegar, sherry vinegar, or rice vinegar

Cook the onion/leeks in 1 Tablespoon olive oil over medium heat in a skillet until the onion/leeks begins to soften. Stir in garlic and paprika and allow to cook for another minute.

Add the chopped pepper and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, until everything begins to soften. Scrap all of this into a slow cooker. Add the lentils and stock (or water) and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low until the lentils are completely soft, 7 to 9 hours.

Season the soup with salt and pepper (more salt if you used water, less if you used purchased stock) and the last Tablespoon of olive oil. Stir in 1 Tablespoon of one of the vinegars, adding more if needed. Serve hot.

Recipe courtesy of Gazy Brothers Farm
pepper

Leek and Sweet Potato Soup

Soup

Type of dish: Soup

3 Tablespoons butter
2 cups chopped leeks, white part only (4 to 6 leeks)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 pounds sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 1/2 cups milk
salt and ground white pepper

Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Add leeks, and saute slowly over low heat until tender, but not brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in garlic.

Add sweet potatoes and 3 cups water. Simmer about 20 minutes, until tender. Puree.

Return puree to saucepan, add milk, bring to a simmer, add more water or milk to get soup to desired consistency. Season with salt and white pepper before serving.

Recipe courtesy of Gazy Brothers Farm

Cream of Radish Soup

Soup

Type of dish: Soup

4-6 cups radishes, sliced
1 cup onion, chopped (leeks work too)
4 Tablespoons butter, divided
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups milk, warm
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon nutmeg
parsley

In a skillet, saute onions and radishes in 2 Tablespoons butter until both are limp. Put vegetables in blender and process until smooth. In a medium pot, melt 2 Tablespoons butter, stir in flour, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Add milk all at once and bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce heat and stir until thickened. Add vegetables, salt, pepper, and parsley.

Recipe courtesy of Gazy Brothers Farm

Fall Squash and Apple Soup

Soup

Type of dish: Soup

2 lbs butternut or acorn squash or pumpkin, halved and seeded
3 cups vegetable broth
2 tart apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 cup unsweetened apple juice
2 teaspoons fresh ginger root, grated
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
salt and freshly ground white pepper, to taste
sour cream
Snipped fresh chives

Place squash or pumpkin cut side down on a rack set over gently simmering water in a saucepan. Cover and steam until tender, about 10 minutes. Cool squash slightly, then scoop pulp from shells.

Combine 1/4 cup broth, apples, and onion in a heavy medium saucepan. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Add squash or pumpkin pulp, remaining broth, apple juice, ginger, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cover and simmer until ingredients are very tender, about 20 minutes.

Puree soup in batches in food processor or blender. Strain through a sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing puree with the back of a spoon. Reheat soup gently. Add lemon juice. Season with salt and white pepper, to taste.

Ladle into bowls. Garnish with sour cream and chives.

Recipe courtesy of Gazy Brothers Farm
butternut squash