We received our first snow of the season over the weekend and I couldn't have been happier. I love winter and everything about it: the cold and crisp days, the snow, which makes everything seem so beautiful, the pretty landscapes, the holidays, the Christmas music played on the radio, and of course, the drink of the season, hot chocolate- winter’s the best! Having lived in Buffalo, NY for many years, both H and I really miss the long snowy winters we experienced there after moving here.
Christmas has got to be the time of the year that I like the most. I put up my Christmas tree yesterday. The tree with its faux snow-dusted branches, tiny lights and pretty decorations stands in a corner of my living room casting a warm and festive glow all over the place.
This soup, something I made a few days back, is perfect for warming your insides on a cold winter day.
The soup is wonderfully rich, even though it does not make use of any cream, and takes less than 30 minutes to make from start to finish. This is an Ellie Krieger recipe with a few of my modifications.
Ingredients:
(For approximately 3 servings)
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
A pinch of red pepper flakes
½ onion, sliced
2 cups peas (I used frozen)
¼ - ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Salt
Pepper
Lemon juice
Yogurt (for serving)
Method:
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the peas, salt, pepper and nutmeg and cook just until the peas are defrosted. Add 1 cup of water (or more as required) and bring to a boil.
Puree the soup until smooth. (I use my handheld immersion blender and blend it in the saucepan itself.) Simmer for a couple of minutes. Turn off the heat.
Squeeze some lemon juice into the soup. Mix. Ladle into bowls. Stir the yogurt so that it is smooth and top each serving with a nice dollop of yogurt.
A bowl (or two) of this steaming hot soup is the perfect meal on a crisp, cold day.
This soup may have been inspired by the one mentioned in the previous post. Sadly though, it tasted nothing like it (the one that we had at The Morningstar Bistro). It was not bad, just a little different and that's not always a bad thing!
I had a lot of baby carrots and cherry tomatoes that I had purchased with nothing particular to make in mind. Though I'm a very organized person, I’m not one to plan meals ahead of time for each day of the week, although grocery shopping and cooking would probably be a lot easier if I did! A roasted vegetable soup seemed like a good way to put these vegetables to use, I thought. So here's what I did.
Ingredients:
30-35 baby carrots, chopped
25-30 cherry tomatoes, halved
½ onion, chopped into small chunks
5 cloves garlic, peeled
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Red chilli flakes
¾ tsp grated ginger
1 cup milk (I use 2 %)
Toasted sesame seeds
Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Place the chopped vegetables in a baking dish lined with foil. Add olive oil, salt, pepper and red chilli flakes. Toss well so that the vegetables are coated with the oil and spices.
Roast in preheated oven at 375 degrees F for about 50- 60 minutes, turning the vegetables occasionally, till tender.
Cool and blend/puree the roasted vegetables. I like my soup a little thick and chunky with some texture to it, so I don’t puree until smooth. Return the pureed vegetables to a large saucepan and simmer on medium heat.
Add grated ginger, milk and water and thin out the soup to the desired consistency. I’d have used vegetable broth/stock if I’d had it. Work with whatever you have.
Simmer on medium heat for a few minutes before bringing to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle some lightly toasted sesame seeds on top. Serve hot.
This seems like a good enough entry for FIC: Orange and SWC: Soups.
Ingredients:A lot of my Italian-style cooking is heavily influenced by what I see on Giada’s show on the Food Network. I saw this recipe a couple of days back and decided to make it. Here’s my version after a couple of modifications.
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, chopped finely
2 medium onions, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and diced
3 celery stalks, chopped
¾ tsp red chilli flakes
½ tsp coriander powder
½ tsp chilli powder
½ tsp powdered cloves
1 can of diced tomatoes
A handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 (15 oz) can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup milk
Method:
Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the chopped onions, carrots, celery and garlic and sauté till the onions are translucent, and the other vegetables turn soft.
I have been making a lot of soups lately with almost any ingredient that I can find, that needs to be used up. Soup for dinner is so comforting and makes for a perfect meal especially when you are alone at home and are in no mood to cook. It also fits in with my plan towards healthier eating in spite of the numerous failed attempts.
Here’s a recipe for a soup that only takes minutes to make and calls for just a handful of ingredients. The recipe involves cooking some onions, potatoes and cauliflower florets till tender and then blending everything together to get a rich and creamy soup.
Here’s how I made mine -
Ingredients:
½ onion, peeled & chopped finely
1 medium potato, peeled & chopped into small cubes
1 pack of frozen cauliflower
3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 tsp ginger paste.
¾ cup milk
½- 1 tsp of nutmeg powder depending on taste
Salt & pepper to taste.
Herbs for garnishing
1 Tbsp olive oil
Method:
Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan and add the chopped onion, ginger & garlic. Sauté everything for a minute or two.
Add the potato cubes and cauliflower florets along with a little bit of water and cover & cook till tender.
Blend/Puree the mixture after cooling and return to the saucepan.
Add about ¾ cup of milk and cook for another 2-3 minutes. (You could add some more water here depending on the consistency you want for your soup. I like mine thick, rich and creamy; hence added the milk & almost no water)
Add the nutmeg powder, season with some salt and pepper, garnish with some herbs and serve hot.
Ingredients:
1 small onion, peeled & thinly sliced
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
1 large parsnip, peeled and chopped
1 piece fresh ginger (about an inch long), peeled & grated
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste.
For the white sauce:
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
2 cups milk
Method:
Heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the onions & sauté till transparent. Add the ginger followed by the chopped carrots & parsnip. (You could add some dried herbs too at this point depending on your taste.) Cover and cook till the vegetables soften.
Cool & then blend/puree the mixture.
Meanwhile, in a separate pan, prepare the white sauce.
Melt the butter, blend in the flour, salt & pepper. Add milk gradually, stirring constantly, and cook until the mixture begins to boil.
Add the vegetable puree to this & continue cooking for 10 minutes or so, stirring constantly. Adjust the amount of milk depending on the consistency desired.
Garnish with chopped herbs & serve hot.
Update: I am sending this over to Tami at Running with tweezers who is hosting the Second Annual Super Soup Challenge .
Ingredients:
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