Tuesday’s Table: Butternut Squash Soup

Oh chilly weather! You are just making me so happy.  Let the warm weather foods commence!  Butternut squash soup is one of my favorite things for this time of year.  Not only is it amazingly comforting, but it’s also incredibly healthy!  This version contains no added butter or cream, and trust me you won’t miss it.  Plus, it freezes perfectly, so feel free to make a giant batch and store it away for later in the season.

Butternut Squash Soup

-1 large butternut squash

-1 medium yellow onion, diced fine

-2 inches ginger, minced

-2 tsp olive oil

-6 c. chicken stock

-salt and pepper to taste

-cashew and green onions to garnish

Peel and roast the butternut squash until fork tender.  Often the peeling and cutting can seem almost impossible, so I like to pierce mine with a fork first and microwave it for about 3 minutes before peeling it, cutting it in half, and removing its seeds.  Then place it in a 400° oven for about 45 minutes.  Next chop it into chunks.

While the squash is cooking, dice the onions and ginger, and get them in a large pot with the olive oil.  Cook them over a low heat until the onions are translucent.  Then add the squash and the stock.  Let this simmer for about 45 minutes.  Then puree the soup with an immersion blender or in your regular blender, but if you are using your regular blender be very careful!  You don’t want your blender to explode on you while you’re blending a hot liquid, so proceed with caution.  I like to just blend a little at a time and hold the top of my blender down with a kitchen towel.

Return the soup to your pot and season it with salt and pepper.  Garnish with chopped

cashews and green onions.  Enjoy!

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White Bean, Sausage and Greens Soup – Tuesday’s Table

This is a recipe that came to be based on items I had in our fridge and pantry two years ago. Since then as soon as fall weather is upon us it is the first thing that Grant requests for dinner. It is just about as easy as they come and is hearty enough that it is a full meal… but Grant usually makes his mom’s cornbread recipe to accompany the soup – lucky me (unlucky waistline). This meal is easy to throw together, inexpensive and gluten free as long as you pay attention to the sausage and turnip greens.

Sub in black eyed peas and we call this our “New Year’s Soup.” It covers all of the bases for luck, health and prosperity… in one easy pot. Check!

  

White Bean, Sausage and Greens Soup

Ingredients:  

1 pk Andouille/cajun sausage, chopped
1 onion, diced
2 cloves/teaspoons garlic, minced
2 cans white beans (any type, I prefer Navy Beans because of their small size)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can turnip greens
1 bunch kale in inch pieces
6 cups chicken broth (I used 4 stock, 2 water)
Several dashes of Hot Pepper Vinegar and freshly ground black pepper to season

Directions:

Brown chopped sausage (try to drain most of the grease), add onions and garlic  to sausage to soften for 5-7 min
Add chicken broth, beans (rinsed), tomatoes with juice
Add turnip greens (mostly drained)
Add kale, black pepper, pepper vinegar.
Stir, cover, simmer

Simmer for at least 30-45 minutes, but will taste even better the next day.

Serve with hot pepper vinegar. Cornbread would be a treat too.

** You can make many variations to this recipe based on your preferences and things that you have at home. Use only kale (add some salt to recipe); use only turnip greens, add some shredded chicken, etc. I have done all of these things and it turns out well every single time**

   

    
   

Enjoy!!

Creamy, Roasted Tomato Soup

Julia and I have two very close variations of this perfectly easy and healthy tomato soup. The ingredients in ours are the same but the directions are slightly different. This is one of those recipes that takes about 40 minutes but is truly only 5 minutes of hands on time. Plus it is difficult to mess this up, so it makes a perfect week night supper. Roasting the tomatoes and onions adds so much rich caramelized flavor to a very simple soup.

Creamy, Roasted Tomato Soup

Tomatoes – One large can of whole tomatoes  (that can be combined with ANY fresh tomatoes that need to be used; I added a carton of cherry tomatoes that were on their last leg)

Garlic – 3-6 crushed cloves

Onion – 1 white or yellow onion sliced

Olive Oil – drizzle over items before roasting, less than one Tbsp

Salt + Pepper

1-2 c. Chicken Stock

1/2 c. Milk/Cream/Coconut Milk

In a Dutch oven (or on cookie sheet with aluminum foil), roast one large can of whole tomatoes  as well as any fresh tomatoes you plan to use (reserve liquid from canned tomatoes for later use) and a large white onion sliced for 30 minutes at 415 degrees. In the last few minutes of roasting, throw in 3 or more crushed garlic cloves.

Remove pot from oven and place on eye of stove set on medium high heat. Add the reserved tomato juice, a little chicken stock, and a touch of heavy cream, milk or coconut milk. Blend the whole thing in food processor/or with an immersion blender and season to taste.

Any garnishes are welcome.. for this batch I used a bit of goat cheese and fresh basil.

Enjoy!!

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Tuesday’s Table : Mexican Chicken Soup

Our Mexican Chicken Soup is warm and filling but also very fresh and healthy. This is one of my favorite soup recipes and just what I need when it’s still freezing outside.  (Side note, I eat this in the warmer months too because I love it so much!) Many of my friends and family have had this recipe during casual dinners at our house. Lime is the key to making this soup really pop!

Mexican Chicken Soup:

Ingredients – 

2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 large diced Sweet Onion (or 2 small)

1 diced Jalapeno Pepper

2 Tbsp minced Garlic (about 4-6 cloves)

Juice of 2 Limes (could use 3– plus extra for garnish)

1 cup Cilantro leaves (plus extra for garnish)

6-8 cups Chicken Broth (I did about 6 cups stock, 2 cups water)

1 can Fire Roasted, Diced Tomatoes, including liquid (could use 2)

1 can rinsed, drained Black Beans

1/2 tsp Cumin

1/4 tsp Chili Powder

2-3 dashes Cayenne

1 Rotisserie Chicken – shredded (for gluten free make your own chicken either roasting or cooking in crock pot, then shred)

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

** Adding Shoepeg Corn and/or chopped Zucchini are both good optional ingredients to make the soup more hearty**

Optional Garnishes:

Your favorite Mexican hot sauce–My favorites are Valentina or Cholula

Green onions

Tortilla chips (2 crunched tortillas per bowl)

Grated Cheese

Directions – 

In a large pot, heat oil, add onion, let soften (2-5 min), add jalapeno and garlic

(5-10min), add chicken broth, tomatoes, black beans, spices and bring to boil.

Turn down heat and let simmer.

Add chicken, then add lime juice and cilantro leaves, simmer. Perfect after a long simmer and even better the next day!

Tastes a lot like my favorite tortilla soup from La Paz.

Use a big squeeze of lime right before adding garnishes.

ENJOY!!