Roasted Butternut Soup

I'm not a huge fan of soup, but I honestly could not stop eating this! The key is to roast the butternut first before you puree it with all the other goodies. The end result is a darker colored soup, not those bright orange traditional butternut soups you've had before. This one is smoky and so flavorful!!

Roasted Butternut Soup

1 medium butternut, peeled and cubed

olive oil

salt 'n' peppa

1/2 cup carrots, cubed

1/2 cup celery, sliced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 small onion, chopped

1 cup chicken or vegetable stock, or enough to cover vegetables

1 Roast cubed butternut with olive oil and salt 'n' peppa at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.

2 While the squash is roasting, saute the onions, carrots, celery and garlic in a pan with some olive oil.

3 Once the vegetables are getting soft, place the roasted butternut in the same pot and cover with stock.

4 Close and simmer for about 20 minutes until all vegetables are soft. Use a stick blender to blend everything together until smooth. You could go the extra step and press it through a siev, but I didn't.

5 Serve piping hot and enjoy!

10-minute Asian Soup

I was grocery shopping with my sister this past weekend and saw her grab a smallish bag of soba buckwheat noodles. Thats a good idea, I thought, so I grabbed a bag as well. When I think of soba noodles I instantly think of the soup that you would get in sushi restaurants. Salty flavorful broth with slurpy noodles and fresh slivers of spinach. Absolutely satisfying. I recreated it at home and it tasted exactly the same! I couldn't believe how easy and quick it was. You can also put some bok choy or cubed tofu in as well. You really won't believe how this tastes!

Soba Noodle Soup

adapted by savvy vegetarian

1 bundle of soba noodles (usually comes 3 bundles in a package)

4 cups broth

1 pint baby bella mushrooms, sliced thin

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp rice vinegar

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp grated fresh ginger

few handfuls of fresh spinach

fresh ground pepper

1 Bring a pot of water to a boil and drop in the noodles. Buckwheat noodles cook rather quickly, so about 4-5 minuter for a bundle should be enough. Drain and rinse with cool water. Drain again.

2 While the noodles are cooking, combing the broth, mushrooms, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and ginger in a soup pot. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes.

3 Stir in fresh spinach until wilted but still bright green. Stir in noodles and add about 2 cups fresh water. Season with pepper to taste.

French Onion Soup

Have you ever had french onion soup out at a restaurant and you loved it so much but never thought you could ever make it as good at home? Well, this recipe definitely will prove you wrong. I am confident when I say, that this recipe is even better than most restaurant french onion soups. It is Julia Child's recipe, who is the master of french cooking. I know it usually it served with giant croutons and melted cheese, but trust me it isn't a necessity. Can you guess what the secret ingredient is? That's right. Cognac. It really transforms this soup from great to amazing. If you have it, you must use it here. If you don't, the soup will still be great but you'll be missing out!! I served this soup for my mom's birthday dinner and in all the hectic preparation, I forgot to put in the 3 tablespoons of cognac right before serving (gasp!!) So, I brought the cognac to the table and everyone passed it around, dropping a teaspoon in each of their bowls of soup. It was actually fun! I love home style meals where you serve yourself sauce, pass around sides, and main dishes are served table side, its much more intimate. Anyways, back to the recipe. Make this. ASAP!

French Onion Soup

5 cups thinly sliced yellow onions

3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon sugar

3 tablespoons flour

2 cups beef stock

4 cups chicken stock

1 cup water, optional

1/2 cup dry white wine, or dry white vermouth

3 tablespoons cognac, right before serving

1 Cook the onions with oil and butter, covered, over medium heat for about 15 minutes.

2 Uncover, stir in the sugar and salt and cook for about 35 minutes, stirring frequently. The onions will turn a deep deep golden brown.

3 While the onions are cooking, in a separate saucepan, add the beef and chicken stock and bring to a boil. I found that the soup was a bit too salty for my taste, so I added a cup of water but it depends on your taste. If you used low sodium stock than I don't think you need the water.

4 While the stock is boiling, sprinkle the flour onto the onions and stir until absorbed.

5 Add in the boiling stock, wine and season to taste. Simmer partially covered for 30 minutes. Just before serving, stir in the cognac. Or, bring it to the table for some fun!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

I've been on a 101cookbooks kick lately. Heidi's recipes are so simple, healthy and delicious ever time. I wanted a healthy version of a classic lunch style soup — Broccoli cheddar soup. Potatoes are normally used to give a thicker consistency as an alternative to cream, as this recipe does. This is a must for your fall soup collection and a great way to get your veggies in. In the photo above I used mozzarella cheese as a topping because I used all my cheddar for the actual soup, but if you have cheddar leftover use it!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup- I omitted the croutons

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 large potato, peeled and cubed

2 cloves garlic, minced

3.5 cups broth

1 large head broccoli cut into small florets (I used two small ones)

2/3 cup cheddar, shredded

2 tablespoons whole grain mustard

1 Heat oil over medium heat in a large pot, saute the onions until softened with some salt. Stir in the potatoes, cover and cook for about 4 minutes until tender.

2 Uncover, stir in the garlic and stock. Bring to a boil and stir in the broccoli. Simmer for about 5 minutes until tender.

3 Remove the soup from heat and blend with an immersion blender. Add the cheese and mustard. Add more water or stock if needed for desired consistency.

Comfort Chickpea Noodle Soup

This soup recipe began with two lonely leeks in my fridge. I could have done a delicious hearty potato-leek soup, but I wanted to do something different with leeks this time. I searched around and somehow found this vegan chickpea soup recipe that sounded great. I love chickpeas and never had it in a soup, so I wanted to test it out. I used my two leeks instead of yellow onions and it turned out just as hearty and delicious. I used thin egg noodles, which I boiled separately so the noodles won't get overcooked and soggy in the soup. I loved the simplicity of the frozen veggies in this soup, I just dropped it in the pot and the soup was ready. Perfect for an quick snack and a great way to get all your veggies in for the day!

Chickpea Noodle Soup

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 leeks, sliced (or 1 small to medium onion)

4 cups broth (I used chicken broth, so vegans can use vegetarian broth)

1 tsp dried dill

1/2 tsp thyme

1 can cooked chickpeas

2 cups thin egg noodles

1 small pack frozen veggies of your choice

salt and pepper to taste

1 In a small soup pot, saute leeks and garlic until softened.

2 Boil another small pot with water and cook the egg noodles.

3 Add broth, dill, thyme and chickpeas, bring to a boil. Add frozen veggies and simmer.

4 Simmer soup until veggies are tender. Serve with plenty of noodles.

 

Cauliflower Soup with Cheddar Crisps

It's soup season! Hooray! Making soups is one of my favorite things to cook, its relaxing in a weird way. I thought my first soup of the season would be with something I have never cooked before – cauliflower.  I've always been intimidated by cauliflower when I pass it by in the grocery store or market. It seemed so big and scary. But, I finally got one and it turned out to be really easy! You just remove the inner core and chop into smaller florets. This soup came out so flavorful, and the cheddar crisps, wow! They were such a nice touch! I could snack on those all day long. Great just by itself as an appetizer with a glass of wine.

Cauliflower Soup with Cheddar Crisps

adapted from Dave Lieberman

1 head cauliflower

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 leek, light green and white parts, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 quart chicken stock

1/2 cup finely grated parmesan

salt and pepper

1 Preheat oven to 350

2 Remove leaves and inner core of the cauliflower and chop into pieces.

3 Heat olive oil in large pot and saute leeks and garlic until soft.

4 Add the cauliflower and stock and bring to a simmer, cover and cook until cauliflower is softened, about 15 minutes.

5 Use a hand immersion blender to puree the soup until creamy and smooth. Add the parmesan and and stir. Season with salt and pepper to taste,

Cheddar Crisps

handful of shredded cheddar

1 Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread the cheese in 1 thin even layer.

2 Bake around 10 minutes until golden and crisp. Break into large pieces and garnish each soup bowl with 1-2 crisps. Enjoy!

Double Post! Dill-icious Cucumber Chilled Soup & Summer Corn Soup

Finally, finally, finally I get my laptop back! It's been way too long and I've missed all my foodie friends a lot. Because I've taken many photos during these past two weeks (!!) and because I've missed you so, I present...... a double recipe post! Two soup recipes that are outstanding for summer. One is chilled, and one can be served either hot or cold.

First up, the chilled cucumber soup. I recently I had a chilled cucumber gazpacho (called white gazpacho) at a restaurant that reminded me how amazing it really was. Cool, creamy and tart – perfect for the summer. When I recreated it at home, it was so easy! Greek yogurt, lemon juice, cucumbers and lots of dill! I probably went overboard with the dill here, but I just love it so much that I couldn't hold back. Be sure to make double quantity of this soup because it'll go fast! Trust me!

Dill-icious Chilled Cucumber Soup

3 cups Greek yogurt

3 large cucumbers, cubed

lemon juice of half a lemon

a bunch of dill, however much you like

salt 'n' peppa

1 Peel and cube cucumbers. Reserve 1/2 a cucumber for later.

2 Combine yogurt, lemon juice, cubed cucumbers in a bowl and using a hand blender, blend until smooth and creamy. Season to taste.

3 When you have reached your desired consistency, throw in the reserved cubed cucumbers and serve. Garnish with a sprig of dill.

Next is the cold/hot soup, which, I know hot soup can be the total opposite of what you crave during the summer, but it is so delicious! I actually preferred it hot rather than cold. Sweet white corn is at its prime now, but not for long so you better head to the market soon and make this soup! The corn and carrot add to the sweetness and the creaminess comes from the milk (I used skim and it still turned out thick). The trick to get the corniest soup is boiling the cobs (without the kernels) in milk. It boosts the flavor of the corn and tastes like you are eating fresh corn of the cob! I honestly could have eaten this soup for weeks and not gotten sick of it. It's that good.

Summer Corn Soup adapted via austin360

2 ears of corn

2 cups milk

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1 carrot, peeled and sliced

Olive oil

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1 cup water

salt 'n' peppa

2 large sprigs of fresh thyme

Greek yogurt as a garnish, optional

1 Cut kernels form the cob, reserve cobs. Boil milk with cobs in a large saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat and cover for 8 minutes.

2 While the cobs are cooking in milk, heat a bit of oil in a skillet and saute onion until soft. Stir in chopped carrot, kernels and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Stir until vegetables are soft.

3 Add veggies, water and thyme sprigs to the cob/milk saucepan. Cover and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes. Discard cobs and thyme sprigs.

4 Using a hand blender, blend mixture until smooth. Serve hot or cold with yogurt.

Split Green Pea Soup with caramelized onions

Mmm...doesn't that just sound divine? Thats what I thought when I saw this recipe at pink of perfection. She used red lentils, but I had some split green peas soaking already, so I decided to try it out with those. I think any type of pea or lentil would work with this soup. It is simple, delicious and so easy to make! The caramelized onion really give it a nice sweetness. I added some plain yogurt to the topping mix as well. Yum!

Split Pea Soup with lemon and caramelized onion

3 cups split green peas
2 cup chicken stock
1 cup water
1 pinch curry
salt 'n' peppa
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 onion, sliced thin1 tablespoon butter
drizzle honey

To caramelize the onions: Melt the butter over moderate heat. Throw in the onion slices and cook until beginning to brown. Drizzle honey evenly over onions and continue to cook until onions are brown, sweet, and sticky.

In a small saucepan, combine split green peas with water, stock, curry, salt 'n' peppa. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until peas are soft and beginning to break down. Turn off heat, and stir in lemon juice. Serve with caramelized onions.

Tuscan White Bean Soup

Thank goodness I had electricity when I came home so I could make this delicious creamy soup. It has been very stormy and dreary down here so a creamy soup is just what the doctor ordered. I love beans. All types, shapes and sizes! I found this tuscan white bean soup on foodnetwork.com by Giada De Laurentis. I like the flavor of most of her recipes except I don't use cream in my cooking. So, with this recipe I substituted a medium sized potato for the heavy cream to get the same consistency. I also found that it needed a bit of brightening so I added lemon juice at the end.

Tuscan White Bean and Garlic Soup

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 shallots, chopped

1 sage leaf

2 (15 oz) cans cannelloni beans, or great northern beans

4 cups low sodium chicken broth

4 cloves garlic, cut in half

1 medium potato

1/2 teaspoon peppa

1 Place a medium pot over medium heat. Add the butter, olive oil, and shallot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots are softened.

2 Add the sage leaf and beans and stir to combine.

3 Add the stock and bring the mixture to a simmer. Add the garlic cloves and simmer until the garlic is softened, about 10 minutes.

4 Add a cooked potato (I microwaved one)

4 Puree the soup with either a hand blender or a regular blender. Once all the soup is blended and back in the soup pan, add peppa.

5 Keep warm, covered, over very low heat until ready to serve.