Simple Soup

Hands down soup is my favorite food. I love them all - creamy, brothy, chunky, noodley...yum. Soup is nourishing and filling and it heats you up when it is chilly outside. Soup can also be paired with just about anything and everything - salads, sandwiches, pastas, entrees.

However, sometimes making soup seems like a chore. Forget that! Instead of slaving away just toss some "stuff" in a pot and call it simple soup. Don't over think it.

This soup is super healthy and nutritious and you can take this recipe and recreate it everyday by using other frozen veggie bags and adding favorite herbs or condiments to give it flavor.

• 1 Bag of Frozen Broccoli
• 1 Bag of Frozen Green Beans
• 1 Box of Chicken Stock
• 2 Large Leeks - chopped
• 3 Celery Stems - chopped
• 2 TBSP of Fresh Parsley 
• 1-2 Bay leaves
• 4 Cloves of Garlic - minced
• 2 TBSP of extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 Tsp (+) Celtic Sea Salt or Himalayan Sea Salt
• Couple cranks of ground pepper
• Pumpkin Oil - little drizzle over each bowl (totally optional, yet tasty)

1. In a stock pot, heat the extra-virgin olive oil on low heat. Once the pan is hot add the leeks, celery, bay leaves and cover
2. Add the garlic after a few minutes
3. Once the veggies are softening up add the box of chicken broth (about 4 cups)
4. Toss in the frozen veggies (add whatever you like no need to follow recipes 100% all the time - cauliflower, peas, spinach, zucchini would also be be great choices and easy to find frozen)
5. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and add salt, pepper, more garlic (optional), parsley
6. Shut off heat and pulse in a Vita-Mix blender if you want a creamy consistency or only blend part of the soup keeping some of it chunky.
7. This is COMPLETELY optional, but super delicious add a drizzle of pumpkin oil on top. Not only is it tasty, but it makes the soup look extra fancy!

This was a thick soup so if you wanted it thinner, blend it more or add extra stock. 

Serves 6

Creamy Coconut Lentil Soup

One of my all-time favorite cookbooks is a book I got years ago called healthy 1-2-3. Its by Rozanne Gold and I like it because it isn't about fancy cooking its about functional food. Yet, the recipes are delicious, which helps.

Last weekend I was asked to make a Vegan Soup for an event down the street at my neighbor's house. I decided to make a lentil soup with coconut milk and scallions. You might have missed it, but that's it. Those were the 3 ingredients. Super simple.

I made a HUGE pot of this soup by doubling/nearly tripling the recipe. I'm going to give you the basics and then tell you what I added, but let me tell you it is all about taste. One of the biggest tricks to good soup is seasoning. Seasoning is best done after you cook the soup. Then you can add whatever bits are necessary.

I do not have a picture of the end result as I was having "one of those days" where I wasn't sure if the soup was really all that great. However, that HUGE pot of soup was empty early in the evening (even though there was LOTS of other things to eat). It was a hit. That made my heart smile a bit!

Anyway here is the recipe and a picture of the soup before it was finished.

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 - 2 cups of Red lentils
• 2/3  - 3/4 cup of Coconut Milk
• 2 - Bunches of Scallions (chop them up and reserve the very green pieces for garnish and the light colors for the soup)
• 5.5 cups of purified water

My Optional Items:

• Garlic - 2 or 3 cloves sliced or more if you love the stinking rose
• 2 tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil 
• Pink Himalayan Sea Salt - to taste
• Ground Pepper - to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse lentils well with cool water (look for small stones)
2. Saute sliced garlic and scallions in extra-virgin Olive Oil on low for 5 minutes
3. Add lentils and 5.5 cups of water in a pot 
4. Bring the pot to a boil
5. Lower heat and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes - stirring occasionally to keep the lentils from sticking 
6. Once the lentils are very soft turn off the soup and let the steam release
7. Then using a Vita-Mix blender (a super star blender) start adding the soup in batches for blending.
8. Depending on your preference you can leave the soup somewhat chunky
9. Add coconut milk to the soup
1. If the soup is super quick add some water
10. Season the soup - add more salt, pepper, garlic, herbs, etc
11. Ladle into bowl and drizzle the reserved coconut milk over the top and sprinkle with the green onions
12. Enjoy!

SERVINGS - Approx 6. or try double or tripling this recipe for a big party.

If you are interested in the Vita-Mix then use this Coupon Code for free shipping (US and Canada) =06-00503

Pho

I have an obsession over soup. It all started when I was little and my favorite snack was some various variety out of a Campbell's soup can. My tastes have since grown accustomed to more flavor & diversity. One of my super duper faves is Vietnamese Pho. I fell in love with Pho on the streets of Vietnam where it cost about $.50 per bowl. I enjoy Pho for several reasons:

1. it is filling
2. it comes with basil leaves, loads of sprouts and lime = healthy
3. it has rice noodles which are a nice option for gluten-free peeps (its dairy-free too)

I was taken out to Ngog Vietnamese Bistro in Saint Paul, MN. It is a lovely sustainable & local supporting restaurant. They take pride in serving fresh ingredients from around the Twin Cities - what's not to love?

Serving up local brews!

Not only that but the environment is welcoming, the server accommodating, they have a cute patio, local brews AND the soup was reasonably priced! WOOT WOOT. There were so many wonderful dishes on the menu it was hard deciding on the Pho so we also got an appetizer.

Now I'm hungry all over again!

Total Yuck.

Not sure if you know this or not, but I like to make things up in the kitchen. Most of the time it works out. Sometimes, as in this case, it does not. Actually, this time it was really gross. This usually does not happen to me and so I thought I would share. I even took a few pictures because I thought that while I was making it it had to be delicious. Really. Look at the pictures and tell me it wasn't pretty?

Okay so far doesn't it look great?

I know that this looks like a smoothie, but my goal here was to make a raw soup.

Here is what's in the blender thus far:

• Red Cabbage
• 1 small Yellow Onion
• 4 Cloves of Garlic
• 2 Turnips
• 8 oz veggie stock

Then I added the kale - and I LOVE kale. So then the beautiful mixture turned a very putrid greenish/brown.

I figured that it wasn't a big deal I would just eat it even though it looked really undesirable. All I can say is I tried. I ate a small bowl, but that was all I could take. I had to pour the rest into our composer...

I'm happy to report that although this was a disaster - now I know that blending meals is quite different from regular cooking. It will just be a matter of time before I figure it out and I won't have to mess with recipes and I can make it up as I go along.

In the mean time anyone else have a kitchen disaster to share?

How about a soup off?

Okay so actually it wasn't really a cook off event. Last night I presented a class about soup. Why soup? Well I have loved soup from a very early age.  In fact my after school snack was always a can of soup. Many people think this is weird, but it was my staple - its warm & comforting and soothed my soul. Usually something from Campbell's  - nothing quite as good as what I am capable of making now, but none the less my favorite thing to eat at the time! So back to the class...

I had 7 lovely ladies + an itty bitty gentleman (can you see the little one in the pic?)! They are fabulous people so not only was it fun to teach the class to these individuals it was a delightful time filled with laughter and love - all the sorts of things you want in a kitchen and infused in the food. Really the care, attention, and playful atmosphere cannot be beat.

The goal of the class was to help the participants understand how to experiment and add their own flair when making tasty soup. They learned not to take recipes so seriously and just cook up what they have on hand. We also talked about how quick, easy, & healthy soups can be!

What else did we talk about?

-Colors! Eating green, white, red & orange foods and what that means nutritionally & energetically speaking
-Blending
-Storage (plastics, glass, stainless, etc)
-Best type of pot to use
-Discussed a bit about organic, local & the environment

What recipes were featured?

-Carrot Ginger Soup
-Creamy Coconut & Lentil Soup
-Heirloom Tomato & Chickpea Soup (check for the recipe from earlier in the week)
-Creamy Kale Soup

After we made the soup we sat down to do a taste test. While everyone was deciding which soup was #1 they discussed what they learned from the class. One of the main things that the class enjoyed was that they had to go and buy their own groceries at the store. Many of the items on the list were not items they would usually pick up so they felt like the excursion was one of the best aspects of the class. Check out my website (navigate to the events page) as I am scheduling Grocery Store Tours. Check back every so often for all updated events.

How many of you out there love soup? What is your favorite soup to make? Please share!

Wednesdays are for Tomato soup!

Soups On! Tomato soup that is.

When I think back to a previous life as a server every Wednesday without fail it was tomato basil soup with grilled cheese. Nothing fancy, but I tell you we always sold out - didn't matter what the season. Well I had 4 tomatoes that needed to be used today and so I decided to try and make my own version of tomato soup without all the dairy.

Here is what I had available:

• Chickpeas (1 can)
• Tomatoes 4 diced up small (home grown!)
• Garlic - x-large clove
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Chicken Stock (2 cups)
• Various dried Herb mixed (Basil, Rosemary, Savory, Thyme, Oregano, Dill Weed, Marjoram, Sage, Tarragon)
• Salt & Pepper
• Brown Sugar

Step 1 - 3 Tbsp. of Olive Oil and chopped garlic saute (on a low heat)

Step 2 - Add the tomatoes, chicken stock, chickpeas, pinch of salt & pepper, pinch of brown sugar or other high quality sweetener

Step 3 - Cook it for about 10 min. on medium-low heat (until it seems hot, you are the judge)

Step 4 - Take it off the heat and you can either leave the soup as chunky or let it cool a bit and use an immersion blender to puree the soup. If you want more soup add another can of chickpeas and then add a few more cups of chicken or veggie stock.

You might want to add more herbs, salt & pepper to jazz it up. It is totally up to you. Be free of constraints when you toss a meal together. If I had had some greens available I would have tossed those into the soup as well. Experiment!

Enjoy this with some lovely crackers, fancy crusty bread, or whatever else you have on hand. YUM

Let me know if you try it.