Roasted Garlic & Butternut Squash Ginger Soup

There's little I love more than roasted garlic. I can eat it straight out of the oven, burning my tongue because I'm so impatient. So when I had a butternut squash to cook, and I found A Bushel of What's roasted squash soup with roasted garlic, I knew that was what I'd be making. It's roasty goodness all together.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Garlic Soup
from A Bushel of What

The picture on that page alone was enough to make me salivate. I wish I'd taken it. Mmm, roastiness.

Roasted vegetables are usually a cool weather comfort food. But the weather in Los Angeles has been really strange. We've had spring-like temps all winter, and then really cold rains as spring finally approaches. Roasted vegetables are perfect for those weird days.

And while the pictures on Nicole's site are beautiful, I didn't really follow her recipe. I wanted my roasted squash and garlic mixed together, but I also wanted something else. Something zingy.

Looking around my kitchen for inspiration, I spied the candied ginger. And then it all came together. Adding freshly zested ginger gave a nice bite to it. Exactly what my roasted concoction needed.

Later, when shooting the pictures, the soup-scape was a bit too bland (yes, I did just make up the word "soup-scape"). That's when the candied ginger came back into play for its cameo. And then I began dipping it in the soup like it was a party dip. And couldn't stop. The sweet butternut squash and peppery candied ginger came together so nicely.

If fresh ginger isn't available, add a tablespoon or so of powdered ginger. Either way, it brought a nice zing to the soup.

And to your mouth. Mmmm, zingy!

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Roasted Garlic & Butternut Squash Ginger Soup

by Paulette Fontanez April-10-2012

Roasted vegetables make a savory soup, the addition of ginger adds a nice zip!

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 medium butternut squash
• 1 whole head of garlic
• 1 large shallot, or 2 small, chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger (about 1 inch)
• 3 cups vegetable or chicken stock (depending on your preference)
• salt & pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degreees. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Drizzle each half with about one tablespoon of oil each. Lie face down on a lined baking sheet.2. Peel away the outer layers of the garlic skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact. Slice the top 1/2 inch of the head to expose the individual cloves. Place in foil, drizzle with just a bit of olive oil on the garlic and wrap the foil around the head. Place on the baking sheet with the squash. 3. Bake both the squash and garlic together for about 45-60 minutes. When the squash skin begins to wrinkle and the edges brown, they're done (and so is the garlic, most likely). Allow to cool.4. Heat the remaining oil in a pan and sauté the shallots and ginger zest over medium heat until the shallots are softened and just beginning to take on color. Remove from heat.5. Once the squash has cooled, remove the skin (should come off fairly easily) and cube. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of the bulb. Put the squash, garlic, and sautéed ginger and shallots in a blender with about 2 cups of stock (do this in batches if necessary, or use an immersion blender). Add more or less stock if you prefer a thin or thick soup.6. Warm soup in a pot if necessary and add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with your favorite topping (cream or candied ginger are two excellent options) and serve hot or cold. This is even tastier the next day, after the flavors have married overnight.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 1 hour Total time: 1 hour 10 mins Yield: About 6 cups

Spiced Baby Carrot Soup

Baby carrots. They're so cute. Teeny. Tiny. Fun size.

And far easier to cook with than regular size carrots because you don't have to peel or chop them.  So right there you're saving yourself two steps worth of elbow grease. You have to save that for the whiskey pouring!

No that there's any whiskey in this recipe. But there are a handful of spices. Cardamom, cinnamon, fresh ginger. (Is ginger considered a spice? It's definitely spicy.) Check it out here, courtesy of Aria Kagan, one of the favorites of the sixth season of Food Network Star.

I've found that most recipes I come upon call for far too little of whatever spice is listed. Even when I halve recipes (which is just about always), I leave the spices alone. Spice is good. At least that's what my taste buds tell me. Your mileage and/or taste buds may vary.

This go-around, however, I actually needed to futz with the spice mixture completely. Cardamom, the main spice in this dish, is very strong. I found that using just half was still too much. So I added more cinnamon. And then even more cinnamon. And then some turmeric, because it fights cancer. (Really, there was no other reason.) And then some dried dill weed. And celery salt. Then some garlic salt. And then I let it simmer. The recipe also called for some orange juice and apple cider vinegar later in the cooking process, and I didn't want to create a completely disconnected Frankenstein dish, so I left well enough alone. Though this probably would benefit from some nutmeg too.

A quick note about sweet potatoes: I don't care for them. I might be confusing them with yams (they're not the same thing), but I do know that I'm over the hoopla of sweet potato fries. Had them once and decided they're gross. I like my fries golden brown, and smothered in cocaine, or whatever it is that McDonald's does to them to make them so damn good. (Note: I never eat at McDonald's because that will kill you, but they're fries are pretty much the best of any fast food chain.)

As such, there were no sweet potatoes or yams in this soup. Just plain ol' Yukon Goldies.

So what do you get when you throw sweet onions, garlic, random spices, freshly squeezed orange juice, and apple cider vinegar together? A soup worth slurping.

This whole recipe experiment was a treat for me because I finally put my immersion blender to use. It's so much easier than lugging the blender out. And less to clean! Again with the time- and elbow grease-saving!

And then, you get this:

Eat it hot or cold!

Another note: I've been cooking with coconut oil of late. It's supposed to be healthier than just about any other fat out there, especially for high heat cooking. No, the food doesn't taste like coconut. But that would not be a bad thing!

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Spiced Baby Carrot Soup

by August-8-2011

Best hot or cold. Adapted from Aria Kagan.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 onion, choppped
• 4-6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
• Celery salt and garlic salt, to taste
• 1/2 pound baby carrots
• 1/2 pound potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
• Water, to cover
• Juice of 1 orange
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup creme fraiche or crema
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. In a large pot, heat the coconut oil over medium heat and sauté the onions, garlic, grated ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, and dill weed. Stir to combine and sauté until the onion is translucent (about 6 minutes). Add a bit of water if the spices start to stick. Add the remaining vegetables and stir to coat with spices. Sauté for another couple of minutes.2. Add enough water to cover all of the vegetables. Bring the mixture to a simmer, add the salt(s) and cook until the carrots and potatoes are soft (about 40-45 minutes).3. Remove the pot from the heat and using a handheld immersion blender if you have one (!!!), or food processor/regular blender if you don't, puree the soup until smooth, and then strain through a sieve into a new pot. This will give you silky soup.4. Place the pot over medium-low heat and stir in the orange juice, apple cider vinegar. Simmer the mixture for 15 minutes.5. In a small bowl, stir the creme fraiche/crema and cilantro together.

This can be served immediately or prepared a day ahead. Hot or cold, add a dollop of the cilantro cream. It's very pretty presented this way, but if you mix it all up, it takes on another whole dimension of flavor!

Details

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 1 hour 10 mins Total time: 1 hour 30 mins Yield: 4-6 servings

Choking Down Sardines

I'm now on the 9th day of this cleanse to determine what is causing my searing headaches. I kind of feel like a chemistry experiment. The special diet my doctor has me following requires at least one serving of fish per day. Ingesting that much fish might make normal people wonder about mercury. And I'm normal people.

But nature has genius ways of getting around mercury poisoning, in the form of teeny fish like sardines. The little oily fishies are high in the good stuff and low in the bad stuff. They are not, however, like dew drops on roses and whiskers on kittens, among my favorite things.

You could say I hate them. Yup. I hate them. They are, in a word, gross.

But in the battle between having a life free of the voodoo doll stabbing pain and risking death by heavy metal-induced disease, I'm opted for the lesser of two evils and tried making friends with what fishermen refer to as bait.

It was not easy. Their little bones stick to your teeth and seriously? Ick! But I persevered.

You can do funny things to the little Clupeids. Like smash them up and throw them in tomato sauce and curry powder with a bunch of sautéed veggies. They're less obvious that way (except for the smashed bones in your teeth...ick!) and actually not all that bad.

The original recipe calls for 3 whole cans of the little fishies, but that would have made enough to feed me for all 21 days of this elimination challenge, and I sure as hell do not want to be eating sardines forever, so no. It is also very clear to not break the sardines. Ooops.

I took a lot of liberties with the recipe. Like omitting the squash, swapping out scallions for green garlic (right now is the time to do it!), adding way more curry powder than called for (it's yummy), and generally turning it into a soup. In fact, that's what I'm calling it: Tomato Sardine Soup.

But it was edible. And made 2 servings worth, so I got to repeat the whole experience again at lunch the next day. Lucky me.

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Tomato Sardine Soup

Adapted from Curried Sardines 

Ingredients
1 can sardines (packed in water or oil or tomato sauce)
1 tablespoon olive oil (or use the oil from the can, if using oil-packed fish)
1 roasted red pepper, chopped
1 sweet red onion, chopped
3 stalks of green garlic, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 15-oz can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon curry powder (more to taste)
Fresh thyme

Instructions

1. In medium saucepan heat the oil and sauté the vegetables until the onions are translucent. Do not let the garlic burn. Remove from pan and set aside.

2. Add tomato sauce and sardines to the same saucepan. Smash up the fish to hide them from your eyes. Let simmer a few minutes until fish are heated through. 
3. Return vegetables back to the saucepan. Add the curry powder. Throw in some more, it won't hurt you. Simmer again for 5-8 minutes.

4. Serve in a warm bowl. Sprinkle some thyme in for added flavor and pretty color.

Yield: 2 servings

Greek Lemon Soup

I found this great recipe for Greek avgolemono soup via The Smithsonian's food blog, Food & Write. Avgolemono refers to sauces and soups made with lemon, egg, and broth, and popular in the Mediterranean.

Even though there were a bunch of steps (you have to make broth—so time-consuming!), there are easy ways to cheat. Which means I probably cheated myself out of some richness, but I was both hungry and curious, and hungry won out.

I simply simmered a chicken thigh (not a whole chicken) as suggested by the recipe, instead of putting it in the crockpot for hours. Day old rice is also good to have, which cuts out about half an hour of cooking right there! But the real intrigue lay in the egg foam.

The recipe calls for the eggs to be separated, beaten, then brought back together with some lemon juice. Which means the eggs remain raw. Though I'm guessing the lemon juice "cooks" the eggs much like it would in ceviche. Rest assured there were no ill effects from consuming said egg foam.

Plus, it was really pretty floating on top of the plate. Foamy!

The recipe I borrowed comes with a sweet story by writer Christie Zgourides. She first made this for her boyfriend's birthday (he later became her husband) and the rest is history.

My soup was lacking something, and it wasn't merely all the cheating I did. I'm used to a bit more bite in my food, and I was tempted to put spices in this. Maybe it just needed more salt...I'm not sure. I'm going to revisit it one day. Maybe add the harissa I finally procured. Mmm.

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Greek Lemon Soup

by Christie Zgourides 

Adapted from Food & Write

Ingredients
1 bone-in chicken thigh

Salt, pepper

1 tablespoons butter

1 celery ribs, chopped

1 cup rice (may be made a day ahead)

1 egg, separated

1 large lemon, juiced

Instructions

1. Place chicken in a Dutch oven with salt, pepper, butter, celery, and water to cover. Simmer for an hour or two. Remove chicken, strain broth, use same day. (Recipe author note: This short-cut method is good, but broth is not as rich and will have more fat.)

2. Cool. Remove chicken. Drain. Pour drained broth back into slow cooker. Let stand overnight in refrigerator. Skim off fat next day. Strain broth. This process should make about 2-3 cups of broth. [G+F note: cool the broth, then put in the freezer for about 30 minutes. The fat will freeze but the broth will still be liquid at this point, allowing for quick skimming.]

3. Cook rice. Bring broth to a low boil in a heavy Dutch oven. [G+F note: if using day-old rice, simply throw it in the broth to warm up.]

4. While broth is heating, beat egg whites stiff in a small bowl.

5. In a separate, larger bowl, beat the egg yolks till foamy.

6. Add lemon juice to egg yolks and beat until mixed. Add rice to broth (if you didn't use the G+F tip above...)

7. Combine stiff egg whites with yolks. Mix together slowly, using the low setting on mixer.

8. Add some hot broth to the egg mixture (to prevent curdling) and continue beating slowing

9. Add mixture to broth and rice mixture, and barely stir into soup. There should be foam on top of the soup.

10. Remove from heat and serve with crackers, de-boned chicken, and Greek salad.

Yield: 2-3 cups

I liked the foam just resting on top of the soup. Add the shredded chicken to the soup, and enjoy.

Carrot Soup

I needed an excuse to use my immersion blender (a birthday present) and to eat the baby carrots in the fridge. And that's when I found this Carrot & Ginger Soup recipe.

There was no messing around with the recipe except for the usual shallots-for-onions switch and I halved the recipe almost straight down the middle. That's what follows.

Carrot Soup

3 tbsp. (about 1/3 stick) unsalted butter
1 shallot, chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped ginger root
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup dry white wine
3/4 pound baby carrots
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (or more to taste)
Pinch curry powder
Salt & ground pepper (to taste)
Snipped fresh chives or parsley

1. Melt butter in large stock pot over medium heat. Add onion, ginger and garlic; saute until translucent (just before the garlic starts to brown).

2. Add the stock, wine and carrots. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered over medium heat until the carrots are very tender, about 30-45 minutes.

3. Puree the soup in a blender or processor (fitted with steel blade). Season with lemon juice, curry powder, salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with chives or parsley. Serve hot or cold.

Yields about 8-10 servings

Something was lacking in the recipe. I ended up throwing in a few dashes of sriracha and that seemed to resolve it.

Mushroom Soup

The menu for Day 2 of Operation No Carbs included mushroom soup for lunch. I pulled this together from 2 different recipes without even realizing it. Apparently I didn't go back to the original, but found a new one, when it came time to cook. (It's the Atkins website's fault. They have 2 different recipes depending on where you're looking. And you can't even link to one!)

Regardless, it was good enough. And perfect for this chilly day. It looks beautiful outside, but there's a strong, cold wind. Hopefully the roof doesn't blow off.

The original recipe(s) called for dried thyme. All my thyme is still in the herb garden, but I did have dried basil on hand. That was a really yummy substitution. I also don't care for super creamy soups, so I left out the heavy cream. For a recipe of this size, you could use about a half a cup, if you're so inclined.

Mushroom Soup (yields about 3 servings)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium shallot, coarsely chopped
1 carton (about 5.5 oz) of button mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon dried basil
14 ounces lower sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 teaspoon Adobo (to taste)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (optional)

1. Heat oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add shallots, mushrooms and thyme. Cook 10 minutes, until mushroom pieces are lightly browned.

2. Add chicken broth and water. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes. 

3. Puree (in batches if necessary) in a blender. Return soup to pot; add Adobo to taste. Stir in lemon juice (if using) before serving.