soup

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Butternut Apple Soup

September 22, 2011 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 7 comments

I folded this week. On a gray, dreary Tuesday, I headed into town for a meeting (another new project, yay!), and on my way back to my home office, got soaked by a chilly September rain. I knew then that I would have to admit that my beloved summer would be coming to an end. And I realized the 15 different types of tea I have stocked up will come in handy. I also knew I needed soup that day.

Enter the joys of a well-stocked house. I pulled out a bag of frozen butternut squash to thaw.

I also grabbed an apple (thanks, Mom!), a can of coconut milk, and a a piece of onion.

To make the soup, I started by cooking down the onions in some olive oil in my beautiful Le Creuset French oven. I can’t believe it will be a year old soon!

To the onions I added the diced apple, butternut squash, a shake of garlic powder and about a teaspoon of curry powder.

And some homemade turkey stock, the rich, flavorful result of my mom’s weekend turkey dinner. I love making homemade stock, and I am freezing much of this for my winter cooking and as a cure for those inevitable illnesses. This recipe could easily be made vegan by using veggie stock or water in place of the turkey stock, but I did love that extra bit of flavor.

To finish the soup, I used both my immersion blender and food processor. I was in the mood for a creamy soup, and the coconut milk definitely made it so. A few shakes of crushed red pepper, and we were good to go!

This soup would have been really great with some crème fraiche as well. It was the perfect combo of sweet and spicy, and it was definitely a good way to ease into fall. I am still expecting a few sunny boat days before it gets too cold though. Don’t let me down, Mother Nature.

Technorati Tags: butternut squash, coconut milk, Food, soup

Tags: butternut squash, coconut milk, Food, soup

Watermelon Gazpacho

August 24, 2011 in Food by traveleatlove | 14 comments

The dog days of summer, or something like that? As we traveled around Boston via the water on Saturday and early Sunday, the humidity and heat made me crave cold food, watermelon, tomatoes, gazpacho, and sandwiches, anything but heat. Sunday’s rain made it cool off considerably, but I was still in the mood for cold soup. That’s because for many weeks, I had been looking forward to Chef Robin White’s virtual dining event, Cold Soup Week.

In addition to being one of the lucky, in-person attendees at her Venge Wine Dinner, I also participated in Robin’s Soup Week last fall and had fun cooking and tweeting, and once I saw the recipes for Cold Soup Week, I knew I had to fit it in.

The soup I made was a variation on the Grilled Watermelon Soup with Feta Garnish. I fully intended on grilling my watermelon, but I just forgot.

I started with a juicy, sweet organic watermelon. Look how cute it is!

I gathered my other gazpacho ingredients, including a red pepper, ginger, small sweet onion, lemon, jalapeno, English cucumber (not pictured), and honey.

I prepped all of the ingredients, peeling the ginger, juicing the lemon, and breaking down the watermelon, a task that I really dislike doing! The juicier the watermelon, the better, except when you are cutting and getting it everywhere. Or is that just me?

To make the gazpacho, I pureed the firmer ingredients first, then added them to chunks of sweet watermelon mixed with a bit of pineapple juice in the blender. Once the soup was smooth enough, I put it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to enjoy when it was perfectly chilled.

Adding a crumbled feta garnish was the perfect topping; if you’ve ever had watermelon feta salad, you know what I mean.

The flavors in this soup were bold, and each bite was a nice surprise, sweet, spicy (I may have added extra jalapeno!), juicy, and then salty with the feta. It is a great, summery option and would be perfect in place of regular gazpacho, especially for someone who doesn’t like tomatoes.

Thanks to Robin for hosting Cold Soup Week. I can’t wait to see what her next virtual event is!

Technorati Tags: cold soup, Cold Soup Week, gazpacho, soup, watermelon

Tags: cold soup, Cold Soup Week, gazpacho, soup, watermelon

Easiest Black Bean Soup

July 16, 2011 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 4 comments

Our dinner at Temazcal had me thinking of one thing I wished I had tried, their black bean soup. Being that we were there on a 90 degree day and were stuck in a sweaty crowd for half the time, I opted not to get a piping hot bowl. But a few days later, when the weather cooled down and became complete weather perfection, I decided to go for it.

My own version of black bean soup was incredibly simple. I started by chopping half a white onion and a jalapeno.

I added those to a bit of oil and got them cooking while I added garlic powder, chili powder, and cumin.

Then I added in my black beans, liquid and all and simmered it all together, grabbing my immersion blender and blending the ingredients for a smoother soup.

I let it simmer a bit more while I prepped the most important part, my toppings.

I gathered shredded Mexican cheese, chopped jalapenos, Greek yogurt, chopped onion, and cilantro.

And when my bowl was ready, I went to town on the toppings. All of the additions made for a contrast with the hot, velvety soup. I added a bit of the yogurt after the photo was taken; I really love Greek yogurt over sour cream.

This was another easy meal that made for great next day leftovers, served for lunch over Trader Joe’s grains blend.

Do you eat hot soup in the summer?

I also really enjoy cold soup, and just in time for the dog days of summer, my friend Chef Robin White is having a virtual cold soup party this August. I’ll be whipping up some of the recipes and sharing the experience here. Join in if you like!

Technorati Tags: Food, recipe, soup, Vegetarian