soup

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Vibrant Vegetable Soup

January 25, 2013 in recipe by traveleatlove | 6 comments

When last week’s plan of healthy eating turned into dining out, events, and takeout every night, we were left with a fridge full of produce that we needed to eat in a short space of time. Smoothies and chips took care of the kale overload, but we had a bunch of other healthy ingredients to use up. With temps falling, soup seemed like the perfect idea, and in just a short amount of time, a vibrant veggie soup came together.

broccoli

The ingredients:

4 cups broccoli florets, roasted at 400 for 20 minutes

3 cups baby spinach

2 cups sweet peppers, roasted at 400 for 20 minutes

1 cup white onion, chopped and sautéed in olive oil until soft

4 large potatoes, boiled until soft

Coconut milk – enough to make it into a soupy consistency

handful fresh cilantro

pepper

spinach

So Delicious Coconut Milk

Once the veggies were roasted and the potatoes were cooked through, I added it all to my Ninja blender with some curry powder, garlic, cumin, and chili powder and pureed until nice and smooth.

potatoes and spices

I returned it all to the pot and simmered it on low until we were ready to eat.

creamy vegetable soup

We each had a big bowl topped with Greek yogurt to add some protein and creaminess to it. For being just a bunch of vegetables and a few other ingredients blended together, we both thought the soup tasted like something you’d find at a nice restaurant. It was a great green color, packed full of nutrients to keep us from getting sick, and an easy way to avoid wasting food, something I absolutely hate doing. I’m trying to be more careful with grocery shopping, only getting enough for what we need and also trying to stay home more. It’s not been too hard in this frigid weather!

It’s time to meal plan for yet another week; what do you have on your menu for next week?

Tags: broccoli, coconut milk, Food, healthy, peppers, potatoes, recipe, soup, spices, spinach, vegan, vegetables, Vegetarian

Greens and Beans Soup

October 4, 2012 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 7 comments

With the New York City Marathon officially one month away, I’m starting to hope that eating really well will be able to help make up for lack of training, even if ever so slightly. It works that way, right? Maybe if I believe it enough, it will be so.

We’ve been trying to eat less meat in general, and I’ve been trying to cook on the cheap, and since it feels like winter out, a simple soup came out of a few pantry ingredients along with some fresh additions.

onion

I started this soup by adding a chopped onion, a bunch of garlic, and a big bowl of beautiful kale to some olive oil in my treasured Le Creuset French oven which will soon be two years old. I love how kitchen memories sometimes spark life memories. Two years ago, I had quit my full time job, was really, really, sick, and was cooking up this delicious pork dish in my new cookware. It’s been quite the two years. . . and I having a really good memory is a blessing a curse.

Back to the soup!

kale

I let the kale cook down a little bit before adding a can of stewed tomatoes, using my vegetable scissors to chop the tomatoes into smaller pieces.

stewed tomatoes

I drained a can of white beans and added them in.

cannelini beans

Then I poured in enough veggie broth to cover everything.

vegetable stock

To season the soup, I added two heaping tablespoons of Pastene pesto. I am not generally a fan of jarred pesto; fresh pesto is SO good. But Pastene makes great products and I thought I would give this one a try. It’s quite good, especially on toast with olive oil, which we had alongside the soup. I am embracing my emerging carb monster!

Pastene pesto

I let the soup simmer for about 20 minutes, then turned the heat off until we were ready to eat. At that point all of the flavors had combined nicely, and the kale was perfectly soft but not mushy.

kale and white beans soup

The soup, along with pesto toast, made for a delicious and simple dinner. My favorite thing about a soup like this is how versatile it is. Add some chicken sausage, small pasta, rice, other veggies, really whatever you have on hand. Recipes like this make for great leftovers and take some of the thought out of lunches during the week.

Is it the weekend yet?

Tags: healthy, kale, recipe, soup, vegan, Vegetarian, white beans

Easy Veggie Soup

March 8, 2012 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 8 comments

More vegetables! I absolutely love blended, creamy soups, and despite the warm weather yesterday was craving something hot and comfy. A veggie soup was just the thing, light enough for the weather but a little bit comforting too. This “recipe” would work with all sorts of vegetables. I totally eyeballed it and used what I had in the house.

I started by thawing about two cups of frozen cauliflower.

frozen cauliflower

And cleaning and chopping eight large carrots. (There were more than just the carrots in this pic; I can count. Winking smile)

carrots

One large white onion, cut into thin slices, tossed with a glug of olive oil went into the pot. I set the onions cooking low and slow while I boiled some water and prepped my potatoes.

onion

I used four fairly large potatoes, skins and all, boiled until soft.

potatoes

When the potatoes were ready, I opened a can of cannellini beans, drained them, and tossed them into the pot which now contained the cauliflower, onion, oil, carrots, one jalapeno, and ground black pepper.

white beans

I poured in just enough chicken stock to cover the vegetables and let them all simmer until soft.

making soup

And then I got distracted by my open windows, warm breezes, and blasting music. I figured a dance party was more important than photographing dinner.

The rest of the process included pouring the contents of the pot into the blender and blending until smooth. It was a bit of a hassle and mess to pour it in to the blender, but I find I am often disappointed by my immersion blender. It just doesn’t do the trick.

The soup was delicious, smooth and velvety with flavor from the chicken stock and onions. It was definitely one of those dishes that required several bowls to be satisfying; something with it might have rounded out the meal a little better. I actually made frozen fries at 10:00 pm because I was still hungry. I was really dreaming about cheesy bread again though.

I guess this soup gets two thumbs up as an appetizer or a side. I would definitely make it again.

Has this lovely weather changed your food cravings yet? I for one can not wait for tomatoes, corn, strawberries, and watermelon, but I will be happy to get through asparagus, ramps, artichokes, and fiddleheads first.

Tags: Food, recipe, soup, vegetables

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