The craving hit for broccoli-cheese soup and I wanted one without the dairy and the calories and fat it brings. Originally I was going to make my favorite go-to vegan cheese sauce from Chloe's Kitchen by Chloe Coscarelli and stir it into a creamy broccoli soup, but when I went to look it up, I found she had a recipe for Cheesy Broccoli Soup in Sourdough Bread Bowls. Since it was easier and faster than making a separate sauce, I gave it a try--adding a red bell pepper for some holiday color. I didn't have bread bowls but served with some hunks of baguette, it was a satisfying dinner. My changes are in red below.
Chloe says, "This soup has a smooth cheesy base with hearty chunks of tender broccoli. I always turn to this soup when I am in need of a cozy comfort food. This dish is perfect for rainy day blues."
Cheezy Broccoli Soup
Adapted From Chloe's Kitchen, Chloe Coscarelli
(Serves 6)
2 Tbsp olive oil (I used 1 Tbsp)
1 onion, chopped
(I added 1 red bell pepper, chopped)
sea salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups vegetable broth (I used low-sodium)
2 cups soy, almond or rice milk (I used an unsweetened almond-coconut blend)
1 bunch broccoli, florets cut, stems trimmed, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
2 tsp lemon juice
freshly ground black pepper
In a large soup pot, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat, and saute onion and red pepper until soft. Season generously with salt, add garlic and let cook a few more minutes.
Add broth, non-dairy milk, and broccoli. Bring to a simmer, cover, reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for 20 minutes until broccoli is tender.
Spoon out a small amount of broccoli florets and red pepper pieces and reserve. In batches, transfer the remaining soup to a blender and puree. Return pureed soup to the pot and add the reserved broccoli florets and red pepper. Over low heat, stir in nutritional yeast until incorporated. Add lemon juice and season to taste with salt and black pepper. Mix well.
Ladle into bowls and garnish with additional red pepper if desired. Enjoy!
Notes/Results: I love a soup that tastes decadent but really is a healthy choice. This one has that creamy, cheesy taste and texture but is low-fat and cholesterol free. The nutritional yeast adds vitamins--along with the red pepper and broccoli. It's not quite the gooey, cheese-filled bowl you may have had but it makes a great substitution, totally filling the craving. I would make this again.
Just a couple of friends visiting the Souper Sundays kitchen this week with one soup and one salad to share--let's take a look.
Pam from Sidewalk Shoes made Rich Barley Beef Soup and says, "One of my favorite combinations for soup is beef and barley, so when I saw Rich Beef Barley Soup in Barefoot Contessa, How Easy Is That?: Fabulous Recipes & Easy Tips
I
knew I wanted to try it. I was intrigued by the two cups of leeks,
that seemed like a lot, and I don’t recall making a version like that.It
was yummy! Unfortunately I couldn’t find oxtails, so I used a chuck
with some bone. And again, I just tossed everything in the slow cooker,
except for the barley, and set it on low for 8 hours. I cooked the
barley separate and added it to the soup about 30 minutes before
serving."
Janet of The Taste Space made this green and gorgeous Herby Peanutty Noodly Salad and says, "Herby, peanutty noodly salad. I couldn’t even make up a name as fun as this (Rob probably could but he didn’t).
Pick your favourite herbs and toss them in this lime-spiked dressing.
Coat noodles of your choice and add in some green vegetables like snow
peas, snap peas or even broccoli. Toss with some (toasted) peanuts for
some crunch and fats. Not as decadent as the meals this weekend, but I
am ok with that."
Many thanks to Pam and Janet for joining in this week. If you have a soup, salad, or sandwich that you would like to share, just click on the Souper Sundays logo for all of the details.
Have a happy healthy holiday week!
Lentils are a staple in my house. They are budget-friendly, warming to the body and soul, and, provide a satisfying alternative to eating meat. This lentil dal recipe uses common green/brown lentils and adds flavor with fresh cilantro, mint and ground coriander and dried chiles. Simple and full of flavor.
Jaffrey says, "For speed, I use a pressure cooker, although you could cook the lentils in any ordinary saucepan for 50 to 60 minutes. You would need to increase the water by 1 1/4 cups. If you can't get fresh mint, use more cilantro."
Whole Green Lentils with Cilantro and Mint (Sabul Peeli Massoor)
Madhur Jaffrey's uick & Easy Indian Cooking
(Serves 4)
3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil (I used 1 Tbsp)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp black or yellow mustard seeds
pinch of ground asafetida (optional)
1-3 dried hot red chiles
1 small onion (4 oz), peeled and cut into fine half rings
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 medium-sized tomato, chopped
1 cup whole green lentils
3/4 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint.
Put the oil in a pressure cooker and set over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, put in the cumin and mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds begin to pop (this takes just a few seconds), put in the asafetida and the red chiles. Stir once. Put in the onion, garlic, and tomato. Stir for about 2 minutes or until the onion browns a bit.
Now put in the lentils, 3 1/2 cups water, salt, ground coriander, cilantro, and mint. Stir and bring to a simmer. Cover, turn the heat to high, and bring up to pressure. Turn the heat down to low and cook at full pressure for 15 minutes. Take off the heat and reduce the pressure with cool water poured onto the lid.
Stir and serve.
Notes/Results: Good flavor and mild heat. The cilantro and mint add fresh herbal notes. This is pure, basic comfort food--especially when served with a good Indian bread like paratha. I have a pressure cooker but I just did these in a pot of the stove rather than dragging it out as I had a late lunch and wasn't in a hurry. I added the extra water as directed and put the mint and cilantro in towards the end. I would make this again.
We are cooking Foods To Warm You Up over at I Heart Cooking Clubs. You can check out the snuggly dishes people made by following the post links.
Aloha,
The January 2013 issue of Real Simple magazine had "10 Ideas for Soup" in their Quick Takes column. The picture of tomato soup with croutons and big shavings of Parmesan cheese on top caught my eye right off. (I am a sucker for good garnishing!) I changed up their recipe sketch a good bit, adding extra ingredients like fennel, garlic and dried basil, and added some bread to the soup base to make it even thicker. A great festive soup for an easy holiday lunch or dinner.
Tomato-Fennel Soup with Parmesan and Croutons
Inspired by Real Simple, January 2013
(Serves 4)
1 Tbsp olive oil (+ more for croutons)
1 large onion, chopped
1 bulb fennel, chopped, reserve come of the fronds
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 (28 oz) can whole peeled Italian tomatoes
4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
2 Tbsp tomato paste
6 thick slices of good bread, divided
salt and black pepper to taste
shaved Parmesan cheese to garnish
Heat oil in a soup or stock pot over medium heat. Add onions and fennel and cook, stirring occasionally about 5 minutes--until softened. Add garlic, oregano and basil, and cook another 2 minutes.
Meanwhile
cube the slices of thickly cut bread. Take out about 1 cup and set aside. Toss remaining cubes with olive oil and
dried Italian spices if desired. Either bake at 350 degrees for about 25
minutes, turning once or brown in a large pan on the stove until
brown and crispy.
To the soup pot, add tomatoes with their juices, vegetable broth, tomato paste and about one cup of the bread cubes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let soup simmer for 20 minutes. Puree using an immersion blender or carefully in a blender in small batches. Taste for seasoning.
Pour in pureed soup bowls and top with 1/4 of the breadcrumbs, several large Parmesan shavings and a little chopped fennel frond. Enjoy!
Notes/Results: Excellent! This soup has great flavor and the bites with crouton and Parmesan are so good. The fennel isn't pronounced--it just adds another layer of flavor to the bowl. Two recommendations I would make--buy great canned tomatoes--a good Italian brand is nice, and make your own croutons so they are fresh and crispy rather than hard/dry. I used a roasted garlic bread, baked locally that was perfect. This soup goes together quickly and easily in about 30 minutes total--making it great and satisfying with a salad on a busy day. I will make it again.
Let's check out the Souper Sundays kitchen for a few good friends and their fabulous recipes.
Elizabeth of The Law Student's Cookbook made this spicy Jalapeno-Ginger Butternut Soup. She says, "I love butternut squash. I love soup. The combination of the two is the perfect blend. This soup is perfect. I had it with some garlic bread that I had in the
freezer. It was the perfect meal for a cold night. Apparently I forgot
to add the water from the original recipe in, so my soup was definitely
thicker than it would have been. While it may have made it last longer
to have added the water, I liked the consistency a lot the way it was."
Tigerfish of Teczcape - An Escape to Food is here with a creamy Coconut Curry Pumpkin Soup and says, "It usually happens during the fall/winter season, cooking a soup themed around pumpkin/squash... The urge towards pumpkin soup gets stronger when a good quality can of pumpkin puree (Farmers Market Organic Pumpkin
)
is so easily available. And not that I want to exclaim in such a
cheapskate manner...oh well, and when that can of pumpkin comes so
cheap! For just a dollar!"
Joanne of Eats Well With Others has two entries--a soup this week and a sandwich down below. The soup is a hearty Indian-Spiced Roasted Squash Soup. Joanne says, "Butternut squash soup that is so pumpkin pie spice- and brown
sugar-infused that you're fairly certain you should top it with whipped
cream and a dusting of graham cracker crumbs and call it "after dinner
snack number one". Not that that sounds bad, but truth be told...I'd rather just have pie. I much prefer my squash soups to be unmistakably savory, with layers of
heat and spice, and a dollop of a little something with a hint of sweet
on top. That being said, this curry-infused version is pretty much the perfect
catch. Dare I say, if I found myself under the mistletoe with a bowl
of it...I might even throw all propriety out the window and lick the
damn thing clean."
Janet of The Taste Space has our only salad this week, her Baby Quinoa (Kaniwa) Bowl with Cranberry Jicama Salsa and Sweet Squash Puree. About baby quinoa, Janet says, "Due to its small nature, the texture is quite different. It reminded me
of the pebbly nature of amaranth without its gluey consistency. I ended
up tossing it in a festive bowl with a simple cranberry jicama salsa and
a chili-spiked butternut squash gravy/sauce. The seemingly odd
combination of ingredients worked really well… and awfully pretty, too, I
may add."
And one very luscious sandwich this week from Joanne at Eats Well With Others, this Apple, Leek and Gruyere Grilled Cheese. Joanne says, "Grilled cheese. Is. Timeless. I love it stuffed with American cheese and tomatoes (classic). I love it stuffed with straight up cheddar (also classic). AND
I love this more adult version that I've created, which is stuffed with
caramelized leeks, apples and gruyere. The leeks become almost buttery
in the way of caramelized onions, which is complimented perfectly by the
tart apples and the nutty melty heavenly cheese."
Thanks to everyone who joined in this week. If you have a soup, salad or sandwich that you would like to share, just click on the Souper Sundays logo on my side bar for all of the details.
Have a happy, healthy week!
This Rice with Peas and Dill dish reminds me a little of the Persian rice, lima beans, and dill called baghali polo. My first roommate and I used to have occasionally have dinner at her aunt and uncle's house. Her uncle is Iranian, and used to make a delicious baghali polo with big chunks of chicken. He would often send a container-full home with us with plenty of tahdig--the crispy layer of rice that develops at the bottom of the pot while it cooks. I am not ashamed to admit that my roommate didn't get very much of it--I would devour every bite that I could.
Although different with the cardamom, cloves and garam masala instead of saffron, and peas instead of lima beans, it was still delicious and brought back some good memories. I served mine with some herb-roasted salmon, and, with plenty of leftovers I see some Indian-flavored fried rice in my future this weekend.
Jaffrey says, "This dish is just as good for the family as it is for dinner guests."
Rice with Peas and Dill (Matar Aur Sooay Ka Pullao)
Madhur Jaffrey's Quick & Easy Indian Kitchen
(Serves 5-6)
2 cups basmati rice
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 whole cloves
4 cardamom pods
1 small onion (4 oz), peeled and cut into half rings
1 or 2 tsp salt, adjust if using unsalted stock or water
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh dill or 1 1/2 tablespoons dried dill
2 3/4 cups chicken or veggie broth or water
1 cup shelled fresh or frozen peas, cooked for 2 minutes in boiling water
Put the rice in a bowl and wash well in several changes of water. Drain and leave in a strainer set over a bowl.
Put the oil in a heavy saucepan and set over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, put in the cloves and cardamom pods. Stir for a few seconds. Put in the onion. Stir until the onion is brown. Put in the rice, 1 teaspoon salt, garam masala, and dill. Stir for a minute. Now put in the stock and a second teaspoon of salt if needed, and bring to a boil. Cover very tightly, turn the heat to very, very low, and cook for 20 minutes. Put in the peas. Cook for another 5 to 7 minutes. Stir gently before serving.
Notes/Results: Simple and really good. I kept the recipe mostly the same, just using veggie broth in place of chicken and reducing the oil by about half. I missed the "cut into half rings" on the onion and ended up chopping them. Whoops. The flavors in this are good and nothing overpowers so it can be served with lots of different dishes. Even with the full 1/4 of dill, I might have liked a bit more, and will add extra next time. There was a nice layer of crispy rice tahdig at the bottom of the cooking pot--the best part in my book. ;-) I would make this again.
It's Rice is Nice week at I Heart Cooking Clubs. You can check out the Madhur Jaffrey rice dishes everyone made by going to the post and following the links.
With my last two soups being on the "fancier" side (Curried Shrimp Bisque and Saffron-Flavored Garlic Soup with Potatoes), I was craving something simple, brothy and full of beans and veggies. A thrown together version of Pasta e Fagioli fit the bill. I had a bunch of leftover herbs to use up, but if you didn't, you could easily used dried, substituting in your favorites.
Sometimes I like to cook the spinach in the soup, other times I like it just wilted so I put chopped spinach in the soup bowl and let it "cook" with the hot soup ladled in. I think it looks festive--like a little holiday wreath this way. ;-)
Herby Bean & Pasta Soup (Pasta e Fagioli) with Spinach
by Deb, Kahakai Kitchen
(Makes 6 Servings)
1 Tbsp olive or canola oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 large carrot, diced
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped finely or 1 1/2 tsp dried
1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped finely or 1 1/2 tsp dried
1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped finely or or 1 1/2 tsp dried
3 Tbsp sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
2 (15 oz) cans beans of choice, drained and rinsed (I used cannellini & kidney)
2 cups cooked small pasta like macaroni or ditalini
salt and black pepper to taste
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
2 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped (optional)
4 cups fresh baby spinach, chopped thinly
freshly-grated Parmesan cheese and additional basil to garnish (optional)
Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat, then add onion, celery, carrot and garlic. Stir and cook until starting to soften--about 5 minutes. Add rosemary, parsley, thyme and sun-dried tomatoes and cook another 2 to 3 minutes. Add broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes. Add beans and cook another 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in cooked pasta and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add a pinch of crushed red pepper (if using) and stir in basil.
To serve, place about 3/4 cup of chopped baby spinach in each soup bowl. (Shallow bowls work best.) Spoon in hot soup onto spinach and top with freshly-grated Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
Notes/Results: The herbs give this relatively quick to make soup great flavor combined with the veggies and pieces of sun-dried tomatoes. Rosemary and thyme love to be paired with beans. This is a basic soup--great for interpreting your way with your favorite ingredients, and it makes a wonderful warm and hearty nutritious dinner. I would make it again.
We have some satisfying soups waiting in the Souper Sunday kitchen--let's take a look.
Nicola of Lemon and Cheese is back at Souper Sundays this week with a tasty and satisfying Portuguese Kale and Bean Soup and says, "This soup was awesome, it is such a comforting dish and it has lovely kale which makes it feel nice and healthy too."
Tigerfish of Teczcape - An Escape to Food offers up a creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup and says, "Here comes the intensely woodsy Portobello Mushroom Soup with the
soup base started off with sauteed onions and mushrooms till onions are
translucent and lightly caramelized (meaning...sweet!) and when
mushrooms are tender-soft."
Joanne of Eats Well With Others made a hearty Tuscan Bean and Wheatberry Soup with Cabbage and Winter Squash as a cure for stress ;-) and says, "At least not until my nerves feel slightly less frayed, my post {office}
traumatic stress disorder has resolved, and enough bowls of this soup
(which tastes like good, old-fashioned comfort) have been consumed that I
can believe again that there is some good in everyone."
Finally Janet of The Taste Space has a soup and a salad to share this week. First, her soupish Red Lentil and Spinach Curry (Vegan Tikka Masala) and says, "I made my own curry paste with toasted cumin and coriander seeds and
combined it with ginger, cilantro, smoked paprika and garam masala.
Tomato paste and pureed tomatoes made this a bit more complex and the
cashew butter a more luscious body. Red lentils cook down into a mush
and the spinach added a healthy bulk. A nice, solid curry."
Janet's salad is this pretty Hazelnut-Roasted Delicata Squash with Winter Hazelnut-Sage Pesto over spinach. She says, "You actually don’t need cups of sage to make this pesto. Instead sage is
buffered with mild baby spinach to create a garlicky spread. Instead of
pine nuts, I used toasted hazelnuts and hazelnut oil to flavour this
winter pesto. The nutritional yeast adds the traditional cheesy taste
but feel free to omit it. I chose to serve it with hazelnut-roasted
delicata squash rings. Served on more greens, you have a very flavourful
salad."
Thanks to everyone who joined in this week. If you have a soup, salad or sandwich that you would like to share, just click on the Souper Sundays logo on the side bar and you'll find all the details.
Have a happy, healthy week!
Well this is embarrassing. The busier I am, the more my short attention span kicks into play and the more my attention to detail goes away. Case in point, this Indian Rice Pudding with Cardamom and Pistachios from Madhur Jaffrey was simmering away for 30 minutes on the stove, scenting the kitchen with a delicious aroma before I realized I made an error. When I skimmed the recipe to make sure I had all of the ingredients, I had it in my head that it was one cup of rice to 5 cups of milk (or in my case coconut milk), which seems logical in the grand scheme of rice pudding making. Wrong! It was one tablespoon of rice. Apparently, this pudding is supposed to be more about the boiled down milk than the rice. Whoops! ;-) No matter... it ended up working fine and was a fun variation on a classic.
My changes to the recipe are in red below.
Jaffrey says, "This is my mother's recipe for kheer, which she set in shallow half-baked earthware bowls called shakoras. As a result it picked up the delicious fragrance of freshly moistened earth. You could serve your kheer in individual custard bowls or, if you prefer, in one shallow serving bowl."
Indian Rice Pudding with Cardamom and Pistachios (Kheer)
Madhur Jaffrey's Step-By-Step Cookbook
(Serves 4)
5 cups (I used coconut milk)
1 tablespoon long-grain rice (I used 1 cup {whoops!} basmati rice)
4 whole cardamom pods, bruised
(I added: 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp rose water)
2 Tbsp sugar (I used 1 1/2 Tbsp agave)
10 unsalted pistachio nuts, slivered
(1 added 1/3 cup dried apricots, chopped)
extra pistachio nuts to garnish
Combine the milk, rice, and and cardamom pods in a heavy-based pan or cooking pot. Slowly bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer steadily until the milk is reduced to approximately 2 1/2 cups; this may take about 1 1/4 hours. Turn off the heat.
Remove and discard the cardamom pods. Add the sugar and pistachio nuts, stir well, then leave to cool.
Stir the kheer again. Pour into a serving bowl. Sprinkle a few more pistachio on top of the pudding to garnish. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes/Results: Creamy, not too sweet and colorful with the dried apricots and pistachio nuts. I liked the flavor of this rice pudding with the presence of the cardamom as well as the additions of the cinnamon, vanilla and rosewater. Texturally, I was hoping for more firmness--personally, I prefer the chewiness-factor that brown rice adds so next time I would try a brown basmati. Although with my rice miscalculation, it isn't how Jaffrey's mother made it, this is was still a tasty variation. Great for breakfast, it would also be a good ending for an Indian dinner. I would make it again.
It's Potluck week at IHCC, so stop by and check out what everyone made.
There are some books that I latch on to and savor, I am disappointed when they end and know that I will miss them so much that I will return to them again and again. Then there are books that while I like them fine, appreciate the craft of the writing and enjoy reading them, I don't have an emotional investment of any kind in them. That for me is Heartburn by the late, great Nora Ephron. A good book, well-written, humorous, but it just didn't grab me.
I have more experience with Ephron's film work than her books. Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally are two of my all-time favorite chick flicks and I thought she did an amazing job with her last film Julie & Julia. All three touched my heart. With Heartburn, I didn't relate to the characters in a deep way. The story is a fictionalized account of Ephron's own marriage (to Watergate-breaking journalist Carl Bernstein), about cookbook writer Rachel, who while pregnant with her second child, finds out her journalist husband is having an affair and is fact in love with another woman who was a mutual "friend." Ephron's wit and dark humor are out full-force. There is plenty of food which serves as both consolation to Rachel and to recount the story and the history of her relationship and marriage to Mark. The food engaged me more than the characters did and the descriptions and recipes were the most enjoyable part of the book. In the end, I am glad I was prompted to read Heartburn as our October/November Cook the Books selection. A favorite for me ... no, but still a worthwhile foodie read.
The recipes and how-to's woven in for things like four-minute eggs, key lime pie, pasta, and plenty of potatoes, make it ripe for foodie inspiration. I went back and forth with what to make and finally decided on a shrimp curry--something she makes her first night moving back in with Mark. I had in mind a sort of class-retro-Junior League-style-Americanized sort of curry as it seemed it would fit the mood of the book. A busy week not cooking dinners put off my curry plans and turned it into a Sunday soup--bisque to be exact.
I was looking for a slightly healthier bisque--not so dairy and fat laden and was intrigued by the butternut squash base of this recipe originally from Southern-living magazine. I changed it up a bit (shown below in red), replacing the butter with a smaller amount of Earth Balance, swapping the whipping cream with coconut milk-based creamer, and exchanging the canned chicken stock for homemade shrimp stock from the freezer. The result--still decadent and indulgent, is lower in saturated fat, and the marriage of shrimp and butternut with the curry, is much stronger and better than that of Mark and Rachel. ;-)
Curried Shrimp and Butternut Squash Bisque
Southern Living Magazine from MyRecipes.com
(Yields about 6 Servings)
1 lb unpeeled, medium-size fresh shrimp (I used large)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter (I used 1.5 Tbsp Earth Balance)
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 (3 lb) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 (14.5-oz) cans chicken broth, divided (I used 1 quart of shrimp stock)
2 teaspoons curry powder (I used 2 1/2 tsp curry powder)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup whipping cream (I used 1 cup coconut milk creamer--unsweetened)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
garnishes: whipping cream, paprika (I used cooked shrimp and smoked paprika)
Peel shrimp, and de-vein, if desired. Set aside.
Melt butter in a 4-quart heavy saucepan over medium-high heat; add
onion, and sauté 7 to 8 minutes or until tender. Reduce heat to medium;
add squash, and cook, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes or until tender.
Add 1 can broth, shrimp, curry, and thyme, and cook 2 to 3 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink. Let cool slightly. (I added everything but the shrimp and cooked together for about 10 minutes, then added shrimp and cooked until pink)
Process mixture in a blender or food processor until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides.
Return mixture to saucepan; add remaining broth, and bring to a boil.
Stir in 1 cup whipping cream, salt, and pepper; reduce heat to low, and
simmer 5 minutes. Garnish, if desired.
Notes/Results: I really liked this soup. I thought that the squash and curry would overpower the shrimp but the flavor comes through and it is a nice blend of sweet and lightly spicy. (I owe much of the shrimp flavor to the stock from leftover shrimp peels I had sitting in the freezer--I recommend it over chicken stock.) I did cook the onions and squash in the broth, along with the curry and thyme for about 10 minutes before adding the raw shrimp--to make sure they were soft enough and to add more flavor. This is an elegant starter soup--not too heavy on the curry but full of flavor. I would make it again.
Our host for this CTB round is Simona of briciole and the deadline is Monday, December 3rd. If you love foodie books, consider joining us for our December/January pick: The Hunger Games hosted by Heather of girlichef (we are tying it into Food 'n Flix for some foodie book and movie fun)
Now let's take a look into the Souper Sundays kitchen and see who is here.
Judee of Gluten Free A-Z Blog has an Indian Spiced Tomato Soup to share and says, "Do you love a flavorful, yet easy to make soup? It is slightly spicy, has protein rich lentils , and is made with
real food, yet is easy to make. The recipe boasts fresh tomatoes (although you can you canned in the winter if you must) , immune
protecting onions and garlic, metabolism raising chile peppers, and
fresh green cilantro. The addition of curry or turmeric and cumin add
the extra kick of immune building spices. This soup is gluten free, dairy free, nut free, and egg free.
It's protein comes from lentils. Great for adults and kids who are
adventurous eaters!"
Join me in welcoming Nicola of Lemon and Cheese, making her first appearance at Souper Sundays all the way from London and with this creamy Carrot Soup with Dill and Mustard. She says, "I made this soup last weekend for the friends who helped me destroy the
wardrobe. I served it with ham sandwiches and it seemed to go down well.
I loved it anyway, it was nice to have a change from the more common
Carrot and Coriander Soup." Welcome Nicola!
Finally we have a soupish curry from Janet of The Taste Space, this Red Lentil Dal with Zucchini. Janet says, "I am a sucker for creamy red lentils and while it didn’t have the zip
that dal bhat delivers, it was a great curry. I find that most curries
are a bit too watery for my liking, especially if eaten fresh. So, I
have suggested starting with less water. You can always add more to thin
it out, but it is kind of a pain to boil that extra water away. It will
thicken a bit as leftovers as well. I also ended up using less oil,
salt and chili and adding more lime. Definitely season to taste, as I
probably could have added more heat with the chile flakes."
Thanks to Janet, Judee and Nicola for joining in this week. If you have a soup, salad or sandwich that you would like to share--just click on the Souper Sundays logo on the side bar for all of the details.
Have a happy, healthy week!
