Soup's On

It's soup season at Sophie Junction and I have found a few new recipes to add to my collection of perennial favorites.  Here are eight from my list of go-to recipes for soups.

When I get into soup-making mode, I always start by pulling out the slow-cooker and making vegetarian stock. Having some delicious stock on hand is the first step to yummy soup. There is no doubt when you are cleaning/chopping these colorful veggies, that the result will be tasty, healthy goodness:

Diabetic Vegetarian Stock

The same day I make the stock, dinner will be a simple soup that uses it, based on what's in the fridge–it's usually French onion soup. This recipe is an easy one.

Carmelized Onion Soup

Lately I have tried two others that were made because of what was in the fridge–I love finding recipes with ingredient search–and they were both pretty good and worth making again (and again).

Curried Carrot Soup (photo from Allrecipes)

Cashew Cream Kale Soup

I've also been cooking a couple of old-favorites that I've blogged about before:

Spicy Tomato Lentil Soup

Eat the Rainbow Black Bean Soup (photo from Fatfree Vegan)

Ever since ordering some creamy, sweet butternut squash soup in a restaurant in Lansing, Michigan, I have been a fan ... and willing to try almost any butternut squash soup recipe that crosses my path ...

For Thanksgiving, I tried a new-to-me, slow-cooker recipe from a new-to-me foodie blog with a great funny name, Gimme Some Oven.  I was wary it might be too sweet because of the added apple, but the sweetness was balanced by the cayenne and other spices.

Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Soup (photo from Gimme Some Oven)

On Sunday, I mentioned my ingredient scavenger hunt as part of an afternoon of running errands–I was on the hunt looking for preserved lemon, dried apricots and fennel. I needed them for a recipe spotted on the New York Times, I wanted to try.

Moroccan Chick Peas with Chard (photo from NYT)

Even though I can now count how long it has been since I lived in the south of France in decades, I still remember how many of the cafes served Moroccan dishes as the plat du jour on Thursdays ... so,  although the combination of ingredients in this one was curious, I have to say, they had me at "Moroccan."

Sometimes, you just have to suspend disbelief and take a chance.  I'm glad I did exactly that with this interesting combination of ingredients and spices. It will be lunch for me a few times this week.

Do you love soup at this time of year as much as I do?  Please share YOUR go-to favorites in the comments ... because I DO love to find something new to sample and maybe add to my list.

Signs of the Season

Yesterday, I enjoyed my first pumpkin spice latte of the season ... along with a flip through the recently arrived AQ.

I make mine by adding a heaping tablespoon of pumpkin crack butter, made from the recipe that I blogged about a couple years ago, here.

I also woke up looking for my slippers, feeling like oatmeal for breakfast ... and wondering if it was time to turn up the thermostat and find out how well this new-to-me house is heated. (The previous tenant intimated, it wasn't so good.)

Last night, I craved soup for dinner.  I tried this recipe for Curried Carrot Soup.  It was very easy and pretty tasty.

The photo from allrecipes.com

I am thinking about pulling out one of my flannel quilts for the bed.

I'm also planning to pull out some yarn from my stash to knit some socks–it is Sock-tober, after all.

It definitely feels like Fall at Sophie Junction.

The Internet Made Me Do It

When Melody posted about making pissaladière–a south of France dish made with caramelized onions, anchovies and ripe olives on a thin, pizza like crust–I started getting nostalgic about the time I spent living in France and eating things like pissaladière and pizzas baked in wood-fired ovens.

Then I read Lori's post, with a review of the book, Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris by Sara Turnbull, and how the author married a Frenchman lived in France for 8 years, adopted many French customs, but never became French.  More nostalgia ensured and I thought about how my own life in France was a long time ago and only lasted three years, but has had a lasting effect on me.

Over the weekend, Kate shared something new for dinner, a spinach, egg and pecorino pizza ... which got me thinking about my favorite pizza when I lived in France. It had a thin crust and was topped with a tomato sauce, lardons (a style of bacon), eggplant and an egg.  For lunch today, my pizza had these, along with some mushrooms.

My pizza crust wasn't as thin, but had a nice crisp bottom (thanks to the cast iron pizza pan) and my pizza was piled high with the veggies in a very UN-French way, and I don't actually remember whether there was cheese on top way back when and next time I'll try it without,  but all the flavors from my memory was there and it was a nice culinary trip down memory lane.

The only thing missing was the pili-pili–an oil infused with chile peppers and herbs.  In Provence, where there's pizza, there's pili-pili in a bottle, sitting on the tables, to be drizzled on top of the pizza.  I had completely forgot about it until my pizza was sliced and on a plate and I realized it was missing. I'm going to try making some–this recipe from the New York Times looks like the stuff I remember–for the next time the Internet makes me nostalgic for my favorite French pizza.

What Can't Go on a Pizza?

Last weekend, I felt like pizza, but didn't want to go out in the cold rain.  I had ingredients in the pantry for making crust, but none of the usual toppings–I really need to shop for groceries soon.

That's how this very green pizza happened.

It has pesto, a couple of mushrooms and lots of sliced up Brussels sprouts and green onions.  I had just starting to grate some Parmesan cheese on top before I popped it in the over when I took this photo.  I confess that I was so hungry when it came out again, that I gobbled it up, sans photo.

I didn't know if it was even going to turn out to be edible, but it was surprisingly OK.  It got me thinking about other unexpected things one might put on a pizza.   Any suggestions?

Viva Las Vegas!

Yesterday, I travelled to Las Vegas. No. Not that one.

This one. Las Vegas, NEW MEXICO.

Neither of these images are mine. The bottom one is a painting of Las Vegas, New Mexico by David Lee Thompson.

I arrived too late to take photos of the historic plaza.  But early enough for the meeting of the Chicken River Modern Quilt Guild to do a little shopping at ThreadBare–a sweet fabric and yarn store where the meetings are held.

We enjoyed a tasty potluck and chat.  It's been a while since I have been face-to-face with quilters and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone (and probably talked too much ...)

Round robin projects were rotated and, of course, as whenever quilters meet, there was some show and tell.  This is Lin's quilt, made from a set of randomly pieced squares.  I was awed by those perfectly straight and square stripes.

It wasn't sure what food to bring to a group of people I have never met.  

I decided to make something vegan, gluten and corn-free to avoid as many food allergies/aversions as possible.  The trip was more than an hour, so something cold seemed to make sense.

Even though tomatoes in January aren't always wonderful, I've been craving them, so I made Moroccan Lentil Salad.  This recipe is a little like stone soup because although there are lentils in there, there's so much more of everything else: hot and sweet green peppers, red and yellow peppers, green onions, chickpeas, cilantro and tomatoes–I halved a handful of cherry tomatoes and while they didn't taste like the fresh, ripe tomatoes of summer, they were OK. 

I Love Breakfast

I have always loved breakfast, brunch and breakfast for dinner.

Over the years, though, my eating habits have changed.  I rarely eat "meat with feet" any more and almost a year ago, after reading some research, I (mostly) gave up gluten to see if it would have a positive impact on the pain in my arthritic knees.  (It did.)

So my ideas about breakfast have changed as well.  This is one of my current favorites: Polenta, Fried Eggs, Greens and Blistered Tomatoes.  The recipe is from the Williams Sonoma website and comes from one of their gluten-free cookbooks.

I usually make this for dinner, but still recovering from Thanksgiving feasting, I thought this super-healthy dish would hit the spot for breakfast this morning.  It did.

I deviated the recipe by adding a little chopped Portabello mushroom, using kale instead of swiss chard, baby heirlooms for the cherry tomatoes and only adding one egg.  The photo on the right was taken just after the egg was added to the greens to cook.

This month on the Block Lotto, I asked everyone to link a food-related post.  I'll be joining the Linky party (again) with this one.

Do you have a favorite recipe to share with us?

Peter Peter Pumpkin (Stew) Eater

As I was preparing this pumpkin stew, baked in a pumpkin, that children's nursery rhyme popped in my head and–maybe for the first time ever–I wondered what the heck it means.

If you look, you'll see there's some discussion about it, but no consensus.  From the Wikipedia entry: 

Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,

Had a wife but couldn't keep her;

He put her in a pumpkin shell

And there he kept her very well.

Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,

Had another and didn't love her;

Peter learned to read and spell,

And then he loved her very well.

It's a terrible photo–aside from the kernels of corn, which you can see, there's also sweet and white potatoes, carrots, onions and peppers in the stew, from the McDougall recipe for Festive Pumpkin Stew at the top of a newsletter on this page.  I used fresh jalapeño instead of canned green chiles and didn't have seitan, didn't want to go out in the cold to get some, wasn't sure I wanted to add gluten (which I mostly avoid) anyway, left it out and didn't miss it.   I made a half-recipe (4 servings) and baked a little less than half of it in a very small pie pumpkin.

After my experience last year with the Veggie Turducken, I was wary of baking anything inside a vegetable like that again, but I would make this pumpkin stew cooked in a pumpkin again, make it for a crowd and serve it in a large pumpkin tureen.  Next time I'll take a better photo :-)

I reheated the left-overs, adding black beans, chopped kale and cumin.  Even without the pretty pumpkin presentation, I liked it.

Another first for me, I saved and roasted the seeds–that little pumpkin was chock full of them.  I used this process and they really did come out perfect.

Pumpkin Butter ... Mmmmm

I've never been a fan of those Pumpkin-Spiced Lattés (PSL) at coffee shops across the country. They always seemed to me to taste more of artificial flavors than pumpkin pie.

But then, on impulse, I brought home some pumpkin butter in a jar which led to the idea of making my own, less sweetened version.

I am always surprised when it occurs to me to look online for recipes for something in my head ... and I find them.  I made the Smitten Kitten's version of Pumpkin Butter, found here, along with Pepita Granola.

I have made it a couple times, starting with a pie pumpkin or a can of organic pumpkin. Last week, I made a half recipe, using a 15 oz can of pumpkin and ended up with these two jars of pumpkin-y goodness.  They will probably last through my Fall cravings for these flavors.

It does makes great PSLs with the flavor of pumpkin pie, not artificial flavoring. At my house they are made with almond milk, espresso, a big spoon of pumpkin crack butter and cinnamon sprinkled on top.

It is also good as a spread on toast or apple slices, stirred into oatmeal or yogurt,  added to smoothies, or as part of a cheese plate after dinner.  I haven't tried it (yet), but I'll bet it would be tasty blended with bananas to make an ice-cream like desert.  Lately, though, i've felt more like building a fire in the fireplace than making ice cream ... winter is definitely on the way.

Simple. Healthy. Good.

I collect lots of interesting-looking recipes, but it's usually the simplest ones I go back to again and again.  What's better than fresh ingredients, simply prepared that taste good?

Kate blogged a tart that sounded so good ...  and I turned it into pizza with a gluten-free crust.

The original recipe is on BBC's Good Food site here: Courgette, Mushroom and Mozzarella Tart. I used Chebe All Purpose (gluten-free) Bread Mix for my crust ... and when I was done, I cut up the box and made the templates on yesterday's blog post.

Looks like Christmas

In Santa Fe, a common question asked by servers in restaurants is, "Red or Green or Christmas?" They are asking about chile sauce, but when I tried this recipe, Buttery Brussels Sprouts with Sage, Dried Cranberries and Pecans, I was conditioned to see the red plumped up cranberries and bright green brussels sprouts as Christmas.

You can click the link above for the recipe, but the name pretty much says it all. I decided to try it because I happened to have all the ingredients on hand.  The cranberries and brussels sprouts are an unexpected, interesting combination.

I think it would be a nice side dish for the upcoming holidays.  The author suggests adding cooked quinoa and shredded chicken to turn it into a light meal.  It could be a good candidate for what to do with leftover Thanksgiving turkey.

Autumn Salads– Yum!

It's a sure sign that Autumn is here when I make up the bed with flannel sheets, pull out a flannel quilt and turn on the oven and start roasting things.  After seeing this recipe, I went looking for fresh figs in Santa Fe ... and settled for dried, which were apparently only available because, "they're seasonal."  Still, it made for a tasty lunch yesterday. The figs are combined with kale (massaged with lemon juice and olive oil), roasted butternut squash, shallot, pumpkin seeds and a balsamic reduction.

I thought I was all done with salad meals at the end of summer (and the end of fresh heirloom tomatoes at the farmers market), but this one was so good, it has me shifting gears and thinking about roasted vegetables and autumn salads.