Archive for the ‘Soup’ Category

Ginger Sweet Potato Puree

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

HELLO WORLD, the weather in Philadelphia is finally warm.  Oh warmer, warmer weather.  I celebrated at ten degrees warmer.  Now, it’s up to a lovely 50 degrees and walking outside is not only bearable it’s lovely lovely lovely!  John held a BBQ at his house in honor of the weather.  Since I’m still on my detox, I knew I had to grab a few things for myself.  With the nice weather, we went to the farmers’ market and for once, I did a few laps rather than jet in and out.  The vendors even ran out of items and my usual herb shopping was put off until next week.

The funny thing is, having visited the farmers’ market for the past few weeks, the farmers have begun to recognize me.  As I was talking over the potatoes (still off limits for the detox) with a farmer, his friend came over excitedly and said, “I’ve seen you here at the market, I’m so excited you’re buying from us today.”  It made me blush and I knew I had no choice but to grab four pounds of delicious sweet potatoes.  The lady farmer said, “well, one will make you an entire pie.”

“Oh no, I have much bigger plans.”

We ended up grilling more food than anyone has ever needed.  Lots of burgers, hot dogs, chicken, and Korean bulgogi was had.  I stuck pretty well to my diet (I may have eaten more meat than I’m supposed to.) and managed to eat my weight in grilled vegetables and pineapple.  I didn’t even eat my latest batch of cupcakes.  That was tough, since I hung out with all of my boys.  Each of which had at least two cupcakes or more.  (There was no competition, but Tim won.  He at six.)

And damn, those cupcakes look gooooooood.

With my four pounds of potatoes in hand, I played with some of my favorite flavors to make detox-friendly side dish.  This can be made into a soup, but I’m kind of a fan of purees, it saves a few calories for a great consistency.  Additionally, if you’re reading this Jeff, it is a great side dish especially with the kick of ginger.


Ginger Sweet Potato Puree

serves six | prep time about ten minutes and takes about forty minutes overall

One T or glug of EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil)
Three cloves of garlic, chopped
Two medium onions, chopped
A chunk of ginger (about an inch long, sliced in three pieces as pictured and crushed with the end of the knife to give flavor)
Three pounds of sweet potatoes cut into two inch pieces
Five cups of water or chicken broth
One teaspoon of pumpkin pie seasoning (or a little of cinnamon, nutmeg, and all spice)
Salt and pepper TT
One T of honey (optional)
A few T of brown sugar (optional)

In a large pot and over medium-high heat, throw in a glug of EVOO.  Let heat for a minute or two then add the chopped onions. Once translucent, add garlic and heat for another minute or so.

Add sweet potatoes, ginger, and water/broth (it should cover the sweet potatoes, if it doesn’t add more– I really eyeballed it.) and bring to a boil.  Turn the heat down to medium low and boil water until sweet potatoes are soft about twenty to thirty minutes (like mashed potatoes.)  Drain the ‘taters.

Remove the ginger chunks and toss.  Blend the mix, if you use a food processor for this part, careful since it’s hot it will expand and might explode.  Once pureed well, add pumpkin pie seasoning, salt, pepper and (if you choose, it’s not detox friendly, but adds a sweetness, the honey and brown sugar.)  Serve.

Tags: , ,

Posted in Cooking, Detoxing, Recipes, Soup | No Comments »

Chicken Tortilla Soup (Minus Tortillas)

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

Hello dears,

It’s been a few days so you’re probably wondering if I’ve starved to death and/or fallen off the wagon.  I’m happy to report no to both.  I’m starting to get into the rhythm, finding things I can eat, and making smart choices.  I’ve already caught myself trying to nibble on things I’m not supposed to, but I’m going strong.  Here’s the status of my fruit bowl:

Ok, so most of those are limes and lemons, but I plan on cooking a bunch with them.  I’m going to make a fantastic meal tomorrow that will just knock your socks off.

Now, as you can see, I have the perfect ingredients for some delicious Mexican food.  In fact, I made some sloppy guacamole while cooking.

I would be lying if I did not admit that one of my favorite genres of food is Mexican food.  Though I’m pretty sensitive to spicy foods, I can navigate my way around any menu to find the exact craving I have.  After all, what isn’t to love about warm tortillas, heaping piles of cheese, and succulent shredded beef.  Now now now, I’m sure you’re going to tell me, “That isn’t REAL Mexican.”

Maybe, but I eat cilantro lime rice and black beans and a quesadilla at least once a week.  It’s a staple in my diet.  A lot of Mexican food is.  I blame it on the time I spent in Colorado, the late night dashes to the 24/7 drive-thrus or the warm tortillas you could buy from La Casita which were made on site.  They just fell into my diet.

And a lot of Mexican food is really off limits for my detox right now.  Stupid detox that’s going to help me for the better.

Flour.  Dairy.  White rice.  Just a few of the “no-no” foods.  At first, I was a little upset, but then I forgot about my favorite meal using Mexican flavors.

Now, I highly doubt tortilla soup is eaten in Mexico; however, it does combine the basics of Mexican cuisine– onions, tomatoes, and cilantro.  It has a nice kick and even without the tortillas, it gave me a great satisfaction.  You can add some things like cheese, rice and tortilla strips to this soup to give it a little extra somethin’ somethin’.

I apologize for the quality of this picture.  I was falling asleep while making this, I was just that tired for some reason:

Tortilla Soup
- serves 4 -
adapted from Serious Eats

Ingredients

For the soup:
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon for cooking the chicken
1/3 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tomatoes, diced
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
6 cups chicken broth
12 ounces boneless skinless chicken, thigh or breast

For garnishes:
Small handful cilantro leaves, chopped
1 avocado, cut into chunks
1 cup chopped stemmed spinach

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat then sautee the onions until translucent.  Add the garlic and cook for about a minute longer.  Add tomatoes, salt, and oregano and cook for another minute.  Pour in chicken broth and bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for about thirty minutes until the majority of the tomatoes are melted (I never got mine to fully melt, but I was kind of crazy in the ktichen.)

About fifteen minutes before the soup is done, heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat in a saucepan.  Sear the chicken on both sides until golden brown on both sides.  Don’t worry about if it’s completely cooked through as you will now add it ti the soup and for about three minutes.

Serve and garnish with avacado, spinach and cilantro leaves.

For an additional spice, you can toast chiles and add them or add some cayenne pepper.  be very careful when adding cayenne, as you don’t want to make it too spicy.

As pictured, I added some black beans in the soup.

Posted in Chicken, Detoxing, Recipes, Soup | 1 Comment »

Bacon Potato Leek Soup – Wednesday

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

I’m on Day Three of Chickenpalooza and after two days of broth-making, it’s time to make this broth work for us.

This recipe started out as a vegan broccoli and potato puree, but as I rummaged through my fridge, I found some lonely looking ingredients and… well, it’s clearly not vegan anymore.  Nonetheless, I am not a vegan, so to me this is a delicious creation.  You can skin the potatoes, I left mine on, because once my mother told me the skins have a lot of vitamins.  Another tip— take it easy on the salt.  Whenever I work with cured pork, I try to use very little salt since as the pork heats up, it releases salt.

I’ve made this soup twice in the last week with slight variations.  I’m posting both pictures.  The only difference is the greener version has double the broccoli.

Serves two as a meal, four as a soup course
4 oz of bacon, chopped into one inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
2 large leek, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 cups of chicken broth
2 cups of water
1 pound of potatoes, cut into one inch cubes
3 sprigs of fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoon of dried thyme
1/2 of an 8oz bag/ 1/4 of a pound of frozen broccolli, cut into small pieces.
Pepper & salt to taste

1.   Heat the bacon in a large pot.  Once a little bacon grease gets going, put the chopped up onion, leek, and garlic.  When the onion, leek, and garlic, get aromatic and soften, add the broth, water, potatoes, and seasonings.

2.   Bring the broth to a boil and simmer for about thirty minutes or so.  Add the broccoli and heat for about ten more minutes (until everything is heated thoroughly.)

3.  Remove the parsley and bay leaves.  The soup should still have quite a bit of liquid, drain about a cup or more of the broth.  (I kept mine and put it aside for tomorrow’s recipe)

4.  Puree the soup.  Serve.

Top with a little bit of sour cream and a fresh sprig of parsley.  Teh E Marl (Elizabeth) put some dried red pepper flecks on hers.

Also, here’s a cheddar biscuits recipe:

(makes 10 biscuits)
2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup of water
1/2 cup of cheddar cheese diced
2 tsp baking powder

1. Combine flour and butter until butter is in pea-sized.  Stir in the cheese.  Slowly add water until the dough is comes together.

2.  You can either do drop biscuits from here or roll them out and cut them into shapes.

To make them super flaky, roll out the dough, re-roll, then repeat a couple more times.  It was awesome.

3.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes (or until edges are golden brown).

Tags: , , , , ,

Posted in Baking, Recipes, Soup | No Comments »

|