Too Cold? Two Soups Day!
It’s cold!
I decided to warm up by making two comforting soups on this cold work night.
I work from home, sequestered to the main area of my house as the temperature drops and continues to drop until the slow warmth of spring comes. Some days I can wear three layers of clothes, and three hours into my work the cold seeps into my typing fingers, requiring me to get more coffee. Or, let’s be real, heat up my coffee for the fifth time that morning.
It’s days like these when, at the end of my work day, all I want is a hot bowl of some comforting soup (and maybe a hot toddy to go with it)!
As always, I start in the fridge, then check my pantry, and finally the freezer to come up with my recipes. After seeing that I could make not one, not two, but three comforting hot meals, I decided there would definitely (maybe) be enough time to make two soups. Now, what did I see? A lot of vegetables needing eating, first of all. Then some spices, canned chicken & turkey stock, and a whole lot of cheese in the cheese drawer. We might have a fancy cheese problem, but I digress.
Recipe #1: Acorn Squash, Carrot, and Ginger Soup
I made this pureed soup from an acorn squash leftover from the harvest (yes, they really keep that long in a cool pantry), a few leftover carrots with no future plans, and a blast of ginger from a bulk-store squeeze bottle.
Roast the Veggies!
First things first, I cut the acorn squash in two, took out the middle and plopped it into a bowl of cold water. Swish well, and take the seeds out and dry on a napkin. I will roast them later for a good snack! Brush the two halves with some high heat oil – canola will do, but so will grape seed oil – just do not use olive oil unless you keep the heat under 400°F! Roast at 425 until a little brown at the edges and properly soft. This will really depend on the size of your acorn squash, but mine came in around 25-30 minutes.
While that is roasting, wash your carrots well. I love using the peels for extra minerals and texture, but you can certainly peel them (just save the peels in the freezer for stock some other time). Cut off the ends, chop very roughly (or not at all if they are small) and lightly coat with the same high heat oil used for the acorn squash. These shouldn’t take very long to roast at all, so if you are using the same pan, make sure not to put them in too early – I would recommend 20 minutes.
If you’ve roasted everything and it is not soft, keep those veggies in the oven! Don’t only use my time & temp as a guide, use your own senses please!
Once everything is soft and beautifully roasted, allow to cool for a few minutes. Maybe eat a piece of carrot, take a small forkful of acorn squash, just the lightly burnt edges is the best part to eat in my opinion. Ok, don’t eat it all though! Peel the acorn squash – it’s a little easier than it sounds if you place your finger under the inner ridges and pull out the stringy part first – then that section will slide right off.
(This is what I have to tell myself anytime I roast vegetables)
Blend It Up!
Finally – ok. This part will take you just three minutes if you have an immersion blender, vitamix, or other very good blender. Toss in the acorn squash and carrots. Start blending – you will likely need a little bit of liquid. You could very well use water, but if you want some good flavor, add broth. Veggie, chicken, whatever you have on hand. I canned and froze a LOT of chicken & turkey stock after Thanksgiving, so I took out a can and used that. When it has started getting a thick consistency and all the carrots and squash are fully blended, add in your ginger. I love ginger. A lot. So I go to a big bulk store (that rhymes with DJs) and buy the giant minced ginger squeeze bottle. If you intend to use fresh ginger, slice finely and add in the blender much earlier. Add ginger to taste (get a tasting spoon, or use your finger, I’m not judging!) – add it in slowly and taste several times. Finally, when you’ve thinned it out to a desirable consistency and you’ve added enough ginger, salt & pepper – serve!
It’s so good with some garlic croutons, sour cream & onion, or those acorn squash seeds (roast them in the last 5 – 10 minutes with some oil and salt for perfection), or even some cheese! To keep it vegan, use water or veggie broth to thin and don’t top with cheese or cream.
Recipe #2: Broccoli Cheese Soup
Warning: Not vegan! Please forgive me – melted cheese is not easy to photograph!
The Secret is the Stalk
I had one big stalk of broccoli left in the fridge, and when checking my freezer, I had amassed a good five stalks of broccoli. This is my FAVORITE way to eat those delicious broccoli bottoms that everybody else tosses in the trash (or compost) – P.S. Stop doing that! Of course I immediately checked for the amount of cheese I had in the cheese drawer. Did I mention I might have a small obsession with cheese? Well, don’t worry, you can use fancy cheese, but the basic store brand shredded cheese you have will probably do just fine. I used a fiesta cheese mix of cheddar, monterey jack, and asadero cheeses.
First things first, I had to get my broccoli stalks thawed. Under the cold water in a bowl they went. If you bought broccoli just for this recipe, just use a few stalks (and if you’re running out to buy them, try to get some with some longer stalks – these actually provide a lot of the nice chunky texture to the soup). I cut the crown off the brocolli and break it up into pretty small bits. Then, slice the stalks somewhat thinly (but not too thin!) – or cube them, that is good too. But I’m lazy and love the weirdly shaped medallions of a regularly sliced stalk.
After thawing and chopping the broccoli, next up we need to boil/steam the broccoli. Of course there’s always more than one way to skin a cat. My favorite way to do this is probably not le cordon bleu approved. I boiled some turkey & chicken stock (again, you could use veggie stock, whatever you have on hand). As that cooks down, I put in the broccoli stalks first (you don’t want to overcook the crowns since they are very gentle). As the stalks get soft, add in the broccoli crowns (and, if you like the fresh fast food sandwich, soup & bread place, here’s where you would add julienned carrot). Finally you are ready to make the creamy cheesy delicious part!
Get Your Mixing Arm Ready!
Turn to low heat. Important: this should no longer be at a high boil. It should be steamy and warm, but not too bubbly or rough. This is where you’re going to add in the cheese. I truly do not measure this – I shovel it in one handful at a time, allow it to dissolve, and continue until I get to the creamy. Bonus if you have heavy cream on hand – add that in as well. Get your power arm ready, because this is the hardest, longest part of making this soup. It should only take 5 – 10 minutes though.
This recipe is ALL about the texture. If you like it thin, put more stock in and leave some cheese out. If you like it THICK – use a small amount of stock and even more cheese and heavy cream. Finally, at the end, add salt and pepper to taste. Onion powder is also pretty delicious, even some dried minced onion is great if you add it in with the broccoli stalks.
To End
I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably need to develop some kind of disclaimer for the end of every post I make, but the biggest aspect of cooking is using what you have, using it all up, and adjusting everything. Toss out the measuring cups! Just kidding, you’ll need those for baking. But seriously, adjust based on how much you’ll be eating, whether you like a lot or a little of certain ingredients, and unless it is raw pork or chicken, taste during each part of the process to really get a feel of what happens when you are cooking your food. You will improve, you will become more comfortable, and you really won’t need an exact recipe for your daily cooking (sorry recipe developers, I love you but as a guide).
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