Tomato, Basil and Sweet Corn Soup

This soup tastes like summer and made me really happy because I love summer and all the fruits and vegetables that come along with it!  Plain and simple....summer is the best time of the year.  It makes me sad that soon tomatoes and corn will be out of season because I think I could make this soup every week.  It was that good.  

At first I was skeptical at how it would turn out, because I decided not to use vegetable consomme like the original recipe calls for.  Sticking with my not eating food from a package rule, I just added plenty of salt and pepper to my broth and it was fine.  This is a super easy and healthy soup that is sure to please just about anyone!

• 1 tbsp grapeseed oil
• 1 large sweet onion, diced
• 4 gloves garlic, diced
• 4 tomatoes
• 2 ears corn, husked and shucked
• 2 tbsp fresh basil (or more)
• 3 cups water
• plenty of salt and pepper to taste

---- 

1  Heat oil in a large pot over medium flame. Add onions and cook 6-8 minutes or until translucent.

2.  Meanwhile, bring a second pot full of water to boil. Drop tomatoes in and cook for 90 seconds or until the skins begin to peel off the tomatoes. Immediately plunge into a bowl of ice water. The skins should peel right off. Discard skins. Chop tomatoes.

3. Add garlic to onions and stir for 1 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, corn, and basil. Add water and bring to a boil.  Add plenty of salt and pepper, reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for 30 minutes.

4.  Using an immersion blender, puree soup leaving small bits of corn whole for texture.  Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

Spicy Summer Squash Soup

I apologize for being so slack on posting recently!  I've been so inundated with food, it's been hard to keep up with everything.  I've often been cooking three or four dishes at a time and when I get to the end, I realize that I totally forgot to take pictures along the way.  The photography is still lacking...but hopefully I'll get better one day!

This recipe is adapted from one that I found in this month's edition of Whole Living magazine.  The original recipe does not call for jalapenos, but I have a bunch of peppers in my garden right now, and this was a perfect opportunity use one!  I actually used a type of pepper called Biker Billy, which is supposedly hotter than a jalapeno.  I also left the seeds in, so that made it hotter.  So if you like hot stuff, add one or two jalapenos (or other type of pepper).  If you're looking for something more bland, skip the pepper entirely and it should be fine.

• 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil (or olive oil)
• 1 yellow onion
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup cilantro stems + cilantro for garnish
• 3 teaspoons coriander
• 1 jalapeno (optional if you don't like spicy food, or feel free to add more if you like spicy!)
• 5 summer squash
• 3 cups water
• Juice of 1 1/2 limes
• Salt and pepper to taste

----

1.  Heat oil and cook chopped onion for about 5 minutes.  Add garlic, cilantro stems and coriander and cook about two minutes longer. 

2.  Add chopped squash and chopped jalapeno and cook for a minute or two.  Add water and a few pinches of salt.  Depending on the size of your squash, you may need to add more or less water (make sure it is just over the top of the squash).  Bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes or until squash is tender.

3.  Remove from heat.  Add juice from one and a half limes, and salt and pepper to taste. 

4.  Blend (Note: If you don't have a hand blender, make sure that's next on your list to purchase.  They are awesome and will make this recipe a lot easier!  If you have a regular blender, make sure the soup has cooled a bit and don't fill it all the way when you blend.  But really, get a hand blender!  The Cuisinart ones double as a mini food processor and are so handy!).

5.  Garnish with cilantro.  Soup can be served hot or cold.

Red Lentil Soup with Mint and Beet Greens

Another beet recipe, yipee!  You should have seen the monstrous bunch of beets I got from the CSA this week.  I have enough beet greens to make this recipe five times I think.  And what I love the most is that when I got to the farm to pick up my food, they had run out of beets.  The guy asked me if I minded waiting a few minutes while they went and harvested some more.  Of course not!  I was so happy to get a bunch of beets that were directly out of the ground.  It doesn't get more fresh than that!  This is why CSA's are so awesome and I encourage everyone to get involved with a local CSA if possible.  I got a lot of other goodies this week including collards, green onions, squash, zucchini, turnips, lettuce, kale and radishes. 

Of course I modified this recipe quite a bit.  My husband gets upset when I don't follow recipes exactly, so if you're like him, see the original recipe.  And although I didn't include mushrooms this time, I think they would be a great addition!

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• a dozen or so mint leaves, chopped
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coriander
• beet greens, removed from one bunch of beets, cleaned and sliced
• 1o cups of water
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 cup red lentils
• 1 cup millet, rinsed (the original recipe calls for bulgur wheat, which would probably be better but has gluten so that's why I switched it out.  Quinoa or another whole grain would be good as well.)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• extra mint, for garnish, optional

----
 

1.  Heat the oil in a medium soup pot. Add the onion and saute for a few minutes, till translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a few minutes longer, stirring frequently.

2.  Now, add the mint, salt, and coriander. Mix well and cook for another minute or two.

3.  Add the beet greens and cook for a few minutes till they are softened and heated through.

4.  Add the lentils, millet and about 10 cups of water.  More or less water may be needed depending on the amount of greens used, just be sure the water covers the top of the greens.  Bring to a boil and reduce to a very gentle simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes, adding water as needed if it seems too thick.

 

5. After the 1/2 hour of cooking, add the tomato and cook for about 10 minutes longer.

6.  Immediately before serving, whisk in the egg. Serve, garnished with mint if desired.

I'm not sure how to make this soup look appetizing.  It just wasn't pretty, but it tasted good!

What else can you do with beet greens?  Don't let these nutritional gems go to waste, so click here for some ideas!

Gingery Chinese Soup with Turnips and Turnip Greens

I have to admit, when I got my share from the CSA this week I was most challenged by the  turnips and what to do with them.  Turnips aren't something that I eat regularly or that catch my eye when I'm in the grocery store.  I haven't gotten to the point where I can create my own recipes yet (one day I hope!), but I have found some amazing food blogs and usually look to the internet for ideas, especially when it is something relatively unfamiliar like turnips. 

I originally found this recipe here, and made a few minor changes to it.  The main difference is that I omitted the bouillon cubes.  I avoid eating anything that has come from a package, and in this case I didn't miss the bouillon at all.  I just added additional Himalayan pink sea salt and tamari and it was just as good!

This soup is meant to be gingery, so reduce the amount of ginger if you think the ginger in this recipe might be too much. For authentic Chinese flavor, I use a dark, toasted sesame oil. It’s well worth buying and keeping on hand. Dark sesame oil delivers more flavor per teaspoon than any oil I’ve encountered.  This recipe serves six generously, so give some away, invite friends or keep it safely in the fridge!

• 10 cups boiling water
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 5-6 medium shiitake mushrooms (stems removed), sliced
• 3 medium carrots, cut lengthwise, then into thin diagonal slices
• 3 tablespoons ginger, peeled (if necessary) and julienned (about a 3-inch piece of ginger)
• 1 tablespoon of freshly grated ginger (optional)
• 6-8 small turnips, trimmed and quartered or cut into six, depending on size
• Fresh greens from one or two bunches of small turnips, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch strips
• 1/4 cup mirin
• sea salt (Himalayan pink sea salt is my favorite!), freshly ground black pepper, tamari (or soy sauce if gluten isn't an issue), to taste
• green onions, thinly sliced for the garnish (optional)

———–

1. Bring the water to a boil in a large pot.

2. Heat the oil in a large dutch oven, or similar pot. Add the mushrooms and onions and sauté on medium high heat 3-4 minutes. Add the carrots, ginger and turnips and sauté 3-4 minutes more. Add a pinch of salt, and two teaspoons of soy sauce.

3. Add 10 cups of the hot water and the mirin.  Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat so everything simmers gently for about 25 minutes or until all the vegetables are very tender. Skim off any foam which may have collected on the surface.

4. Add the turnip greens and continue simmering for 5 minutes or until the greens are cooked to your liking.  Taste and adjust by adding sea salt, tamari, and freshly ground black pepper. Simmer a minute or two more.  Turn off  heat and add a few drops of the sesame oil.

5. Ladle into bowls and garnish with the green onion (optional)

Health Benefits

Part of my journey into healthy, whole eating has been learning more about what I'm putting into my body and what benefits it provides.  When I have time, I plan to share with you some of the health benefits of some of the ingredients in the recipes.  Today I'll highlight the ginger, turnips and shiitake mushrooms.

Ginger - I haven't always cared for ginger, but it has recently become a staple of my diet.  I put a few slices in my juicer every day, and it not only adds good flavor but has lots of health benefits as well!  The best benefit of ginger for me is that it relieves gastrointestinal distress.  It helps with nausea (specifically for pregnancy and chemotherapy), motion sickness and has a lot of anti-inflammatory properties.  Research has shown that it may also protect again colorectal cancer and induces cell death in ovarian cancer cells.  Ginger also promotes sweating, which can be helpful when you are sick or wanting to do a detox.  I definitely recommend adding it to your diet whenever possible!  More on the benefits of ginger can be found here.

Turnips from the Clemson Organic Farm

Turnips - What's great about turnips is that they are a starchy vegetable but provide only one third the amount of calories as an equal amount of potatoes - making for a great diet alternative. Turnips provide an excellent source of vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant that can help prevent asthma symptoms, forms of cancer, skin problem and eye disorders and heart disorders due to their high lutein content, as well as insoluble fiber that can protect against atherosclerosis.  The vitamin C content of turnips can also help to fight against free radicals and destructive reactions taking place in the body. Turnip greens are even more nutritious than the root, rich in beta-carotene that can relieve rheumatoid arthritis and other degenerative diseases among other health benefits.  They're also chock full of vitamins A, B6, C, E, folic acid, calcium, copper, fiber and manganese (Source - Organic Authority)

Shitake mushrooms - My favorite mushrooms, I use them whenver possible!  Shiitake, maitake, and reishi mushrooms are widely referred to as "medicinal mushrooms" and have been used in Chinese medicine for 6,000 years. 

“Shitake mushrooms are a great addition to anyone’s diet and are mainly known for their immune system support,” says dietitian Kait Fortunato. They contain lentinan, which makes our immune system strong, helping to fight off disease and infection. The American Cancer Society says lentinan is believed to stop or slow tumor growth, too, though it notes that more clinical trials are needed to understand the mushrooms’ effectiveness.  Shitake mushrooms also contain a compound called D-Eritadenine (DEA).  DEA helps lower cholesterol and supports cardiovascular health.  Finally, shiitakes are a good source of iron and antioxidants. The iron is key for vegetarians, whose diets may be lacking in it, while antioxidants help reduce free radicals.