I love soup. I love winter and cold weather. Since it’s been pretty chilly here (although not yesterday… it was 80F… where I grew up, it was 70 degrees colder. I’m sorry.), I’ve been making lots of soups. This makes me happy. Last week some friends were over for dinner. I made a Roasted Vegetable Soup. They really liked it and asked for the recipe. So I thought that since we’re getting lots of the veggies that go in this type of soup in our Abundant Harvest Organics box, I’d make it for the show.
It’s full of yummy goodness. Squash, rutabaga, carrots, and sweet potatoes contain vitamin A, niacin, folic acid, vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
You might need to eat less of this soup than you’d think to feel full.
It tastes great with croutons on top. Crunchy almonds, and/or crispy bacon are also a good option.
1 watermelon radish (or 1/4 Korean daikon radish), quartered
1 rutabaga (or 1 large turnip), peeled, if desired, cut in 6 pieces
2 T butter
1 T olive oil
1-2 t salt
pinch pepper
pinch cayenne
pinch nutmeg
pinch ginger
1 C milk
5 C water (or vegetable stock)
1 t maple syrup
2 t lemon juice (or balsamic vinegar)
croutons, for topping
parmesan cheese, for topping
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 350F. Drizzle garlic with olive oil and wrap in foil. Toss remaining veggies with olive oil. Place on two baking sheets and roast (flipping once partway through, if desired), for 60-75 minutes (radish, garlic, yams, onion, and rutabaga may take the lesser amount of time). Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Scrape squash pulp from skin, squeeze garlic from skin.
Heat soup pot. Add butter and brown (watch it so it doesn’t burn). Add veggies to browned butter, along with olive oil, and seasonings. Cook 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add water and bring to a boil. Turn heat off, add milk, maple syrup, and lemon juice. Blend with hand blender (or in a regular blender – be sure to remove the plug from the lid and cover with a clean towel) until smooth. Add more water if it’s too thick. Taste, adjust seasoning if desired. Return to heat and cook a few minutes more, but don’t boil.
Serve topped with croutons (cubed bread, tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper, baked at 350F for 10-15 minutes).
It’s been cold here lately. I grew up in Ontario, Canada; I’ve visited Alaska in January, and Minnesota in February, so I know what cold winters are. Our winters, here in LA, are not particularly cold. But, the past two weeks have been pretty darn chilly. Yesterday morning when I was walking the dog, I slipped on some ice on the sidewalk. WHAT?!
That’s the second time I’ve slipped on ice in less than a month, in two different countries. This time I didn’t fall. I did look silly. There was someone in a car that had just pulled up to the curb right behind me. I hope he laughed. I hope it made his day. Thinking about it is making me giggle. Oh and I think I yelled “WHOA!” as I was flailing. Now I’m laughing out loud at myself.
Want to know something else that’s totally unrelated? We re-use plastic bags in our home. But, I have a confession to make: I hate washing them. Hate. Sometimes, when I think they’re too dirty, I throw them away. And it makes me happy to not have to wash one more bag.
Do I have anything else random to tell you? No. I don’t think so.
Since it’s cold, it’s the perfect weather for warm foods like soups, stews, and Shepherd’s Pie. Husband really loves Shepherd’s Pie. I do too. (Good that we both like it. It’s a bummer when one person hates the dinner and the other is gobbling it down while making yum yum noises.) I love that it’s easy to tweak – it’s a whatever veggies you have on hand kinda meal. You really could do a lot with it. I keep it kinda traditional, in that it has the ground beef and veggies layer, topped with mashed potatoes, and then sprinkled with cheese. But, if you wanted to, you could do polenta instead of potatoes, shredded chicken instead of ground beef, BBQ sauce instead of the balsamic sauce, corn and collard greens for the veggies… Hey! I think I like that idea. With some cheddar biscuits on the side!? I’m gonna make this sometime!
Anyhoo, my point is that it’s a pretty versatile dish. You can swap out veggies that your family prefers, or that you have on hand. I based this particular recipe on what came in our Abundant Harvest Organics box. That’s why I used Korean daikon radish, mustard greens, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and broccoli raab.
Does anyone else pronounce it “broccoli rob”? No? Just me. OK.
This meal re-heats really well too. After dinner, portion out some single servings into containers and refrigerate or freeze them. If you have any salad left (um, make a huge salad so you do!), do the same… maybe don’t freeze it though… Then check “make lunch” off of tomorrow’s to do list. I did this last night and I’m eating the leftovers right now, as I type.
I used leftover mashed potatoes, from last week, that I’d frozen. I didn’t show you how to make them on this episode. If you don’t know how, this older episode will show you. Speaking of past episodes, did you watch last week’s? It has bloopers.
1/2 to 1 C cheese, grated (creamy jack and cheddar)
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 350F. In an ovenproof skillet, cook beef. Drain (wipe out pan, if desired) and set aside. Add olive oil to skillet and let it get hot. Add all veggies and seasonings except mustard greens and garlic. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, or until veggies are tender.
Whisk cornstarch with water, dijon, balsamic vinegar, and garlic. Pour over veggies. Stir in beef and mustard greens, and cook for 10 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. If the liquid evaporates too much, add more water.
Remove from heat. Taste, and adjust seasonings if needed. Spread the meat and veggies evenly in the pan (if you weren’t cooking in an oven safe skillet, now’s the time to transfer to a greased, ovenproof dish.) Cover meat mixture with mashed potatoes. Top with cheese and sprinkle with smoked paprika.
Bake at 350F until the potatoes are hot (165F) and cheese is melted. With fresh, hot mashed potatoes, it should only be 10-15 minutes. With cold potatoes, it could be about 30-40 minutes (at least it was for me!).
Notes
Individual pies would also be a fun idea, especially for a dinner party! Great with a simple Green Salad, or Coleslaw. * To roast garlic: Slice the top off a head of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and wrap in foil. Bake at 350F for 45-60 minutes. Once it’s cool, squeeze garlic from skin.
3.2.1284
If you are like me, you like to make lists. If you aren’t, you don’t. We can still be friends. And, since we’re friends, I’ll share one of my many lists with you. When I find out what will be included in the upcoming AHO box, I usually make a list of things that I could make with the contents. Here are some ideas using this week’s box. Enjoy!
It’s 2013! It’s a New Year! We all have plans, ideas, resolutions. We, like many of you I’m sure, missed our Abundant Harvest Organics boxes over the break. I’m so glad our produce drawers are full once again so we can get back into our lifestyle of healthy eating!!
This is a special episode, because it’s my 50th!! That’s a big number and I’m excited. I’ve loved doing this show for you. I hope you’re learning, laughing, enjoying, and eating along with me!
I hope you try this rather yummy dish. It’s perfect for any meal. But, I think it would be awesome at a brunch with family or friends. You can use any kind of bread that you want. To make it a bit healthier, I’d go with a whole grain, whole wheat bread. But, I had some stale French bread, so that’s what I used. It’s a great way to use the greens that are so good for you, and are in season right now. (If you need another way to use greens, my brother gave me his recipe for Green Smoothies. They are delicious and full of healthy ingredients.) I used ham, but bacon would also be amazing (cooked then crumbled over top when serving). Another option would be to omit the meat altogether and add some more almonds when serving, for some lean protein.
This dish comes out super bright green. Kinda like the Incredible Hulk. I like green.
I hope your new year has been wonderful so far! And, I’m glad you’re here! Thanks for being a part of my first 50 episodes!!
1 to 1 1/2 C cheese, grated (I used Creamy Jack Cheese)
pinch fennel pollen
1 t olive oil
10 thick slices of bread (I used a stale loaf of French Bread)
5 slices ham, quartered
roasted almonds, chopped (for topping)
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 350F. In a medium bowl (if using a hand blender), or a food processor, or a blender, blend spinach/kale/collard greens, garlic, eggs, milk, dijon, onion, seasonings, and 1/2 C cheese (I blended up the greens in the chopper attachment of my KitchenAid hand blender first, then transferred to the bowl).
Grease baking dish with olive oil - even on the sides (at least part way up). Soak bread slices in egg mixture. Place in baking dish, overlapping each slice with the next one (if desired). If there is any extra egg mixture, add more to each slice. Top each slice with two pieces of ham.
Bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover, top with remaining cheese, and bake uncovered for 15 minutes more (or until it reaches 160F).
Let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving.
Top with a drizzle of cream and some almonds (a dollop of Greek yogurt would also be good!).
This is a soup that might just be devoured, should you bring it to a Christmas (or any holiday) party. I sent it with Husband last week to work. He said it was gone in a very short amount of time. What a compliment.
We had so much broccoli last week and this soup was the perfect way to use it. Since we got a whole lot again this week, in our Abundant Harvest Organic box, I thought I’d make it on my show.
It has tons of veggies (broccoli, of course, carrot, onion, and Korean daikon radish). Good for you.
It has four kinds of cheese. I think we have a winner.
It has browned butter. Done.
The recipe that I posted on Friday is the large version. For the show, since I didn’t need to feed 20+ people, I quartered it.
The dog appears in this episode. I can’t promise he’s happy about it. But, I do think he’s cute with antlers on (and kinda like the dog in the Grinch Who Stole Christmas). So he deals with it for a few minutes.
This is my last episode before I take time off for my Christmas holidays. I have a few more blog posts planned, but it will be a little bit quieter over here for a few weeks. I’ll be back in January with episode 50 (wowzers!), and some fun new recipes and ideas.
Last modified on 2013-09-03 19:09:46 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Browned Butter and Four Cheese Broccoli Soup – Quartered Version
Recipe Type: Soup, Main, Dinner, Lunch, Stove Top
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4-6
A rich and creamy broccoli soup. Perfect for a cold winter night’s dinner!
Ingredients
2 T unsalted butter
1 1/2 T garlic infused olive oil (or 1/4 T garlic powder with regular olive oil)
2 heads (4 C) broccoli, roughly chopped in small pieces
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
1/2 C Korean daikon radish
1/4 T red pepper flakes
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/4 T garlic powder
1 T balsamic vinegar, divided (1/2 T, 1/2 T)
1/2 t dijon mustard
1 T all purpose flour mixed with 1/4 C cold water
2 C vegetable stock (or water)
2 C milk
2 T heavy cream
1 1/2 C cheese (cheddar, smoked gouda, parmesan, Gruyère), grated
Instructions
In a soup pot, add butter and let it brown (watch carefully so it doesn’t burn – sometimes I partially cover it so it doesn’t splatter too much).
Once the butter has browned, add olive oil, let it get hot, then add the veggies and seasonings. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, or until veggies are fairly tender.
Add 1/2 T balsamic vinegar and cook for about 30 seconds. Add mustard and stir in. Add water/stock and water-flour mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until veggies are to desired tenderness and soup is thickened slightly, about 20-30 minutes.
Add milk and cream. Heat until it’s hot, steam rises, but it does not boil (letting it boil means it will break – not the end of the world, it will still taste fine, just doesn’t look as great). Remove from heat and whisk in cheese, a little bit at a time. Add 1/2 T balsamic vinegar. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
I love soup. I love winter and cold weather. Since it’s been pretty chilly here (although not yesterday… it was 80F… where I grew up, it was 70 degrees colder. I’m sorry.), I’ve been making lots of soups. This makes me happy. Last week some friends were over for dinner. I made a Roasted Vegetable Soup. They really liked it and asked for the recipe. So I thought that since we’re getting lots of the veggies that go in this type of soup in our Abundant Harvest Organics box, I’d make it for the show.
