Kale Soup - Doesn't get much healthier than this!

My housemates and I get a box of delicious veggies from Boston Organics once a week. This means I have to get creative when I get veggies I am not too familiar with. Say hello to Kale, my new best friend. So healthy it's ridiculous, makes for fantastic soup!

You need:

6 cups of veggie broth (as usual, I prefer water + veggie boullion)

A bunch of fresh kale

About 3 small carrots

An Onioon

About 3 potatoes

A small can of white beans

Garlic - about three cloves.

A bay leaf

Some oregano and hot red pepper

Some apple cider vinegar

You do:

Sautee the onion and garlic with the spices (except for the bay leaf) in some olive oil. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Add all the veggies (should be somewhat finely chopped to allow for blending) except for the beans (+ the bay leaf). Let simmer for about 20 minutes, add the beans and let simmer for another five or so. I usually blend the soup, but not entirely so that there are still some whole veggies in it, giving it a heartier feel (but if you prefer a smoother soup, blend it all!). Remember to remove the bay leaf before blending.

Advanced Concepts:

While I haven't gotten around to experimenting yet I suspect that you could successfully substitute beans for lentils (in which case you'd not want to blend the lentils, so cook separately and add after everything else is done).

So I know I said I'd be blogging here this summer. That was before my co-interns talked me into starting a group blog. It was also before I realized just how crappy my internet connection would be. Long story short: no blogging here. But if you go to http://ageinterns.blogspot.com/ you can read all about our summer in Malawi. Enjoy!

Next Stop: Malawi!

Yes, I am heading out again! This time to Malawi. I shall keep you all posted on my adventures there. However, now I have to run. After all, I would not want to miss my flight!

Fake Gazpacho

True Gazpacho requires a lot of work, love and seasonal high quality ingredients. This "fake" version is super simple (really I don't even think you can call this cooking - it's more like assembling), yet tasty.

You need:

• 1 can of diced tomatoes (I like to use the ones with green peppers, but any type goes)
• Onion (1/2 to 1)
• Garlic. Obviously no gazpacho without it.
• Whatever veggies you have: green peppers, eggplant or zuchini all will work well (I recommend using two out of three, or only green peppers).
• A little sugar (the tomatoes are bound to be a little too sour otherwise).
• Black pepper, cayenne pepper.

You do:

Now, this is the beautiful part: Chop the veggies, sautee them for a lil' while in a frying pan, throw 'em in the blender, add tomatoes, sugar and spices, puree aaaaand it's done!

The point is that this is super easy and you can hardly go wrong (as you may have noticed, I didn't tell you how much of each ingredient to use - I just take whatever I have available and it has always worked out!)

Butternut Squash Soup

This is an all-time favourite. Working with squash can be hard, but this soup is definitely worth it! It is truly heavenly!

You need:

• Butternut squash: about a kilo (that is, a little more than 2 pounds)
• Onions (about 1/2 - or, say 1/2 a cup)
• Margarine: quite a bit, maybe 50 grams (or 1/3 of a cup)
• About a liter (that is 4 cups) of water and vegetable boullion - in this case you may want to use a little more boullion than you normally would for the amount of water.
• Light cream. The amount really depends on your taste - I genereally just put a little in each batch I run through the blender, using maybe 250 ml (1 cup) in total - but again, go heavier if you like it that way!
• Black pepper, majoram and a little cayenne pepper if you like that kind of stuff.

Yo do:

Clean and cut the squash into four to eght pieces and roast it in the oven at 360 degrees F (or 180 degrees C) for 45 minutues or so.
In the meantime, sautee the onions in the margarine, add water & boullion and bring to boil.
When the squash is out of the oven it should be soft and easy to scoop out in small pieces. Add to the rest of the ingredients. Cook for 15-20 minutes or so. Use a blender to puree the soup, working in batches, adding a little cream to each batch.

You may want to add (if you feel confident experimenting):

Generally I like the pure version of this soup the best, but here are some suggestions if you'd like some change.

Add sweet potatoes or yams. If you do so, consider adding nutmeg and/or cinnamon. While I have yet to try this, I believe the sweet potato-version of the soup could benefit from adding an apple too!

PS: If you'd like to freeze the soup, skip the cream and then just add it when you defrost it!

Enjoy! (I know you will!)

Carrot Soup

This basic carrot soup is just ridiculously delcious. Healthy too!

You need:

• Carrots (but of course!). About 10 of them.
• Onions. 1-2, depending on the size and how you like your soup.
• Garlic. Oh yes. 3-4 cloves.
• 1,5 liters (that is, 6 cups) of water with vegetable bullion (or vegetable broth)
• A little black pepper and cayenne pepper - depending on your preferences.

You do (it's oh so easy):

Peel & chop carrots and onions, saute the onions and garlic in a little olive oil, then add water, boullion and carrot and bring to boil. Let boil for 25 minutes or so, puree it and it's done!

You may want to add (if you feel confident experimenting a little):

Carrots go well with ginger. A little lemon juice may work well too. The recipe I used the first time I made it called for sun dried tomatoes, but I think it did little but flatten the soup (and they're expensive!).

Freezes well too.

Enjoy!

Souper Blog

Let's face it: this blog has been hybernating for far too long. I guess I have just been too busy writing opinion pieces, policy memos and evaluative assesment for school to feel any urge for expressing my opinions on the blog. That is not likely to change for another couple of months. Yet it would be a pity to let the blog just die.

I've developed a new hobby since last summer: soup making! I host monthly soup get-togethers for a bunch of my classmates and whenever I feel down or stressed out I tend to make a soup out of whatever veggies I have avaiable. That is why I decided to convert my blog into a souper blog for a while!

I'll be posting soup recipes whenever I discover a new one. All recipes are vegetariain, and 'll do my very best to bridge the gap between the continents by providing both US and metric measures. Suggestions for recipe improvements are of course most welcome!