Quinoa, Leek, and Corn Chowder

Today was the first day that really felt like autumn was here. There seemed to be a lot more leaves on the ground than yesterday and a jacket was necessary. This put me in the mood for some thick and hearty soup. I found this recipe in my much loved Quinoa 365 cookbook:

Quinoa, Leek, and Corn Chowder

Ingredients
1 tbsp butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced leek (white part only)
1/2 cup qunioa
3 cups frozen corn
2 cups vegetable broth
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of ground pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
5 saffron threads

In a large saucepan, melt the butter and sauté the onion and leek until the onion is tender and opaque, about 7 minutes. Add the quinoa and 2 cups of the corn; set aside the remaining corn to thaw. Cook for an additional 5 minutes, until the corn partially thaws. Add a few drops of the broth to keep it from sticking to the saucepan, if necessary.

Add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until the quinoa is completely cooked. Remove from the heat. Puree the cooked mixture with a hand blender or cool slightly and puree in 2 batches in a blender or food processor.

Return the mixture to low heat. Add the remaining 1 cup of corn and the red pepper, black pepper, cayenne, saffron and salt. Reheat and stir. Serve immediately. The soup can be stored in a seal container in the refrigerator for 2 days.

REVIEW: This was so filling! I followed the recipe exactly as shown, apart from the fresh chives sprinkled on top.  I would make this again and it's very simple to make. Nothing fancy but a really great flavor with a hint of spice.

Chickpea & Sausage Soup

This lovely (or should I say... "lusty") soup was from the Edmonton Sun:

CHICKPEA AND SAUSAGE SOUP
This lusty soup has with an aroma that greets you as you walk in the door.

1 Tbsp. (15 ml) olive oil
3/4 lb. (375 g) fresh Italian sausage or chorizo (we used gluten-free Italian sausage from the Italian Market)
1 large onion, chopped
3 large cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp pepper
1 can chickpeas
1 carton (900 ml) sodium-reduced chicken broth
1 Tbsp tomato paste
Salt
2 cups lightly packed shredded spinach

In large heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add sausage; brown well, about 10 minutes. Let cool on cutting board. Slice thinly.

Meanwhile, drain off all but 1 Tbsp. (15 ml) fat. Add onion, garlic, thyme and pepper; saute for 5 minutes.

Drain and rinse chickpeas; mash half with fork. Add mashed and whole chickpeas to onion mixture along with sausage, chicken broth and tomato paste. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low; simmer covered until flavours blend and broth thickens slightly, about 30 minutes. (Make-ahead: Let cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate uncovered in containers until cold. Cover; refrigerate for up to 3 days; reheat.)

Taste, adding salt if desired. Stir in spinach; let stand 1 minute.

Makes 6 servings.

Sweet Potato & Coconut Soup with Quinoa

I promise to make something without quinoa tomorrow! I just can't get enough of this Quinoa 365 book. So many fantastic looking recipes in there. I just about made a quinoa chickpea salad to go with this soup but figured that would be overkill. Here is the soup I made this evening:

Sweet Potato & Coconut Soup with Quinoa
2 large sweet potatoes (I used 1 large and I can't imagine how thick this would be with 2!)
2tbsp water
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup quinoa
3 cups vegetable stock
1 cup coconut milk
1/4tsp cayenne pepper
1/4tsp chili powder
1/4cup plain yogurt (optional) (I didn't have any)

Wash and peel the sweet potatoes and cut in 2-3" chunchs. Boil for 5-6 minutes until just soft but not mushy.

Place the water and onion in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook until the onion softens, about 7 minutes. Stir in the quinoa and vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 15 minutes, until the quinoa is cooked.

Add the sweet potato to the saucepan. Puree the mixture with a hand blender. Return to low heat and stir in the coconut milk. Reheat slowly on low, adding the cayenne and chili powder. Ladle into bowls and top each serving with a spoonful of yogurt (if using).

To go with this soup I made salad with a new salad dressing. I halved a recipe that came from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch. I mostly was excited to use the newest ingredient in my pantry which is agave nectar! My salad consisted of lettuce and cucumbers but the dressing made it special ....

2tbsp agave nectar
2tbsp dijon mustard
1/3cup olive oil
2tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove minced
salt & pepper


MY REVIEW: The soup was damn thick! A bowl will fill you right up. If you're not the largest fan of coconut, fear not. It's not an overwhelming flavor. I really liked the little bit of spice the cayenne added and just the overall simplicity of the recipe. There was no sauteing the onions in butter so this recipe is 100% lactose free as well (assuming you skip the yogurt).  I didn't even have to add any salt or pepper - the natural flavors were enough. Great salad dressing too - even with half the recipe there's quite a bit left over. I just mixed it up in a mason jar and will keep it in the fridge.

JASON'S REVIEW: It was fabulous. I couldn't guess the ingredients - the flavors stood on their own.

Leek and Potato Soup

This year Santa made a fantastic book selection. He/she gets me a book each year and this year it was Quinoa 365:

Revolutionize your nutrition with Quinoa 365!

Keen what?

Pronounced 'keen wah', Quinoa is a frequently neglected and relatively unknown superfood - containing a perfect balance of all eight essential amino acids. It is gluten-free and a great source of protein. Nothing else packs a punch of nutrition quite like quinoa. Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood shows you how to add quinoa to all your favorite foods!

"We eat it because it's so nutritious and works with all of our favorite recipes!"

As you can see, I have bookmarked essentially every recipe in the book and also purchased a 3lb bag of quinoa. If you have not tried quinoa and are interested in following along with some of those bookmarked recipes then I do recommend picking up a sack at Costco. That 3lb bag of pre-rinsed quinoa cost $8.49 which is a pretty fine deal.  I promise you it's easier to make than rice!

My very first recipe from this book was the Leek & Potato Soup:

3tbsp butter (I used 1tbsp)
2 cups sliced leeks, white parts only
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 1/2 cups peeled and diced Yukon gold potatoes (I used whatever was in the pantry.. not yukon gold)
1/2 cup quinoa
2 cups milk or soy milk
salt to taste

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and saute the leeks until tender, about 8 minutes. Remove 1/2cup of the sauteed leeks and set aside.

Add the broth, potatoes and quinoa to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce to a summer and cook until the potatoes and quinoa are tender, about 18 minutes. Puree the cooked mixture with a hand blender or cool slightly and puree in 2 batches in a blender or food processor. Return the puree to the saucepan and stir in the milk and reserved leeks. Heat on medium but do not boil. Season with salt. Remove from the heat and serve.

MY REVIEW: What a great soup! It was so thick and filling. If you're intimidated by the idea of cooking quinoa then this is a good starting recipe. There's no rinsing or straining involved - the quinoa simply goes from the bag to the pot.

JASON'S REVIEW: It was good.

Quinoa Salad & Carrot Soup

Wow, it's been a while! I can't really come up with any clever excuses... I've been cooking a lot of the same recipes lately I guess. This whole gluten free thing is here to stay it seems. I found a new magazine at the library called "Living Without" and it's a gluten free magazine believe it or not! There are lots of dairy free recipes as well, in addition to articles on celiacs, allergies and food sensitivities. Not for everyone, but I found it damn interesting. It was in that very magazine that I found the recipe for this quinoa salad. It originally was called "Quinoa Salad with Chickpeas and Mint" but I made it without the chickpeas and mint due to lack of ingredients. Here it is, as written:

Quinoa Salad with Chickpeas & Mint
1 cup quinoa, thoroughly rinsed
4 small tomatoes
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1/2tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/4cup kalamata olives
2 cans chickpeas or white beans, rinsed and drained (I wish I had some of these and I usually do! I will add them next time)
1/2cup fresh mint leaves (didn't have any mint leaves)
3 ounces goats feta cheese or dairy-free cheese replacement, optional (I had cow feta)

1. Cook quinoa in plently of gently boiling water for about 12 to 15 minutes or until it softens. Tip quinoa into fine sieve, make several steam holes through it with a skewer and let it drain.
2. Cut the tomatoes in half. Remove the cores and seeds. Chop flesh coarsley. Set aside.
3. Mix the oil, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, salt & pepper in a large bowl. Add the cooked quinoa, black olives and chickpeas.
4. Just before serving, add the tomatoes and mint. Crumble the feta, if using, into the salad. Toss gently and serve.

Next... carrot soup!

I did a quick internet search and this was the first carrot soup recipe that popped up. Here's where I found the original recipe and here is the recipe:

Laura's Carrot Soup
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped (about 1-1/2 cups) (I only had half)
1 rib celery, chopped
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced
1 large potato, skin on, chopped
4 cups hot water
4 teaspoons instant bouillon (or 1 bouillon cube)
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground dill
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1-1/2 cups skim milk (I only had about 1 cup)

Sauté garlic, onion and celery in butter until tender in a Dutch oven (or a big old pot). Add remaining ingredients except milk. Bring to a boil and cook until carrots are tender, 30 – 40 minutes.

Purée in small batches in a blender or food processor (I used the immersion blender). Return mixture to the cooking pan. Add milk, heat through and serve immediately.

MY REVIEW: It feels good to try something new and share it with you guys! Both of these recipes were great. I would most definitely make the quinoa salad again but this time adding the chickpeas - I'm not sold on the mint though.  The soup was fantastic and easy to make. Give it a try.

JASON'S REVIEW: It tasted like a garlicy fairy was dancing and my tongue and it was very delicious.

Roasted Squash Soup with Apple & Brie

For lunch today, I made another luscious squash soup. This recipe was from my luscious-soup-recipe-provider, Rachelle (she was the one who gave me the Champagne Squash Soup recipe I made for Thanksgiving). She's really got me on a soup kick with all these fantastic recipes - the cool fall weather doesn't hurt either. I'm also really digging squash lately.

Roasted Squash Soup with Apple & Brie

1 large butternut squash (I used a butterCUP squash)

1 carrot

1 medium onion

1 leek, white portion only

2 Tbsp butter

6 cups chicken broth

1 apple, peeled and chopped

1 tsp sugar

salt and pepper, to taste

8 oz. brie cheese

diced green onion  (garnish) (didn't have any of this)

1) Cut squash in half length-wise and remove seeds. Microwave on high cut-side down in baking dish in a small amount of water, covered, for 10mins. 

2) Chop carrot, onion, and leek into 1" pieces and place into a large pot. Gentle saute in butter. Do not brown. Add cooked squash to vegetables (just the squash pulp out of it's skin). Add broth and bring to a boil. Add apple and sugar. Simmer, uncovered, for 40mins. Puree soup in batches. 

3) Season with salt and pepper. Slice off rind of brie and cut brie into 1/2" pieces. Place cheese in bottom of soup bowls and fill with hot soup. Garnish with green onion. Serves 4.

MY REVIEW: Great soup. You could do it with or without the brie because it's got a fantastic flavor. It always amazes me how simple vegetables blended together can make such an excellent soup.

JASON'S REVIEW: He's out riding his bike but I think he said "good soup!"

In related news, I absolutley love my wand blender. You put it right in the pot so there's no need to dirty another dish. It's clean and quick and works like a charm.

Happy Thanksgiving

What a busy long weekend! A wedding on Saturday night, last night a wonderful gluten-free Thanksgiving dinner prepared by my mom and this evening Jason and I cooked a huge chicken for his family. Jason sharpened his carving knife in preparation:

 I decorated my red table kitchen:

I lucked out in the beautiful flower department! Jason brought me the orange plant on the left yesterday and the bouquet on the right came from his mom today:

 My mom made these colorful little chocolate autumn leaves to put on my table:

This picture is for everyone who doesn't understand what Jason and I do without cable television. Note the 2 chairs:

Check out the huge bird! Jason made his special rub... you'll have to ask him for the recipe. All I know is there's lots of oregano and garlic and it's delicious:

Now as for new recipes, I tried two and both were a success! First off, I found a great recipe for vegetarian gravy that I could easily adapt into a gluten-free/vegetarian gravy. Sadly, I cannot find the original source so don't give me credit for it! Here it is:

Easy Vegetarian Gravy
3 tablespoons margarine
2 tablespoons of finely chopped onions (I left this out for this batch, but will toss it in next time)
2 minced garlic cloves
3 tablespoons flour (gluten-free blend from planet organic)
2 tablespoons soy sauce (gluten-free)
1 cup water
salt and pepper

1 Put margarine in a pot and saute the onions and garlic over med-high heat.
2 Reduce heat back to medium after onions and garlic have become golden brown.
3 Make a roux by gradually adding the flour, while continuously stirring to avoid lumps.
4 Still stirring, add soy sauce and water to the mixture.
5 Add salt and pepper to taste.
6 Once the gravy has reached desired thickness, turn off the stove and you are done!

MY REVIEW: I loved this gravy! The one change I would absolutely make next time would be omitting the salt. Soy sauce has enough salt on its own. Other than that, this was fantastic. I served it to 2 vegetarians this weekend and both seemed to enjoy it. 

This next recipe was suggested to me by a friend and her raving reviews gave me the confidence to try it on this special occasion. Usually I'll try something on Jason first but I just went for it with this one and it turned out wonderfully. It's from the Best of Bridge cookbook but I found it on this blog. I forgot to take a picture of it when I served it with the sour cream and nutmeg so here's a picture of the leftovers!:

 Champagne Squash Soup
4lbs squash acorn or butternut (I used 2 acorn)
2 medium onions diced (I used 3 small white onions)
2 TBSP butter
1/4 cup of Champagne (I subbed white wine in here)
4-5 cups chicken broth
2 TBSP butter
1/2 tsp nutmeg
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup sour cream for garnish

Preheat oven to 350, line a cookie sheet with foil.
Quarter squash, cut out seeds, place skin side up & bake 1- 1 1/2 hours until squash is tender.
Cool. Scoop out pulp & puree.
Saute onions in 2 TBSP butter. Add champagne. Cook until liquid is absorbed, and onions are golden brown stirring often.
Puree onions in food processor with a little of the squash puree.
In large pot, combine onions, squash & broth. Cover & simmer stirring occasionally.
Whisk in 2 TBSP butter.
Season with nutmeg, salt & pepper.
Garnish with sour cream, using knife to swirl through soup.

MY REVIEW: Acorn squash has such a great flavor and it really shines in this soup. Since our blender is no longer functioning, we purchased a hand blender and it made this soup so easy. It was silky smooth!

JASON'S REVIEW: The soup was delicious. It tasted like golden acorn squashes bouncing off my taste-buds with just the right amount of spice.

French Onion Soup

I did not cook this but I have to share it with you. Last Sunday my mom whipped these out of the freezer and I've been thinking about it ever since. I can't really say I've ever been a huge fan of french onion soup and when I really think about it I'm pretty sure I've only had it once before. These frozen little portions of soup from M&M's are to die for! Since this week seemed to be excruciatingly busy and long I decided to pick up two of these on my way home from work. Here we have Jason demonstrating the size of the frozen package:

So all you do is unwrap the frozen hunk of soup and place it (cheese up) in an oven proof bowl. It looked kind of funny just sitting there:

Now you let it melt away in the oven and fill your house with the wonderful smell of onions and cheese.

It was a long 40 minutes waiting for these to finish. Honey kept me entertained (or maybe it was the other way around):

Here we have the finished product! It was so very hard not to dive right in and burn my mouth but you do need to give it a good 5-10 minutes to cool down.

Jason gave it an 8/10 because it was so salty. He then changed it to a 9/10 because he decided he liked the fact it was so salty. It did get me thinking though. Number one, could I make my own low sodium french onion soup? Number two, how easy would it be to freeze my own homemade soup in single serving size mold? I could just bring a little soup hunk out whenever I wanted to and throw it in the oven. 

Anyways, this soup is definitely worth trying in our opinion. They did have other flavors but those didn't have the token melty cheese of course.

Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

 

With leftover rotisserie chicken from Monday, I made soup this evening. An internet search didn't really produce anything that caught my eye, so i winged (wung?) it. Here's what's in mine:

3/4cup wild rice

lots of water with some vegetable stock powder (this is what I use basically everytime a recipe calls for chicken stock by the way)

3 carrots, chopped

leftover cooked chicken, cut into small pieces

margerine

sliced mushrooms

half a yellow onion, chopped

salt & pepper

Put the stock, wild rice and salt and pepper into a large pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes. While this is simmering, sautee your mushrooms and onions in about a tablespoon of butter until it starts to smell REALLY good as onions and mushrooms tend to. 

Once 40 minutes has passed, throw some chopped carrots into the pot, followed by the onion/mushroom mixture and the chopped up chicken. Let this heat for about 10 minutes (or until the sweaty guy in your basement stops riding his bike). 

MY REVIEW: Yum! I really should make soup more often. I love eating it for dinner almost as much as I love warming it up for lunch. It's such a good way to clean out your fridge and it fills the house with such a satisfying smell. We ate this soup with some olive/cheddar loaf from the Italian market and it made for a great meal.

JASON'S REVIEW: "Good soup sweetie"

2 Part Chicken Soup

We've been living off Thanksgiving leftovers this week! I was left with a chicken carcass and some chicken meat last night so I decided to make chicken soup. I don't know why I have never thought of making chicken stock in the crock pot, but that's what I had simmering over night. Some useful informaton on this subject can be found here. I just threw the bones in with some rosemary, oregano, peppercorns and bay leaves. I also cut up a bit of onion for flavor. I left that to cook over night on low (from 10pm-7am). In the morning, I strained the stock and put it in the fridge - Part 1 complete.

Part 2 - Very basic chicken soup. Sauteed some carrots, onion and celery in a big pot with a spritz of olive oil. To that, I added my stock, some water and the little cooked chicken bits I had left over. I also threw in some rice! I let it cook...until we were ready to eat it. Maybe half an hour? Maybe more.

Now USUALLY when I take pictures, I clear away all the bike paraphernalia. This evening, I thought it important that you see how we usually eat. You'll notice my soup amidst the pit pass, gloves, water bottle, spare tube, pump and helmet light! Oh that red bag is also full of water bottles. Somewhere in there is a container of safety pins (for attaching your race number of course), about 4 race numbers, a random bike part and a toque (fresh with sweat). Honestly, this stuff never leaves the table. We usually eat on the couch but the soup was really hot.

JASON'S REVIEW: It was good. Rice is nice.

MY REVIEW: Rice expands! 2 cups not necessary. Thick and filling though.

In other, unrelated news, I decided that I should make an online portfolio for my design work. I'm very pleased with myself as I haven't made a website for about 5 years. You can check it out here if you'd like. It's still a work in progress but the main stuff is up.

ALSO - If you're counting down the days like I am, it starts in 3 days!! 

Chunky Tomato Soup

I got this recipe from a "Womans Day" cookbook at the library... lame name, good recipes.

2tsp margerine
3/4cup chopped onions
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can homemade chicken broth
3tbsp tomato paste
dill (I didn't have fresh sadly.. soon though!)

1. Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in onions; cover and cook over medium-low heat 5 minutes until tender.
2. Add tomatoes (including liquid), broth and tomato paste; bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and stir in dill.

We honestly didn't try even a spoon full of this yet! It's for tomorrows lunch along with spinach salad. It smelled AND looked good if that's any indication. Even though I used reduced sodium versions of the canned goods, I imagine this is still pretty high in sodium. It was super easy and quick to make however and that's exactly what I needed. I'll review it tomorrow and hopefully have something new to post as we have run out of my birthday leftovers!!

**UPDATE: This soup is very bland. You need to get creative with some spices or something. It just tastes like tomatoes!

Salmon OR Chicken with Asparagus Soup & Nori Potatoes

I used my blender tonight! It's the perfect soup weapon. Jason had chicken, I treated myself to some fresh salmon and re-used my nori potato recipe from last week.

For the asparagus soup, I cut up and steamed a bunch of asparagus and threw it in the blender with some of my homemade chicken stock, skim milk and 1 garlic clove. I love having my own chicken stock in the freezer because I know exactly what went in it and what didn't. I sense a lot of soups in my future...

MY REVIEW: Delicious salmon! Seems like everything I get these days is from Save-On although we never really do our big grocery shopping there. I like it because I can buy 1 fresh chicken breast and 1 fresh piece of salmon. Not gonna lie though- I bought 2 fresh pieces of salmon. One for dinner tomorrow! Great meal and won't get tired of those potatoes.

JASON'S REVIEW: Jason is tired and in bed. I'm pretty sure he liked it? He said thanks.

*SPECIAL EDITION* HONEY'S REVIEW: I found both variations of tonight's meal simply irresistible. I managed to get a lick of mama's salmon while she adjusted her camera and papa caught me pulling his chicken breast out from under the plastic covering it. Why does mama even bother putting anything over it? She knows I'll stick my dirty paw under there anyways! AND THEN... I fell in the bathtub. What a night.

Gordon Ramsay's Broccoli Soup

Apparently this is Gordon Ramsay's Broccoli Soup recipe..... I don't know - I have my doubts. I searched for broccoli on some program on my iPhone and it came up with this:

to taste, water (I've never seen this before!)
to taste, salt
to taste, pepper
2 heads broccoli
to taste, olive oil (optional) for garnish

Cut the florets off the heads of broccoli. Cut the stems into similarly sized pieces. Add all broccoli into a pot of rapidly boiling water (2tbsp salt in 5 quarts water). (that is a disgusting amount of salt)

Using a slotted spoon, put the cooked broccoli pieces into blender. Fill blender about half way with cooking water. Blend. Add more liquid if necessary for desired consistency. Check seasonings.

If desired (I did this to Jason's soup only), add goat cheese or cheddar to the bottom of bowl before serving. Serve drizzled with olive oil if desired.

MY REVIEW: Although it was my favorite color, this was gross. It tasted like water.... I don't like to add lots of salt to anything though so I guess it's my own fault. It was pretty much zero calories so I would probably eat it again because I'm weird like that. As for being Gordan Ramsay's recipe.... I don't think so. I would do some research but I just got home from Boot Camp and have 0% energy.

JASON'S REVIEW: The broccoli soup had a surprising zip and the cheese really smoothed it out. (??)

I guess Jason liked it.

So moral of the story, don't torture yourself and try to eat this without cheese!

Potato & Leek Soup

After making that carrot soup, I had a hankering to make MORE soup. This time, it was potato and leek from the Epicurious website:

• the white and pale green part of 2 large leeks, split lengthwise, washed well, and chopped (I used three)
  
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (Margarine! This should go without saying. I only use butter when making shortbread)
  
• 1 1/2 cups water (I just added water until it covered the potatoes)
  
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 pound boiling, potatoes (I didn't weigh them... lots o' potato)
  
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves (none of these)
• I added three garlic cloves
• I also added a splash of white wine since it was laying around

In a large heavy saucepan cook the leeks (and garlic) in the butter with salt and pepper to taste, covered, over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are softened but not browned. Add the water, the broth, (white wine) and the potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice, and simmer the mixture, covered, for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. In a blender purée 1 cup (I did half and half) of the soup, stir the puré into the remaining soup with the parsley, and season the soup with salt and pepper. (Again, no salt because I'm too lazy to refill the shaker)

MY REVIEW: Loved it! Thick and creamy with no cream. It made lots so our freezer is stocked with soup now.

JASON'S REVIEW: Extremely tasty. (I may have to phase out this portion of my blog)

Carrot Ginger Soup

Kind of a backwards night tonight. We couldn't decide what to eat and I wasn't feeling very inspired by the lack of groceries in the fridge so we went out to Swiss Chalet for dinner. After we picked up a few grocery essentials and came home, THEN I started to cook. Mom is sick so I wanted to make her some soup for tomorrow. I know ginger is supposed to be good for you so I searched around and found this recipe:

Ingredients

6 tablespoons unsalted butter (margarine for me of course)
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1/4 cup peeled grated fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
7 cups vegetable or chicken stock (i used veggie broth)
1 cup dry white wine (i think i used wet white wine)
1-1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon curry powder (i decided to leave this out... so many flavors going on!)
salt to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Preparation

1. In the pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion, ginger, and garlic and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

2. Add the stock, wine, and carrots. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer uncovered about 45 minutes, until the carrots are very tender.

3. Puree the soup in the pot using the immersion blender or use a regular blender. If using a regular blender you may have to do it in batches.

4. Season with the lemon juice and curry powder. Add salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and swirl in a spoonful of yogurt or cream. Top with a sprinkle of chives or parsley and serve.

MY REVIEW: I tried a little sample.. it was interesting. It had one taste at first.. then after a second it changed. I liked it though and thought you could really taste the lemon which was a good thing. Jason was half asleep and I shoved a spoonful at him... he didn't say much. He's not a fan of ginger though anyways. The real review will come after my mom tries it! The color was a success if nothing else.