A creamy lightly-spiced cauliflower soup with robust flavor from toasted almonds, slight heat from harissa-infused browned butter and a bright earthiness from a sprinkling of dill as garnish. I think you’ll love this warm earthy soup in the winter months!
Read MoreTomato soup and grilled cheese: it’s an American staple. Probably because it’s fast, and it’s satisfying.
The thing is, as a grown adult cooking for my family, I discovered that many cans and cartons of tomato soup are chock full of sugars. On the other hand, a lot of homemade recipes, although fresh and delicious, take time to make, and don’t yield that ultra smooth brilliant soup you get from a can.
Read MoreI think most of the country has a few more weeks until warm weather, so I’m offering this deep hearty soup as a small comfort in the long lingering winter. This soup was everything I wanted it to be on the cold and rainy day I made it: warm and comforting, creamy smooth, flavorful and filling. The roasted garlic and fennel give it depth and the beans give it substance so that with a slice of bread and a hearty salad you’ve got a very satisfying meal. I served it with salty crisped salami which highlighted the mellow sweetness of the fennel and garlic. I don’t think kids should always be a standard of a successful dish but when they gobble down a bowl of soup and ask for leftovers the next day I think it’s safe to say it’s a keeper.
Ingredients:
12 cloves garlic
2 bulbs fennel, sliced 1/2 inch think, fronds cut off and reserved
olive oil and butter
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 bay leaf
2 cans (about 3.5 cups) white beans (either cannellini or Great Northern)
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
optional garnish: crisped pancetta, bacon, or salami and fennel fronds
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400. Coat the fennel slices and unpeeled garlic cloves in a couple glugs of olive oil. Lay out on a sheet pan and roast for 30 minutes, or until soft and just beginning to brown on the edges. Remove from oven and set aside. When cool enough to handle, roughly chop up the fennel and peel the garlic cloves (you can basically just squeeze the cloves right out of the skin.)
Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp butter over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 5-8 minutes. Add the chopped fennel and garlic and cook for a minute or two more. Add the broth, beans, and bay leaf and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and blitz the soup with an immersion blender, or in batches in a standing blender. Return to the pot and stir in the cream. Salt and pepper to taste. If desired, serve with a swirl of cream, a sprinkle of crisped bacon, pancetta, or salami and the reserved fennel fronds.
Potato soup is comforting, easy, and economical. This recipe takes under an hour to throw together and makes everyone happy and content. The garlic and cheese are really what make this shine and taste all the more delicious.
Read MoreWhere we’d usually post our recipe round-up at the end of the month, we thought you might appreciate an archive dive for Thanksgiving recipes along with what we’ve discovered this month.
Read MoreSimply Divine Carrot Soup is simple, and divine. Carrots, onions, garlic, a splash of white wine, broth, salt and pepper, and heavy cream combine into a silky smooth soup that lets the carrots shine.
Read MoreThere was a bowl filled with 10 cups of homemade chicken broth in my fridge that was fast approaching the 1-week mark. I'm not 100% positive about how long various things stay "fresh" in the fridge, and I suspect it is oftentimes longer than the standard safety recommendations*, but in general I operate under the 1-week policy. Under a week? Eat it. Over a week? Toss it. It's that hazy 6-7 day area where I know my logic is a bit spurious. It's okay to eat at 11pm on Day 6, but by 9am on Day 7 it has got to go.
Read MoreA while back, I got an issue of Real Simple in the mail that included a 4-week meal plan. I had been in a bit of a meal slump at the time, so the idea of having someone else plan out my menu for the month was something I embraced with full force.
Some of the meals turned out to be duds, or just plain old unspectacular. Other meals have worked their way into my staple recipes, surprising me by their ease of assembly and fantastic flavors. This White Bean & Spinach Soup is one of those recipes.
Read MoreRoasting the butternut squash might seem like too much work, but it pays off by giving this soup a deeper flavor. The spice of the curry against the velvety smooth, creamy sweetness of the squash makes it pretty addicting.
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