Carrot-Sweet Potato Soup

This delicately sweet and hearty soup is perfect on a snow-filled day like today. With just a few ingredients, the flavors come together. You can get creative here with your favorite greens and spices. I used cumin but feel free to swap for anything else. You can make this soup in advance for weekday lunches or use it to start off a healthy meal.

3 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
2-inch piece of ginger, chopped
1 1/2 pounds of carrots
1 large sweet potato, peeled and roughly chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 cups vegetable stock
1 tbsp cumin

1. Put the oil in a large, deep saucepaun over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the carrots, sweet potato, onion and ginger. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, until the carrots soften a bit. Add the stock and cook until the vegetables are very tender, 15-20 minutes. Add the cumin.

2. Let cool a bit and pour the soup into a food processor, or use an immersion blender if you have  one (I don’t) to puree the soup. Puree until smooth. At this point you can cover and refrigerate it if you’re making it in advance.

3. To serve, pour the soup back into the pot and heat again for a few minutes. Pour into a serving bowl and garnish with parsley if you’d like

This is from Mark Bittman’s Food Matters, with some personal touches.

Tom Kha Gai Soup (Ginger, Chicken and Coconut Soup)

This is a fool-proof recipe for this deeply flavorful Thai soup. We enjoyed it last week prior to the awesome roasted Asian-style duck. The galangal and kaffir lime leaves can be tricky to find, I recommend checking out a specialty food shop. If you’re NY-based you can find them at Kalutsyan’s on Lexington. You can make the soup without these 2 ingredients but I think it would be a little one-dimensional. Galangal is related to ginger, it comes as a root either fresh or frozen. Kaffir lime leaves are literally the leaves of a kaffir lime which is native to Thailand. They give off a strong aroma that is really lovely in the soup. Don’t make the  mistake of trying to eat one and choking on it like me, just let them soak in the soup and eat around them ;) Though this is a hot soup, the refreshing citrus and the tropical notes make it appropriate for a Summer meal.

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:
4 lemongrass stalks, roots trimmed
1 3/4 cups canned coconut milk
2 cups chicken stock
1-inch piece galangal, peeled and thinly sliced
10 black peppercorns, crushed
10 kaffir lime leaves, torn
11 oz. skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
1 cup button or straw mushrooms
1/2 cup baby corn cobs, quartered lengthwise
4 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp nam pla (fish sauce) or soy sauce
chopped fresh red chiles and/or scallions and fresh cilantro leaves, to garnish

1. Cut off the lower 2 inches from each lemongrass stalk and chop it finely. Bruise the remaining pieces of stalk. Bring the coconut milk and chicken stock to a boil in a large pan. Add all the lemongrass, galangal, peppercorns and half the lime leaves, lower the heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Strain into a clean pan.

2. Return the soup to the heat, then add the chicken, mushrooms and corn. Simmer for 7 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.

3. Stir in the lime juice and nam pla or soy sauce. Then add the remaining lime lives. Serve hot, garnished with chiles, scallions and/or cilantro.

This recipe is from a comprehensive cookbook on Asian cooking called “Fresh Tastes of Asia”, a book that I’ve had a lot of fun experimenting with growing up (though it was supposed to be a present for my Mom!).

Wild Mushroom Hunter’s Soup

Since Wine Blogging Wednesday: Baked Goods, when I tasted a wonderful Amontillado, I’ve been having fun cooking with sherry. Sherry is a wonderful ingredient for food as it adds great savory flavor and it lasts for months without spoiling. I made this recipe for New Years Eve dinner last week and I was amazed at the simple preparation and complex, rich result. A lot of soups can require significant chopping or blending work, while this one was very low maintenance. The exotic mushrooms, sherry, and caramelized onions are a fantastic mix. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 cups thinly sliced onions
2 tablespoons thinly sliced garlic
1 1/2 pounds fresh wild mushrooms (any kind that you like will do, I used mainly shiitake)
1 1/2 cups fresh tomatoes, diced, or canned diced tomatoes in juice
6 cups chicken or mushroom stock, or low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup amontillado sherry
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated Parmesan (this is optional, I omitted it)
fresh parsley, chives, basil and/or chervil chopped for garnish

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, deep pan over medium-low heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring, until they are light golden.

While the onion mixture is cooking, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a separate pan over high heat; add the mushrooms and saute until they are lightly browned. Add the sauteed mushrooms, tomatoes and stock to the onion mixture. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the sherry and lemon zest and season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with cheese and/or herbs.

This recipe is from the Wine Enthusiast Magazine Wine & Food Pairings Cookbook. It features 80 recipes and wine recommendations. What I love about our book is that the recipes are organized by wine so you’ll find recipes for “light, aromatic white wines” (like this one) as well as “big, powerful red wines” for example. It was written by our editors and has great photos too, like the one above :)