Odds and Sods Soup

You know when you have a little of this and a little of that left in the vegetable bin; nothing that can make a complete meal but it will go bad if you don’t use it soon? This is when I make what I call “Odds and Sods Vegetable Soup.” It never tastes the same twice because the ingredients always vary depending on what is left in the refrigerator. Regardless, it is a staple in my kitchen because it is quick to put together and always tastes great.

The plan is to inventory the fridge and cupboard and pull out what needs to be used. It can be just vegetables or you can add beans and/or protein. Once you have assembled your “ingredients” you need to determine the order in which they get added to the soup pot. Some vegetables need to cook longer than others so they need to be added first. Others require a brief period of heat and they get added at the end. Here is a recap of my most recent batch of soup. Below are the ingredients I had at my disposal.

Soup Ingredients

•  I decided to make my soup out of all vegetables. I prepped all my vegetables before actually beginning the cooking process so that I could decide what should get added when. Here is how I grouped my ingredients.

• I chopped up the onion, carrot, celery and mushroom. I like to cook my mushrooms early to get the water released. These are going to get sautéed with my dried spices.

First Addition to the Pot

•  I minced my garlic so that it would have some time to release the health enhancing chemical, allicin, that is so good for your body. This will get added at the very end of the saute of the vegetables above.

Minced garlic

• I cut my broccoli and cauliflower into bite-size pieces and chopped up a peeled frozen tomato. You can add some drained canned tomatoes as an alternative. I decided to use chicken stock as my liquid. Using vegetable stock will keep this dish totally vegetarian if desired.

 

2nd Addition to the Pot

•  My last addition is sliced zucchini and bite-size torn up kale

Zucchini and Kale

You also need to decide the spices to use in your soup. I typically go for an Italian flavor. In this case I used sea salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, an Italian blend which contains basil, rosemary, oregano and thyme,and fresh minced garlic.

Spices for the Soup

So lets take a look at how this soup looks once as it is cooking.

1. Heat some olive oil over medium heat. Once it starts to shimmer add your onion mixture and dried spices (the garlic will get added later.) I initially season my soup with 2 teaspoons salt, 2 tablespoons Italian blend, 1/4 to 1/2 red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy I am feeling) and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.

Vegetables and spices just added.

Vegetable and spices cooked down.

2. Once the vegetables are cooked down and the onion is translucent I add the minced garlic and cook for about 1 minute.

3. Next I add my quart of stock, chopped tomatoes, broccoli and cauliflower. I bring this to a boil, reduce the heat, and cook on low heat, covered. I simmer the soup for about 20 minutes.

After the second addition.

4. My last addition is the zucchini and kale. I add this to the covered pot and keep simmering until the kale is soft. This can take another 20 minutes or so.  At this point I taste the soup and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Now it is ready to serve with some grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese. Enjoy!

Finished soup

Since this soup changes each time I make it  I didn’t include a proper recipe. It is really all about technique.

1. Prep your vegetables
2. Choose your liquid and spices and proteins (if using)
3. Cook

Here is something I do which you may find useful. I cook with a lot of vegetables and create lots of peelings, skins and ends. I collect them in a freezer bag and store them there until I have a full to bursting bag. I place these cuttings in a pot with 3 to 4 cups of water and a healthy pinch of salt and simmer them for about 45 minutes. I strain the “broth” and then I am left with vegetable stock which I either use immediately or freeze for future consumption. I find this stock much tastier than what I can buy plus it saves me money. One word of caution, do not save cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, etc.) scraps because they have a very strong flavor.

Frozen vegetable scraps

Butternut Squash and White Bean Stew with Rosemary and Tomatoes

You can never have enough soup in winter. This is a favorite recipe that I have tweaked from A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen, a cookbook by Jack Bishop from America’s Test Kitchen. This is a hearty soup that makes a main meal when accompanied with a side salad. Here is the finished product.

Bowl of Butternut Squash Soup

This soup doesn’t have too many ingredients; olive oil, onion, garlic, fresh rosemary, tomatoes, white beans and butternut squash. The recipe calls for canned beans and tomatoes. When I have time I cook up a batch of white beans from scratch. Another trick is that I freeze whole tomatoes in the summer when they are freshest and use them in winter in soups. All you do is run the frozen tomato under cold water and the skin slips off. Wait a couple of minutes and chop up the frozen tomato.

Soup Ingredients

The only tricky part to this recipe is prepping the butternut squash. The squash I purchased was larger than I needed. I cut the bulbous part of the squash off (and stored for later use in another recipe) and used a carrot peeler to remove the outer layer of the straight section of the squash. I then cut it into 1″ chunks.

Halved squash

Tools for Peeling Squash

Cut up Squash

The next step is peeling and slicing a medium onion, peeling and mincing 5 garlic cloves, and mincing up 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary. Using fresh rosemary is really important in this recipe because it imparts a strong smell and flavor to the soup.

Sliced Onions

Minced Garlic

Minced Rosemary

Now it is time to make some soup.

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil in a large soup pot or Dutch Oven. Heat the oil at medium heat until shimmering and add the sliced onions and 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt. Stir them occasionally until they are soft and golden, about 8 minutes.

Starting the Onions

2. Add 3/4 of the minced garlic to the pot and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the beans, squash, tomatoes, and 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the squash is tender, about 30 minutes.

Starting the Soup

3. Once the squash is soft, remove the pot lid and continue simmering for 15 minutes to let the stew thicken.

Thickened Soup

4. While the soup is thickening, combine your remaining 1/4 garlic, minced rosemary, a pinch of sea salt and 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil in a small bowl.

Garlic, Rosemary and Oil

5. The last step is to add the garlic-rosemary mixture into your soup and stir it in. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Adjust salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese.

Adding the Rosemary

Finished Soup in the Pot

This soup tastes better the second day so if you have the opportunity to make it ahead of time, even better.

Butternut Squash with White Beans Stew with Rosemary and Tomatoes

Make 4 main dish servings

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 5 medium garlic cloves, minced (divided)
• 2 15-ounce cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (or use beans cooked from scratch)
• 1 small butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch dice (about 3 1/2 cups)
• 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 3 cups water
• 1 tablespoon freshly minced rosemary
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Sea salt, to taste

1 Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until soft and golden, stirring occasionally. Add 3/4 of the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the beans, squash, tomatoes, and water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the squash is tender, about 30 minutes. Remove the cover and continue simmering until the stew thickens, about 15 minutes.

2. While the stew is simmering combine the remaining minced garlic, minced rosemary, remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt in a small bowl.

3. Once the stew has reduced down, stir in the rosemary mixture and cook an additional 5 minutes. Adjust the seasonings with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt, to taste. Serve with grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese.

 

How to Make Yogurt

Several years ago someone taught me how to make yogurt and today I am passing along the process. Not only will this save you money, but you will be able to control the quality and taste of your yogurt. Yogurt is good for you due to the probiotics (good bacteria) that help colonize your gut and improve digestion.

You will need a couple of tools: a pot, a thermometer, a spoon for stirring, two quart size glass jars (wide-mouth are best), a measuring cup for transferring the yogurt from the pot to the jars, and a place to incubate your yogurt (more on that later.)

Yogurt Equipment

We will be making plain yogurt with this recipe. Once completed, you can flavor it with honey or maple syrup; add fruit and/or nuts; or use it plain. Yogurt is a good substitute for sour cream in recipes. It can also be added to milk and be used as a substitute for buttermilk.This recipe makes two quarts. From a monetary perspective, one container of organic yogurt costs about $3.50. One container of organic milk costs from $3.50 to $4. Our one container of milk will make two containers of yogurt, so it is a cost savings.

There are only two ingredients in making yogurt; milk and a starter. I always use organic milk to make yogurt. The fat content of the milk is up to you. The higher the fat content of the milk, the creamier and less tart it will be. In our house, we eat plain yogurt unsweetened when it is made from whole milk. For the starter you can use purchase plain yogurt; just make sure the label says it has live active cultures. Once you have made a batch of yogurt, you can use old yogurt to start your new yogurt. One lesson learned–I had yogurt in the refrigerator for about 5 weeks. It still tasted good, but the cultures had lost their oomph. When I used this to make yogurt, it didn’t set. If my yogurt is two to three weeks old, there is no problem.

Yogurt Ingredients

No fancy equipment is needed to make yogurt. You need a place to heat your milk and then a place to “sit” your yogurt. In a nutshell, here is how you make yogurt:

Heat your milk to 180 degrees, cool your milk to 120 degree (no warmer), place 2 tablespoons of starter in each jar, add some cooled milk and stir in the starter, fill the jar to the top with cooled milk, cap the jar, let it sit for 8 hours someplace about 110 degrees, refrigerate for 12 hours and then enjoy.

Let’s go through it step by step:

1. Place your entire 1/2 gallon of milk in a large pot. Turn the heat to medium-low. You want the milk to heat slowly. This can take 45 minutes or so.

Milk in the Pot

2. Stir the milk occasionally and keep checking the temperature. You will see some steam come off of the milk. The goal is to get the milk to 180 degrees farenheit. This is a picture of the thermometer I use. It is called a Thermapen and though it is expensive, it reacts very quickly and gives a clear reading.

Thermapen

Milk at 180 degrees

3. Once the milk reaches 180 degrees, remove it from the heat and let it cool down to 120 degrees. I have found that the cooler my house is, the quicker the milk cools down. Stir occasionally and then check the temperature. If the milk is any warmer  than 120 degrees when you add it to your yogurt starter, you will kill the live bacteria and your yogurt will not set. As the milk cools you may see a skin form on the top. You can either remove this or stir it back into the milk.

Skin on the milk

4. As the milk gets close to 120 degrees, add 2 tablespoons of starter to your empty quart jars.

Prepping the Yogurt Jars

5. Once the milk has cooled, place about a cup of milk in each jar and stir. This will distribute the starter into the milk.

Distributing the starter

6. Add the rest of the milk to the jars (you should use just about all of it). I fill the jars to the top since the yogurt will not expand. Cap the jars. They should feel warm to the touch.

 

Capped jars

7. Now you need to get creative. These jars need to rest for at least 8 hours at a warm (not hot) temperature; about 110 degrees. During that time, the bacteria eat the sugar from the milk (lactose) and turn this into yogurt. I usually turn on the light in my oven and place the yogurt in there, wrapped in a towel. In my last house, I could place the yogurt in my microwave and leave the door a little bit ajar. I have also put the yogurt in my clothes dryer with the door ajar. The heat from the lightbulb is enough to keep the yogurt warm. I have also placed the jars in my dehydrator and set it for 108 degrees or so and let it incubate there.  DO NOT DO THIS: Place the yogurt in your microwave, which sits above your oven and then use the oven. The heat from the oven will raise the temperature in the microwave and the extra heat will kill the bacteria. Been there, done that!

Jars in the oven

Jars Wrapped in a Towel

8. The yogurt needs at least 8 hours to incubate. The longer the yogurt  incubates after the 8th hour the more tart it is. If I don’t leave myself a reminder I will forget about it. Or, if I don’t put a reminder on the oven, I will turn the oven on and start preheating it. [Oops, cooked that batch of yogurt.] I always take a scrap of paper and write my “finish” time on it and tape it to the oven. You can set an alarm on your phone, but I don’t always have mine on me, plus you have to remember what the alarm is for.

Time Reminder

9. Once the 8 hours are done, place the yogurt in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours to let it cool down and really set.

The only tricky aspect of making yogurt is the timing. The whole process from initially heating the milk to getting it into the refrigerator takes about 9 1/2 to 10 hours so you have to plan accordingly.

Yogurt Recipe

Makes 2 Quarts

• 1/2 gallon milk
• 4 tablespoons plain yogurt with live active cultures

1. Place milk in pot and slowly heat to 180 degrees F.

2. Remove pot from heat and cool to 120 degrees F.

3. Place 2 tablespoons of yogurt in each quart size jar and stir one cup of cooled liquid into each

4. Add remaining cooled milk to jars

5. Cap and place in warm spot, wrapped in a towel

6. Let sit for 8 hours, remove and refrigerate.

 

Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Mash

My husband is a meat and potatoes man. The problem is that I try to limit the amount of potatoes we eat and that isn’t necessarily a popular move in our house. So I came up with an alternative that was very well received; Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Mashed “Potatoes.” It is a winner, if I must say so myself. The dish does require a couple of steps, but it is worth the work. I consider this the gourmet version of steamed cauliflower mashed up to look like potatoes.

Step 1: You will need one whole cauliflower and one whole head of garlic. Remove some of the outer paper from the garlic head, but make sure it stays together. Don’t touch the root end.

Raw cauliflower and garlic

Step 2: Cut the stem from the cauliflower and cut into florets. The closer the florets are in size, the more evenly they will cook. Inevitably some pieces will be larger or smaller than others. That’s not a biggie.

Cauliflower florets

Step 3: Now we prep the garlic for roasting. When you roast garlic, it loses its sharpness and develops a very mellow flavor. You may want to roast several heads and use the excess garlic in other dishes. Cut across the top of the garlic and expose the flesh at the top of the cloves. Place the garlic head on a piece of aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil and wrap it up tightly.

Trimmed garlic

Garlic ready for wrapping

Step 4: I put my cauliflower in a bowl and toss it with olive oil and salt. I use my hands to massage on the oil so the cauliflower is well coated. Place the cauliflower on a sheet pan (with sides).To help with clean-up, I line the sheet pan with parchment paper or aluminium foil that I have sprayed with PAM. I also place my wrapped garlic on the sheet pan.

I roast the cauliflower in a preheated 425 F degree oven for approximately 30 minutes, turning once mid way. To check if the cauliflower is done insert a sharp knife into the stem. It should slide in easily. Depending on the size of your florets it may take longer to cook.

Cooked cauliflower

Step 5: The next step is to remove the garlic skins from the cloves. This is easy but a little messy.When you unwrap the garlic packet you will see some browning on the cloves. Break the head into the individual cloves, pick up a clove and squeeze the garlic out of the cut end. It should slide right out.

Roasted garlic

Removing the cloves

Step 6: Lastly, place the cooked cauliflower and garlic into a food processor. You will probably need to add some liquid to get a mashed potato texture. I add some ghee (clarified butter) and a little organic milk. I process it and taste for seasoning; adding salt and pepper as needed.

Processing cauliflower

Step 7:  The cauliflower has usually cooled down after pureeing. I transfer it to a bowl and reheat in the microwave when it is time to serve. [You can make this ahead and reheat.] The brown specs are the caramelized cauliflower and garlic. Yum.

The finished product

 

I hope you like this as much as we did.

Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Serves 4

The measurements in the recipe are a little vague because cauliflower varies in size. Use your best judgement on how much butter and milk to add depending on the consistency you like.

• 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1 head garlic, top removed and wrapped in tin foil with 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil for tossing cauliflower prior to roasting
• 1 tablespoon ghee or organic butter
• 2 to 4 tablespoons organic milk (or milk substitute will work fine)
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Toss cauliflower florets with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place on a rimmed baking sheet that has been covered with foil or parchment paper and sprayed with PAM.
2. Cut top off of garlic, place on aluminum foil and drizzle with one teaspoon olive oil. Wrap tightly in the foil. Place on the baking sheet with the cauliflower.
3. Roast in a preheated 425 F degree oven for 30 minutes; turning once half way through the cook time. Check for doneness by inserting a knife into the stem. It should enter easily and not encounter any resistance. If the stalks are still tough, continue cooking and check every 10 minutes.
4. Place cooked cauliflower and garlic cloves that have been slipped from their skins into a food processor. Puree. Add milk (or milk alternative) and butter (or ghee) and puree again until desired consistency is reached. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Wonderful Winter Squash

Winter squash comes in all shapes and sizes. It is a particular favorite of mine because it is so versatile. You can cook winter squash and eat it as a side dish, turn it into soup, add it to muffins or pancakes; to name a few uses. This starchy vegetable can be cut into chunks and roasted or steamed, as well as cooked whole and pureed. What I have learned is that I don’t like all winter squashes equally. Some are more difficult to handle and some are not as flavorful.  Here are three of my favorites; Sweet Dumpling, Butternut and Buttercup squash.

Sweet Dumpling, Butternut and Buttercup Squash

I prefer these because their flesh is sweet and firm once cooked. [I don’t like watery squashes.] The only seasoniing I use is a little salt; no honey, maple syrup or butter. In this post I am going to explain how to bake a winter squash. You can eat the squash immediately, store it in the refrigerator for a couple of days or freeze it in an airtight bag for future use. Another benefit of winter squash is that it has a long shelf life. By that I mean I can buy it when it is on sale and don’t need to use it immediately. It can sit on the counter for weeks and it will stay good until I am ready to cook it.

The hardest thing about cooking winter squash is cutting it in half. That is our first step and I cut across the equator of the squash.

Cut squash with seeds

Next, we remove the seeds. I find it easiest (thanks Diane) to use an ice cream scoop to get then out.

Removing seeds

I lay my squash on a baking sheet cut side down. I do not add any water or grease the baking sheet. I do not cover the pan.

Ready for baking

The time it takes to bake the squash will vary depending on the size of the squash. My oven is preheated to 350 degrees fahrenheit and the rack is placed in the middle position. These will take about 30 to 40 minutes to bake. I know they are done because they have browned a little and I can press the squash and it will have some give.

Finished Baking

Baked squash

The inside of the squash will brown a little where it has come into contact with the baking sheet. These are the sugars in the squash caramelizing. Yum.

Finally, I scoop the squash into a bowl and season with salt if I am eating it immediately. If I am going to store the squash I don’t season it until I am going to use it.

Finished squash

I usually mash-up my squash with a fork but if you want a smoother texture you can whiz it in a food processor and then reheat it. If it isn’t sweet enough you can add a little maple syrup, honey or brown sugar. If it is bland you can add a little cinnamon.

Cooked squash like this can be used as a substitute for pumpkin in any recipe. Personally, I prefer squash to pumpkin so this is the time of year I will cook several batches and freeze it for future use.

Enjoy.