Potato Soup

Potato Soup

Fall is slowly turning into winter and there is a definite chill in the evening air. Potato soup is great comfort soup on such nights. I tried it out this past weekend and it turned out great. Definitely try it in the winters!

Ingredients:

• 1 full head of garlic
• 2 Tblsp Olive Oil
• 8 medium red Potatoes
• 2-3 sprigs of green onions
• 1/4 Cup diced Celery
• 1.5 Cups chopped Cauliflower florets
• 8 Cups vegetable broth
• 1/3 Cup unsalted Cashews
• 1/4 Turmeric powder
• 1 Tblsp lemon juice
• 1 Cup baby spinach cut into ribbons

Using a garlic press, crush all the cloves of a single garlic and roast the mix in a few drops of olive oil till it starts to turns brown. Keep this aside. Now peel the potatoes and dice them into medium chunks. Wash these under cold water to remove some starch.

Now, take a large pot (this is what you'll be cooking the soup in) and heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat. Olive oil has a very low smoking point so make sure your heat is not high. Add the celery and most of the spring onions - you want to keep some greens for garnishing. Saute for 5 minutes and as the vegetables begin to get translucent, add 1 Tsp salt. Now, add the potatoes, cauliflower, the garlic pulp roasted in the beginning and pour 7 cups of the broth in the pot. Mix well and increase the heat to high.

Once the mix starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes. By now the potatoes and cauliflower should be tender enough to be poked by a fork.  Once you get to this point, remove the soup from heat - this helps in preventing starch build up. Stir in the cashews and turmeric powder and mix well.

Finally, you will need to blend the soup in a food processor or a blender. Use the remaining broth to assist with this. The result should be smooth and creamy and you may need to work this part in batches. Pour the soup back to the pot, add the lemon juice and warm over low heat. Stir in the spinach and heat for a minute or so for the leaves to wilt before turning the heat off.

Garnish with the green onions or chives and serve piping hot. A new favorite for the cold evenings!

Tomato Soup ...Super simple!

Tomato Soup

I made some pretty good tomato soup and I was amazed at how simple this recipe really is. Anushka gave me this awesome recipe. The ingredients below are for 3 servings, so you'll have to adjust accordingly.

Ingredients:

• 15 Tomatoes
• 1 Potato
• 1 Onion
• 2 Carrots
• 2 cups of water
• 3 Tblsp Sugar
• 2 Tsp Salt
• Freshly ground Black Pepper
• 3 slices of bread and some Oil (for the croutons)

Before we begin, I want to mention that you will need 2 specific things - an electric mixer-grinder and a sieve. 

To start with, wash the vegetables well and roughly chop them in chunks - for instance, I chop the tomatoes in 4 chunks. Add these to a pressure cooker, add the salt and water. Cook this on high heat until the first whistle. Then, turn the heat to low and heat for 15 minutes further. Then, take the cooker off heat.

Once the pressure is released, transfer the boiled vegetables to the mixer-grinder, and grind the vegetables well till it turns into a pasty consistency. It is advisable to just add the vegetables to the grinder and not the water from the cooker as well. If you pour the entire mixture from the cooker into the grinder, water tends to flow in and this doesn't help the grinder.

You want to transfer the resultant mixture onto a sieve with a large bowl beneath it as shown in the image below. Slowly run a spoon in a circular fashion on the sieve, so that resultant soup drips into the bowl below. At this time, also add the water from the cooker onto the sieve so it passes into the bowl below. This way we do not lose any nutrients.

 

You basically have your soup in the bowl - but we now will simmer this soup for about 10 minutes on low heat. This is time to adjust salt and sugar. Once you have the desired consistency, turn off the heat. I usually sprinkle some fresh black pepper to add that extra zing.

For the croutons, slice the bread into a 4 x 3 matrix and fry these pieces until golden brown. Serve them with steaming hot soup and some grilled cheese sandwiches.

 

Simple Vegetable soup

Veggie Soup

We felt like having something light tonight, so I cooked up this soup. It was really simple but surprisingly zesty and hearty. Prep and cooking time is around 40 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 3 Cups vegetable broth (I get Swanson brand @ Walmart)
• 1 Cup water
• 1/2 head of Cabbage shredded thin
• 2 stalks of celery diced
• 1 small onion chopped fine
• 5 medium tomatoes blended in the food processor - around 1 cup will do
• 1 Cup of diced mixed vegetables - sweet corn, peas, Italian beans, carrots
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped fine
• 2 Tblsp olive oil
• 1 Tsp garlic salt
• 2 Tblsp Salt
• 2 Tsp black pepper
• 3 Tblsp Italian seasoning (Thyme, Oregano, basil, etc)

Heat the olive oil In a large soup pot or a pressure cooker. Add the garlic and 1 Tblsp of the Italian seasoning to the oil and stir for about 30 seconds. Then, add the onions and the celery to the pot and fry the mix for a while until the onions begin to look soft. Then, add the cabbage, mixed vegetables, tomatoes and the broth to the pot and heat on medium heat. Stir occasionally and bring the mix to a boil.

Prep for the soup

Add the salt and rest of the spices and the water to the pot. If you are using a pressure cooker, this the time to close the cooker and cook for 2 whistles (or 10 minutes). If using a regular soup pot, simmer on low-medium heat for around 30 minutes. Adjust the spices if required.

Serve with dinner rolls or garlic bread.

Italian Vegetarian soup

This is a cool easy recipe for a hearty Italian soup on cold nights that I got from a colleague (Thanks Marlene!) It originally required cooking on a slow cooker, but I just used a traditional pressure cooker to speed things up.

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup baby spinach leaves (frozen stuff will do)
• 2 medium carrots chopped
• 2 medium celery ribs chopped
• 1 large onion chopped
• 1 medium potato chopped
• 1 garlic clove chopped
• 4 Cups vegetable broth (Get Swanson brand from Walmart)
• 14.5 oz. can of Italian Stewed tomatoes (Walmart again)
• Puree of 3 medium tomatoes (fresh)
• 2 Bay leaves
• 1/2 Tblsp crushed Red pepper
• 1 Tblsp Mixed Italian herbs (Walmart brand will do)
• 1 Tsp Salt
• A pinch of Black Pepper

All right this is real simple - so easy even a cave man could do it. First get all the ingredients ready. Then, throw all of them into the pressure cooker - broth first, then the veggies and finally the spices.

Stir well and bring this mixture to a boil. Bring the heat down to medium and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Finally, close the lid and pressure cook for 2 whistles on medium heat - then turn off the stove.

Once the pressure is released, the soup is ready. You can adjust the salt and spices at this point. If you'd like the soup to be spicier, sprinkle a little more black pepper.