Cold Carrot Soup

Recipe 38 - August 5, 2012

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Cold Carrot Soup

This recipe comes from cooks.com

This soup is nice and refreshing.  It's pretty basic and quick and easy.  Maybe a little boring, but good.  I will work with the recipe and try different variations.

Snap Pea Minestrone with Poached Eggs

Recipe 27 - March 21st, 2012

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Snap Pea Minestrone with Poached Eggs

This recipe comes from Sunset, March 2012

I made this recipe without the ham (don't tell Erik), it was still very good and didn't need too much additional salt.  It was good to learn a new technique for poaching eggs.  Used leftover ditalini pasta from a past recipe.  The serving sizes were plenty and the cooking times accurate.  

Tea-Scented Pumpkin Soup

Recipe 25 - March 15th, 2012

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Tea-Scented Pumpkin Soup

This recipe comes from Food and Wine, October 2006

Chef: Han Feng

Full disclosure, I used a Long Island Cheese squash and sesame oil drizzle in this recipe in place of the pumpkin and pumpkin seed oil.  Pumpkin seed oil has to be special ordered in this part of the country.  And I wanted to continue using the rest of the squash we have left over from the CSA.  This recipe was delicious as I made it!  It's probably just as if not more delicious with the correct ingredients.  It was pretty hands-off once the squash/pumpkin was cut up and easy to prepare.  The serving sizes were filling.  It's a light broth soup, not very thick with lots of subtle flavors despite the minimal number of ingredients.   

Spicy Tortilla Soup with Shrimp and Avocado

Recipe 9 - January 26th, 2012

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Spicy Tortilla Soup with Shrimp and Avocado

This recipe comes from Cooking Light, March 2011

Yum!  This recipe is easy and delicious!  One review suggests adding more peppers for more heat.  It has a mild to medium heat straight from the recipe.  It is a great recipe for a cold winter evening.  Or when you have a tex-mex craving.  I worked straight from the recipe.  It took longer because I chopped the veggies myself.  The servings are generous and we have leftovers.  I'm excited for lunch tomorrow!

Red Kuri (or Butternut) Squash Soup

Recipe 6 - January 19th, 2012

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Red Kuri Squash Soup

This recipe comes from Food and Wine, February 2012

Chef: Alice Waters

I used butternut squash for this recipe (which is a legitimate option).  I have found kuri squash since making the soup and would like to try it again using kuri squash someday soon.  This recipe is really easy, and delicious, and does not require a lot of ingredients.  The roasted fennel bulb, pecans, and marjoram added a lot!  Definitely add at least the roasted fennel bulb.  

I made the full recipe and it provided 5 servings.  This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Tuscan Kale and Squash Minestra

Recipe 5 - January 18th, 2012

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Tuscan Kale and Squash Minestra

This recipe comes from Food and Wine, December 2011

Chef: Grace Parisi

I have to admit right off that I did not find "Tuscan" kale.  I bought (in layman's terms) "curly" kale and it worked well in this recipe.  One bunch equaled about 0.6 lbs and was enough for the recipe (it calls for a pound).  Also, as you will notice, my toasts got really toasty!

This recipe is quick and hearty.  The servings are pretty generous, I made the full recipe and there were leftovers.  The ditalini pasta are adorable and it was fun to learn about a new type of pasta.

I bought canned beans and would recommend Eden Foods canned beans.  They are the only company that has BPA-free can lining for their beans.  They also offer stewed tomatoes in glass jars, something I have found to be very hard to find.

We really liked the soup and will definitely make it again.