Sweet Potato and Red Curry Soup with Rice and Kale

I might as well just call this blog Whisk, Stir, and Blend: A Blog About Making Food from Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week. I'm not ashamed - she's been keeping me well fed for the last few weeks. Here's a hearty soup with some Thai flavours for the cold, winter days: Sweet Potato and Red Curry Soup with Rice and Kale (p. 34).

Get your big soup pot ready. Heat some olive oil, and sauté 1 diced onion for about 5 minutes. Add three minced garlic cloves and 1 Tbsp mined fresh ginger, cook for about 1 minute. Add 3/4 cup basmati rice, 6 cups vegetable broth (I used salt-free chicken stock because the store was sold out of veggie stock! Seriously!) and salt and pepper. Cover and bring to a boil.

While it's coming up to a boil, get the veggies ready: clean and stem one bunch of kale (the recipe calls for purple kale - I don't think I've ever seen it so regular it is) and peel and dice two medium sweet potatoes into 1/2" chunks. Once the stock is boiling, turn it down to a simmer and stir in 2 Tbsp red curry paste (add more if you like it spicy). Throw in the kale and sweet potato. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked.

Add 1 can coconut milk (YUM), 3 Tbsp fresh lime juice and 1 Tbsp agave nectar (use honey if you don't have any). Serve with lots of cilantro and sriracha and enjoy! It's a lovely recipe when you're in the mood for a warming bowl of soup. It doesn't have a protein so you could add one if you want a more complete meal (like tofu, beans, chicken or whatever) but it doesn't really need it - it has a lot of different textures going on. It's creamy and flavourful and not too spicy. A nice way to use red curry paste other than making straight-up curry.

Lasagna Soup

In my last post, I promised a recipe that tasted like Chef Boyardee. Here it is: Lasagna Soup from Food Network magazine. This is one of those meaty recipes from Food Network I usually skip because, well, they sound gross. But this one actually appealed to me - and I found the perfect Italian whole wheat pasta for it so I gave it a try.

First, cook 8 oz lasagna noodles. I found these little wavy pasta shapes that were very lasagna-like, or you could just buy actual lasagna sheets and break them into pieces. Mix with a little olive oil (to stop them sticking together) and set aside. In a large pot, heat some olive oil and cook 2 diced onions for 4-5 minutes. Add 3 garlic cloves (sadly I only had one good one, they rest had gone off), 1 tsp dried oregano and 1/2 lb Italian sausage with the casings removed - I used 3 hot sausages and it was more like 2/3 lb. Luckily removing the casings was pretty easy, because it was a little unpleasant. But it means they cook like ground meat, and you break them apart even more with a wooden spoon while it browns, 3-4 minutes.

Stir in 2 Tbsp tomato paste and let it brown a little while stirring, 2 minutes. Stir in 4 cups chicken stock (I used the full sodium kind - luxurious!), 1 cup water and 1 can crushed tomatoes. Uncover and simmer about 10 minutes so it can thicken. Then stir in the pasta, 1/2 cup fresh sliced basil, 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese, and 1/4 cup cream (I just used milk). Simmer 2 minutes and it's done! I served it as recommended, with ricotta on top.

This was quite the decadent recipe! It was quite spicy, thanks to the hot sausage, but it was salty, meaty, tomatoey, cheesy... no wonder it was fabulous. And yes, it bears an uncanny resemblance (flavour-wise anyway) to Chef Boyardee. Definitely a once-in-awhile recipe for us.

Chickpea-Rice Soup with Cabbage

Guys, I can't say enough good things about Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week. I received it as a surprise gift and it's wonderful! It's a big, hardcover book filled with lovely images and, most importantly, simple recipes that are easy to follow and end up looking exactly as they do in the book. Yes, they're vegan, and there's a lot with faux meats and things, but I guarantee that anyone could find something that looks amazing. I've been a cooking machine since I received it. First up: Chickpea-Rice Soup with Cabbage (p. 32). This is a simple, European-style soup with simple but comforting flavours.

In a large pot, heat up a little oil. Cook 1 thinly sliced onion for about 5 minutes, then throw in two minced garlic cloves, 1 tsp dried thyme, and some salt and pepper. Add in 1/2 cup rice (I used basmati), 3-4 carrots, cut in chunks, and 1 lb thinly sliced green cabbage - this was about 2/3 of a medium-sized head (thanks kitchen scale!). It seemed like a lot, but I was thinking of this recipe as mostly a cabbage soup recipe with some other ingredients.

Add 6 cups broth - I used 4 cups low-sodium chicken stock and 2 cups water. Cover and bring to a boil. Get it down to a simmer, and add in 1 can chickpeas. Simmer for about 15 minutes, until everything is cooked. That's about it! Stir in a bunch of fresh dill (the recipe called for 3 Tbsp, but the more the merrier I say) and enjoy.

I ate this soup for days - usually with a side of kielbasa (thanks to a surprise trip out to a giant Polish store in the 'burbs). Not exactly vegan but, hey, that's not really what European cuisine is about! I really like rice in soup - it plumps up a lot and gives a nice texture to brothy soups like this one. Need an idea for what to do with the rest of the cabbage? We stir-fried ours with noodles and mixed in Asian chili-garlic sauce. My new favourite way to use leftover cabbage.

Broccoli-Cheddar Soup

Broccoli isn't my favourite vegetable. I tend to eat it in Indian or Thai dishes, where it's covered in sauce and mixed with other vegetables, oven-roasted until crispy or I make it into soup. I liked this Broccoli-Cheddar Soup recipe from Food Network magazine because of the addition of sweet potato - which would make the soup look even cheesier than it is. Always a good thing as I, as usual, would cut most of the cheese out of the recipe. It's a new year - time to be healthy.

In a large pot, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil. Add 1 diced onion, cook 5 min to soften. The original recipe called for celery as well - also not a favourite of mine but feel free to add it in. Chop 1 lb each white potatoes and sweet potatoes, which for me was about three small white potatoes and one large sweet potato. Throw them in the pot with 2 cups water, 2 cups stock (I used vegetable), 2 cups milk (I used regular 2%, if you're feeling fancy use half-and-half), 1 bay leaf and some salt and pepper.

Simmer the soup on medium-low for about 10 minutes to cook the potatoes. Meanwhile, cook the broccoli separately in the microwave. This may seem strange - why not just throw the broccoli into the pot with the potatoes? - but this way the broccoli doesn't get pureed. If you really don't like broccoli and would rather eat it pureed and hidden in the rest of the soup, I would still cook it separately because I'm assuming there wouldn't be enough room in the pot to cook them with the potatoes. Cook 2 cups florets covered, with a little bit of water, for 3-4 minutes in the microwave.

Use a blender or immersion blender (much easier) to puree the soup. It will be thick and a lovely orange colour. Put burner on low, throw in the broccoli, and add 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese. I also added some baby kale I had in the fridge for extra greens. Once the cheese has melted it's done! I served it with homemade croutons (whole wheat bread fried in margarine YUM) and a little feta on top. I liked how the broccoli was still whole - it was like eating them covered in a thick, cheesy sauce. You can thin the soup with water but I enjoyed it as is. It would still be good with less cheese, or even without the cheese, if you're looking for something a little healthier. A good recipe to play around with.

French Onion Soup

Here's another good winter recipe. Warm, beefy soup with onion and cheese... total comfort food. I was lucky enough to receive actual French onion soup bowls as a gift a few years back, with handles on the sides, but as long as you have oven-safe bowls you can put them on a tray in the oven, I would assume. This recipe is adapted from the Joy of Cooking, p. 95 of the 1997 ed.

The first step is to caramelize the onions - which takes patience, so don't speed it up! In a large pot, melt 2 Tbsp butter and 2 Tbsp olive oil. Add 5 medium onions, thinly sliced (have some Kleenex handy for that job), and a pinch of dried thyme - the classic winter herb. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, and they'll start to brown. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pot, and cook about 40 minutes more. Don't forget to stir frequently! Yes, this means you have to stay nearby but grab a phone, book or laptop and you'll be fine. It's worth the wait - the onions cook down and get all sweet and sticky.

Stir in 2 Tbsp bourbon - the recipe calls for sherry or cognac but who has that in the house? Once the alcohol has cooked off, pour in one carton of beef stock and 1 cup chicken stock (it was in the fridge, begging to be used). Simmer for about 20 minutes, partially covered, until it smells fabulous. Add salt and pepper. I also added a dash of Worcestershire, just for fun. And that's about it for the soup part - pour into oven-safe bowls, turn your oven's broiler on and move the top rack to its highest point.

Now for the best part! I sliced up some whole wheat baguette and placed one slice on top of each bowl. Then cover with grated Gruyere cheese (yes, splurge on Gruyere for this recipe) and stick under the broiler. The soup will warm back up, the bread will toast slightly and the cheese will bubble and melt and brown and cover everything. Is there anything better?! The soup is rich, salty and a little boozy, and the baguette and cheese elevate it to something a little luxurious. Treat yo'self.

Beef Stew

This may be only the second time beef has made an appearance on this blog! But with the cold weather comes the need for comfort food - or I was just really low in iron that day. Whatever the reason, we passed by the stewing beef in the grocery store and immediately decided to make a stew for supper - it was a Sunday afternoon, after all. While we usually do a lot of cooking with beer, this time we followed the classic recipe from the Joy of Cooking. Don't mess with the classics.

One big change at the get-go: we only bought 1 lb of stewing beef, half of what was called for in the recipe. So it wasn't going to be as beefy as usual. First we seasoned the beef (already cubed) with thyme, salt and pepper, then dredged it in flour. Shaking off the excess flour, we browned all sides of the pieces in our Dutch oven in some veg oil. We even did it in two batches so as not to crowd the pan - patience is key. After removing the beef and adding more oil in the pan, it was time for the first batch of veggies: 2 diced carrots, 1 diced celery stalk, 1 diced onion and 3 diced garlic cloves.

Cook the veggies for about 5 minutes, then throw in a couple bay leaves and some thyme. We added 1 cup red wine and 1 cup chicken stock and threw the beef back in. We left it simmering, covered, for about 1.5 hrs - to get the house smelling good, of course! Once the beef is tender, it's time to throw in the chunky vegetables: we had 2 carrots, 5 turnips and 4 small white potatoes. Cover and cook again about 45 minutes - we added extra wine to have enough liquid to cook all of our veggies.

And that's it! It takes time, but it's a fun activity to do if you've got a free afternoon - especially when you're drinking the wine you're cooking with. It's classic and homey and perfect for wintery days.

Clam Chowder

With the colder weather comes soup-making season. To start it off this year, I decided to go all out and make something pretty decadent - clam chowder. I had never bought canned clams before, and was excited to make something rich, flavourful and different. It was early in the Thanksgiving weekend so turkey-mania hadn't started yet. I decided to go with Michael Smith's Maritime Clam Chowder because, hey, the guy's from PEI - he must know his stuff!

I got out my Dutch oven and started with the bacon - four slices, chopped in with scissors, with a splash of water. Cook until crispy, then get rid of most of the fat. Add in one onion, chopped, and two celery stalks, chopped, with another splash of water to get the brown bits loose from the bottom of the pan. Nothing like bacon to make the kitchen smell good! I skipped the splash of white wine (didn't have any) and added 1 cup milk and 1 cup half-and-half - heavy cream would've been so rich. I also added in about 1 cup of the liquid from the clam cans, as this was written in other recipes I saw online.

With the liquid went in the other ingredients - two 5-oz cans of clams, 1 large baking potato, unpeeled and coarsely grated (to thicken the chowder, baking potatoes are best), 2 bay leaves and 1 tsp dried thyme. I think I may have added extra, because the thyme became the most powerful flavour - it smelled like Thanksgiving stuffing! Not a bad thing. Cook on low for twenty minutes, to cook the potatoes - but keep an eye on it, as I found it was still burning a little on the bottom, even though the element was on low.

Add 1 can of evaporated milk, and keep cooking for another few minutes. Garnish with salt, pepper, and parsley (if you have it) and voila - a rich, steaming bowl of clam chowder! Way better than opening a can. It tasted like cream and thyme, mostly, with soft grated potatoes and chewy clams. Very simple, with few ingredients - I highly suggest if you see canned clams on sale, grab them and keep them for a Maritime-themed night. Even better, do as they do in San Francisco and get some sourdough bread bowls - YUM

Coconut-Spiked Squash Soup

This "elegant" butternut squash soup recipe comes from the awesome LCBO Food and Drink magazine (Holidays 2012). But if by "elegant" they mean ridiculously easy, well then, I agree! I chose this Coconut-Spiked Squash Soup recipe because I wanted to try out some of my new kitchen tools - my scale and immersion blender!

First up was weighing the ancient butternut squash I had lying around the kitchen floor. Good thing I had my trusty kitchen scale - turns out it was only about half the size as the recipe called for! Perhaps because it was on the wee side, or because it was so old the innards were a little shriveled. Either way I augmented the recipe with some turnips I had in the fridge.



In a large Dutch oven I melted 2 Tbsp butter, but also added 2 Tbsp olive oil - I find mixing the two works better. I threw in two chopped onions for about 5 minutes, then threw in the cubed/peeled/seeded butternut squash as well as three dicd turnips. The broth is made from one carton of chicken stock and one can of coconut milk (yummmm) so I added that and boiled it for about 20 minutes until everything was cooked.

So it's not the most complicated soup - no extra spices or anything. But it's rich and sweet. You can toast coconut flakes and sprinkle them on top for some texture and extra coconut flavour. And, if you're me, you can attempt to use your new immersion blender! It worked okay, I kept hitting the bottom of the pot and got a little worried, and there were still some big chunks left, but definitely easier than transferring hot soup to the blender and back. Less mess.

Tex-Mex Chowder

You know those grocery store magazines, filled with recipes featuring all their own products? Well, the Sobeys one isn't so bad. And one day I just happened to have the right ingredients for the Tex-Mex Chicken and Corn Chowder, sans chicken, and decided to give it a whirl. I had been buying avocados a lot that week, and was in a Tex-Mex mood.

I added some oil to a large pot and threw in one chopped green onion, 2 chopped large potatoes, 1 Tbsp (fresh!) oregano, 1 Tbsp chili powder and 1 tsp cumin, and let those cook about 5 min. Not really long enough for the potatoes to brown, but oh well. I was impatient. I then added 2.5 cups chicken stock, 1 cup of medium salsa (yum!), 1 can of red kidney beans, and 1 diced red pepper (for some added veg).


I did end up boiling it for 15 minutes, though I assume without the need to cook the chicken you wouldn't have to wait that long. After that I stirred in 3/4 cup frozen corn, and 1 more Tbsp fresh oregano for the last couple minutes. Normally I wouldn't splurge on buying fresh herbs, but I thought it would be worth it. On second thought, it only called for 2 Tbsp total so next time I would probably just stick with dried.

Now to make it extra good, the recipe calls for stirring in 3/4 cup sour cream and 1/3 cup sliced green onions. And the garnishes: more sour cream, more onions, and avocado. Drool. This was quite the decadent recipe for being from the Sobeys website - it was creamy and salty (from all the salsa) and delicious. Not something I would repeat - too many ingredients to buy that I normally wouldn't have on hand - the potatoes, salsa, sour cream, green onions. Fun while it lasted, though!

Parsnip and White Bean Soup

Another soup recipe from Three Chefs: The Kitchen Men. What can I say, I was in a healthy, veggie soup mood. Michael Bonacini talks about how underrated the parsnip is - and I agree! I'd only ever roasted them before, so I decided to try this soup to see how they were soup-wise.

This was a very simple recipe. First I cooked one diced onion and four cloves of garlic for 5-8 minutes. Then I threw in two large chopped parsnips and two large chopped potatoes. This was going to be a very white soup.

So this recipe calls for butter beans, aka large white lima beans. I didn't think these would be hard to find, but no luck! Since it was getting all pureed anyway, I just threw in a can of white kidney beans. Protein's protein, after all! I added three cups chicken stock (mix of low sodium/no sodium), a bay leaf and 1 Tbsp lemon juice, and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

Once the veggies were soft, I stirred in 1/4 cup sour cream (recipe called for creme fraiche, but I'm just not that fancy) to add some richness. Then I blended it in batches, adding two cups milk along with it. It was whipped, frothy goodness. And if there ever was a time for white pepper, it would be for this recipe. I have to admit, however, that my favourite part was the garnish - fresh croutons! Which basically means every time I had a bowl, I got to fry up cubes of bread in butter to add. No complaints about that.

Carrot and Riesling Soup

I received an extra gift after Christmas from my mother-in-law: a copy of Three Chefs: The Kitchen Men, a cookbook by three Toronto chefs: Michael Bonacini, Massimo Capra and Jason Parsons. I was not aware these three had a thing going on Cityline, entertaining the at-home-on-a-weekday-and-watching-Cityline crowd (oh, to be unemployed again!) but it's a fun book to flip through. The recipes seem a little restaurant-fancy, but a few caught my eye.

I picked Jason Parsons' Young Carrot and Riesling Soup recipe (p. 32) because, well, I like cooking with white wine! And the idea of making a soup with wine sounded luxurious and delicious. This guy seems to be a chef at a winery, so no surprise he throws white wine around like it's water. I approve. I also liked that the soup was flavoured with caraway seeds and a cardamom pod. Of course as usual I changed the recipe around a little, so here's what I did.

I melted 1/4 cup butter in the pot. Then I added one chopped onion, 4 garlic cloves, and 1 cardamom pod. After a few minutes I deglazed with 1.5 cups of riesling and added two chopped green onions, 3 or 4 chopped carrots, and one chopped celery stalk. After toasting 1 tsp of caraway seeds I added those, with 5 cups of chicken stock and 1/4 bunch of dill. Then I let that simmer until the carrots were soft, about 25 minutes.

Then comes the fun part: slowly ladling the soup into the blender in batches. Man, do I need an immersion blender! The recipe also called for straining the soup in a fine mesh strainer before serving. I did this with a small amount to see what it was like, and it was a lovely, thin, smooth orange soup. But I felt guilty about getting rid of all that yummy vegetable puree, so I just kept it rustically blended.

Just before serving, I added 1/2 cup more wine and salt and pepper. Wow, was this ever good - the wine added a nice sweetness and tanginess to the soup. I also love dill, and don't use it nearly enough, so that was a bonus. Definitely a repeat.

Light Shrimp Chowder

I found this Low Country Shrimp Chowder recipe in a Food Network magazine and it looked like an easy, quick shrimp soup. Not really a thick chowder but something a little lighter. On this particular night I had just received a nice package of chocolate from my dad in the mail, and was looking forward to finishing up the last season of True Blood, so I got to work.

I started with a good chunk of butter (yes, real butter!) in the pot but added some olive oil too - I find I usually burn pure butter. I added the scallions but omitted the celery (because it's gross). Actually I would have added celery in this case, but hardly wanted to go out and buy a whole bunch when I just wanted one stalk. I was very excited to use my Old Bay seasoning, which I had just bought, I just wished it called for more! I probably put in 2 tsp, even though I'm pretty sure it's mostly salt. I then threw in some orange bell pepper and, as extra veggies, a couple carrots.

The broth is made up of 2 cups of milk, and 6 cups water. Many of the reviewers on the Food Network website used stock instead because they found it too bland, but I just went with water. I did of course add salt and lots of pepper, and shrimp's pretty salty anyway. The recipe also calls for 1/2 cup white rice, which thickened it a little. Near the end I added in (drained and thawed) corn and shrimp - I bought the slightly cheaper 'Atlantic' shrimp, the tiny ones, which means there were a lot more and they were easier to eat in soup-form.

I topped the soup with parsley, grabbed a glass of white wine and sat down to watch vampires kill/have sex with each other. The soup was really good, light but with lots of flavour (definitely salty enough!) and a nice yellow butter shine on top. Mmm.

Chickpea and Greens Curry Soup

It was a Monday, my day off, and I wanted to make an easy dinner for the hubs and I before going to see a movie (Pitch Perfect). I had picked up a can of coconut milk and wanted to make a soup with it, so I dug out this Chickpea and Greens Curry Soup recipe from Vegetarian Times, made a few alterations and voila, an easy dinner.

As good as all the spices looked that were listed in the recipe, I went the lazy route and just used a couple tablespoons of thai green curry paste. Those little jars are amazing, last forever, and are totally worth the money. Threw in some onion and spinach - I had been looking for kale but our Sobey's is not always very good at having it in stock, and besides a large bag of spinach is cheaper. I threw in the rest of the ingredients - a can of lite coconut milk, 3 cups chicken stock, 1 cup water, a can of chickpeas and one chopped tomato (for acidity, I assume). I also added some extra vegetables - bell peppers and carrots.

While it was very flavourful from the curry paste, it needed a bit more heat, so I also added in some harissa for extra spice. To make it a more complete meal, I cooked some rice noodles to add in. I have tried to add rice noodles to soup, and learned the hard way that they tend to soak up all the broth, so I boiled them separately, placed them in the bowl and spooned the soup over them. Finished with some cilantro, skipping the yogurt due to not having any. Super easy and quick - just be warned, it does splatter a little while you're slurping up those noodles!

Spicy Chard Soup

While the Food Network magazine may be pretty meat-centred, sometimes they come up with some pretty decent vegetable soups. I've made this Spicy Chard Soup a few times, usually when I have a few nights eating dinner alone - I now understand the idea of a soup topped with yogurt and hard-boiled eggs isn't everyone's cup of tea. But it is mine. So there.

I'll admit the idea of washing and chopping an entire bunch of swiss chard isn't my idea of fun, but it's worth it. And unlike kale, where the stems just get thrown away, the chard stems are chopped along with the leaves and cooked in the soup too. Less waste! After all that work, the first step is to toast whole cumin and caraway seeds. I do the lazy route and just keep them whole, while the recipe wants you to grind them up yourself.

First in the pot are the onions, as usual, as well as the chard stems, as they need a few extra minutes. Then comes the fun part - adding in harissa (a spicy red chili paste, mine is from Tunisia), tomato paste, four (or more) garlic cloves and the spices. Vegetarian soups often need a lot of flavour boosting, and tomato paste is a common ingredient. Just be sure not to burn it (which clearly I've done before). After that it's pretty easy, as all soups should be - add in the chard leaves, stock, water, and let it cook. Finish with some lemon juice.

The toppings are the best - quartered hard-boiled eggs, a dollop of Greek yogurt (or whatever you have - I usually have 1%) and a drizzle of olive oil over the top. Don't skimp - they make it extra fabulous.

Buckwheat Black Bean Soup

Second time making this recipe from Vegetarian Times, Oct. 2010. I made it originally because I had kasha in the house, and frankly didn't know what to do with it! It's one of those foods that I bought on a whim (I was feeling particularly Polish that day, I suppose, and was surprised to find it in the 'ethnic' aisle of a discount grocery store in downtown Kingston). I like the recipe because, duh, soup is good in the fall, but also because kasha can be a bit overwhelming - but in this recipe there's only 1/4 cup, so it doesn't overpower.

First in the pot - onion and green pepper. The recipe calls for three cloves of garlic, but I generally double garlic in most recipes - especially veggie soups. More flavour and antibacterial properties! I put in about five cloves of varying sizes. Threw the kasha and chili powder (probably closer to 1 Tbsp, doesn't 1 tsp sound small?) to toast those a bit.

Did I mention this recipe is ridiculously easy? The next step is to toss in the rest of the ingredients - stock and water, black beans, corn, diced carrot (recipe calls for grated - whatever), bay leaves, and salt and pepper. Easy. Winter soup recipes, how I've missed you!

Of course, for most soups, the greatness is in the toppings. This Southwestern soup gets lime juice and cilantro - lots and lots of cilantro. Tastes like soap? I don't think so, my friend, I think you are crazy.