Soup Archive

Sweet potatoes are available year-round and I've been cooking them more and more throughout the year to gain the benefits of the nutritional content of the sweet potato.  Go to this link on the Food Bites page for more information on sweet potatoes.

Autumn is my favorite time for home-made soups - yes, there are many high quality commercial soups available these days, but it's easy to make a large pot of soup on a weekend or other day off so that you can divide it into one or two serving containers and freeze - a bowl of soup, baguette, a selection of cheese and fruit for dessert can be a quick and delicious week-night dinner when you may think you have nothing in the 'fridge to eat after a long day at work.

The "secret" to being able to whip up dinner in a flash is having these and other staple foods on hand. Buy a couple of baguettes, cut into chunks, store in a heavy-duty freezer bag.  Buy a selection of your favorite cheeses and fresh fruit of this season - apples, pears, figs.  Apples, pears and especially figs should be stored in the refrigerator.  If you store apples and pears on the counter and don't get to eat them, some varieties develop a mealy consistency but refrigerating all apples keeps them crisp.

 

SWEET POTATO with FRESH HERBS
 

2 tbls	extra virgin olive oil
1 cup	sweet onion (Spanish, Vidalia etc.)
1 tbls	fresh garlic, finely minced
3	sweet potatoes - each about 5-inches long, peeled, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 sprigs	fresh rosemary
4 sprigs	fresh thyme
1	Bartlett pear, peeled, cored, cubed
1	McIntosh apple, peeled, cored, cubed
6 cups	organic vegetable stock
	salt & pepper
½ cup	Land 'o Lakes fat free half & half

1.  In a 6 or 8 qt. soup/stock pot, heat the olive oil until it begins to slightly shimmer over medium heat;  add the onion and cook for a few minutes.  Add the garlic, sweet potato cubes.  Stir together and let the vegetables cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes.

2.  While the vegetables are cooking, wrap the sprigs of herbs into cheese cloth and tie with a string. This will help to remove the herbs easily before pureeing the soup. I use Melitta tea bags which are for brewing loose tea, but work very well as holding bags for a bouquet garni or any ingredient that you add to a soup or stew which needs to be removed after cooking is done.

3.  Add herbs, cubed pear, apple and stock.  Bring soup to a low boil, cover and lower heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.  Check each fruit, vegetable to be sure it is softened enough to puree.

4.  Remove packet of herbs;  puree soup in batches in a food processor or a powerful blender (see VitaMix) An immersion blender also works well for pureeing soups directly in the pot eliminating the extra clean up!  When mixture is smooth, taste for seasoning and add salt & pepper as desired. Add the fat free half & half, stir and taste again to be sure the balance of sweet and savory is to your taste.

Yield:  about 8 cups