Coconut Lime Parsnip Bisque with Cilantro Drizzle

Dan    Recipes, Soups, Vegan     Asian-inspired, autumn, coconut, parsnips, recipes, root vegetables, soups, vegan, vegetarian

What you’ll need…

Soup:

2 yellow onions (chopped)

3 cloves garlic

2 TSP white sugar

1/4 cup pineapple juice

5 parsnips (peeled, 1″ chopped, approximately 3 cups)

1 13.5oz can coconut milk

1 lemon grass stalk (segmented)

1 3″ ginger root (halved)

2 cups chicken stock (or veggie to keep vegan)

1 TBSP white wine vinegar

1 lime (zest and juice)

salt and pepper

olive oil

Drizzle:

1 bunch cilantro (loosely chopped)

1 lemon (zest and juice)

1/2 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

As far as root vegetables go, parsnips are overlooked, underused and, let’s not beat around the bush here, forgotten. Well…similar Occupy Calgary protesters, I decided to let parsnips occupy my kitchen this week. However, instead of pitching tents, making signs and refusing to leave Olympic Plaza, err….my house…They decided to jump into a soup pot! Now, that was an easy fix!

Jokes aside, this soup puts parsnips in the much-deserved limelight. Next time you’re at the grocery store, I want you to look carrots in the eye and say: ‘Sorry carrots, I’m with parsnips now.’ Love hurts.

Place the chopped onions and garlic into a medium-sized pot. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle in the sugar, stir and let cook on medium-high heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Now, pour in the pineapple juice and let the mixture continue to cook until the liquid has reduced by half, about another 5 minutes. Toss in (recklessly) the parsnips, stir and let cook for (you guessed it!) another five minutes.

Next, add the chicken stock, coconut milk, lemon grass, ginger, vinegar and lime to the pot. Reduce to medium heat and let simmer for 25 minutes. Be sure to leave the lemon grass and ginger in large chunks, as you will need to pull them out prior to pureeing the soup!

In the simmering interim, we can quickly make the ‘drizzle’ (doesn’t that sound so fancy?). Place ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. This is more for looks and also a bit of tang for the soup, but add some salt and pepper to taste, just to round things out. Pour the vibrant green liquid into a small bowl and set aside for now.

Once the soup has simmered for the appropriate length of time, remove the chunks of ginger and the lemon grass stalks. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until it has a velvety smooth texture. Barring the immersion blender, pour the soup into a blender or food processor to get the job done. Return the smooth soup to the pot, have a taste, salt and pepper it as needed, then let it sit on low heat until you’re ready to serve.

When it’s time to dish it out, ladle out the soup and top with some of the cilantro drizzle. I feel as though some simple seared scalloped would go well with this soup, so maybe give that a whirl if you’re feeling ambitious.

Serves 4-5

Total cook time…45 min

Black Tea & Lemon Miso Soup

Dan    Recipes, Soups     Asian-inspired, hot, recipes, soup, tofu, winter

What you’ll need…

4 cups steeped lapsang souchong tea

2 cups beef broth (or veggie to stay vegan)

3 garlic cloves (whole)

1/2 cup miso paste

zest of 1 lemon

1 TBSP fresh lemon juice

1 TBSP freshly grated ginger

2 TSP wasabi paste

1 TSP rice wine vinegar

1 cup fresh oyster mushrooms (chopped)

1 cup soft tofu (1/2″ cubed)

1/2 cup green onions (finely chopped)

ground black pepper

Now, before you say: ‘This sounds weird’, think of the weirdest thing you’ve ever done. See…not so weird anymore, right? Lapsang Souchong is a strong, smokey black tea. It almost has a hickory kind of flavour to it. So, maybe just consider this soup a ‘miso meets west’ kind of combination. It’s my favourite tea, so I’m a tad biased, but, such is life!

Place the steeped tea, broth, and garlic cloves into a medium-sized pot and bring to a simmer on the stove. Reduce to low heat and let bubble away, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Then, add the miso paste and stir until it has dissolved into the broth. Next, add the zest, lemon juice, ginger, wasabi, and vinegar. Let the pot return to a simmer, about 3 minutes, before adding the oyster mushrooms and soft tofu.

Still on low heat, let the soup cook for another 10 minutes so that the oyster mushrooms cook through. Take a quick taste, add some black pepper if needed. The miso paste should be plenty salty enough, so I doubt you’ll need to add any salt. Finally, right before ladling out the soup, toss in the chopped green onions.

This soup totally rocks for anyone with a cold. Great for clearing the sinus’!

Serves 4

Total cook time…20 min

Ginger & Coconut Cauliflower Bisque

Dan    Recipes, Soups, Vegan     coconut, gluten-free, soup, spicy, Thai, vegan

What you’ll need…

1 yellow onion (chopped)

3 cloves garlic (minced)

olive oil

4 cups cauliflower florets (chopped)

2 TSP five star spice

4 cups coconut milk

1 TBSP red curry paste

1 TBSP sambal oelek

2 cups  chicken stock (or veggie to keep things vegan)

1 lemongrass stalk (cut into 1/4s)

1 lime

1 TBSP sesame oil

2 cups carrot (thinly sliced)

2 cups fresh spinach

1 cup green onions (thinly sliced)

salt & pepper

Cold weather always puts me on a soup kick. I mean, what better way to stay warm right? I’ve had an on-again-off-again relationship with cauliflower since I was about 14 (it’s complicated, don’t ask..and just between you and me, she recently un-friended me on Facebook, so it’s a touchy subject…), but I always find myself coming back to the cauli when I need a good quality ‘warm my bones’ kind of dinner. In addition to being delicious, this soup is also gluten and lactose free, which can also be made vegan if using vegetable stock. Culinary minorities rejoice!

Let’s start things off by throwing the onion and garlic into a medium-sized pot. Drizzle with some olive oil and let cook on medium-high heat until softened, about 5 minutes or so. Next, turn down to medium heat, add-in the cauliflower and five star spice. Give everything a good stir and let cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. When the 5 minutes are up, add the coconut milk, curry paste, and sambal oelek. Stir, and let come the soup simmer away for 10 more minutes.

Now, using a hand-held emulsifier or blender puree soup until smooth. Add the chicken stock, lemongrass, 1/2 lime (reserve remainig half for garnishing slices), and sesame oil to the pot. Once the soup returns to a bubble, take a sip and salt & pepper to taste. Just an FYI, you might need a decent amount of salt, we’ve added none thus far! Once that’s all taken care off portion out the carrot and spinach into each bowl. Pour the hot soup over top and garnish with a lime slice and green onions.

Sip back and enjoy!

**note: feel free to add chicken for some solid protein content!**

Serves 4-5

Total cook time…30 min

Wine Braised Onion Soup

Dan    Recipes, Soups     baked, cheesy, onions, soups, vegetarian, winter

What you’ll need…

6 yellow onions

3 cloves garlic

1 cup dry red wine

5 cups beef stock (or veggie if you’re a vegetarian)

1 TSP rosemary

1 TSP chili powder

1 TBSP balsamic vinegar

1 sour dough baguette

2 cups grated mozzarella

1 cup grated parmesan

olive oil

salt & pepper

I love French onion soup. Love. Love. Love. Hot broth, caramelized onions, tons of cheese…mmm…How can one go wrong? So, let’s fancy this basic recipe up a bit, and nothing quite says ‘fancy’ like pouring in some wine. Am I right, or am I right? This is a nice, rich soup with a bit of a kick. Let’s do it!

The first step will be to slice your onions. Now, we don’t want little tiny pieces of onion for this soup. Rather, halve the onions then make 1/4″ slices from tip to tip. It’s going to seem like a lot of onions, but don’t worry, they’ll cook down, and really…this is onion soup after all…Oh yeah, mince the garlic cloves too! Put both into a medium-sized pot with some olive oil and turn to medium-high heat. Stirring regularly, let the onions cook down until they are approximately 1/4 of their original size and are starting to turn a golden colour, approximately 10-12 minutes. At this point, add the cup of wine. Once the pot begins to bubble, reduce to medium heat and let the mixture simmer until it has reduced by half, about 6-8 minutes.

Now, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Next, add the stock, rosemary, chili powder, and balsamic vinegar to the pot. Give the soup a good stir and let simmer for another 15 minutes. While the soup is simmering, slice your baguette (1″ slices), drizzle with some olive oil and toast in the oven for 10 minutes to make some quick crostini. Take the cheeses and toss together until evenly mixed. Once the bread has crisped up, the soup should be ready to go as well!

Assembly time! Ladle the soup into oven-safe bowls, place enough crostini on top of each soup (enough to cover), and place a generous amount of shredded cheese onto all as the final layer. Pop the bowls onto a large baking tray and into the oven for 8 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and bubbly.

Dish out, then enjoy the hot soup and gooey cheese, but please remind your guests that the bowls are hot. That’s my disclaimer…now you can’t sue me…

Serves 4

Total cook time…45 min

Tandoori Carrot & Apple Bisque

Dan    Recipes, Soups, Vegan     carrots, quick & easy, soup, squash, vegan, winter

What you’ll need…

2 yellow onions

3 garlic cloves

6 carrots

1 medium-sized zucchini

1 gala apple

3 TBSP cider vinegar

4 cups vegetable (or chicken) stock

2 TBSP masala tandoori powder

1 TSP fennel seeds

olive oil

salt & pepper

You know what they say: ‘Tandoori is the spice or life’ or maybe that’s not exactly what they say…Anyway, this may the ‘odd couple’ of soup ingredients, but the result is a slightly sweet, amazingly rich tasting soup. Not to mention, it’s a good conversational piece if you’re meeting in-laws/first time cooking for a girlfriend or boyfriend/cooking for a stranger you just let into your house, which is bad, don’t do that, etc…Awkward silence? Just say: ‘Hey! There’s apple in this soup! Crazy, right?’

First off, as always, chop the onion and mince the garlic cloves. Place them into a medium-sized pot and cook with some extra virgin olive on medium-high heat until the onions soften. While you’re waiting peel and chop the carrots into 1/2″ pieces. Once the onions soften, add the carrots to the pot along with the cider vinegar and a bit of salt & pepper. Reduce to medium heat, stir, and let cook for 5 minutes.

During that time you can chop up your zucchini and apple and add them to the pot. Give everything a good stir and let cook for another 5 minutes. Next, place all remaining ingredients in the pot, stir, and let the soup come to a simmer. Cover, turn to low heat, and let the soup bubble away for 15 minutes. Using a blender or food processor blend the contents of the pot until smooth. Place the puree back into the pot, along with 3 cups of water. Heat until the soup is simmering again. Salt & pepper to taste. If soup is still too thick add an additional cup of water, or stock if desired.

Ladle out into bowls, sit by a window, and sip while watching the snow fall!

Serves 5-6

Total cook time…30 min

Roasted Squash & Brussel Sprout Stoup

Dan    Recipes, Soups, Vegan     autumn, awesome, soup, squash, vegan, vegetarian

What you’ll need…

1 medium-sized butternut squash

1 medium-sized acorn squash

1 cup broccoli florets

2 cup brussel sprouts

2 cups baby potatoes

1 yellow onion

3 cloves garlic

1/2 bulb roasted garlic

2 cups vegetable stock

2 soy milk

2 TBSP cider vinegar

1 TBSP dried tarragon

1 TBSP dried basil

olive oil

salt & pepper

Whomever started the rumour amoung children that brussel sprouts are gross definitely has a spot on my bad side. For the record, brussel sprouts are awesome, and without a doubt, deserve to be part of a tasty soup. That meaning said, I’ve promoted this soup to ‘stoup’ level because it is so hearty. I think I’ve been going all soup-crazy lately, but, really, it is autumn after all…

This soup is (dare I say) slightly labour intensive. Start this off by pre-heating your oven to 425 degrees. Next, halve the squashes, reserving the seeds for later use, and placing them onto a baking tray. Rub with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper and place into your pre-heated oven. Let them roast for 35 minutes.

While the squash is roasting, chop up the broccoli, brussel sprouts, and baby potatoes into bite-size pieces. Set aside for now. Next, rinse of the squash seeds, and pat dry with some paper towel or cloth. Toss them with some olive oil and salt & pepper, place onto a small baking sheet and pop them into the oven until they’re nice and crunchy (about 15 minutes). Check periodically. Remove from heat, and set aside as well.

Now that we’re approaching the 40 minute mark…chop up the onion and raw garlic. Place into a large pot on the stove with some olive oil on medium-high heat. Once the onions soften, add the cider vinegar and vegetable broth to the pot. Cover, and turn down to low heat.

Alright, the 40 minutes are up! Take the squash out of the oven. Let them cool for about 10 minutes, then, using a large spoon, scoop out the soft insides into a bowl. Using a blender, puree the squash, roasted garlic with the soy milk. Depending on the size of your blender, this may need to be done in several batches. Take the puree, add to the pot, and stir until evenly mixed. If the soup seems too thick, just add in an extra cup of water or broth.

Add-in the remaining vegetables, tarragon, basil, stir, turn up to medium heat. Let the soup simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Salt & pepper to taste.

Ladle out and love it!

Serves 4-5

Total cook time…1 hour