Gingered Butternut Squash Soup

Winter came way too early for me this year.   I blame being born in the summertime for my love of the sun and the warmth that comes from it.  Now that the sun starts to go down at 4pm and the temperature drops to below anything comfortable, I go into hibernation mode.  Oh, if it were that easy... Instead, I put on my warm layers, turn up the heat and eat (or drink) something that will warm me up from the inside out.   

Squash is a great winter vegetable since most squash ripen in early to late autumn, and they can be stored for months after that.  I've made butternut squash several times before but since my palate has changed over the years, so has my recipe.  Check out my other, sweeter version of butternut squash soup as well as instructions on peeling butternut squash here!  

Ingredients

(vegan, gluten free, healthy!)

1 medium sized butternut squash (peeled and chopped)

1 medium carrot (peeled and small chop)

1 medium sweet potato (peeled and chopped)

1 small nub of fresh ginger (peeled and chopped)

(will only need 1 tbsp of ginger when chopped)

1 large cooking onion (peeled and chopped)

2 garlic cloves (peeled and chopped)

1 tbsp Coconut Oil

1 can (400ml) Coconut Milk

 Vegetable Broth (946 ml carton)

1/4 tsp of  sea salt (or Herbamere)

1/8 tsp cumin powder (or to taste)

ground pepper to taste

For garnish, you can use pumpkin seeds, cilantro or a drizzle of coconut milk!

Equipment needed

Large pot

Blender or Food processor

Knife/Cutting Board

Spoon for mixing in pot

Ladle

Instructions

• Have all ingredients ready, peeled and chopped.  Carrots should be a slightly smaller chop than other large orange ingredients since carrots take the longest to cook. 
• Melt coconut oil in large pot and add onion, cooking for 5 minutes or until soft and lightly browned (stirring occasionally). 
• Add garlic cooking for another minute.
• Add chopped squash, carrot, potato and ginger into pot. 
• Add vegetable broth, mixing all ingredients so that they're all coated.  You can add some water here so that liquid almost covers all vegetables in pot.   
• Cook on high temperature until liquid begins to boil, then turn temperature down to a simmer.  
• Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until all vegetables are soft and almost fall apart when pierced with a fork. 
• Once they're all nice and soft, slowly ladle ingredients from pot into food processor.  You may have to break this down and process a smaller amount before adding the rest of what's in the pot making sure to process until nice and smooth.  If you like a chunkier soup, stop processing when you're happy with the consistency. 
• Add the salt, pepper and cumin and whirl again.   
• Add the coconut milk** at the end and give it another whirl to incorporate.  

**If you want a thicker, creamier soup, keep your coconut milk can in the refrigerator for about an hour.  Remove and open can, careful not to shake it.  When you open the can, you'll find thick solid coconut cream on top.  Scoop that out carefully and into the food processor. About halfway down the can underneath all of that cream you'll find the liquid.  If you're happy with your soups consistency, discard the liquid, if you find it a little thick, add some of the liquid.  

• Garnish your soup with chopped pumpkin seed, cilantro or  a drizzle of coconut milk. 

Enjoy!! 

Chicken Soup - The Greek Version

All Images ©Joanne Tsakos Photography

I'm sure catching a cold is the last thing anyone wants, and for me, I can usually see the warning signs a mile away.  When I choose to pay attention to what my body is telling me and I fight it off before it really hits, it's a good feeling, but when I ignore it, and the cold sets in, it's days, or weeks of  "shoulda woulda coulda's!"  Aside from devouring the enormous amounts of Vitamin C's, Multi-Vitamin's and the Oregano Oil that is sure to kill almost anything, my best (and tastiest) defence is a recipe that comes from my childhood. If it doesn't work well at warding off the evil cold monsters, it will surely give you that warm, comfy feeling even just for one night.

The name for this soup in Greek is called "Avgolemono" which translates into "Egg Lemon".  Those are actually half of the four ingredients in this soup.  I call it Chicken Soup, since most people probably wouldn't want to eat an "egg lemon soup" when they're not feeling well?  

 
It's such a easy and quick recipe to make, all you need are 4 simple ingredients, plus a little salt and pepper for seasoning. This recipe will make 2 healthy (big bowl) servings, or 4 side soup servings.  The great thing about this recipe is that you can adjust the ingredients to your taste.  If you don't like too much lemon, don't add the whole amount, if you like your soup a little thicker and full of rice, add more rice! But try the recipe below to start and see what you think, then adjust to your heart's content!  

Ingredients*: 
(recipe adapted from Christine Cushing Live) 

4 cups of Chicken Broth

1 lemon

1 egg

3/4 cup of Arborio or Orzo Rice

Salt and Pepper for seasoning

*(makes 2 healthy servings-large bowls)

I've used a "box" of store bought Chicken broth, easier than making my own.  Store bought broth is usually LOADED with sodium so I look for  the Low-Sodium kind.  This time,  I found a "No Salt Added" brand, and ON SALE!! Needless to say, I bought a few boxes for my kitchen cupboards.  If your not lazy like me and make your own broth,  you are my inspiration!! And if you are, and you've decided to pick up a box of low sodium chicken broth at the store, there are approximately 4 cups in each box, so you can use up the whole box!!

Recipe: 

-Pour 4 cups of broth into a medium pot and bring to a boil.  

In the meantime....


-Measure out your rice and put it aside until broth has boiled.  

 

-Roll lemon with the palm of your hand. This will release the juices and make juicing the lemon much easier!  

-Pour the lemon juice into a medium bowl and add the egg.  Whisk until frothy.

-At this point,  your broth has probably boiled and ready for the rice.  Add rice and simmer (uncovered) until rice is cooked, about 10 minutes ( or taste for done-ness)

-When your rice is seconds away from being done, take a ladle or measuring cup and scoop out some of the hot broth from the pot.  This step will be quick so be ready.  Slowly pour the hot broth into the bowl of whisked lemon and egg mixture while continuing to quickly whisk. 

Whisking, while pouring in the hot broth will prevent the egg from actually cooking and leaving chunks of cooked egg in the mix.  

-Pour your whisked mixture of egg, lemon and hot broth back into your hot pot on the stove top.  Remove pot from heat immediately.  Again, you don't want your egg to cook while boiling over a hot stove top. 

-So, you're pretty much done at this point, just add some seasoning to your taste.  A little salt and pepper go a long way!

* If you like chunks of chicken in your chicken soup, by all means...add it!  I've done it before with this soup by using leftover cooked chicken from the previous night's dinner, or I've chopped up an uncooked chicken breast, pan fried over the stove top (using just a drop of oil) and added it to by broth while it's boiling.  


When I was sure I had captured this final shot above, I gobbled up the soup in under a minute.  It's always yummiest fresh off the stove top, but if you are saving some for the next day, you might need to add some water to dilute the soup as it will thicken once it is refrigerated.

I hope this soup makes you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside like it does with me.  It's like a warm stomach hug!  :)

Mushroom Soup

Clean Eating Magazine, March 2011 Issue
Photography by Joanne Tsakos
Food Styling by Sugar Tart

I admit, there are a few perks of being a food photographer.  At the end of a long day's shoot, there are inevitably a handful of extra groceries that weren't used and up for grabs.   Whatever doesn't go to the food bank, the crew divvies up and takes home. For a food shoot, the Food Stylist has a few jobs.  Not only do they make the recipe provided by the client and make it look even better on the plate to be photographed, but they also have to do the grocery shopping for the day.  Sometimes that can be a difficult task as a few ingredients in the recipe may be seasonal (magazine stories are generally shot months before they are released), or some ingredients may be indigenous to a different part of the country, ex. many Clean Eating readers are in the U.S. and so, some recipes may require ingredients that are popular in the U.S. south west and not necessarily easy to find in Toronto.  Whatever issues come up, our food stylists are generally amazing at sourcing out what they'll need to make the recipes work.  They'll usually pick up a few extra things if the recipe is a little challenging or it calls for a "beautiful" something, i.e. a beautiful, flawless green apple is not always easy to find, so picking up a few to choose from is a good idea.  

On this day, the shoot was for Clean Eating Magazine's March 2011 issue and the Creamless Trumpet Royale Soup recipe was from Braeburn Restaurant in Manhattan, Chantal Payette of Sugar Tart was our food stylist.  She brought in a box of Trumpet Mushrooms and I admired them from the get-go.  They looked so beautiful in the cardboard box they came in and even more beautiful when the soup was made and in it's bowl to be photographed.  I'm not sure why, but I love photographing soup.  Maybe because the soups are usually so uncomplicated yet bold, even after they are photographed.  (I love photographing salads too, but that's another story!)  Although, I'm not always the biggest fan of eating mushrooms, (I think it's a "textural" thing), I love the look of them and I can certainly enjoy a bowl of (pureed) mushroom soup. 

After working on a food shoot, I always hope that I could find the time to make some of the recipes of that day, but when we are shooting 5 or more recipes in one day, I know it's an unlikely dream.  With a few random take home groceries at the end of the day, there's usually not enough to make a full recipe of what we had just shot, but there's enough to come up with something yummy to throw together for dinner to make use of my take home perks.  This night I was granted my wish and took home the leftover trumpet royale mushrooms in their cardboard box. 

I was so excited to take home my little treasures and I wasn't going to let them down!

I had most of the ingredients for the Clean Eating Mag. mushroom soup recipe from the shoot, just had to pick up a little white wine (for the recipe and some for my glass).  Of course, the recipe could not begin until I took a few photo's of the trumpet mushrooms in the cardboard box that caught my attention from the start.  Looking at the photo's, I became even more intrigued by these fungi (yes, apparently they are neither vegetable or fruit, but fungi).  With the flaps under the umbrella part and the funny shapes, I wanted to understand these fungi and the purpose of it all.  A little Googling and finally I understood some of the intricacies of a mushroom. 

For those of you who'd love to try out  the Royale Trumpet Mushroom soup for yourself and missed out on picking up the March issue of Clean Eating Magazine, here's the recipe! (or better yet, check out their website!)

Creamless Trumpet Royale Soup   

Recipe from Clean Eating Magazine (March 2011 issue)

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil (or safflower oil, which is neutral in flavour and colour)

• 6 oz royal trumpet mushrooms, sliced (or shiitake mushrooms)

• sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

• 1 small white onion, diced

• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

• 2 sprigs fresh thyme, plus additional for garnish

• 2 oz white wine

Instructions:

• Heat a large pot on medium heat. Add oil and sauté mushrooms for 2 - 3 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Remove several mushrooms and set aside for garnish

• Add onion and garlic and reduce heat.  Simmer for 5 - 10 minutes or until onions are soft and translucent

• Add thyme and deglaze with wine

• Add 3 cups water and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes

• Place mixture in a blender and purée until very smooth. Adjust seasoning as necessary, garnish with reserved mushrooms and additional thyme

Check it out!

Some of my latest work in Clean Eating Magazine - March 2011 Issue

Bob Blumer provides a 'Clean Eating' recipe for the magazine

...might be one of my favourite shots from this issue!

Wintery Butternut Squash Soup

I'm sure most of you would attest that if you're living in a climate where your winter's are cold , you think cold, snowy, blistery, wet, dark, cold, dreary, depressing, did I mention cold? I admit, there are a few things I love about winter here in Toronto. I really don't mind the snow so much since with all the snow, there's usually lots of sunshine. After a big snowfall, there's peace and quiet in the air, except for the scraping of the shovels on the sidewalk. I love my street after a good snow dump as my neighbours finally emerge from their homes after seeing them last in late fall, to clean their walks and interact with the others while lending a hand if needed.
Other great things about winter, snuggling up by the fire, hot chocolate (with Bailey's of course), and soup. I love a yummy bowl of soup to warm me up from the inside out, but it's not something I think of making often. I have a few favourites and they each serve a purpose. One is a common Greek Chicken Soup (actually, it's called egg and lemon soup) which I swear, is the magic ticket to curing the common cold. I try and make this when I'm feeling run down and I can feel a cold coming on. Even works when I've past that point and in full on sick mode. Maybe I'll run that recipe the next time I get sick (I'm knocking on wood as we speak!)

The other soup is love is a Butternut Squash soup. You really can't go wrong with making this, I've tried so many variations and I'm sure there are many more for me to explore. This time I used a combination of a few recipes I had made in the past and a few that I hadn't, and then came up with my own idea of what I wanted. Recipes that inspired me were one from Martha Stewart (I love her!), one from LCBO, and one from Earthbound Farm Organic.

So this is how I did it....
1 medium Butternut Squash
1 medium Yam or Sweet Potato
2 Pears (you can use apples too)
2 cloves of Garlic
1 medium Onion
5 cups of Vegetable or Chicken Stock (you can also use water instead)
Seasonings like ground cloves, cinnamon &/or pumpkin spice 1 tsp Honey

Start by peeling your butternut squash. If you've never peeled one before, it's just like peeling a potato as the skin is not very tough and pretty easy to do.

After it's peeled, cut in half length wise and scoop out the seed and stringy bits using a spoon or fork.

You can always used the seeds as well by washing them free of the stringy bits and spicing them up in the oven. After the squash is clean, chop it up into 1" square bits.

Do the same steps above with the pears and the yam/sweet potato. When all are chopped, set aside and grab your onion and garlic. Get a large pot and melt 2 tbsp of butter over medium heat. Peel, and chop onion and garlic, turn up the temperature to high, and toss into pot sauté-ing (is that a word?) for about 3 minutes (until see through). Then you can add your squash, pears and yam/sweet potato. Stir them up and sauté for 3 more minutes.

Add 5 cups of either water/veg stock or chicken stock (I only had 2&1/2 cups of chicken stock on hand so I used that and the rest was 2&1/2 cups of water.

For some extra flavour, I added 1 teaspoon of honey, 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (adjust to your taste).

Let it cook down for 20 minutes of so, while occasionally giving it a stir. Wondering if it's ready? Stick a fork in the squash or yams and when soft, it's ready!

Final step, put everything into your food processor and purée. My food processor is not working (sniff) so I let my pot cool a bit before putting the ingredients into my glass blender.

Once it's puréed, it's ready to serve! Garnish with a drizzle of plain yogurt (or sour cream). The sourness offsets the sweet soup so nicely! If you've made too much, you can always freeze the rest and save it for a really cold winter day.