Shrimp and fingerlings

Shrimp is one of Calvin's favorites, and it's a fun shake up to our usual evening meals. This one was warming and filling on a cool winter evening. Jon says it's not at the top of his recipe list (he prefers shrimp as just shrimp) but the other thirds of us enjoyed it whole heartedly. The recipe was originally from Bon Apetit, but has since been altered.

Shrimp and fingerlings in tomato broth

Yield: 4 SERVINGS

Ingredients:

  ● 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  ● 1-2 tbsp flour
  ● 2 cups finely chopped onions
  ● 1-2 tbsp. flour
  ● 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  ● 1 tbsp. paprika
  ● 1 14.5 ounce jar diced fire-roasted tomatoes in juice
  ● 2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
  ● 1/4 tsp. dried crushed red pepper
  ● 1 cup dry white wine
  ● 1 8- ounce bottle clam juice
  ● 3 cups water
  ● 8 oz. fingerling potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
  ● 1 lb. peeled deveined uncooked medium American shrimp

Directions:
1. Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onions; sauté until very tender and beginning to brown, stirring often, about 18 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring continuously on low heat, until browning.

2. Add garlic and paprika; stir 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes with juice and cook until very thick, stirring frequently, about 30 minutes. Stir in rosemary and crushed red pepper. Add wine and clam juice, then 3 cups water. Bring broth to a boil. Add potatoes; simmer until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Add shrimp; simmer until just cooked through, about 5 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with fresh, warm bread.

Great Northern Garlic Soup

This recipe came from thecreatives.org, and this is one I don't think I changed at all, but my own directions are the ones listed here. I was skeptical at first—14 garlic cloves? Are you kidding?—but it is a really, really great meal. I tend to serve this warming soup on chilly nights with freshly baked whole wheat bread and sauteed greens on the side. Yum.

Grea Northern Garlic Soup

Ingredients:
  ● 2 c chopped onion
  ● 1 cup sliced carrots
  ● 1/2 c sliced celery
  ● 14 garlic cloves, minced
  ● 2 T olive oil
  ● 4 c vegetable broth
  ● 3 c cooked great northern beans , (white beans)
  ● 1 c OVERcooked garbanzo beans
  ● salt and pepper

Directions:
1. in large pot, saute onions, carrots, celery, and garlic in olive oil for 4-5 minutes or so.  add broth and beans, bring to a boil.  reduce heat and simmer 15-20 minutes until vegetables are very tender. *remove from heat and allow to cool 5-10 minutes.  Puree or blend until almost smooth— a submersion blender is perfect for this.

That's a lot of garlic, and it's oh so good.

Pumpkin soup

Yes, another pumpkin recipe! We are truly embracing the fall flavors around here. This is actually my own concoction (although not a very original one), and Jon said it was pretty darn good, and that's a quote.

Pumpkin soup

Yield: 6-8
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: ~20 minutes

Ingredients:
  ● 6 cups pumpkin puree
  ● 4-5 cups vegetable broth (chicken would also work)
  ● 2 tbsp butter
  ● 2-4 garlic cloves, diced
  ● 1-2 medium onions, chopped
  ● 3-4 tsp curry powder
  ● 1 tsp corriander
  ● salt & pepper, to taste
  •  1/2-1 cup heavy whipping cream (optional)

Directions:
1. Melt butter in a medium pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until tender (~10 minutes)
2. Meanwhile, in a medium pot combine pumpkin puree and vegetable broth and stir well. Add curry powder, coriander, salt, and pepper and stir until combined.
3. When onions are done scrape pan into soup and stir well. Heat over medium heat for 10-20 mintues, or until soup is hot and flavors are well combined. Sometimes I add heavy whipping cream at this point, stir to combine, then cook an additional 5 minutes or so. Serve hot, topped with roasted pumpkin seeds if desired.

Garden kale soup

I found this recipe, or something like it, doing a search for ways to use kale. I love kale, and with winter coming we're likely to see a lot of it in our organic deliveries. Yum!
To the original recipe I added celery and twice the garlic, and cut the number of potatoes; I increased the amount of tomatoes and beans used while switching from canned to fresh/rehydrated; I also changed dried parsley to fresh and added a little more.
This is a great vegetarian meal for those chilly fall, or winter, nights. I served it with homemade multi-grain peasant bread and apple crisp (an extra fall treat!).

Garden Kale Soup

Ingredients:
  ● 2 tbsp. olive oil
  ● 1 yellow onion, chopped
  ● 4 tbsp. chopped garlic
  ● 1 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves chopped
  ● 3 celery ribs, chopped
  ● 8 vegetable broth
  ● 6-8 tomatoes, diced
  ● 4 white potatoes, peeled and cubed
  ● 3 cups rehydrated cannellini beans (or 2 cans)
  ● 2 tbsp. Italian seasoning
  ● 3 tbsp. snipped fresh parsley
  ● salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
 1. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot; cook the onion and garlic until soft. Stir in kale and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Stir in the water, vegetable bouillon, celery, tomatoes, potatoes, beans, Italian seasoning, and parsley. Simmer soup on medium heat for 25 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Zuppa Tuscano

This original recipe comes from Epicurious.com, one of my favorite recipe sites.  I have made quite a few changes to the recipe, though, and the one I post here is my own version, but I'll try to mention some of the points at which I varied.

• 1lb mild ground Italian sausage
• ~2 medium potatoes cut into bite sized pieces
• ~1 medium onions, diced
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large bunch of kale, sliced with stems removed
• 32 oz. chicken stock
• 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream

Cook the sausage, garlic, and onions in a stock pot over medium heat until sausage is done, then remove from pot and set aside. To juices in pot add chicken base and potatoes and simmer until potatoes are done, then add sausage mixture back in along with kale and cream, stir well and simmer until kale has reduced in size (at least four minutes, though longer is certainly fine).  Like most soups, this is excellent reheated, too.  Serves 4 - 5

Now - I believe the original recipe calls for the use of 5 sausages instead of ground sausage (cooked and then sliced before adding back in later), several slices of bacon, sliced potatoes instead of chunks, minced garlic instead of fresh, only 3 cups of kale, and only 2T of stock (the remaining liquid being water).

No pictures this time - maybe I'll come back and add them in later.  Enjoy!