Lentil stew

My husband is not a huge fan of Swiss chard, which has been in our CSA boxes for the past few weeks, but he loves anything with curry, so this soup turned out to be a winner. I adapted the measurements a little to make it thicker, and topped it off with some brown rice, skipping the yogurt.

Curried Red Lentil Stew with Swiss Chard, adapted from Bon Appetit magazine, and recommended by Liz

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
5 teaspoons curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 small bunch Swiss chard, tough stalks removed, coarsely chopped (about 5 cups)
2 cups lentils
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
Plain yogurt
Hot, cooked rice, if desired

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté until golden, about 13 minutes. Mix in curry and cayenne. Add broth and chard. Increase heat; bring to boil. Add lentils and garbanzos; reduce heat to medium.

Cover; simmer until lentils are tender, stirring twice, about 10 minutes. Divide stew among bowls. Top with sour cream (or plain yogurt).

Squash soup

We got our first squash in the CSA this week, and while I love squash simply sauteed in a skillet, I figured there’s plenty of time for that. This soup, in the Back to the Table cookbook, was light and fresh tasting, but still filling enough to replenish me after a almost two-hour tennis match (which I didn’t manage to win … oh well). Unfortunately, it doesn’t photograph all that well.

Summer Squash and Lemon Thyme Soup, from Back to the Table by Art Smith

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium sweet onions, finely chopped
1 medium leek, white part only, finely chopped and well rinsed to remove grit (we skipped this)
6 garlic cloves, minced
4 medium yellow squash, coarsely chopped
4 sprigs thyme or lemon thyme
6 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt
Tabasco sauce
Parmesan, pine nuts and lemon zest, for garnish

Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions, leek and garlic and cook, stirring often, until the onions are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.
Add the squash and thyme and cook, stirring often, until the squash begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer, partially covered, until the squash is tender, about 20 minutes.
Discard thyme and puree two thirds of the soup in a covered blender or food processor. Return to pot and heat through. Season soup with salt, lemon juice and hot pepper sauce.
Ladle into soup bowls and top with cheese curls, pine nuts and lemon zest.

A hit (and a miss)

I’d made this broccoli soup once before, but this time it was my husband putting it together while I was at work. He’s very good at this. While he has less experience in the kitchen, he’s more willing to improvise, particularly when spices are involved. So that means if we’re eating something spicy, chances are it was his doing. He jazzed up this basic broccoli soup a little with the addition of curry powder and red pepper. I like this soup so much because unlike some other vegetable soups, it gets its bulk from the pureed vegetables, not too-sweet cream.

Excuse the blurry photo:

The next day we cooked up our very first batch of fresh beets from our CSA, using the recipe here. With our apologies to Dwight Schrute, we both decided beets aren’t something we’ll be making again. They were palatable on a salad, but on their own, just eh. I think my husband described it well when he deemed them too earthy. They did leave their lovely pink color across our kitchen, though.

Click for broccoli soup recipe

Corn soup

We weren’t in town this past weekend to pick up a CSA box, so in trying to keep with our “local” theme, we limited ourselves to grocery store produce from the Southeast. Not super local, but hey, we’re making baby steps. So this week, that meant lots of corn, peaches, blueberries and cantaloupe. Not coincidentally, they were all on sale, so its an added bonus. Now, a confession. I love the corn and potato chowder that involves opening a couple of cans, dicing potatoes and throwing it all into the crock pot for a few hours. This time I tried to re-create this using fresh ingredients, with mixed results. We both thought it was good, but needed something more. Different seasoning, or leaving the skin on the potatoes would have likely helped. Regardless, there was nothing to mask the fresh corn taste, which is something my Nebraska-bred husband can appreciate.

Corn and Potato Soup, adapted from Everyday Food

2 potatoes
1 medium onion, diced
8 ears corn
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Green onions for garnish

Peel (optional) and dice the potatoes and boil until tender, but not soft. Remove husks and silks from corn. In soup pot, saute onion in a bit of oil. Holding ears in a large bowl, slice off the kernels. In two batches, puree with two cups water in a food processor until chunky. To softened onion, add pureed corn, potatoes, butter, broth and salt and pepper. Heat for about five minutes, until heated through.