Tuscan Vegetable Soup

I am trying to get back on the wagon post-Thanksgiving. To be fair, I can't just blame Thanksgiving for the pounds I've packed on lately. A great deal of it is just semester-living. Mondays and Tuesdays I'm at school until 10:00 pm, Wednesdays we've been getting home around 9:00 ... the last thing I feel like doing is cooking. And even if I did there's no time to do it! So with the combination of not having making time to exercise and the easy deliciousness unhealthiness of Fresh Tortillas nachos, well I am nearly 10 pounds from where I'd truly like to be.

So my solution for the last two weeks of the semester ... SOUP! I love soup. I adore it. So.much. You have no doubt heard my insane ravings about Butternut Squash Soup lately. Every time I go to the store I seem to come home with four of them. Thank goodness I can still make a few more batches! But I'm looking to change it up a little. I need more veg in my life. My goal is to lose that 10 pounds by the time the Justice Project goes up in February. Today I read a bunch of Blu's Hanging on the elliptical and made Tuscan Vegetable Soup.

My mom gave me this recipe over a year ago. I have no idea where she got it from, but it is some seriously fabulous and healthy soup. Here's what you need:

Ingredients:
2 15 oz cans of cannelini beans (I didn't have these today so I used 1 can of chickpeas instead)
1 T olive oil
1/2 lg onion, diced (I definitely used a whole one)
2 carrots, diced (I'm lazy. I chopped)
2 stalks celery, diced
1 sm zucchini, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced (I used 3. Gotta love garlic)
1 t dried thyme
1/2 t dried sage
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
32 oz chicken (or veg) broth
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes (I found fire-roasted ones at the store. Very tasty!)
2 c baby spinach (I used fresh not-baby spinach)

Heat the oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven or stock pot or what-have-you over med-high heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, zucchini, garlic, thyme, sage, salt and pepper. I chopped onions and carrots first to get them on the heat while I chopped the celery, zucchini, and garlic. Worked just fine, though they definitely cooked longer than the suggested 5 minutes. You could also use fresh herbs instead of dried -- just increase to 1 T fresh thyme and 2 t fresh sage. I was heavier-handed with the dried herbs than listed and just dumped them in. I like herbs.

Once the veg are tender, add the broth and the tomatoes and bring to a boil. While this is heating, mash one can of beans.

I was trying to cut calories in this soup so I used only one can of beans and mashed half. The texture didn't turn out as nicely as if I'd used two cans, but it was still very tasty. Also note to self, the cannelini beans definitely work better than chickpeas.

Once the soup comes to a boil add the mashed beans and the whole beans and the spinach. Cook until spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes. Top w/grated Parmesan cheese. The cheese is so good!

I let the soup sit for awhile to let those spices ruminate. It's even better the next day, so I'm looking forward to lunch tomorrow. We served this up tonight with some toasted Italian bread and black olive tapenade. Delicious.

Later this week, I'm planning on some Cream of Asparagus, Herbed Pea Soup, Split Pea Soup, and of course another round or two of Butternut Squash Soup. That should hold us until December 15 when the final papers are all due.

Butternut Squash Obsession ... er ... Soup

On Mondays and Tuesdays, I work until 10 pm at the Writing Center so a transportable and reheatable dinner is a must. Tonight I'm bringing leftover Sausage Scramble and tomorrow night -- my latest obsession: Butternut Squash Soup!

I invested in one of those awesome, immersion, stick blender things. And it's green! In case you couldn't tell from my bright green curtains in my kitchen ... I love green. My clock is green. Towels. Potholders. Pans. Giant stock pot. Bathroom rug. Ice cream maker. And my latest addition of the stick blender.

So far I've made 2 batches of Butternut Squash Soup and 1 batch of Pumpkin Black Bean Soup. I have to confess I have no idea where I got this Butternut Squash Soup recipe, but now that I've made it twice ... I'll just put in my modifications and claim it.

Ingredients
two pats of butter
healthy drizzle of olive oil (the second time I used coconut oil -- about 1.5 T maybe)
1 onion, chopped
a couple spoonfuls of garlic (we have one of those giant jars of chopped garlic. so convenient)
dried sage
dried thyme leaves or ground thyme (or hell, why not both)
a beautiful 2 - 2.5 pound (or a little more) butternut squash (<3 <3 <3), peeled, seeded, and cubed
a couple splashes of cooking sherry or leftover good red wine turning to vinegar
4 cups chicken stock
pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 c heavy cream
salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

The original recipe calls for pancetta ... which sounds good but I haven't had it either time I've made it.

Melt the butter and oil in big heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add in the chopped onion and saute until it's soft -- for maybe 5 minutes. Add in the garlic (and then a little extra for luck), healthy sprinkles of the sage and thyme. Let that sit for a minute. Then add in your beautiful butternut squash cubes and saute for a few minutes. I let this go for at least five or so, usually because I'm still cubing up the rest of the squash.

OK, so here's what I "messed up" the first time that I'm convinced led to better, thicker soup. I only put in half the squash to saute. Oops! I didn't measure and just figured, oh that looks like enough. So I finished the rest of the steps and pureed and it was very thin. Oh no! So I quick heated a little more butter and oil, tossed in the rest of the squash cubes, added sage and thyme and cayenne, sauteed a few minutes. Then I threw it into the "finished" puree for another 25 minutes. It was thick and delicious. Since my second batch I followed the directions better and came up with not-quite-as-stellar-soup ... this is the way to go.

SO - you're only sauteeing half of your squash, got it? Continue thus ...

Once the squash is a little soft and fragrant (I love the smell of squash!), add in your wine, broth, and cayenne pepper. Cover and simmer for about 25-30 minutes (or the length of a dog walk).

Now you can go ahead and saute your second batch of squash. And fry up some crispy pancetta if you have some, or make some croutons or anything else you feel like for a topping.

Back to business. When you're through with your simmer, puree everything in the pot with your really awesome stick blender. Then toss in that second batch of squash and simmer for another 25 minutes. When that's done, puree the whole thing again to your desired consistency. Stir in the heavy cream. Top with whatever you want, including a tiny pinch of salt and some fresh cracked black pepper. My favorite thing to dip in is pretzel rolls. Yum.

PS - I'm making another batch of this for Thanksgiving, at which time I'll add in some photos. Right now, all you'd get is leftovers in the tupperware.

My dear actors eat no onions nor garlic.