Paleo Split Pea Soup (Squash)

Here's an interesting recipe! Very minimal ingredients and get this.. it's a split pea soup without the split peas, so what does that make it? I'm calling it a Paleo split pea soup because I hear Paleos don't eat beans and this squash tastes like a bean!

Gotta admit when I saw this strange looking dark green wort covered squash in my pre-thanksgiving CSA basket I wasn't too enthusiastic. Still baby's gotta eat and a squash is a squash so I set out to roast that thing. First of all it's very hard to cut so be careful! Even just peeling it was a challenge and I had to cut small pieces and then remove the skin with a sharp paring knife.

I boiled some for baby in a small pot and the rest I roasted in the oven to see how it would turn out. The results were very interesting! It's a dry squash either way, but even more dry and "Flaky" ? I don't know how to describe it's texture... for the boiled one on the stove I needed to mash and add in a lot of the boiling stock back into it to create a smooth consistency. 

The baked one was rather odd, it had been tossed with a bit of oil and it just stuck to the pan and so no real roasting achieved. I tossed it into a pot and added water and cooked it further then mashed it up... the result was a soup! A one ingredient soup! 

I tasted and it was similar to a lentil or split pea soup, really similar.  I set out to flavour it and opted for a curry.

In a bit of oil I browned some onions until almost crispy and set aside. With the remaining oil I added a sprinkling of curry powder and then added the squash and blended, seasoning lightly with salt. A dash of chicken stock is nice too and voila! It's absolutely delicious, I tell you!

Who knew? These buttercup squashes are amazing! I can imagine it would make a fantastic "pumpkin" pie with it's dry texture, no extra sogginess.  I had to contact the farm to ask what the name was as I had no idea and they told me it's a buttercup variety called "Sweet Mama" so next time you see it do give it a try and let me know what you come up with!

Garlicky lamb meatball soup with Cranberry Beans

First time I try these fresh Romano beans, or cranberry beans, and boy are they gorgeous!
I think these fresh beans are becoming one of my favourite things, this year I've taken every opportunity to scoop up fresh fava beans anywhere I find them. There is nothing easier and more delicious when you can just shell them, lightly boil them and then add them to recipes or just mash them up with a bit of fresh garlic, drizzle of GOOD olive oil and squeeze of fresh lemon juice... on toast or just eat it with a spoon!

With these beans I wanted to do something more hearty and warm so it's lamb meatball soup today. Mini summer lamb meatballs in a garlicky chicken broth with romano beans and tiny pastas.


Start by shelling your romano/cranberry beans and boil them for 15-20 minutes or until tender in a smalls saucepan of water. Add salt half way through cooking. (if you prefer you could boil them in stock)

Start with the meatballs:

1 lb ground lamb

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp fresh thyme, minced

zest of half a lemon

salt and black pepper

1 tsp lemon juice
1 clove smashed garlic

Blend it all together and form small balls. Fry the meatballs in olive oil in a large pot. They will stick so just let them be until they release themselves from the bottom of the pan, it's ok if you only brown one side.

Set the meatballs aside and in the oil used from frying the meatballs (you can remove some if there is too much) sautee the pasta noodles (toast them!) on medium high heat stirring constantly until they look toasty and golden.

Add your fresh garlic, soup cube and water. Cook until noodles are al dante.

Add meatballs to bowl, top with drained pasta and beans. Add fresh broth over (to avoid the soup looking murky unless you prefer to have some thickness them use the noodle broth)
 Top and garnish with fresh thyme. Enjoy!

Mushroom Soup

Cream of Mushroom (with chicken, or not!) 

- 3 cups Chicken stock  (homemade is always best)

- 3 tbsps Olive oil

- Mushrooms (I used 3 packs and finely diced the mushrooms) 

-Salt & Black pepper (to taste)

-1 clove garlic (optional) 

- Few tbsp flour

-Milk 

-Whole cream

Garnish options: 

-Sour cream or greek yogurt

-Chopped chives 

-Chopped leftover chicken
- Hot sauce
-Fresh thyme 

Add the olive oil to the pot or dutch oven, sautee mushrooms under brown, if you have too many do them in batches so they all brown nicely without just getting grey and soggy.  Add garlic clove (grated, or whole and then you can just pull it out) 

Season with salt and pepper (to taste)
Add stock over and simmer for 15 minutes on low. 

When ready to serve heat this mushroom soup back up to a boil. 

Blend together about 2 tbsp flour with cold milk, about 1 1/2 cup. Add 1/2 cup cream (or more if you want it to be super rich!)
Add this mixture and begin whisking until thickened, if it's not thick enough then prep another 1 tbsp with some milk and whisk it in again.

This mushroom soup is rich and tastes great, and if you're used to the canned stuff you'll love this fresh version! 

Enjoy!

New Years and January 2012

While I don't blog too much during the winter season (due to lighting) there is definitely no shortage of food or cooking, here are some shots from New Year's and also meals enjoyed during the month of January.