Celeriac and Pear Soup

For two weeks in a row in my CFA box was this ugly weird root. It was a celeriac root. Bulb like, hairy, brown, a crazy looking, ugly thing. Teresa, the farm woman, tells me to make soup with it. OK, I can do that. I search my favorite - All recipes- for a likely experiment.
The recipe I found used root veggies and onions that I had on hand, as well a the pears that are in season right now, and herbs that I have on hand in the garden. The result was a mild flavored soup with a lovely perfume scent.
For the celeriac, I needed to peel it and get the brown stuff off. Underneath all the root hair and skin is a white, crunch root with a mild celery flavor. It can be eaten cooked or raw. The root that had been in my fridge for almost 2 weeks was a bit soft, but fine for soup.
As for nutrition, celeriac is a good source of potassium, magnesium and fiber. It is low in carbohydrate - 1 cup cooked has 8 grams, and low in calories - 42 calories per cup. It is a type of celery that is cultivated for the root. The recipe called for celery stalks, I just used the tops of the celeriac.

Celeriac and Pear Soup

3 tbsp transfat free margarine
1 clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 onion, chopped
2-4 celeriac roots, peeled and cubed
3 carrots, chopped
2-3 stalks celery, chopped or top of celeriac
1 large potato, peeled and cubed (potato thickens the soup)
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth - reduced sodium
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp dried tarragon (or to taste0
1 tbsp dried thyme
2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
2-3 pears- peeled, cored and chopped
1/2 cup light cream

1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in garlic, shallot and onion, C Cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. As this is cooking, chop remaining vegetables and add to pot. Add broth and herbs. Stir in pears. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
2. Remove from heat. Puree soup with immersion blender. Add cream and gently reheat if needed. Adjust seasonings if needed.
Makes about 8 servings.

Summer Squash Soup

Every week I've been getting summer squash in my farm basket. Every week. Zucchini too, every week. I'm really not complaining, but I don't think I would buy 6-8 squashes each week. I pick out the smaller ones. I have been keeping up with them pretty well. I've grilled many of them. Last night I did a vegetable saute for pasta. Onion, garlic, yellow squash, zucchini and eggplant. Very yummy. I have a few product comments about this meal.
#1- rice pasta - never trust the cooking time on the label. The time is always too long. The pasta I made last night had a cooking time of 15-19 minutes (no kidding), I checked after about 6 minutes and it was done. If I had cooked it the time suggested (and I have done this in the past) the pasta would have been total mush. I suggest checking at 1/2 of the suggested time and then one minute there after. Make a note of the cooking time for that shape and brand of pasta. I put my note on the inside of the cupboard.
#2- pasta sauce. Most jarred sauces are gluten free, but as always check the label. We usually use Muir Glen Organic because we like it and the sodium content is fairly low - 350-380 per 1/2 cup. Fat content is 1 gram. there is no added sugar.
Recently in Walmat I can across Bea's Brookklyn's Best sauces. The sodium content is remarkably low - 150-180 mg per 1/2 cup. The Fat is higher at 6 grams per 1/2 cup, one gram being saturated fat. This one also has no added sugar. The taste was good, we tried the vodka sauce.

So back to chatting about squash:
Last week, when the temperatures were a bit cooler, I made a soup using the summer squash.
I changed a few items in the original recipe. Mostly by using more vegetables than were called for.

Creamy Summer Squash Soup

1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 medium potatoes, washed and cubed
4 carrots, sliced
3 small yellow squashes, sliced
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 1/2 cups reduced sodium chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Saute onion in oil in large sauce pan over medium heat, about 5 minutes. Stir in potatoes, carrots, squash, pepper and turmeric.

Add broth and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until vegetables are soft.
Blend with an immersion blender. Add milk and cheese. Gently reheat.

Serves about 7-8.

Russian Cabbage Soup

This is a quicky, before I run off to my real job. The August skys have been cool and dreary. Seems like this happens right before school is getting ready to start. I actually had a sweater on the other day. Soup in August seems a little weird, but two night ago it was just right. Having 2 heads of cabbage in the crisper, something needed to be done about that. What to do with the cabbage -- hmm--- cabbage soup. So off I go to my favorite web site - all recipes-- to find a recipe that I think everyone will like. The result was a russian cabbage soup. It contains ground beef - i use the ground buffallo- but I think it would work with port or cubed beef just as well. I even think it could be made vegan. It is gluten free and companied well with the corn muffins in a previous blog.

Sweet Russiona Cabbage Soup

1 pound ground beef or buffallo (90% lean)
1 can diced tomato, no salt added
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 cups beef broth, low sodium
4 carrots, sliced
1 onion chopped
2 tbsp white vinegar
1/2 cup sugar ( i would go 1/3 cup next time)
1/2 tsp salt
/2 tsp ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 head cabbage, cored and cut into wedges

1. In a large pot crumble the ground beef. Add the diced tomato, tomato paste, broth, carrot, onion, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Pour in 4 cups of beef broth and bring to a boil. Stir to break up the beef. Simmer for 30 minutes once it comes to a boil.
2. Pour in 2 cups of water and return to a simmer. Add garlic and cabbbage, simmer for 25 minutes or until cabbage is tender.
This says it makes 4 servings - but no it makes a whole lot of soup. more like 8 servings.