More and more, we are getting requests from guests for gluten-free and dairy-free diets. Finding recipes that are healthy and tasty all at the same time can be challenging! The reason I love this soup is, you can actually taste the zucchini! So many times zucchini soups are masqueraded in sour cream, cream cheese and dill and you absolutely loose the flavor of the vegetable itself.
Delightful if chilled overnight and served ice cold on a hot summer day, or conversely, ladled out piping hot on a steely winter night. Easy to prepare, vegan (if you swap out the butter), and delicious, you might want to add this to your weekly lunch menu!
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Silky Zucchini Soup
SERVINGS4people
|
COOK TIME20 minutes |
PREP TIME10 minutes |
READY IN45 minutes |
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, melt the butter and the olive oil. Add the onion and garlic, season with salt and pepper and cook over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, until softened, 7 to 8 minutes.
- Add the zucchini and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the stock and 1 1/2 cups of water and bring to a simmer; cook until the zucchini is very soft, about 10 minutes.
- Cool slightly. Working in 2 batches, puree the soup in a blender until it's silky-smooth. Return the soup to the saucepan and season with salt and pepper. Serve it either hot or chilled, garnished with julienned zucchini.
- The soup can be made ahead and refrigerated overnight.
- **Recipe adapted from Food & Wine.
After having had so many special meals over Christmas and New Year’s
we wanted to come up with a simple yet satisfying supper on New Year’s
day. Remembering that we still had some leeks braving the cold out in our
almost barren gardens we decided on a potato leek soup, homemade bread
and a hearty salad. Since there was also some kale fighting for
survival out there why not add that to the soup making it even
healthier and giving it yet another dimension?
Our decision turned out to be a good one and everyone enjoyed it! They especially
appreciated its being light as well as very flavorful and heart-
warming,(the flavor was even better the next day) so when we make
it again I will suggest we make it a day or two before actually serving it.
We garnished it with a dollop of sour cream and chopped kale. A few bacon bits
or curls, if desired, could also add to its look and flavor.
*Whether you get your leeks from your garden or your grocery store it is important
to wash them ever so thoroughly because they often have soil hidden between the leaves
at their stems.
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Rating: 4.2
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Kale Potato Leek Soup
SERVINGS6
|
COOK TIME1hour |
PREP TIME30minutes |
READY IN1 ½hours |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large (6-plus quart) stockpot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the leek and potato and kale . Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have begun to soften and brown slightly, about 8 to 12 minutes (this time will vary greatly depending on the surface area of the bottom of your pot).
- Add the vegetable stock and bay leaves, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
- Blend until smooth, either using an immersion blender or by carefully transferring to a blender in batches.
- Add the cream, and season to taste with salt (I start with 1 teaspoon and go from there, tasting frequently) and lemon juice and freshly ground pepper to taste.
- Ladle into bowls, and garnish with a dollop of sour cream and a healthy sprinkling of kale or bacon bits.
In the Benedictine charism, true hospitality is a “holy event”, not just a social happening where only people’s bodies are nourished. No, Benedictine hospitality requires much more than feeding people and sending them on their way. Chapter 53 of The Rule of Saint Benedict makes it very clear just what is asked: in true Benedictine hospitality, “All guests who arrive should be received as Christ.” – Cynthia Bertelson
Entertaining has long been an important part of the outreach of our community. At this time of year, we have about four events happening simultaneously, so we are always searching for creative ways to do things without adding a lot of extra stress and work, but still maintaining the level of excellence we need to do all things to the glory of God. This recipe can be used as an appetizer or first course, for your next holiday gathering. A simple two toned soup shot, hearkening back to the flavors of summer. The soup can be easily made ahead and then assembled at the last minute so you can enjoy more time with your guests.
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Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup Shot
SERVINGS6
|
COOK TIME90minutes |
PREP TIME10minutes |
READY IN2hours |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 325 degree farenheit
- Toss the tomatoes, onion, garlic and one sprig of rosemary in a non-stick roasting pan with the olive oil and season with salt
- Roast for 90 minutes, or until tender (covering the pan with foil if it starts to get too dark); discard the rosemary
- Transfer the roasted vegetables to a blender and process until smooth. Strain through a sieve into a saucepan, discarding the solids.
- Pour in the stock and hot pepper sauce (optional*).
- Check the seasoning and chill until ready to serve or leave at room temperature.
- To make the basil cream, whisk together the basil and cream until slightly thickened.
- To serve, moisten 6 shot glass rims with a lemon wedge. Turn the moistened rim into a plate lined with sea salt to coat the rim. Fill each glass ½ to ¾ with soup and top with a dollop of the basil cream. Garnish each with a rosemary sprig and serve immediately.
Cooks Note *
- For a milder version, simply omit the smoky pepper sauce and add an extra ½ cup of heavy cream instead.
- Chiffonade is a chopping technique in which herbs are cut into long, thin strips. This is accomplished by stacking the basil on top of each other, rolling them tightly lengthwise, then slicing the leaves thinly and perpendicular to the roll.
- You can make this soup the day before and chill in the fridge until ready to use.
This is definitely the season for soups and we are adding them to our menus at the convent every week. There are so many kinds to choose from, they are so much fun to make, and so satisfying to eat. One of the suppers which sisters most love is a big hearty soup served right out of the skillet in which it has been prepared and then simmered a good part of the afternoon. Each person goes by and dips out a bowlful just to their liking to take back to their table where home baked bread and salad is waiting for them. This simple experience almost always puts everyone in a jovial mood that makes for a good time at the table with a warm “homey” atmosphere filling the refectory. One of our most popular choices is this goulash soup with a light Hungarian accent.
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Goulash soup
SERVINGS6people
|
COOK TIME42-45mins |
PREP TIME30 mins |
READY IN1 hr15 mins |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the meat, onion, garlic, and carrots and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes until lightly colored. Add the cabbage and bell pepper and cook stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes.
- Sprinkle in the flour and paprika and cook, stirring continuously, for 1 minute. Gradually stir in the vegetable stock, a little at a time. Increase the heat to medium and bring to a boil, stirring continuously. Season to taste with salt, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Add the potatoes and bring back to a boil, then reduce the heat, re-cover the pan, and simmer for another 20-30 minutes, until the potatoes are soft but not falling apart.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding salt and pepper if needed. Stir in the sugar, if necessary. Ladle the soup into warmed bowls, swirl a little sour cream or shredded cheese on top of each, and serve immediately.
Nothing warms the heart quite like a piping hot cup of homemade soup with lunch on a nippy winter’s day. Lately, we’ve had lots of both……nippy winter days and hot cups of soup. Until you start making homemade soups you never realize how easy it is and what fun it can be coming up with the next new soup du jour to surprise and satisfy your hungry eaters.
Two days ago, I made one of my simplest and most favorite…..potato leek. We happen to still have a generous number of leeks in our gardens so they are available to us most of the winter, but if you are not as fortunate, onions can just as easily be substituted. The flavor will just be a little more intense, since leeks are slightly milder in taste.
Last night we had a large amount of leftover broccoli from dinner. This morning I put the broccoli thru the blender and combined it with my leftover potato leek soup, adding some crumbled blue cheese and we enjoyed a zesty new taste treat today at lunch. Use your imagination, and see what you come up with. There’s no end to the variations you can develop on the simple theme of Potato Leek soup.
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Potato Leek Soup
SERVINGS
|
COOK TIME17-20minutes |
PREP TIME |
READY IN |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, add onion, leeks and potatoes, and sauté gently for 2-3 minutes, until soft but not brown.
- Pour in the stock, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
- Remove soup from the heat and let cool slightly.
- Transfer to a food processor or blender, in batches if necessary, and process to puree.
- Return soup to the rinsed-out pan and reheat gently. Add salt and pepper as desired.
The cold weather is really upon us. We have a crusty covering of snow and the wind is blowing in off the bay right across the common. I love the cold and all the great food that goes with it. I recently had the challenge of feeding a construction crew at a mountain site and it was really cold up there, so I wanted to give them hot lunches or at least hot soup. The challenge was that the cooking facilities were a distance away, and I needed to transport hot soup to a really cold place. I wrapped a big pot in a blanket in a cooler with two big rocks heated in the oven on either side. It worked — it was almost too hot to eat! And the grilled ham and cheese sandwiches we put in there also stayed warm. The crew was very happy! My recipe today is the corn chowder I served on the mountain. It’s enough for a crowd of 12 hungry men.
Mountain Corn Chowder
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Mountain Corn Chowder
SERVINGS
|
COOK TIME |
PREP TIME |
READY IN |
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a large pot, cook sausage, breaking up with a spoon until chunky and brown.
- Remove from pot to a paper towel-lined plate or pan.
- Cook onions in the sausage fat left behind in the pot until almost translucent, then add thyme and cook a couple of minutes longer.
- Add potatoes and vegetable stock and cook until potatoes are just tender.
- Add drained canned corn and creamed corn and browned sausage.
- Add milk to desired thickness.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Heat thoroughly but do not boil.
- Enjoy!
