Chris Cornell ~ Higher Truth album
Hello folks...its been quite some time since my last posting. A lot of can happen in 2 months and 2 days...not that I was counting. OK..maybe I was and maybe I was going a little crazy at not being in my kitchen. And maybe I was getting a little grumpy about it. Ahem...well anyway...
My absence has been health related but that will be no news to those of you who a regular followers. I am still dealing with that and I won't bore you all with the details. But one of the outcomes of this, is the need to restrict my carb intake. So from now on my recipe postings will be vegan, mostly gluten-free...and lower or low carb. But they will be tasty, nutritious and good for me and therefore you too. I am relying heavily on other peoples cook books right now as cooking is the work of ML still. When back on my feet I am looking forward to creating my own recipes again. And so to today's recipe....
...I've purchased a few low carb veggie cook books of late. Some have been just awful but one of the most helpful has been Robin Robertson's Carb Conscious Vegetarian cook book. There is a great deal of information at the beginning of the book and then many interesting recipes. So far we haven't experienced a bad one and ML adds that they have been easy to make.
The Victory Garden Soup caught my eye because of the abundance of veggies in it. I am a soup-oholic these days and have been enjoying great beany/veggie concoctions lately. But today I was craving an old fashioned veg-fest no beans included. I wanted clean flavours not drowned out by heavy spices or tomato enriched broths. I love both of those ingredients but today I wanted...wholesome, pure flavoured, brothy goodness. Now I confess here and now..Robertson lists this as a stew but to me it turned out more soup like..hence the adjustment in the name.
The only substitution that ML had to make, was to use half of a small autumn pumpkin (think Acorn pumpkin) in place of the yellow summer squash that Robertson suggests in her recipe. ML also didn't take the suggestion of cooking off the kale ahead of time but chose to add it at the same point in the cooking process.
This soup is exactly as you would imagine it to be. Delicate in flavour, full of differing textures and extremely enjoyable to eat. And I am looking forward to devouring the leftovers for lunch over the next few days. I have a feeling that it will only get better with time...so tasty.
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| Robin's Victory Garden Soup (GF, Vegan & LCarb) |
Robin's Victory Garden Soup Serves 4
(Recipe from Carb Conscious Vegetarian/Robertson)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 celery sticks, sliced
1 leek, white part only, well washed and roughly chopped
1 small carrot, sliced
1 large fennel bulb, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
6 oz green beans, cut into 1" pieces
1 courgette, halved and cut into 1/4" slices
1 yellow summer squash, halved and cut into 1/2" slices (or 1/2 small pumpkin, peeled, de-seeded and diced)
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen shelled edamame
3 1/2 cups of filtered water
1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt (optional)
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 cups cooked chopped kale or other dark leafy green (or 4 cups fresh chopped kale)
Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the celery, leek, and carrot. Cover and cook 5 minutes to soften slightly. Add the fennel, bell pepper, green beans, courgette, squash, edamame, water, thyme, salt and pepper. Cover and cook until the vegetables are tender and the flavours have blended, about an hour. For thicker soup, puree up to 2 cups of the soup in a blender and then add it back into the remaining soup. About ten minutes before the end of the cooking time add in the cooked or fresh kale.
Enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you are happy in this moment and finding reasons to smile every day.
~Red~
NB: This is not my recipe and therefore I take no credit for it whatsoever. It is the hard work and creation of Robin Robertson and hers alone. I send out thanks for being an inspiration and sharing such great recipes. Namaste ~R~
