Boulder certainly has some real, no-nonsense weather! It snowed 23 inches this week and today it is warm, sunny and feels like spring with all of the melting snow. At the Boulder Farmers Market this morning, the farmers and vendors were dressed in their Halloween finest as they displayed their beautiful fall crops. It’s time to stock up on root vegetables and squash for winter storage.
I have been making a lot of soups lately. Earlier this week I made a pumpkin soup with a pie pumpkin from Cure Organic Farm and had enough pumpkin leftover for a large batch of pumpkin pancakes. Today I made a vegetable and bean soup with ingredients I picked up at the market. A big pot of soup provides wonderful leftovers for healthy lunches and quick dinners during the week.
Bone broth is the base of any good soup and also a great way to get more nutrition out of a part of your dinner that is often thrown away. Simmering bones over a long period of time, with a splash vinegar, releases the minerals and amino acids from the bones into the broth. Bone broth has medicinal benefits for everything from osteoporosis to digestive disorders. Add onions, carrots, celery, bay leaf and herbs to flavor the broth. I also add kombu seaweed for added minerals and lately have been adding a couple pieces of astragalus root. Astragalus is a Chinese herb, called huang qi, that is a great immune system booster, and especially helpful during flu season. I make my bone broth in a crock-pot and let it simmer for a day or two before straining. Excess broth can be frozen in jars for convenient future use.
Here is the recipe for today’s market soup:
1 tablespoon ghee (or butter)
1 onion, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 medium rutabaga, skin removed and cubed
5 cloves garlic, chopped
4 cups bone broth (I used broth made from organic turkey bones)
2 bay leaves
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Sea salt, black pepper, thyme and sage, to taste
1 ½ cup white kidney beans, cooked (or other type of bean and/or cooked turkey meat)
5 cups kale, stems removed and chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
In a stockpot, sauté onions in ghee until translucent. Add carrots, celery, rutabaga, garlic and sauté a bit more. Add the bone broth, bay leaves, herbs and spices. Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes, or until the rutabaga is nice and soft. Add the beans and kale and simmer for a bit longer. Add lemon juice and adjust seasonings as necessary. Enjoy!
What is your favorite fall soup?
3 comments:
Ryah -- I am so glad to see a new post! The soup I'm making RIGHT NOW is a butternut squash and peanut butter soup with cumin, coriander and cilantro. Gluten-free and dairy-free, potentially vegan. Will test it tomorrow at the first reunion of Bastyr 2009 grads.
I too, made a butternut squash soup but with small sweet orange peppers, 1/2 green pepper, onion, garlic and pinto beans. Dad liked it too!
Hi Ryah! I too have been making a TON of soup lately! I think Stein is wondering if we'll ever have another meal that is NOT soup. My favorite lately has been minestrone, recipe taken from The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook - tons of veggies and beans and fresh herbs. I have a bunch of squash here and will be making Butternut Squash soup this week - yum!
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