Pumpkin/Squash Soup

The Story

It's been some time since I've posted a new recipe, which illustrates one meaning of "occasional" intended by my blog title. (Isn't it nice when laziness or inactivity can be justified so wonderfully?) Today, however, I'm making this dish for a second time and feel confident that I've made it my own and can share it with you. First off, I'll have to admit that I'd never tried to make pumpkin soup before this year, However, my friend Justine game me some pumpkins to decorate with at a party in September, and when my mother-in-law was visiting last month I decided to take the plunge and turn them into something edible. I checked out a bunch of recipes on the internet, chose ingredients and noted preparation tips that seemed to fit the direction I wanted to go in, and whipped up a batch of pumpkin and squash soup. Gioia, Eddie, and I all enjoyed the results--not bad for a first attempt!  Yesterday I got a winter squash in my farm share, so I decided to refine my recipe. Here's what I've come up with:

What You'll Need

• One large pumpkin/squash or 2-3 smaller
• 5 cups stock (I use chicken, but veggie would obviously work)
• 1 apple
• 1 onion
• 2 carrots
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 6 oz. fat-free plain or vanilla Greek yogurt (or heavy cream if preferred)
• ground cumin (optional, but I love cumin in everything)
• sage or thyme
• salt and pepper
• cayenne or red pepper
• cinnamon/allspice/honey (something sweet)  

  
Preparation

• Quarter the pumpkin/squash, remove the seeds, place on a baking sheet or dish and bake in over at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Let cool.
• Peel and chop the carrot, apple, and onion and saute in olive oil in the in the bottom of your soup pan. 
• Peel off pumpkin skin or scoop out flesh, chop or break into pieces, and add to soup pot
• Add stock
• Add spices to taste. I think this simply comes down to a matter of personal preference, so throw in what seems right to you. We like a balance of spicy and sweet, so I play with the balance of pepper and cinnamon/allspice. If you're going to add heavy cream or vanilla yogurt you won't have to worry too much about the sweet end of things here. If you opt for plain yogurt, a bit of honey will help.
• Heat to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer for 30 minutes.
• Using a hand blender, blend soup to the consistency you prefer. (Or puree in batches in a food processor or regular blender.) I made it really smooth the first time around, but left it a bit chunkier the second time, and we liked both.
• Add the yogurt or cream, heat to temperature desired for serving and serve.

1/9/12 Update: Because I had an abundance of squash and wasn't in a hurry, I decided to try this in a slow cooker. I basically doubled everything except the stock, since only four cups fit comfortably in the pot. There's no need for oil: I just threw the onions, apples, and carrots right in. I cooked it on high for five hours or so, and the results seem pretty much the same. Now, though, I have 6-8 servings of soup to look forward to!

Serving
There's not much to it, really. You could wait to put a dollop of yogurt or cream in the bowl just before serving to make it look pretty--and/or add a sprig of parsley or other herb for appearance. It is wonderful as it is or served with a hearty bread.

And, if you're waistline conscious, note that I divide this into 4 hearty servings of 4 points each in Weight Watchers. That's with the non-fat plan yogurt, of course, so cream will cost you more at the scale.

Slow-Cooker Lentil Soup (a la Weight Watchers)

The Story

I've been planning to add this recipe to my blog for a week or so, but I was finally motivated when my Aunt Mary sent me an email for a recipe exchange--in which I am asked to type up a recipe, email it to a friend of hers, and then forward the same email (this time with her name as the recipient) to 20 of my friends. In theory, the email says that I may get up to 36 recipes in return, although I haven't done the math there. A month or two ago, I may have simply deleted this request, but there are new reasons for me to participate: the creation of this blog, the fact that my Aunt Mary used a recipe from it recently and it gave us a chance to correspond, and my desire to get a few new recipes.

I'm not really one who checks out recipes very often. In fact, as those of you who know me are well aware, I'm historically not one to cook very often either. Eddie has always been the main cook in our household, with me pitching in when we have dinner guests or throw a large party. That has changed a bit in recent months, though, due to my return to Weight Watchers in August. I've been a WW member before--many times before, in truth--and I've always known it's a healthy weight-loss program. I've successfully lost weight with WW in the past, but I've never been motivated enough to stick with it and reach my goal weight--consequentially rebounding down the road and putting on even more weight. However, each time I go back to WW, the program is even easier and smarter than the time I last joined. And, after five months and 35 pounds, I am feeling confident that this time around both the plan and the timing are right for me.

I won't bore you with all the details, but suffice it to say that we've been making some changes in our eating habits at home. Not only are we eating healthier things--more fruits and vegetables, for one--but I'm also participating in the process of meal preparation, and particularly in the planning. While Eddie used to do all the grocery shopping, I am frequently the shopper now. When he used to ask me what I wanted for dinner, I would often shrug my shoulders or snap at him; now, I put out the ingredients for each meal and he does the cooking. It's a nice symbiosis and better for both our health and our marriage. Despite these positive changes, our repertoire of healthy and tasty meals has been growing a bit repetitive in the past month, since the novelty has worn off, so I had been thinking about trying something new. Thinking is as far as it got until this recipe caught my eye when I signed on to WW eTools (one of the new options available since the last time I joined and also a big reason for my success) to track my food one rainy day. Weatherwise, soup sounded appealing, but I thought that this recipe also looked incredibly easy to make and might serve as a good alternative to the eternal pot of Variable Chili which had been serving as a staple.  So, I decided to give it a try, and it was such a smashing success that I made a second batch as soon as we finished the first. I've made a few alterations to the original, and I encourage you to see what choices you can make that will make the recipe your own.

What You'll Need

• 1 bag dry lentils, picked over
• 8 cups chicken or vegetable stock 
• 1 cup shitake mushrooms, cut in thin strips (I reconstitute dry ones. Note that this is an alternative suggested by WW, as the original recipe called for 4-5 pieces of Canadian bacon, chopped and added 30 minutes prior to serving. We like the mushrooms, though, so we're sticking with them.)
• 2 large carrots, chopped into chunks
• 4-5 stalks celery, chopped into chunks
• 1 onion, chopped into chunks
• 3-4 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 tsp sage (the original recipe calls for 1/2)
• cumin (not in the original recipe, but my favorite spice)
• 3-4 bay leaves
• cayenne pepper (also not in the original, but I thought it could use a bit of kick)
• salt and pepper to taste (remember to salt at the end, so as to prevent hardening the lentils)
• NOTE: The vegetables above are pretty standard. However, over time I have started throwing in whatever veggies I have left at the bottom of the week. Beets, green beans, fennel, bell peppers--even tomatillos: every combination has resulted in a tasty product.

Preparation

• Chop the vegetables into large chunks and distribute them evenly over the bottom of your slow cooker
• Throw in the herbs and spices (sans salt)
• Spread lentils evenly over surface
• Add stock
• Cook on low for 6-8 hours. There is no need to stir.
• To thicken before serving, I get out the handblender and run it for a couple minutes in the pot. Alternatively, pull out a cup or two of the lentils and veggies and puree them in your food processor.

Serving

I divide this into 6-7 healthy-sized servings (each 5-6 points, for you Weight Watchers out there) which make a fine main course, and the recipe could easily serve 8-10 with an accompanying salad and/or bread. It's tasty as soon as it's ready, but it also keeps for several days (likely even longer, but that's as long as it lasted at our house!) and microwaves nicely. The original recipe suggested adding a dash of white vinegar to the top for added flavor, but the cayenne pepper I added seems to do the job fine. If you want to leave flavoring up to the eater, hot sauce and/or sour cream might be tasty as well.

Variable Chili

The Story 

Everyone has a different idea of what constitutes a good bowl of chili, as witnessed by the large number of chili cook-offs and a huge range of ingredients in recipes for this basic dish. Chili in Texas is different than chili in Arkansas, which is different yet from chili in Ohio. So, it is with trepidation that I share with you the recipe for what constitutes a good bowl of chili in my household.

My Grandma Michalski made chili and my mother made chili, and the basics of my recipe come from them. When I started cooking for myself, I simply started from their examples and added the ingredients that I had on hand and took it from there. The one thing it's important to note is that there are endless opportunities to make alterations to this recipe, which is the reason for me naming it as I have in this posting. In fact, I'm going to start by providing you with the ingredients of the most recent pot of chili I made, which are likely different than the ingredients from the pot I made before that. And so on.

What You'll Need (more or less)

• 4 16-oz cans of tomatoes, 2 diced and 2 stewed
• 3 16-oz cans of beans (kidney, black, chili, pinto...I usually use a combination)
• one 64-oz can or bottle of tomato juice (V-8 works in a pinch)
• mushrooms, canned or fresh and sliced
• one whole onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• jalapenos, diced
• 5 bay leaves
• cumin
• chili powder
• habanero sauce, to taste

Variations

As I mentioned earlier, there's not really an"official" list of ingredients for this recipe. The most common variations in my household include the following:

• I throw in whatever vegetables I have on hand--chopped squash, any type of pepper, even kale or spinach--especially those nearing the end of their usable life.
• At times I'll add a bit of honey or Mexican spiced chocolate, to balance a batch that is particularly hot
• It's a no-brainer to add ground beef, chicken, or any other protein here if I'm looking for a heartier meal. 
• Because it cooks a long time, sometimes I throw in dry beans rather than canned--or even stew my own tomatoes when they are available (not so often in Humboldt County).
• Spices are always an easy way to play around with a dish, so I try new spices, hot sauces, chopped garlic, and the like, depending on what I have on hand.

After you make your first pot, you'll likely develop some variations that suit you and your family and/or take advantage of locally available products.  

Preparation
One reason this dish is ubiquitous in our household is how easy it is to make. Every couple weeks I get out the crock pot and throw in all the ingredients. (Before I had a crock pot, I used the same process on the stove top; it required a bit more attention, but I found that even slightly burning the chili on the bottom wasn't problematic--but just added a smoky flavor.) I cook it covered on high until it bubbles and stews for a couple hours, and then I reduce the heat to low and crack the lid to let steam out and cook it for the remainder of the day. At the end of the first day I let it cool and store it in the refrigerator for the night. The next morning I return the crock to its heater and let it cook again on low throughout the day--with the lid cracked to allow the liquid to boil off a bit. While it takes longer to do this two-day cooking process, it isn't time consuming to let the pot run on its own, and it's really the secret to decent chili: the more times you heat and cool it, the better it seems to get.

Serving

I often serve the chili with chopped raw onions and/or shredded cheese scattered on the top, along with crackers or tortilla chips. Most often, Eddie and I will have this for one main meal and then I divide it into individual-serving containers for lunches or dinners later in the week--or even into the next. It's easy to reheat in the microwave or on the stove top, and I love knowing that I have some chili waiting for me after a long day or when the rain and wind are howling and I don't want to cook.