Beef and Butternut Soup

Photo credit to Angie!  :o)

I should call this post "Basic Soup 101" because most of my soup endeavors start off about the same.  One chopped onion, 1 pound ground beef, 1 can chopped tomatoes, 1 can tomato paste, and as much stock as you can fit in the pot.  After that, anything goes.  Today I finished off some mushrooms and carrots, added some spices, set it to simmer in my favorite cast iron skillet, and headed to Costco....where I found pre-diced butternut squash!  I added half the package to the pot when I got home and simmered a little more until the squash was tender.  I saved a serving for Angie to try, and smashed the rest of the squash before I served it to my kids.  They think they don't like pumpkin or things that look like pumpkin.... HA.  

Basic soup:

1 onion, chopped

1 lb. ground beef

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

Beef stock - 4 cups approx.

S&P+other spices

Brown onion and ground beef in a few T of your oil of choice... (I use fat rendered from making bone stock....can't beat it!) I also use pretty lean ground beef-- if you use fattier beef you may not need oil, drain excess if needed.

ADD OTHER VEGGIES!

Today, I added chopped carrots and mushrooms, pepper, and about a teaspoon of mixed italian blended spices.

Add chopped tomatoes and paste

Stir to mix well and add broth or stock.  I just aim to fill the pot... for me and my stock pot that's about 4 cups.  

Simmer on low until done.  Or until you come back from the store and add:

2 cups diced butternut squash

...in which case, simmer until squash is tender.  

Salt to taste and enjoy!  

Veggie Pork Soup

Nothing warms me up in winter like a delicious soup. And with busy evenings full of cross country skiing, girl scouts, and swimming nothing beats walking in the door and having a hot meal ready to eat. My idea for this soup came from a recipe I saw for sage pork chops. The seasonings go well with the ground pork and vegetables and taste even better the next day. Make extra for packed lunches; my girls ate it all week!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 cup carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 cup green beans
• 1 cup cabbage, chopped
• 1 cup roasted winter squash or sweet potato, cubed
• 4-6 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 1 1/2 tsp sage
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Fry ground pork until cooked through.
3. Add the meat and all remaining ingredients to a slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
4. Serve hot.

Easy Asparagus Soup

My best soups get made when I clean out my refrigerator.  And this was no exception.  I had too much asparagus, (I blame Costco!) some slightly wilty mushrooms that were on their last legs, and not a whole lot else.  That's fine, not much else needed.  Beware the blending process...always a hazard.

Easy Asparagus Soup

1 onion, chopped
2-3 T of your favorite cooking oil
1 Cup (heaping!) chopped mushrooms

1 liter of stock or broth

3 cups chopped asparagus, woody ends removed

Several cranks of good fresh ground pepper
Salt or a squeeze of lemon juice to taste

Chop onion and cook in oil in your favorite soup pot for a few minutes while you chop the mushrooms.  Toss those in and let them cook for a few minutes while you prep the asparagus.  Keep a few of the prettiest tops if you want for a garnish.

Pour in stock and bring to a simmer.  Blanch the tops if you'd like for a minute or two, then scoop them out and set aside.  Add the rest of the asparagus and pepper, and cover.  Simmer until the asparagus is tender, 15-20 minutes.

With extreme caution!!!!! Blend small batches of the soup until smooth.  Taking the center hole cover off your blender lid and covering it with a towel helps.  Or use an immersion blender.  Or let it cool some first... but never underestimate the crazy disaster that blending hot liquids can become...

Right before serving, add a pinch of salt and/or a tiny bit of lemon juice.

***My kids do like soup, but they would look at this and declare "YUCK!" without hesitation.  So I called it "Invisible Soup" and had them cover their eyes while I fed them a taste.  They loved it. I wouldn't let them see it until they declared me master chef of the universe. :o)  Enjoy!***

Italian Wedding Soup

I have two tweens. And we have been striving for a paleo lifestyle after many years of eating grain-ful, but otherwise generally healthy meals. I think one of the keys to keeping the girls "on board" with paleo is our ability to re-create past family favorites within this new paradigm. Today's challenge was to paleo-ize a commonly requested cold-weather Saturday lunch: canned Italian Wedding Soup. The girls have asked me to attempt this before but they couldn't decide on a replacement for the orzo or couscous usually found in this soup. I suggested we try veggies cut into tiny pieces and cooked al-dente and by some miracle, they agreed! I let the girls pick which veggies to try and they decided on carrots and zucchini. I julienned them with a mandolin slicer then further cut them into tiny orzo-sized pieces. We added the veggies at the last moment so they would maintain some of their texture and resemble a grain. This soup was an instant hit!

 

Serves 4-6

Meatball Ingredients:

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 egg
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 T dried Italian seasoning
• 8 ounces ground beef
• 8 ounces ground pork
• salt and pepper 

Soup Ingredients:

• 10 cups homemade chicken stock or paleo-friendly chicken broth
• 1 egg
• 1 cup spinach, chopped
• 1/2 cup carrot, julienned and cut into tiny pieces*
• 1/2 cup zucchini, julienned and cut into tiny pieces*

*I use a mandolin slicer to julienne the veggies into thin matchsticks.

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix the meatball ingredients and season with salt and pepper.
2. Use a spoon to scoop the meat mixture and roll into small 1-inch balls. Set the meatballs aside.
3. Pour stock/broth into a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
4. Add the meatballs, one at a time, and simmer for 10 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.
5. Beat the egg in a small bowl and pour very slowly into the soup.
6. Reduce heat and add the spinach. Simmer for a few minutes.
7. Add the carrot and zucchini and serve immediately.

Roasted Winter Squash Soup

I love soup. Anytime of year, but especially thick, warming soups in winter. Before moving to a paleo diet, my favorite soup ingredients often included pasta or beans. Since cold weather has set in, I've enjoyed experimenting with new recipes sans the ingredients I'm trying to avoid. I've had a couple delicious winter squash soups before, but some reason, have never attempted it at home. Now that I'm a serious squash lover, I just had to come up with an easy squash soup. And I am NOT complaining about the results!

For this soup, I wanted a sweet taste and smooth texture. I chose Blue Kuri squash with bright orange flesh. I also had a Delcata squash that needed eaten, so I added that as well. I think this soup base would work just fine for any winter squash. I'll be experimenting... and there's plenty more winter left in Alaska to do just that!

Ingredients:

• 1 blue kuri and 1 delcata squash (substitute as desired)
• olive oil
• fresh ground pepper
• 2 T coconut oil
• 1 sweet onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup coconut milk

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Cut the squash and remove seeds.
3. Drizzle squash with olive oil and sprinkle generously with fresh ground pepper.
4. Bake for 45 minutes.
5. Let cool.
6. Heat coconut oil in a pan.
7. Fry onion on low-medium heat until golden brown and carmelized.
8. Scoop flesh from squash and place in blender with fried onion, chicken broth, and coconut milk.
9. Blend until smooth. Add water until desired consistency is reached.
10. Return to stovetop and heat.

Note: The squash can be baked a day ot two before making the soup. I cooked it the previous night while cooking dinner.

Laksa Lemak

Curry laksa is a spicy, coconut-curry-noodle soup from Malaysia and one our favorite weekend lunches. Lemak refers specifically to the addition of coconut milk, one of my favorite ingredients to create a rich, creamy, dish. Many traditional preparations of this dish call for tofu and mixed seafood, but I prefer a simpler style made with ground turkey, leftover roasted chicken, or even meatless. I paleo-ize the dish by using kelp noodles instead of vermicelli or rice noodles and also add cut, fresh vegetables; it's a great way to get rid of veggies in the fridge.

Serves 4

Note that many recipes exist for homemade rempah (laksa paste). I have also seen pre-packaged laksa paste, but have yet to find a paleo-friendly brand available locally. Since I always have Thai curry paste on-hand, I use that as the spice mixture for my laksa. Not authentic, but good enough.

Ingredients:

• 1 T coconut oil
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 "scoop" red or panang curry paste (start with 2-3 tsp)
• 1-2 cans coconut milk
• 4 cups chicken broth (rich, homemade broth is the best)
• 1 package kelp noodles, rinsed and drained 
• 1-2 T fish sauce
• 1-2 tsp lime juice
• chilies or sambal oelek for more kick (optional)
• 1 red or yellow bell pepper, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 carrot, peeled and sliced diagonally
• 1 cup fresh green beans, trimmed and cut, if necessary
• 2-3 T fresh basil or cilantro, chopped (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a wok or pan over medium-high heat.
2. Add ground turkey and fry until cooked through. If using leftover chicken, add it to the pan and continue to the next step.
3. Add curry paste and mix well to distribute throughout the meat.
4. Add the coconut milk. I usually begin by adding one can of coconut milk. After everything else has been added, I test taste to see if I want to add more. I usually end up using half of the second can.
5. Add the chicken broth, kelp noodles, fish sauce, lime juice, and chilies, if using. Bring to a boil then reduce and simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Test taste and if necessary, adjust the flavor with more curry paste, coconut milk, fish sauce, lime juice, and/or chilies. I like to get the coconut gravy tasting "perfect" before moving the next step.
7. Add the vegetables and simmer until they reach a desired doneness.
8. Stir in cilantro, if using.
9. Serve immediately.

So Not Pho

Last year for Christmas my DH got me a very nice wok and a few cookbooks to go with it. They're full of nearly paleo recipes, and if they're not paleo most of them are easy to convert. I had a craving for Pho. So I found a recipe I had used before, then googled to see what else I could do with it... turns out several similar internet recipes were blasted for not being authentic. Seems the biggest complaint is that you can't make a quick pho, it needs to cook all day. Luckily I make my own beef stock, so I think I got the richness of flavor you would get from cooking all day. If you use store bought stock or broth this is still going to taste good, but read your labels. This is quick, and it's easy, and it may not be "real" Pho, but it is "real(y)" good!

So Not Pho

1 lb grass fed low fat ground beef

1 12oz package of kelp noodles, rinsed

1.2 liters (2 pints) home-made beef stock, or the best you can buy

3 whole star anise

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 Tablespoon fish sauce

1 Tablespoon (or less) ground red chilli paste.

(I used the kind that comes in a jar like minced garlic, but fresh or dried to your taste would work.)

S&P to taste

Marinade:

1 Tablespoon coconut aminos

1 Tablespoon rice wine

3 teaspoons sesame oil

1/2 Tablespoon fresh grated ginger

1 Tablespoon ground red chilli (1 T in both the soup and the marinade made a nice heat if you like spicy food...adjust down if you do not!)

Garnish:

Chopped spring onions and/or mint and/or cilantro and/or basil

(I used mint and cilantro and will probably do the same from now on.)

What to do:

Mix all marinade ingredients and mix with the ground beef. Marinate for at least 20 mins. in the refrigerator.

Bring stock to a simmer in a wok or large pot.

Add star anise, cloves, & cinnamon and simmer about 3 mins.

Add the beef and bring back to a simmer, cook 1 minute breaking up any clumps.

Add the fish sauce, chilli sauce, S&P and simmer a few more minutes.

Add the kelp noodles and stir them in for a few minutes.

Remove the star anise.

Garnish with the chopped herbs and serve in large bowls.

(if you are more gluten-free than paleo, soak 6-8 oz of dried rice noodles for about 20 minutes in hot water, rinse and set aside... stir in at the end instead of, or in addition to the kelp noodles.)