The Best Tomato Soup Ever

This is a recipe for Elephants Delicatessen Tomato Orange Soup. This is honestly the best tomato soup you will ever have. My co-worker Anne and I drool over this soup at least once a month. Lucky for us Elephants is just a few blocks away from work. Even luckier, they’ve posted the recipe for this amazing soup on their website. Oh boy!

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Level: Easy
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Preparation

In a saucepan, melt butter; add onion and saute until translucent. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, baking soda and thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered about 15 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Puree in a food processor or blender; strain through a sieve or food mill.
Return to saucepan and stir in orange juice. At this point, the soup can be refrigerated until ready to serve.

At serving time, add the whipping cream and heat gently, stirring constantly, bringing to a simmer and adjust seasonings if necessary. Extra cream may be drizzled on top of the soup immediately before serving for decorative effect.

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Butternut Squash Soup

Have I ever mentioned that I love soup? How can you not love yummy goodness that makes you feel all warm inside?(sigh) I have literally had a butternut squash sitting on my counter top for a month now. I keep wanting to make this recipe but I have either not been in the mood for the soup or not in the mood to make it. It’s actually a pretty easy recipe. The only part I don’t enjoy is peeling the squash.

Ingredients

• 1 (2 to 3 pound) butternut squash
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 3 cups chicken stock
• Freshly ground nutmeg
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Start out by cutting the squash in half, removing the seeds and placing it on a cookie sheet to go into the preheated oven. Once you can stick a fork through the squash pretty easily you can remove it (about 30 minutes) and let it cool. When its cool enough to the touch scoop out the insides and set aside.

In a large pot melt the butter. Add the onion and cook til translucent. You can now add the turmeric and stir for about 1 minute. Add the squash and stock. Bring to a simmer and cool for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender or use a blender.  Once blended season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

I was trying to experiment and added blue cheese on top. It wasn’t that great. I’d recommend a dollop of creme fraiche or chopped green onions . Enjoy!

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Black Bean Soup

This is one of my favorite soup recipes, it is absolutely delicious. The great thing about this recipe is that you don’t have to soak the beans beforehand since you’ll be cooking it in the slow cooker for several hours. You can also soak your beans for an hour or two and either cook it over the stove top or in a dutch oven.  I soaked my beans overnight and started my cooking process on the stove top and moved it to the oven.

This recipe is adapted from Bon Appétit

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 medium-size red onions, chopped
• 1 medium-size red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 medium-size green bell pepper, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 16-ounce package dried black beans
• 1 tablespoon chopped canned chipotle chiles* (I skipped this cause I didn’t want it to be spicy)
• 7 cups hot water
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Heat olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and both bell peppers and sauté until beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cumin; stir 1 minute. Transfer mixture to 6-quart slow cooker (I moved mine to the oven). Add beans and chipotles, then 7 cups hot water (I don’t think I added this much water, it seemed too much). Cover and cook on high until beans are very tender, about 6 hours. Transfer 2 cups bean mixture to blender; puree until smooth. Return puree to remaining soup in slow cooker (I pureed mine with an immersion blender). Stir in lime juice, salt, and pepper.

Ladle soup into bowls. Spoon dollop of yogurt into each bowl (I skipped the yogurt and added fresh cilantro). Sprinkle with tomatoes and cilantro and serve.

*Chipotle chiles canned in a spicy tomato sauce, sometimes called adobo, are available at Latin American markets and many supermarkets.

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Lentil Soup

I love making soups when it’s cold outside. One of my favorites is lentil soup; it’s so delicious and easy to make. My mom would make lentil soup all the time when I was a kid. I used to not be that big into it tell one day my mom told me that she makes it specially before we have big exams. She explained that lentils are brain food. I was hooked and after that.
I decided to use a recipe from Alton Brown.

Ingredients
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery (I skipped the celery)
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 pound lentils, picked and rinsed
• 1 cup peeled and chopped tomatoes (I skipped the tomatoes)
• 2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground toasted cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground grains of paradise (I didn’t have this so I skipped this also)
Directions
Place the olive oil into a large 6-quart Dutch oven and set over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion, carrot, celery and salt and sweat until the onions are translucent, approximately 6 to 7 minutes. Add the lentils, tomatoes, broth, coriander, cumin and grains of paradise and stir to combine (I added a little bit of turmeric). Increase the heat to high and bring just to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook at a low simmer until the lentils are tender, approximately 35 to 40 minutes. Using a stick blender, puree to your preferred consistency (I skipped this process cause I don’t think it’s necessary). I topped it off with some fresh cilantro, but I also like it with freshly squeezed lemon juice. Serve immediately.

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