Cream of Spinach Soup GF DF

This recipe is adapted from Mollie Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook using almond milk instead of milk and white rice flour instead of wheat flour.

1 carrot, peeled and cut into chunks

1 small onion, cut into chunks

1 glove garlic

1 potato, peeled and cut into chunks

1 pound spinach

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup white rice flour

2 cups almond milk

1 pinch nutmeg

½ teaspoon basil

1 pinch thyme

1 pinch parsley

Salt and pepper

• Cover carrot, onion, garlic and potato in water. Cook until tender. Puree and set aside.
• Steam spinach in 1 cup water until wilted. Puree. Leave in blender.
• Make a roux as follows. Melt butter. Add white rice flour. Cook a few minutes. Whisk in almond milk. Cook over low heat, stirring until thick.
• In a blender, add to the spinach: the roux, salt, pepper, nutmeg, basil, thyme, parsley, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
• Add the first mixture. Blend until smooth. 
• Correct seasoning and serve.

Carrot Soup - Low FODMAP

• This is a large recipe and can easily be frozen -- or cut in half.
• I make my own coconut milk for this recipe.

2 pounds carrots, peeled, chopped into small chunks
1 pound parsnips, peeled, chopped into small chunks
2 inches ginger, peeled, diced
4 cups boiling water
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried savory (or other herb)
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
1 to 2 cups coconut milk (homemade or commercial)

• Place carrots, parsnips, ginger, water, turmeric, paprika, savory, salt and pepper in a pan. Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until vegetables are soft.
• Allow mixture to cool.
• If you make your own coconut milk, this is a good time to do so.
• Add coconut milk.
• Whirl in blender until smooth. Add water as needed to get everything to move in the blender. I added 3 to 4 cups of water to get the consistency right...maybe more.
• Serve hot in bowls.

Fish Chowder

Fish chowder is a simple New England dish -- a cross between a soup and a stew.

Watermelon Gazpacho

• Since it requires no cooking, gazpacho is perfect for a hot summer day. Chilled gazpacho is refreshing. The complex flavor is a delight.
• Some will find the olive oil too oily, so start with the smaller amount and decide how much you like. 

Turkey Mushroom Barley Soup

• Turkey soup can be a meal in itself. 
• Start with the Turkey Broth recipe. That includes the carrots, turkey meat, and bay leaves reserved from that recipe.
• Adjust the amount of potatoes depending on how much stock you have, and how much barley you use.
• Barley has gluten in it. To make this recipe gluten free, leave out the barley and use rice, wild rice, millet, or quinoa instead.

Turkey Broth

Thanksgiving 1957

• I adapted this recipe from my brother's recipe for turkey barley and lima bean soup.
• This is a great recipe for the day after Thanksgiving. Certainly, the amount of meat left on the bones will vary but either way this makes a rich turkey stock that can easily be turned into a tasty turkey soup. 

1 turkey carcass
2 large onions, cut in half
6 peeled carrots
6 stalks of celery
Salt
Peppercorns
2 bay leaves

• Preheat oven to 350°. 
• Place the carcass on a jellyroll pan with the onions, carrots, and celery. Do not grease the pan. Do not line the pan with foil or parchment paper. The turkey will render some drippings that will brown on the bottom of the pan and you want to use these later. That's easier to do with a bare pan.
• From time to time, turn the bones and vegetables as they brown. When I made this it took 1½ hours.
• Transfer the bones and vegetables to a stock pot, breaking the rib cage if it doesn’t fit in your stock pot. 
• Usually, drippings from the turkey and vegetables will gather and brown on the bottom of the pan. This will add a lot of flavor and color to your turkey stock. To retrieve it, soak a little water in the pan for a while and then you can scrape all of it into the stock pot.
• Add just enough water to cover the bones and vegetables. 
• Add salt, peppercorns, and bay leaves. 
• Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook for at least an hour. 
• When the stock tastes good, remove the bones and vegetables to a colander. Reserve the carrots for a soup or other use. Discard the other vegetables.
• Pour the stock through a fine strainer. 
• Pick the meat from the bones and reserve. Discard the bones.

Butternut Squash Soup

• This is a rich and hearty soup  – great for a cold winter night. 
• For the herbs, use one or a mixture of those suggested – basil, marjoram, thyme, or winter savory.
• Top with sour cream or Greek yogurt, a dash of cinnamon, and a sprinkle of Spicy Toasted Squash Seeds.
• This made a very thick soup -- too thick for my taste. By the time I added enough water to get the consistency right, the volume had nearly doubled, but the flavor was still wonderful.

Spicy Toasted Squash Seeds

• Toasted squash seeds make a nice snack or a topping for soup or salad.
• Any variety of winter squash seeds can be used for this recipe. I chose butternut squash. One large butternut squash has about ½ cup seeds.

Gypsy Soup

• I love this recipe from Mollie Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook, and have been making it since forever, but this week, I was having a hard time following the directions. I decided to put the instructions in a format that works for me: listing the ingredients in the order used, and adding instructions for the tamari (which seem to be missing). I also upped the garlic, and used canned diced tomatoes.
• This is almost a stew rather than a soup because it's so loaded with veggies.
• The recipe makes about 4 servings depending on what else you are serving with it.
• Note: you want a mix of orange and green veggies -- consider trying the alternates listed in [brackets].

Chili Con Bisonte

• Bison (buffalo) is very lean meat and that makes it a great choice for chili. See nutrition facts and cooking tips here.
• This chili was thrown together with less planning than usual, hence the mixture of beans and the absence of green pepper.  I'm going to modify the written recipe to reflect what I recommend (over what I did).

Matzo Balls -- Whole Wheat or Traditional

Fiddlehead Soup

This recipe is a blend of traditional French vichyssoise and good old-fashioned Bay of Fundy fiddlehead soup.