March - Organic Veggie Feast with Quinoa
This soup just happened when I looked around the kitchen one day unsure what to make. I found a couple of sweet potatoes, squash, regular potatoes, onions, tomatoes and garlic. Hiding in the far corner of the shelf was a small pack of quinoa, a grain-like crop from the grass family famous for its high protein content. Turns out quinoa is just what you need to make a hearty vegetable soup. I used turkey stock as a base, cut up my veggies and cooked them with quinoa. In the meantime, I sauteed some onions, garlic and tomatoes which I added to the soup when sweet potatoes were tender. Vitamins and proteins in one awesome bowl! |
| February - Organic Kharcho
Georgia is a small country in the Caucasus famous for flavorful and spicy food. It's hard to imagine but the mountainous areas of Georgia get even more snow than Chicago. Georgians enjoy socializing during their meals and drinking wine with lengthy philosophical toasts. To feel like a Georgian on this winter day enjoy a bowl of hearty kharcho, a spicy lamb and rice soup. You will need lamb stock, minced lamb meat, white rice, minced pickles, coriander, chili pepper, garlic and tomato sauce. Simmer, simmer, simmer until well done, sipping your glass of red wine. Garnish with cilantro. Don't forget to invite some friends for Supra or Georgian Table.
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| January - Clear Chicken Soup
Got the snuffles? Seek your basic comfort with a bowl of homemade organic clear chicken soup. You will need chicken wings or a chicken leg and a pot of water. Season with salt to taste. Cook for an hour after water comes to a medium boil. Simple, comforting, amazing, nature's best antibiotic in a bowl. Serve it with a homemade sourdough roll. |
| December - Organic Rassolnik Russian Sour Pickle Soup
This month be adventurous and reach out for something ethnic to spice up your traditional chicken, turkey or duck stock. Russian Rassolnik challenges you to try out something new with your plain old jar of sour pickles. You will need grated or cubed potatoes, chopped pickles and some rolled oats for thickness, cooked all together in your favorite stock. Make sure you use sour pickles, not those marinated in vinegar. | | November - Organic Spicy Pumpkin Soup
Spice up your Thanksgiving fare with this delicious creamy and unambiguously orange soup. You will need to bake your pumpkin in advance. No peeling necessary - just stick your pumpkin in the oven at 375F for an hour or so. If your pumpkin is too big to fit in the oven, you can cut it in half and also spoon out all the seeds while you are at it. In the meantime, saute garlic, shallots, carrots and hot pepper in some butter. When the pumpkin is baked, you need to peel it and take out the seeds if they are still inside. Combine pumpkin, garlic, shallots, carrots and hot pepper in a blender with some salt and pepper. When you are ready to serve, you can add some cream (optional). I served mine with some roasted root vegetables and home-baked sesame roll. | | October - Organic Watermelon Rind Soup
Want to make your meal and dessert from the same ingredients? Here comes mighty watermelon from your local farmers market! I serve watermelon rind soup for lunch followed by juicy watermelon chunks for dessert. You will need peeled watermelon rind, carrots, sweet red pepper, hot pepper (optional), couple cloves of garlic, one small onion, and a sweet potato. Saute all the ingredients in a little butter, ghee, or olive oil with some salt and pepper. Blend with warm vegetable stock or hot water. Ready to serve. Yum! | | September - Organic Sorrel and Potato Soup
If you had enough of spinach lately, it's time to reach out for sorrel: similar in texture, it has a distinct tangy taste that makes it ideal in a chilled treat or a warm comfort soup. I hope for a hot September and often make a chilled version. You will need fresh sorrel leaves which you can find at a local farmer's market, organic potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, fresh cucumbers and sour cream for garnish. Cook some cubed potatoes and add sorrel leaves when potatoes are almost done. I like to remove the stems first, but this is not necessary strictly speaking, if you don't mind some extra chewing. Sorrel leaves need at most 3 min of cooking. Season to taste with salt and pepper; then chill until ready to serve. Garnish with sliced cucumbers, hard-boiled egg and sour cream. For a warm soup, forget the chilling part and skip the cucumbers.
| | August - Organic Raw Gazpacho
Tomatoes, tomatoes and more tomatoes with a touch of garlic, sweet red pepper, fresh basil and chives. Blend to perfection in your favorite blender with a touch of salt and pepper. Garnish with sour cream. Serve immediately. Wash the blender. Leftovers can be cooked to make the best ever pizza sauce (organic and home-made). | | July - Chilled Beets and Cucumber Soup
My Eastern European roots call
for beet roots twice a year. In winter, I crave the comfort of warm
borscht, and in the middle of summer heat wave I reach out for a
cooling sweet and sour chilled beet soup with raw cucumbers. You will
need to cook beet roots and beet tops adding lemon juice when beets are
almost cooked to preserve color and create a distinctive sweet and sour
taste. When the soup is chilled, add chopped cucumbers, dill and
garnish with a hard-boiled free-range egg (egg white will turn a
romantic pink and egg yolk will stand out like a summer flower).
Finally, add a touch of sour cream or yogurt. In Lithuania, they serve
this chilled soup with sizzling hot boiled potatoes.
| | June - Raw Greens Summer Soup with a Hint of Lemon
You've been
craving it all winter: something raw, fresh and energizing. This soup
has lettuce, parsley, apple and a hint of lemon all blended together
into a green treat. Try other greens and herbs and add some fruit for
sweetness and texture.
| | May - Cream of Shiitake Mushrooms with Chive Flowers
This soup is a
nice way to switch seasons. I use dried shiitake mushrooms soaked
overnight and cooked to perfection in the soak water to preserve the
flavor. Blend, season and garnish with purple and green chive flowers
to make your spirit dance with joy in your very own Monet garden.
| | April - Russian Cabbage Soup
This soup happens to you in April
when it is cold against all odds, there is only cabbage left over from
last winter and you are lucky to have a beef soup bone around. Savor it
with sprouted wheat flat-bread while you wait for chives to bloom in
your garden. To make fine beef stock, simmer your soup bone for a long
while - 4 to 6 hours, at the very least. In the meantime, shred some
cabbage and relax. Add cabbage to the stock, bring to a boil and cook
for 10-15 minutes. Season with some salt and pepper. This soup is
generations proof comfort food. | | | March - Organic Cauliflower and Carrot Soup
This
is a traditional European vegetable soup, like my Grandma used to make
at the end of winter when there were few vegetables left in the cellar
but outside spring was in the air. You will need cauliflower and
carrots of course and some onions sauteed in extra virgin red palm oil
for that extra sparkling gold tint.
| | | February - Spicy Okra, Collard and Tomato Soup
Okra
makes me think of Indian spices. In soups, okra adds natural
thickness. With a touch of cumin, this soup is irresistible. To start
sautee okra, collards, carrots, parsley root, onions, garlic, coriander
and cumin. Add some vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Serve with
some cilantro for garnish.
| | | January - Organic Black Bean and Lamb Soup
I
made this soup in early January when nights got long and dark and it
seemed like the snow would never melt. In my kitchen it was warm and
cozy with anticipation of this hearty soup. I used lamb stock and lamb
meat from the bone, black beans soaked overnight, carrots, parsnip, and
sauteed celery, tomatoes, onions and garlic. I served this soup with
freshly baked caraway rye sourdough bread. | | | December - Organic Winter Greens and Roots Soup
I made this soup on a cold sunny December afternoon looking out of
my kitchen window at my vegetable garden covered white with snow. I
used kale, Irish moss, carrots, tomatillos, onions, leeks, burdock root
and a teaspoon of red palm oil mixed with garlic.
| | | November - Organic Turkey Bean Soup
I made this soup right after Thanksgiving to pay tribute to our
leftover feast of free-range organic turkey. I used drippings from the
turkey, white navy beans, potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, celery and
oat bran. I served it with chocolate cayenne sourdough bread.
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