Coconut Tomato-Vegetable Bisque (with compound butter parmesan biscuits)

SO many vegetables!

This is what I started with. If you substitute English cucumber for the squash, it's very similar to the ingredients for my Gazpacho!

I only roasted those shown on the cookie sheet: squash, purple onion, carrots, cabbage, small tomatoes and garlic. The others have more delicate or fresh flavors, and are best with minimal cooking. 

Drizzle with single source EVOO, season with your favorite vegetable seasonings then roast until golden at 350° for 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut up the other vegetables and saute on low heat, starting with the green pepper and celery.

Saute in 2T each:
Better Than Bouillon-vegetable, EVOO, water. After about 10 minutes, stir in the cut up grape tomatoes and green onions. When it begins to bubble again, cover and move off the burner.

Stir in the rough chopped roasted vegetables, the can of stewed tomatoes, 1-2t coconut or brown sugar.

Simmer everything an additional 10 minutes. Blend with an immersion blender until it reaches the smoothness you want. At the end, blend in some fresh basil, then stir in 1 or 2 cans of coconut milk. I used 2 cans this time.

I made some biscuits, in a muffin tin, to go with this. Crack open a can of 8 jumbos, cut each biscuit in 4 pieces putting 3 in each paper-lined muffin cup in a 12 tin. 8 will be bigger ones with 4 being smaller, having only 2 biscuit pieces.

Top each with about 1T grated parmesan-romano cheese. Drizzle with melted butter seasoned with garlic salt, pepper, Italian seasonings. Bake until the tops are nicely browned. If there is extra butter, butter the tops when they are cooled a bit. . .Lin

Orange Curry Vegetable Soup

1 med. butternut squash

1 med.-lg. sweet onion

1 med. sweet potato
1 med. red potato
1 purple shallot
5 cloves garlic
3 stalks celery

1 lg. carrot
a little vegetable stock


1t smokey salt
1t turbinado sugar
2T ground cumin
1T curry powder
1T pumpkin pie spice

Chop and combine all the above in a 4 quart pot. Simmer-saute' on low for several minutes until everything's sizzling.  Stir in the seasonings-spices and  begin  slowly adding 4-6c water, a little at a time. Cover and bring to a boil when all the water is added. Reduce heat to a low-bubbling simmer and cook until the celery is beginning to soften. Remove from heat, uncover and let cool 15 minutes.

Blend with your immersion blender, adding 13.5oz canned coconut milk now if you'd like. This time I omitted it since I was cooking for people who prefer it without coconut* This turned out well, and saved a lot of calories, but adding coconut milk compliments the vegetable and curry flavors nicely.

(just before serving, add a dollop of seasoned sour cream if you want. To make this, I add ranch powder, dill and black pepper to sour cream. I've also done this with smokey sea salt, lemon pepper, and dill. -- Eliminate for a non-dairy, vegan soup.). Sprinkle each bowl with a garnish of sunflower kernels, pumpkin seeds and dried date pieces. Mmmm, Curry Soup!! . . . Lin

Roasted Nutty Squash Soup

1 lg. butternut squash

2 big sweet potatoes

6-8 cloves of garlic

½ lg. onion

2-3T Tuscan olive oil

¾-1c sunflower seeds

fresh ground lemon pepper

water - white wine - broth

1t-1T pumpkin pie spice
½t cayenne pepper

8 oz. coconut milk

Peel the squash, which is no easy task!  Cut the squash in half, crosswise.  Cut up the top - skinnier neck half - into small chunks.  Quarter the bottom, scoop out the seeds and dark stringy membranes.  Cut these pieces into small chunks as well.  Scrub, then peel the bad spots off the sweet potatoes.  Cut them into small chunks. . .and a pattern emerges!  😁 

Peel and chop the garlic, slice-chop the onion.  Combine all this in a medium-large bowl with the oil, sunflower seeds and lemon pepper.  Spread out on one or two jelly roll pans lined with parchment paper. 

Roast-bake at 400° for an hour or more, checking-turning-tossing the vegetables every 20 minutes.  I only used one pan, which is why the vegetables took an hour and 20 minutes to get to the stage of 'doneness' I wanted.  If you use two pans, this would go quicker.  The vegetables should be a little brown and dry, to be well roasted.

At this point, put all the vegetables into a 5 quart pot, mash with a potato masher, add liquid, stir and check flavors.  Add spice, more lemon pepper, and any other seasoning needed, and simmer for about 45 minutes.  Leave as is, if you want the soup chunky, or blend now with your immersion blender to smooth it all out.  At the very end, stir in coconut milk, just before serving.  Garnish with a dab of sour cream, a sprinkle of smokey paprika, dill or croutons. . .Lin

Thai Winter Squash - Sweet Potato Soup

1 med. butternut squash

1 lg. sweet potato

6 lg. cloves of garlic

extra virgin olive oil

fresh ground salt & pepper

1-2T coconut oil

½ lg. finely chopped onion

1c finely chopped celery
2T pumpkin pie spice
2T chicken soup base
2T Thai Seasoning
2T coconut sugar

5c water

Scrub the squash and sweet potato.  Cut the squash into 6 pieces and scrape out the seeds.  Peel and quarter the sweet potatoes.  Rub them with a paper towel soaked in a little olive oil.  Peel the garlic and put in the cupped hollow of the seed cavity.  Drizzle everything with a bit more olive oil.  Season with several grinds of salt and pepper.  Roast at 375° 60 minutes.  Turn the heat to 400° for the last 10 minutes, then shut the oven off for a half hour.  Take the pan out and let it cool to room temperature.

In a 3-5qt. pot, saute' the onion and celery in coconut oil until lightly browned.  Add the spices and soup base, toward the end of the browning time, stirring well to coat, then add 1 cup of the water.  Turn off the heat and just let the onion and celery soak up the flavors.

When the roasted vegetables have cooled enough to touch, scrape the squash away from the outer shell.  Cut the sweet potatoes and squash into pieces, and add them both, with the garlic, to the pot.  Now either mash with a potato masher - for a more textured soup - or - use an immersion blender to make it smooth.  Either way, adding water as needed.

Once the soup is the right consistency, taste it and add more spice, and / or soup base, if needed, to suit your taste, being careful not to make it too salty.  Now would be the time to add a little organic turbinado, brown, or coconut sugar to enhance, and balance all the flavors.  This time I used coconut sugar, which was a great choice!  Mash or blend well, to incorporate the sugar, spice and soup base.  Bring back to a simmer, cover and let cook for another 10 minutes.

Serve with a little dollop of sour cream, croutons, some roasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds, chopped walnuts or pecans, and a sprinkle of dried dill. . .Lin  

Apple-Beet-Butternut Squash Soup

1 lg. red beet

1 sm.-med. butternut squash

1/2 purple onion - chopped

5 lg. garlic cloves - crushed-halved

3T butter

2 med. apples - - optional

1/2t pumpkin pie spice

1/2t ground black pepper

1-2t garlic sea salt

2-3T organic honey

3-4c water

Peel and chop the beet and squash, into a 5qt. pot.  Add the onion, garlic, butter and scrubbed-chopped apples if you're using them.  Simmer these ingredients over medium heat, stirring often, for approximately a half hour.  Stir in the seasonings and honey, add a little of the water, if needed, to keep everything from sticking.  

Simmer, covered, for another 20 minutes or so.  Cool, then puree in the blender, adding the rest of the water, a little at a time, as needed.  Return everything to the pot again, and bring to a low bubble.  Simmer for another 15 minutes or so.  At this point you could add a cup of sour cream, stirring just enough to blend with the other ingredients.  Heat carefully, to just steaming.  Serve with crusty bread.  If you didn't put sour cream into the soup, a little now would be nice on top of each bowl.  Sprinkle with slivered almonds or roasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds. . .Lin

Spicy Winter Squash Soup

1 lg. butternut squash

2T coconut oil

2 LG cloves of garlic - minced

2 LG purple shallots - sliced

1" cube of fresh ginger - grated

1/2t pumpkin pie spice

1/2t-1T curry powder - (to taste)

1/2t Himalayan pink salt

1/2t finely ground black & red pepper

water

1T brown sugar or honey

1-2T chicken soup base

1c sour cream

Peel, scoop out the seeds and cube the squash, putting it into a 5qt, heavy-bottomed cooking pot with coconut oil.  Heat over low, stirring to coat the squash.  Stir in the next 7 ingredients and slow-simmer, covered, adding a couple cups of water when it starts to sizzle.  Continue to simmer, covered, another hour ±.

When the squash is soft, mash everything with a potato masher (or puree' in a blender).  Stir in 4-6 cups of water, then taste to see if the seasonings need to be corrected.  (If you prefer a thicker soup, make a paste of 1T+ of flour or cornstarch with a little cold water.)  Stir into the soup.  Bring to a boil to thicken, while stirring, then cover and turn off the heat.  Let stand 5 minutes then stir in the sour cream.  Serve with garlic croutons, roasted sunflower seeds and/or dill. . .Lin

Apple-Pecan Butternut Squash Soup

1 lg. butternut squash

1 honey crisp apple

2 lg. cloves elephant garlic

1 med. onion

1/2-1c chopped pecans

salt and pepper

2-3T coconut oil

2T pumpkin pie spice

1-2T chicken soup base
1T raw or brown sugar

water

1c sour cream

Peel the squash and apple, seed both and dice into a 9x13" glass baking pan.  Chop the garlic, onion and pecans and add to the pan.  Season and drizzle with melted coconut oil.  Toss and put in a 390° oven.  Roast for 40 minutes or so, stirring every 10-15 minutes.

Put roasted vegetables and apples in a 5qt. pot and add the spice, soup base, sugar and water.  Mash well and simmer until the whole house smells wonderful!  Stir in the sour cream and serve. . .Lin

Butternut Squash Soup

1 lg. butternut squash

6 lg. cloves garlic

2T butter

2T extra virgin olive oil

fresh ground salt and pepper

1 sm. carton of butternut squash soup

1T cinnamon

2T raw sugar

3/4 c sour cream

1 c half and half

Peel, scoop out the seeds, and dice the squash into a 8x10" or a 9x13" glass baking dish.  Add chopped garlic, dabs of butter and drizzle on the olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Roast in a 400° oven a half hour.  Reduce heat to 350° until squash is soft, which could take a couple hours.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Stir and put into a heavy bottomed pot.  At this point, while rounding up the remaining ingredients, in the kitchen of the home I'm renting, I discovered a little carton of Butternut Squash Soup!!!  Oh my, what to do. . .well, I added it to the mix.  Stir in the remaining ingredients, mash with a potato masher if you'd like to get the soup a little smoother.  Heat to a low bubble, top with some pine nuts or chopped pecans and a little dab of sour cream.  Mmmm. . .it's really good! . . . Lin