Healthy-Healing Colorful Vegetable Soup

Beets are amazing! I bought some about a month ago and forgot about the 4 small ones that just sat there, waiting, in the bottom corner of my vegetable drawer. I scrubbed and cut away a little bit of outer dried area at the top, but they were just great, without being peeled!

Slice or chop everything shown. Melt some of Costco's amazing Kirkland brand Organic Ghee in a big pot, then start with the scrubbed, unpeeled vegetables that require the most cooking, the Brussels sprouts and carrots.

Then the can of tomatoes, cauliflower, beets and green cabbage - (tucked in there at the top center) - about 1/3 of a medium head. I omitted the onion, (shown in the photo) to make it a healthy meal option for my dog also.

After all this sauteed until crisp-tender, I added the chopped fresh spinach, seasoning, some filtered water and a big serving spoonful of chicken Better Than Bouillon, but if you want this to be vegetarian, use the vegetable version. Obviously, the beets have done their thing with their pink carotene. . .but. . .who doesn't love bright pink soup? . .😃. . .Lin

Blended Green Vegetable Soup

1 very lg. head of cauliflower cut in 1/2" - 1" thick 'steaks.'

garlic salt and pepper

EVOO

Drizzle a baking pan with EVOO and put the cauliflower steaks on. Flip them so both sides are coated with the olive oil and seasoned. Put this in a 375° - 400° oven and roast until lightly browned.

My daughter came up to the lake this morning to cook with me. As we talked and chopped, I forgot to take a photo of the ingredients, so I'm going from memory, but I think I've remembered it all.

In a 6-8 quart soup pot, sauté the following sliced-chopped vegetables just until the onion is translucent, adding some cold, fresh water, as needed. You'll use a total of about 6 cups of water.

1 med. onion

6± stalks celery

5-6 cloves garlic

12-15 medium spears of asparagus

a big handful, or two, of shredded coleslaw mix

When the cauliflower is tender and the other vegetables have simmered 20 minutes or so, chop the cauliflower a bit and add it to the pot. Also add the spinach and onion soup and more water.

8-16 oz. fresh baby spinach

1 pkg. dry onion soup

celery tops

Simmer this on low until everything is soft. Take it off the heat for 20 minutes or so then blend it until smooth. Check the flavors and add whatever is needed. Garnish with a dab of sour cream and some smoky paprika and/or dill. This made 4-5 quarts of soup. . .Lin

Roasted Vegetable Soup

Scrub then cut all the vegetables into 1" to 1-1/2" chunks. Put in a gallon size plastic bag, add oil and seasonings. Shake then pour everything onto a parchment paper lined baking pan.

1 lg. cauliflower
2-3 med. carrots
3 stalks of celery
1 med.-lg. purple onion
2-3T single source EVOO
fresh ground black pepper
garlic chipolte seasoning
parsley garlic salt

Bake in preheated 400° oven 30-40 minutes, moving or tossing once while baking. Roast until just barely soft and fork tender. Transfer to a 4 quart pot, add 3-4c water and 2T Better Than Bouillon - vegetable or chicken flavor and a couple bay leaves. Simmer 15-20 minutes. Remove bay leaves, then blend with an immersion blender. Check flavors, making any adjustments you'd like.

If you're using coconut milk, add it now. I decided to omit that this time. Serve with a drizzle of seasoned sour cream and a sprinkle of dry dill. . .Lin

Quick Sautéed Vegetables. . .and eggs!

The other afternoon, the only thing I wanted for dinner was vegetables. Really heavy on garlic, sautéed in really good EVOO and seasoned the way I like. So that's what I made. Then the following day, the only thing I wanted for a really late breakfast, was one perfect pasture-raised egg. . .with more of those vegetables. So. . .ahh, leftovers are wonderful!

This was simple and basic, I chopped everything shown and sautéed it all together, for a few minutes. These weren't meant to be crispy, stir-fried, so I added a little water, a teaspoon of the vegetable Better Than Bouillon and a pinch of my spicy rosemary seasoning.

Breakfast was, as mentioned above, that day and also again today. While heating the vegetables, as soon as they started sizzling, crack in a perfect egg, mine was broken it the way I like, and cooked just right. Don't confine yourself to just breakfast food before noon. Expand your scope! Listen to your gut. . .Have the Spaghetti at 9am! . .Lin

Broccoli-Cauliflower-Cheese (Apple) Harvest Vegetable Soup

1 med.-lg. head of cauliflower

4-5 sm. chopped potatoes

1-2c broccoli florets

1+c chopped celery

1+c chopped onion

3 chopped carrots

¼c dry white wine

¼c butter

1-2t Penzey's Smoky

½-1t  finely ground black pepper

4-6c water

1-2T Better Than Bouillon-vegetable flavor

*6oz. American cheese

*1c half and half

*⅔c sour cream

Combine all the chopped vegetables, wine, butter and seasoning in a 6 quart pot.  Simmer-saute' over low heat, covered to bring all the flavors together and pull the liquid out of the vegetables, for 20-25 minutes.  Uncover and increase the heat.  When it starts to sizzle, stay close and stir.

As the vegetables lightly brown, add water a little at a time and continue to simmer, covered another 20-30 minutes.  Add soup base, check flavors.  When everything's cooked the way you like, blend with an immersion blender.  *Stop now if you want for a dairy-free, delicious blended vegetable soup, or continue on - add cheese, stirring in to melt.  Pour in the half and half, about a half a cup at a time until the thickness and flavors are just right.  I used one cup.  If you also want to add the sour cream, stir that in now.



Increase heat only till the soup just starts to bubble right before serving.  I had my first bowl with a sprinkle of dill, and crispy croutons.  The apple with this was excellent and could also be chopped and blended into the soup!

Which is exactly what I did!  After the first bowl, I chopped up 2 big apples, unpeeled, simmer them in about ¾c water, covered for 10 minutes.  Added this to the soup and blended it all again.  This time topped with bacon crumbles. . .

Mmmm, tastes great! 😃

Be Bold - Be Creative!  Happy Cooking. . .Lin

Chicken and Rice Pie

See previous recipe for ingredients:

2-3c leftover rice blend

1 jumbo egg

In a medium glass bowl, combine the rice and egg with a fork until well mixed.  Spread it into a greased 9" glass pie pan.  Bake at 375° until lightly browned.

½ head of cauliflower

8-10oz. frozen chopped broccoli

just a little bit of water

Chop the cauliflower and simmer with the broccoli and water for 7-10 minutes.  Add remaining leftover chicken.  Use as filling for the crust.  Bake at 375° until edges of the crust are nicely browned and the surface of the chicken is a little dry. . .Lin 

Savory Bacon and Cheese Cauliflower

1 head of cauliflower

3-4T butter

seasoned salt

red and black pepper

Put the cauliflower in an ovenproof casserole with about ½c water.  Butter and season as shown.  Cover then bake or microwave until it's just partially tender.

¼c cooked-crumbled bacon

¼c gorgonzola or bleu cheese

Italian breadcrumbs - optional

Chop the cauliflower up a bit, sprinkle with the bacon, crumbled cheese (breadcrumbs?) and heat again to finish the cooking and melt the cheese.  Today this was my late breakfast and it was wonderful! . . . Lin

Cauliflower-Apple Salad

1 med. cauliflower

1/4 lg. purple onion

1/4 head of purple cabbage

2 carrots - scrubbed

2 apples - scrubbed

1 baby romaine 

3/4c smoky almonds

3/4c golden raisins

2/3c Greek yogurt

2/3c mayonnaise

1T± sugar or honey

2-3T fresh lemon or lime juice

1T fruity white balsamic vinegar

1/2t fresh ground sea salt

1/2t fresh ground pepper

This is a loose version of a broccoli salad a friend of mine posted on her Facebook page this morning, made with ingredients I had in my kitchen.  Break up the cauliflower into little florets.  Slice or chop the rest of the vegetables.  Combine everything in a medium bowl with the almonds and raisins.  In a smaller bowl, mix the remaining ingredients and pour over the vegetables and fruit in the bowl.  Toss and let stand, tossing often, for at least 15 minutes before serving, to marinate a bit and blend all the flavors. . .Lin

Tandoori Cauliflower Salad

5c± cauliflower florets

1c well chopped carrot

1c craisins

1c frozen peas

3/4c mayonnaise

3/4c plain Greek yogurt

2T Indian Tandoori powder

2T fruity white balsamic vinegar

2t organic honey

1" chunk of ginger root

1 lg. garlic clove

1t fresh ground black pepper

1t or more, salt

So often when creating a recipe, I'll think, 'oh, celery would be nice onion would be good' but I've run out of them.  So then it's either go to the store or find a creative way to combine what I have.  Today I did the latter.  I love making curries.  Hot, cold, all kinds of curries.  Tandoori is a slightly sweeter blend of spices than most curries, but you could substitute curry powder in this recipe.

In a large bowl, combine cauliflower, carrots, craisins and peas.  In a smaller bowl mix the very finely minced ginger and garlic with the rest of the ingredients for the dressing.  Taste to be sure the flavors are what you want.  Don't over-season though, since the spices will sort of burst after hydrating a while in the yogurt and mayonnaise.  If it needs to be thinner, add a little milk, water or a bit more vinegar or yogurt.  Pour over vegetables and mix well.  Chill several hours, stirring a couple times.

During this time the craisins will rehydrate, absorbing quite a bit of liquid.  You may need to add a little more at the end to keep the consistency the way you want it. . .Lin

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

1c golden raisins

1c carrot matchsticks

1c roasted-salted sunflower seeds

1 med. onion – chopped

Ranch dressing

1 sm. head cauliflower

1 crown broccoli

In a large bowl combine the first 5 ingredients using enough dressing to hold everything together. Add cauliflower and broccoli, broken into florets. Stir until well mixed then chill an hour or longer. . .Lin