Since we were talking soup today, I wanted to share a BRAND NEW soup recipe I developed for you. After making my un-panko roasted squash slices, I had extra squash that i drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper, and then roasted in the oven on 425 until soft. We ate some plain, but one evening as I was debating what to make for dinner, I saw that squash and thought a warm fall soup would be delightful, especially with the homemade vegan and gluten-free rosemary thyme rolls I’d made that morning. (Recipe coming soon!) The resulting soup was delicious. I used celery from our garden, organic onions and carrots as the base, and then I added roasted chestnuts and pine nuts for extra protein. The poultry seasoning added the perfect dusty herbal note, and herbamare makes everything taste better. Everybody liked it except for Toddler Yum, who is suspicious of anything that is orange (except for oranges, which she will inhale like candy). My dairy-free, soy-free Mom loved it. You know some things that are mysteries to me? Why is it that so many companies add flour to their soups for thickening when they don’t really need to have it? And further, why is it that most of the boxed gluten-free soups taste terrible, but that homemade soups are awesome even when they have similar ingredients? One of the few packaged soups I like is the Kettle Cuisine vegetarian soups (review coming soon) which was sent to me for trial and review some time back. Do you have a favorite pre-made soup or a favorite homemade soup recipes? Do you usually serve soup for your Thanksgiving dinner? Share in the comments!

More delicious soup recipes:
Curried Acorn Squash Sweet Potato Apple Soup
Farm Fresh Salad Soup Recipe
Potato Zucchini Soup Recipe
Snowdrops and Baked Potato Soup
Eat the Rainbow Black Bean Soup
Roasted Parsnip Garlic Soup with Mushrooms
Artichoke Soup
Double Mushroom Soup Recipe

This recipe was shared with Wellness Weekend and Sugar Free Sunday.

Nutty Vegan Sage Pumpkin Chestnut Soup Recipe Soup  Vegetables  American

Ingredients 2 tbsp olive oil 1 small to medium onion, diced 1 stalk of celery (or 2 of skinny homegrown celery), diced 2 medium carrots, diced florets from 1/2 head of cauliflower, separated from the stalk 1 bag of prepared chestnuts or 15 cooked chestnuts, peeled and chopped 1/2 cup pine nuts OR raw whole cashews soaked in water for at least half an hour 1 1/2 roasted winter squash removed from skin 3 tsp GF vegetable bouillon powder 3 cups water 1 tsp. poultry seasoning 1/2 to 1 tsp herbamare seasoning salt 2 cups of water small bunch of fresh sage Directions Heat your olive oil on medium high in a large pot. A dutch oven would be great for this recipe, but you can do it in any large pot. Add your diced onion and saute until softened. Add your diced celery and carrots and saute until carrots soften slightly. Add your cauliflower florets and let them cook until they soften. Throw in your chopped chestnuts and heat through. Throw your chopped chestnuts into the pot with the onions, celery, and carrots. Heat through and then add your roasted winter squash to the pot. Heat and add your vegetable bouillon powder dissolved in three cups of water. Add your vegetable broth to the pot. Drain your pine nuts and process them in a food processor or blender with a little water until you have a smooth, thick sauce. add half of your pine nut or cashew puree to the pot and reserve the rest. Add your poultry seasoning. Use an immersion blender to puree your veggies in the pot. If you don’t have an immersion blender you can use your food processor or blender. Add two cups of additional water as needed. Top with fresh sage. If you like you can puree some sage into the soup too. To serve, add extra water to the remaining pine nut or cashew puree to make it the consistency of heavy cream. Pour your soup into individual bowls and swirl your pine nut or cashew cream into the soup decoratively.

Rating:  9 Original Source:  The contents of my brain. Please do not replicate without my permission. Recipe ID:  1579 Added:  November 18, 2011 Last Modified:  November 18, 2011

I’m entering this recipe in The Whole Gang’s Gluten-free Progressive Dinner Party event as an appetizer…

Where to Stop Next
Don’t forget to stop by the rest of our blogs this week for the more of our Gluten Free Progressive Thanksgiving Dinner Party. Here’s the schedule.

Ali and Jean will be serving DRINKS on Monday, Nov. 16 at The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen and Gluten Free Organics.

Karen, Jean and I will be serving APPETIZERS on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at Cook4Seasons, Gluten Free Organics and Book of Yum

Ali and Shirley will be serving MAIN COURSE on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen gfe-gluten free easily

Diane, Stephanie, Ali and Shauna will be serving the SIDE DISH/SALAD on Thursday, Nov. 19 at The W.H.O.L.E. Gang, A Year of Slow Cooking, The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen and Gluten Free Girl

Karen, Jean and Ali be serving DESSERT on Friday, Nov. 20 at Cook4Seasons, The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen and Gluten Free Organics

Dairy, Nut, soy free pumpkin kabocha soup recipe Soup  Vegetables  American

Ingredients 1 small kabocha squash (Japanese pumpkin) 1 small pie pumpkin (American) 1-2 tbsp. olive oil 2 leeks, chopped 1 carrot, chopped 1 celery stick, chopped 2 cups gluten-free vegetable broth (from bullion, fresh, or carton) 3-5 cups water as needed poultry seasoning salt pepper paprika Directions Heat oven to 425F. Cut kabocha and pumpkin in half and scoop out seeds. Cut once more so they are cut into fourths. Place cut side down on a large baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, checking and turning at that point if they aren’t thoroughly baked. Put back in oven again for another 15 minutes, check. Put in for another 15 minutes if needed or leave out to cool. When cool enough to handle, remove skin and chop. Heat olive oil in large stock pan on medium and sautee leeks. As they soften, add carrot and celery. Sautee and then add your vegetable broth. Let simmer for 10 minutes or so and then add your chopped, cooked kabocha and pumpkin. Add water to cover and let simmer for another 10 minutes or longer if desired. Add seasonings (poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, and paprika) and simmer for another ten mintues, adding any extra water you need. Taste liquid and add more seasonings if you like. When pumpkin and kabocha is thoroughly softened, blend soup with an immersion blender until you have a nice, thick, creamy consistency. Enjoy!

Rating:  8 Original Source:  The contents of my brain, do not replicate anywhere without permission. Recipe ID:  1464 Added:  October 13, 2009 Last Modified:  November 13, 2009

My apologies for my absence for the last two menus of the week. I always try to post a menu on Sunday and then twice during the week, but with spotty internet service as we moved to a new apartment, I just wasn’t able to. And, unfortunately, it just didn’t make sense to do a menu plan as meals have largely been consisting of restaurant fare and frozen gluten-free Amy’s meals.

I did manage to post two recipes somehow:
Japanese-fusion Avocado Onigiri Rice Triangles
and
Fresh Pineapple Spring Roll, Soy-Free Garlic-free Peanut Sauce and Nut-free Sweet Chili-garlic sauce

One of my favorite people, Cheryl of Gluten-free Goodness, is hosting the gluten-free menu of the week and the ingredient of the week is garlic. Unfortunately, somehow pregnancy has made me very sensitive to garlic (even though I formerly loved the stuff) and it just isn’t agreeing with me. I look forward to seeing what others do with this ingredient, though, and maybe I can join in after Baby Yum joins us and pregnancy is no longer playing havoc with my taste buds and constitution. The sweet chili-garlic sauce recipe I made for my gluten-free potluck above is perhaps the only valid entry I have for her theme… Here’s my sadly garlic-light menu for the week:

Monday: American
Homemade Cream of Tomato Soup
Homemade Gluten-free bread

Wednesday: Mexican
Vegetarian Enchiladas

Thursday: Chinese
Veggie Stir Fry

Friday: Italian
Veggie Pizza

You can find more great menus with Org Junkie.

If being 8 1/2 months pregnant, moving, and celebrating the forth of July weren’t enough this year, I also had an unfortunate incident involving a very painful cracked tooth that took real food off the menu when I suddenly had to have the tooth removed. EEK! Luckily I have the best husband in the world that kept me well supplied in hot (lukewarm) GF cereal, smoothies, ice cream and yogurt. Kozy Shack Rice Pudding went down very nicely, and I also enjoyed many a mashed sweet potato and even some nice sauteed scrambled tofu. I asked the DH to make me a soup, and fresh corn in the grocery store inspired him to channel a favorite in Japan- Cream of corn soup. Because he is my hero, he decided to try making it in the pressure cooker to soften the potatoes lightening-fast. He also pureed it to create one of the silky-smoothest vegetarian soups I’ve ever had. Because there is sodium in both creamed corn and bouillon, do be cautious when adding salt. I recommend adding any salt AFTER the soup is pureed. Naughtiness with sodium aside, this is one of the tastiest soups I have had in a long time and it made me love our pressure cooker and my wonderful DH all the more. Hungry yet?

Japanese-Style Cream of Corn Soup in Pressure Cooker Recipe Soup  Vegetables  Japanese  European

Ingredients 1/2 stick butter 1 onion, sliced 1/4 cup sweet rice flour 4 cups water 1 can (15 oz) cream style corn kernels from 2 ears of fresh corn 2 cubes Gluten Free Not-chicken bouillon 2 potatoes, peeled and diced 2 cups lowfat milk (we use Organic 1%) Parisien Bonnes Herbes (Penzey’s Spice Blend including chives, dill, basil, tarragon, chervil, and white pepper*) to taste salt and pepper to taste (cautious with the salt- between the cream corn and bouillon it is easy to over-salt… perhaps best to season at the end) Fresh basil to garnish (optional but adds delightful flavor) Directions Fry onions and butter on low heat in a pressure cooker with the lid off. Add flour and stir for a few minutes to make a nice roux. Add remaining ingredients to pressure cooker and bring to a boil. Put the lid on the pressure cooker, reduce the heat to low, bring it up to pressure and let it cook for 6-10 minutes. Release the pressure using the quick release, season as needed, make sure the potatoes are cooked through. If they are not soft, simmer soup until they are soft. If you like, for a very smooth, creamy soup you can then let it cool slightly and then blend in a blender. Notes *if you don’t have this herb blend, use another green dill-based blend you like or any of these dried herbs listed to taste.

Rating:  8 Original Source:  My DH’s creation. Please do not replicate anywhere without our permission. thanks! Recipe ID:  1432 Added:  July 4, 2009 Last Modified:  July 5, 2009

Having trouble finding the ingredients? I bulk order through Amazon for the best prices on Pamela’s and some of my flours…

Roasted Eggplant Lentil Tahini Vegetarian Soup Recipe Soup  Vegetables  Middle Eastern

Ingredients 1 lg. eggplant smoked paprika salt olive oil 1-2 tbsp. olive oil 1/2 large onion, chopped 2 carrots, chopped 1 scant stalk of celery, sliced 3 cloves garlic, peeled zest from 1 fresh lemon 4-6 cups water(enough to fill about half of a medium size dutch oven) salt to taste parsley, fresh & chopped or dried generous amounts of smoked paprika 3 tbsp. tahini 1 cup milk (dairy or dairy-free unflavored) 1/2 package of Trader Joe’s cooked lentils OR 2 cups cooked lentils that you have prepared in lightly salted water sprinkling of brown rice vinegar to taste Directions Roast halved eggplant in 375 oven lightly basted with olive oil and seasoned with smoked paprika and salt flesh-side-up for 30 minutes, and then turn and bake for 15 more minutes or so. Remove and reserve. When cool(ER) peel and cut into cubes. Heat olive oil in dutch oven and saute onion, carrot, celery, and garlic cloves until onion starts to turn translucent. Add water, parsley, lemon zest, and salt and bring to a low boil until the water is infused with vegetable flavor. Add tahini and let dissolve into broth along with reserved eggplant cubes. Let simmer for a bit and then whisk in milk. Taste and season with additional salt, smoked paprika, and parsley as you like. Take off burner. Use immersion blender to blend all ingredients into a smooth soup. (You can remove some of the garlic if you like before doing this step.) Return to the burner on low-medium and add lentils whole without blending in. Heat soup until lentils are warm. To serve, remove from burner, let cool SLIGHTLY sprinkle a little brown rice vinegar in the soup (making sure it doesn’t separate when you add it, and if it starts to, let soup cool more or drizzle vinegar in individual servings of soup.

Rating:  9 Original Source:  Completely original creation of my own brain. Do not replicate anywhere without my permission. Recipe ID:  1409 Added:  May 7, 2009 Last Modified:  May 14, 2009

Hearty Grain Cornbread with Pamela’s baking and pancake mix recipe Bread  Alternative Grains  American

Ingredients 1-1/4 cup Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix 3/4 cup fine yellow cornmeal 1/4 cup montina flour (or other whole grain hearty flour 1/4 cup agave nectar 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 egg, beaten 1 cup milk 2 tablespoons melted butter or olive oil Directions Line an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper and grease if you like. Preheat oven to 370. Whisk ingredients together in a medium-large bowl. Pour batter into pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan and then gently use knife to remove bread from edges of pan and release onto a cooling rack.

Rating:  7 Original Source:  Modified from Pamela’s cornbread recipe to add whole grain flavor and lower on the glycemic index. Please do not replicate without my permission. Recipe ID:  1408 Added:  May 7, 2009 Last Modified:  May 18, 2009

Well, this month in the spirit of health, I adopted The Crispy Cook and searched her blog for an enticing and healthy recipe. I finally chose her Smoky Sweet Potato Soup Recipe because I’m always looking for more ways to prepare sweet potatoes. I found myself with a little bit of a conundrum as I began preparing it. I am firmly committed to NOT modifying adopted recipes as it is one of our most basic rules of AAGFB. Unfortunately lately garlic hasn’t agreed with me, so I was nervous about using four cloves in the recipe. My compromise was to reduce the garlic to two cloves and sauteed them whole to add subtle flavor and then remove them before pureeing the soup. Also, I have a long standing policy of leaving celery out of recipes ever since an unfortunate combination of the stomach flu and a celery stew in my childhood. I just hate the stuff. But, this time I resolved to trust the Crispy Cook and give celery in soup just one more try. Since it was pureed, I figured I would be less likely to run into chunks of celery flavor in the dish, and instead it would be diffused throughout. Finally, the DH (and lately me, a little) is very sensitive to spiciness, and I was pretty sure the chipotle peppers in adobe would be too much for him. Rachel did give us an option to use a teaspoon of red chili flakes instead, but said we might miss the smokiness. Luckily I have a solution to reduce heat, add flavor AND add smokiness- using smoked spanish paprika in recipes calling for chipotle pepper or chipotle in adobe. (Powdered chipotle would be a hotter option that would also contribute smokiness to the dish). Other than these very minor variations, I followed the recipe exactly as written. I was thrilled to use my immersion blender and find it worked beautifully on this particular dish. I like a nice creamy smooth soup (the less to find the celery, my dear), and was able to get a gorgeous, creamy orange texture. I served it to the DH with the fresh parsley and some toasted pine nuts that added the perfect nutty texture to the experience. I also made some fresh corn tortillas to go with it. Our verdict?

We LOVED it!
THANK GOODNESS we tried this recipe. I didn’t know such simple ingredients could come together in such a wonderful way, and without milk, cream, coconut, or any kind of nut butter that I often add to soups. The sweet potato really sings in this dish, and you know, prepared this way I couldn’t even distinguish the celery. It simply melded with the other flavors in harmony. The DH gave a BIG thumbs up, and I have to agree. We WILL be making this again. Thank you Rachel of the Crispy Cook. You shared a real winner with us!

But who Is the Crispy Cook, anyway?
When Rachel started her blog, it was called “Wheat-Free, Meat-Free”, but she changed over to the Crispy Cook title last year because she felt the new name was not only a little more memorable but also reflected the meal-planning conundrums she was faced with in feeding a family of omnivores, pescatarians, and vegetarians (one an on-again, off-again vegan that doesn’t like nuts or most vegetables). Rachel’s take on the gluten-free lifestyle is to try and cook things that are naturally gluten-free as much as possible. She doesn’t try to recreate gluten-packed food favorites so much as seek out new foods and ingredients to expand our culinary adventures, a philosophy that I can thoroughly appreciate. Read Rachel’s recent explanation of what her blog is all about

Personally, I’ve been reading Rachel’s blog for quite some time and got to know her through her blog’s inception as Wheat-Free Meat-Free. I appreciate her adventurous spirit, international and healthful recipes. Of course at first I identified with her blog because of its vegetarian theme, but I also enjoyed seeing pictures of her kitties and hearing about the bookshop she owns with her husband. I hope you will visit her soon and discover her blog for yourself!

Here are some other delicious recipes Rachel has featured recently on her blog:
Cream of Ratatouille Soup Recipe
Savory Rice and Cheese Muffin Recipe
Spicy Lentil Chili Recipe

Isn’t it time you got to know the Crispy Cook yourself?

As an accompaniment, I made the intriguing recipe for Spaghetti Twirl Bites found on the same page. These clever little bites involve half a package of boiled spaghetti mixed with 1 cup grated parmesan cheese, sundried tomatoes, fresh basil, crushed red pepper flakes and two eggs. You mix them all up together, then spray two mini muffin tins with nonstick coking spray and twirl little spaghetti “muffins” into each tin. A little time intensive, but the results are tasty and interesting. It would be a good way to use up some leftover cooked spaghetti, and fun for parties.

Of course dinner wouldn’t be complete without dessert, and so I threw together one of Carol Fenster’s basic recipe for fruit pizza. To change it up a bit, I altered the toppings drastically, following a recipe for “Sweet Grape Focaccia” found in my Nob Hill magazine. I sprinkled the dough with brown sugar mixed with chai spices, and then topped it with fresh, halved grapes and pecans, sprinkled it with some more of my “chai sugar” and then baked it for 25 minutes at 350. It was very good, but needs some tweaking, so I am not ready to post the recipe just yet. If you’re wondering… something unfortunate happened to the toppings when I, um, dropped half of the pizza in the cat’s water dish (not good for desserts- who would have thought) so, um, these photos have some fresh grapes placed on the sad little spots where grape used to be. And yes, I’m a little bitter about the whole sordid affair. (I threw away the half that snuggled the water dish. Too bad cats don’t care for sweet chai pizza.)

Savory Chard and Polenta Soup Soup  Vegetables  Italian

Ingredients 5 cups vegetable stock (or no-chicken broth: I used Edward and Sons bullion) 1/4 cup polenta meal 2 tbsp parmigiano-teggiano cheese 1 tbsp olive oil 1 large onion, chopped 2 large garlic cloves, halved 1 large fennel bulb, sliced and chopped 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced 2 cups chopped assorted mushrooms 1 28 oz. can tomatoes 1 cup or so fresh chopped tomatoes 1 1/2 tsp of basil, 1 1/2 tsp marjoram 1 parmigiano-teggiano cheese rind OR thick slice of cheese Salt and Pepper to taste 3 cups chopped red chard balsamic vinegar, to taste Directions Lay wax or parchment paper on a baking sheet or square plate. Put 1 cup of stock into a pan and bring it to a boil, gradually stirring in polenta. Let it thicken and simmer until you have a good consistency. Remove from heat and stir in shredded cheese, mixing thoroughly. Then spread your polenta on the wax sheet evenly, creating a thin polenta “cake”. Reserve and let cool. Meanwhile, heat you oil in a large soup pot. Throw in the onion, fennel, and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or so. Then add your carrots, mushrooms and cook for another 5 to ten minutes. Stir as needed. When onion look translucent and lightly browned, add your broth, tomatoes, herbs and cheese rind or cheese slice. After bringing to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 45 minutes. Don’t forget to season with salt and pepper! Next, cut your polenta into cubes and put them in the soup, being careful not to break them, and simmer for another 5 minutes or so. To serve, drip a little balsamic vinegar into each individual serving soup. Yummy! Notes DH, who hates chard, ate it with gusto and pronounced it “very good.” Whahahahah.

Rating:  9 Original Source:  adapted from Nob Hill Something Extra free magazine Recipe ID:  1149 Added:  October 24, 2007 Last Modified:  October 24, 2007