The times, they are a changing… Gotta love Bob!   Now I’ll have this song with me for the whole day… 😉

Fall is here, the beginning of my favorite cooking season: soups, stews, braises, comfort foods of all sorts are back on the menu.  To kick things off with an   ‘Mmmmm” here’s a recipe for vegetable soup, recently featured in Fine Cooking magazine (#101). This soup has a yin-yang aura about it: hearty and light at the same time. It’s perfect for the slightly cooler evenings…

AUTUMN VEGETABLE SOUP
(by Ellie Krieger, published in Fine Cooking)

(receita em portugues na segunda pagina)

2 T olive oil
3 carrots, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups of butternut squash pieces (1/2 inch cubes)
1/4 t ground allspice
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt
1 quart chicken broth (I used homemade, you can use water for a vegetarian version)
1  14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 cups coarsely chopped kale (I used chard from our garden)
1 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed well

Heat the oil in a large pot, add the carrots and onion and cook for 5 minutes until they begin to soften.  Add the garlic, cook for one more minute, add the squash, cayenne, allspice, salt, and mix well.

Add the broth, tomatoes with their juice, and thyme. Bring it to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes. Add the chard and chickpeas, then uncover and cook for 10 minutes more.

Remove the thyme sprigs and adjust the seasoning before serving.

To print the recipe, click here

Comments: Ellie Krieger is a nutritionist with a sensible approach to cooking,  cutting excesses without compromising taste.  She offers this particular recipe as a good option to start a dinner: soup fills you up, so that you don’t overindulge in the rest of the meal.   For us, this soup served as a full dinner, two bowls for each of us, and I still had enough for a couple of lunches at the office this week… life is good!  😉

For this recipe, cutting the veggies by knife is the best way, so for today I put my Zyliss away…

This was all the chard we had left in our garden… so beautiful!

The soup, in the final stage of cooking, smells absolutely wonderful, a hint of allspice flowing through the kitchen…

Don’t know if Ellie would approve it, but our soup screamed for some parmiggiano-reggiano, and we were very happy to oblige!  😉

CANTINHO BRASILEIRO

SOPA DE OUTONO

2 colheres de sopa de azeite
3 cenouras picadas
1 cebola amarela, picada
2 dentes de alho picados
2 xícaras de abobora cortada em cubos
1 / 4 t de terra-da-jamaica
pitada de pimenta caiena
sal
4 xicaras de caldo de galinha (usei caseiro)
2 xicaras de tomates picados enlatados (com o suco)
4 ramos de tomilho fresco
2 xícaras de couve, espinafre, ou acelga suissa picada
1 xícara de grão de bico enlatado, escorrido e lavado em agua corrente

Aqueça o azeite em uma panela, adicione a cenoura e a cebola e cozinhe por 5 minutos até que comecem a amolecer. Adicione o alho, cozinhe por mais um minuto, acrescente a abóbora, pimenta caiena, pimenta da Jamaica, sal e misture bem. Adicione o caldo de galinha, tomates, e o tomilho.

Deixe comecar a ferver, tampe a panela, reduza a fogo médio e cozinhe por 10 minutos. Adicione a couve  e o grão de bico e cozinhe sem tampa por mais 10 minutos. Remova  os ramos de tomilho e ajuste o tempero antes de servir.

BOM APETITE!