Roasted Carrot Soup with Leeks and Thyme

With this cooler weather upon us, thick hearty steaming bowls of homemade soup can warm your insides better than a cozy blanket by the fireplace. Soup is one of my favourite fall meals, its like a warm inside out hug.
This one takes a bit of time to prep, but you can always roast the veggies when you have your oven on for something else and refrigerate them until you were ready to make soup. Saving that roasting step would have this soup on the table in 20 minutes flat.

The carrots in my garden this year are lovely and this soup is a wonderful showcase for their delicious flavour. It is creamy and smooth without the need for dairy (although a swirl of sour cream would be lovely on top…!) I don't peel my

carrots for this recipe, but you may want to for store bought carrots.

As with most of my soups I prefer to use my homemade bone broth as the base. Nutrient dense and made from what would typically be waste; bone broth is both frugal and delicious! If you choose to use a store bought stock, be sure to read the ingredients first and avoid any with ingredients you cannot pronounce (and therefore should not eat!!)

this handy tool strips
the tender thyme leaves
 from the woody stem,
easy as pie!

Roasted Carrot Soup with Leeks and Thyme

Approx. 2 lbs of carrots, peeled if necessary and chopped

5 cups chopped leeks, (rinsed, white part only-see ***below)

2 Tbsp avocado oil (or coconut)

2 Tbsp fresh thyme, woody stems removed

1 tsp herbamare or sea salt of choice

5 stalks celery, chopped

2 Tbsp butter

8 cups bone broth or broth of choice.

Preheat oven to 400F.

On a large parchment lined baking sheet, toss chopped carrots and leeks with the avocado oil, thyme and herbamare.

Pictured without the thyme, I forgot to add it
before I took the picture :(

Roast in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Stir on the pan and roast for another 20 minutes.

When veggies are done, remove from oven and set aside.

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat until it starts to bubble. Add celery, and stir frequently until it starts to soften, approx 8-10 minutes. Add the roasted veggies and your broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat, and puree til smooth with an immersion blender (or whiz in a blender, in batches if necessary, being careful as hot soup in a  blender can be dangerous!!)

Check for seasoning and serve hot!

***Prepping your Leeks!

Cut leeks where they just start to turn colour. Using a bit of the green is ok! Trim off the root ends.

Cut the trimmed leek pieces in half lengthwise. 

Rinse well under running water, leeks are often sandy in between their layers. 

Chop and use as directed :) 

Creamy Broccoli Salad with Bacon

I had a craving for broccoli salad, and decided to make a batch for lunch one day last week. The particular salad I was hankering for uses mayonnaise. But being Thursday, I didn’t want to make a whole jar of mayo because of its short shelf life. (My recipe uses a whole raw egg, and it only lasts in the fridge for about 5 days. We don’t go thru enough mayonnaise to use it up quickly, especially on the weekends when we are not packing lunches for the household).  I did have a jar of cashew butter in the fridge though, so I came up with this scrumptious dressing to top the crunchy broccoli. I added some chopped carrots, leftover bacon (I know, leftover bacon???) and some dried cranberries, and this little bit of deliciousness was born. The sriracha in the sauce adds flavor, but not a lot of heat. Adjust if you want it more or less spicy.

Creamy Broccoli Salad with Bacon

Optional: lightly toast your cashews

Dressing:

½ cup cashew butter

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp avocado oil

1 tsp sea salt

1 clove garlic

1/3 cup water

½-1 tsp sriracha sauce (optional, increase or decrease for desired heat!)

Salad:

1 head broccoli, chopped (peel stems, chop and use too)

2 carrots, peeled and chopped small

1 cup chopped cooked bacon

1 cup chopped cashews (I toasted mine J )

½ cup dried cranberries (fruit juice sweetened)

----------

2 tbsp black sesame seeds (optional)

Handy chopper is great for
chopping the carrots

Measure dressing ingredients into a blender. Blend until well mixed and creamy.  Set aside.

(Alternatively, measure into a wide mouth mason jar, and blend with a stick blender)

Toss all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Top with dressing and mix well. Sprinkle with black sesame seeds if using and serve immediately. Store leftovers in fridge for 2-3 days.

Shown without black sesame  seeds,
I realized after I took the pictures
that I hadn't added them!

Braised Beef Shanks with Root Veggies, and a Cool Way to Peel Garlic!

When I have a day off, chances are at some point you will find me in my kitchen. Today was no exception. We brought home some beautiful beef shanks from our last trip to Fenwood Farms, and I took them out to thaw yesterday, knowing that today would be a perfect day to put the oven on for a long braise. This cut of meat does beautifully with a long cooking time, along with something slightly acidic added to the cooking liquid. I used some apple cider vinegar, along with a cup of red wine. This helps to break down the tough connective tissues that are typical of this cut of meat.  Beef shanks are generally a cheaper cut, with 3 large shanks providing 6 meals for right around 20$, not including the veggies etc.  Frugal, tasty and nutritious, all in one pot.

Braised Beef Shanks with Root Veggies

3 Beef Shanks (3-4 lbs total weight)

2 tbsp coconut oil, divided

1 lg onion, chopped

4 carrots, chopped

5 parsnips, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped (I used a handful of small ones)

1 head of garlic, peeled and diced (***see amazing garlic peeling tip below recipe!!)

1 tsp each dried rosemary and thyme (I used fresh rosemary, increased to 2 tsp)

1 cup dry red wine

3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

3 cups bone broth (beef would be best, I used turkey, and it worked fine)

Salt and pepper to taste

3 bay leaves

Preheat oven to 375

Make sure all of your veggies are prepped  before proceeding with the recipe!

In a large oven safe pot with a lid (an enameled cast iron dutch oven is perfect), heat 1 tbsp of the coconut oil and brown the beef shanks over medium high heat, one at a time if necessary (don’t crowd them, you want them to brown not steam) for about 3 minutes on each side. you want to see some nice browning. (turn on the fan in your range hood if you have one, it can get a bit smokey!)

Remove the shanks to a plate and set aside.

With the pot still on the burner, add the second tbsp of coconut oil, and add the chopped onion, carrot and parsnips. Saute for 4 minutes, stirring often.

Add the celery, herbs and garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Saute for 2 minutes more.

Add the wine slowly, ¼ cup at a time, to deglaze the pan. Scrape any browned bits from the bottom, adding the rest of the wine, it will reduce slightly as you go.

Add the apple cider vinegar, and the bone broth, and stir to combine. Carefully nestle the beef shanks into the pot, submerging as much as possible. Tuck the bay leaves around the pot, cover, and place in preheated oven.

Bake for 2 ½ hrs. Remove the lid and bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from oven, remove bay leaves  and serve warm!

Amazing Peeled Garlic!

A while back, we saw a certain Ms. Stewart peeling whole heads of garlic using two stainless steel bowls, and just a quick shake. It works like a charm, and although it is slightly noisy, the garlic cloves come out beautifully peeled.  After a random search on Pinterest (I am more than slightly addicted to that site!) and one martini shaker later, beautifully peeled garlic is even easier!!!

Simply break up the head of garlic, put the whole thing in the martini shaker, put the lid on and shake like you would a martini, back and forth maybe 10 times. Voila!!  Your garlic is peeled, and ready to go!