Creamy cauliflower soup {keto, low carb}

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In my house, making soup is a surefire way to get everyone to eat more vegetables. It always surprises me how quickly a container of soup disappears. This Creamy Cauliflower Soup and my Cream of Mushroom Soup are my family's clear favorites.

I make all my creamy vegetable soups the same way, and it's super simple. Saute onion and maybe some garlic in olive oil or butter. Add the vegetable, whether it's mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, butternut squash, carrots, or whatever you like. Cover with the best chicken broth you can find. I make my own, but some of the boxed versions are fine, and if you prefer vegetable broth, that works too. Cook until everything is tender, at least half an hour, sometimes more. Blend, adding a little cream, a squeeze of lemon, and salt and pepper to taste. And that's it.

This soup is great if you're on a low carb or keto diet, like me. If you want to skip the cream, add a small potato to the pot when you add the vegetables—it will act as a thickener and smooth everything out when you blend.

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Creamy cauliflower soup

by Erika Kerekes October-07-2018

Simmer the cauliflower in the best quality chicken or vegetable broth you can find (or make your own), then add a splash of cream when you blend it.

Ingredients

• 1 large head cauliflower
• 3 Tbsp butter or olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Cut the cauliflower into florets. Peel the tough outer skin off the stem, then chop the remaining inner stem into small pieces.In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter or olive oil and saute the onion 4-5 minutes or until it turns translucent—don't let it brown. Add the cauliflower and chicken broth and bring to a gentle simmer. Turn down the heat and simmer the soup, covered, until the vegetables are very soft, about 30 minutes. Add the cream and lemon juice, then puree the soup in the pot with an immersion blender until very smooth, or transfer to a countertop blender, being careful not to burn yourself. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 35 mins Total time: 50 mins Yield: 6-8 servings

Sweet and sour unstuffed cabbage with Fruitchup {Paleo, keto, low carb}

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My Grandma Rose made the best stuffed cabbage, sweet-and-sour style with raisins and lemon slices. But she didn't make it often because it was a *bleeping* pain in the *bleep* to blanch the cabbage, separate the leaves, and roll up all those little suckers.

Right after I launched my new Fruitchup Paleo ketchup, which is sweetened with raisins and dates instead of added sugar or artificial sweeteners, I realized that it was the perfect ingredient for Sweet and Sour "Unstuffed" Cabbage, because it actually contains everything Grandma Rose would have put into her stuffed cabbage, except for the meat and the cabbage.

This Sweet and Sour Unstuffed Cabbage recipe is Paleo and Whole30 compliant, requires only four ingredients, takes only 10 minutes of actual work (plus a few hours to simmer on the stove), and will bring my Grandma Rose right into your kitchen. I gave some of my last batch to a friend and her whole family loved it, including a preschooler and a baby.

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Sweet and Sour Unstuffed Cabbage {Paleo, keto}

by Erika Kerekes May-6-2017

This delicious, hearty stew comes together in just a few minutes and uses only four ingredients, including Fruitchup Paleo ketchup. A variation on my Grandma Rose's classic stuffed cabbage recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 6 cups chopped green cabbage (about 1/2 large head of cabbage)
• 1 bottle Fruitchup Paleo ketchup
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

In a large pot over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef, breaking it up with a spoon as it cooks.Add the onion, cabbage, and Fruitchup Paleo ketchup. Stir to combine and bring to a boil.Turn down the heat, cover the pot, and simmer 1.5 to 2 hours, until the cabbage is wilted and the flavors are well combined.Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot. For those not following a Paleo or Whole30 way of eating, the Unstuffed Cabbage can be served over rice.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 2 hour Total time: 2 hour 10 mins Yield: 8 servings

Cream of mushroom soup

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The key to good cream of mushroom soup is a really good blender

There are three secrets to an aromatic, smooth, ultra-delicious cream of mushroom soup:

1. High-quality chicken stock, homemade if possible
2. Butter
3. A high-powered blender

We eat a lot of mushroom soup, especially now that I am following a low-carb, high fat diet to control my diabetes. And yes, I am in love with an appliance. Why are you smirking? A kitchen appliance. Get your mind out of the gutter.

My Vitamix blender is my sweetheart, my crush, the apple of my eye.

An immersion blender is handy when you're making soup because you can puree it right in the pot. But it never gets totally smooth. I've made this cream of mushroom soup many times with an immersion blender, and while it tastes fabulous, it's always got a little texture to it. But the Vitamix produces cream of mushroom soup as smooth as milk. The cream I added just gilded the lily.

I'm a convert. The Vitamix is expensive (I bought it at Costco for about $400) but I think it's worth it. There's a lot of soup in my future.

Note: No one paid me anything or gave me anything to write this post. I bought my Vitamix with my own hard-earned money. And I intend to keep it for a good, long time. The link included in this post is an Amazon affiliate links, so if you click and buy anything, I will get a (very small) commission.

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Cream of mushroom soup

by Erika Kerekes November-19-2011

The better your blender, the smoother your soup will be. Flavorful Baby Bella mushrooms (also known as crimini mushrooms) add more personality than standard white button mushrooms, but use any mushrooms you like.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 pound Baby Bella (crimini) mushrooms, cleaned and roughly chopped (use the stems too!)
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• juice of 1/2 lemon

Instructions

Add the butter and oil to a large pot over medium-high heat. When the butter melts, add the chopped onion and saute about 4 minutes, until the onion is softened. Add the mushrooms and chicken stock. Bring the soup to a boil, turn down the heat, and simmer gently about 30 minutes, until all the vegetables are soft.Transfer the soup to your blender, working in batches if your blender isn't big enough to hold the whole pot. Puree the soup in the blender until very smooth, 1-2 minutes depending on the manliness of your appliance. (Alternatively, puree the soup in the pot with a hand-held immersion blender.)Return the soup to the pot, add the cream, and stir just until steaming. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Serve immediately.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 40 mins Total time: 55 mins Yield: 8-10 servings

Perfect tomato soup {no dairy}

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Got tomatoes? I'm not growing any this year, but I often buy "second" heirloom tomatoes at the farmers market. They're a little soft and scarred, but they taste the same and they're much cheaper. And they're perfect for tomato soup.

I've seen tomato soup recipes that add sugar and baking soda to smooth out the flavors and balance the acid in the tomatoes. I don't. I want my tomato soup to taste like tomatoes. I don't add cream, either, although I guess you could. Personally, I think it's great just the way it is.

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Perfect Tomato Soup

by Erika Kerekes August-5-2015

Six ingredients, half an hour, and a good blender: That's all you need to make this perfect classic tomato soup.

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 carrot, grated or shredded
• 3 pounds fresh ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped or torn (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and carrot. Cook until the vegetables have softened, about 5 minutes.Add the tomatoes, chicken stock and basil (if using). Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and simmer about 20 minutes, until the vegetables are very soft.Puree the soup in a blender (or in the pot using a hand-held blender) until very smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. Serve hot.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 25 mins Total time: 30 mins Yield: 8 servings

Easy holiday entertaining with Green Giant {VIDEO}

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Need ideas for easy holiday entertaining? I hope you'll enjoy watching this video, in which I share two quick and simple recipes using Green Giant frozen vegetables.

Green Giant's recipe for Cheesy Broccoli Puffs With Sriracha Sauce is a great appetizer to bring to a holiday potluck or to pass around while your guests are sipping on wine or champagne. You can make the puffs with crumbled bacon as the recipe suggests, or leave the bacon out for vegetarians.

My Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup is another tasty starter for a holiday party. I love giving my guests something warm to sip as they walk in the door, especially at this time of year.

The video also contains some great advice and easy entertaining tips from my friends (and one from my mother), all experienced hosts and hostesses.

Enjoy the video! (But ignore the weird expression on my face in YouTube's screen capture above. I don't really look like that, do I?)

Note: Green Giant compensated me to produce the Hangout video above and share my Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup recipe. Definitely one of the most fun projects I've done lately.

Cheesy broccoli potato soup with Green Giant

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When I have a party, I love to hand people little cups of hot, creamy soup as they walk in the door. It gives them something warm to hold onto, gets their appetites going without filling them up, and puts a little something in their bellies to cushion the wine and cocktails to come.

When Green Giant asked me to create a recipe using Green Giant frozen vegetables for our Google Plus Hangout on easy holiday entertaining, I knew this Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup was the perfect thing.

I always keep frozen vegetables on hand - they're great for last-minute soups, hot dips, or side dishes should unexpected visitors show up for dinner. (And yes, that does happen fairly often in our house.)

I made this Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup with Green Giant Broccoli & Cheese Sauce Steamers, but you could also use their Cauliflower & Cheese Sauce Steamers, or plain frozen broccoli or cauliflower. You can serve it in small glasses or coffee cups at a party, or just put it in bowls as a first course for a dinner party.

For more easy holiday entertaining tips from Green Giant (and me!), watch our video Hangout.

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Cheesy broccoli potato soup

by Erika Kerekes December-18-2013

A simple, creamy vegetable soup that's perfect for holiday entertaining. Frozen Green Giant Broccoli & Cheese Sauce makes this soup a snap to prepare.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped
• 1 clove fresh garlic, minced
• 1 12-ounce bag Green Giant Broccoli & Cheese Sauce Steamers
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 small potato, diced (about 1/2 cup - peel if desired, but it's not necessary)
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• For garnish: shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips, crumbled crackers, popcorn, or plain yogurt

Instructions

In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute about 2 minutes, until the onion is starting to soften. Add the garlic and saute another 30 seconds.Add the frozen broccoli (with cheese sauce), chicken stock, and potato to the pot. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and simmer uncovered about 20 minutes, or until the potato is very tender. Use a handheld stick blender to puree the soup in the pot (or transfer the soup carefully to a countertop blender). Serve hot garnished with the shredded cheese, tortilla chips, crackers, popcorn, or yogurt.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 25 mins Total time: 30 mins Yield: 6 servings as a first course, or 12 "shooters"

A Very Blueberry Thanksgiving: Pumpkin soup with dried blueberry "dust"

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Pulse freeze-dried blueberries in a food processor to make the blueberry "dust" that decorates this smooth, creamy pumpkin soup (photo: Karen Ard)

My mother told me the other day that she likes my recipes because they're always so simple.

I told her it's because I'm a lazy cook.

And it's true. I hate separating eggs. I rarely sift. I will never use two pots if one will do.

Part of the reason I write simple recipes is because I am often making large numbers of dishes for large numbers of people. That's exactly why this pumpkin soup led off A Very Blueberry Thanksgiving, the blueberry-themed Thanksgiving dinner I made for a couple dozen food bloggers a few weeks ago.

Nothing could be easier: Cook onions in olive oil, add canned pumpkin puree and chicken stock, a few seasonings, a little milk, and you're done. It's a great way to start a festive meal like Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, especially when served in small glasses as a walking-around appetizer.

Because A Very Blueberry Thanksgiving was sponsored by the U.S. Blueberry Council, each of the 10 dishes I served included fresh, frozen, or dried blueberries. See the purple "dust" on the pumpkin soup shooters in the photo above?  Take freeze-dried blueberries and blitz them briefly in a food processor. The tartness of the blueberries combines beautifully with the fragrant pumpkin soup. And it looks gorgeous too, don't you think?

Note: Freeze-dried blueberries are hard and crunchy; don't use the dried blueberries that are chewy and have the consistency of raisins. The ones you're looking for shatter when you bite into them.

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Pumpkin soup shooters with dried blueberry "dust"

by Erika Kerekes November-22-2013

There's no better way to start a festive holiday meal like Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner than with this smooth, creamy soup. Freeze-dried blueberries take a spin in the food processor to make the blueberry "dust" that decorates the top of the soup.

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 29-ounce can pure pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried blueberries

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.Add the onion and saute about 4 minutes, until the onion is translucent.Add the pumpkin puree, chicken stock, and nutmeg. Stir the pumpkin mixture and bring to a boil.Turn down the heat and simmer the soup about 30 minutes, until the onions are very soft.Puree the soup in the pot with a hand-held immersion blender, or transfer the soup to a countertop blender and puree until very smooth.Add the lemon juice and salt. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Stir in the milk.Put the freeze-dried blueberries into a food processor. Pulse in 2-second intervals until the blueberries look powdery.Ladle the hot soup into small juice glasses or demitasse cups. Sprinkle each serving with a large pinch of the ground dried blueberries. Serve immediately.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 35 mins Yield: 10 servings

Breakfast at work: Egg drop soup with bean thread noodles

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I may have to change the name of this blog.

"In Erika's Kitchen" is no longer accurate. Both my boys - Emery (14) and Weston (11) - now happily spend time in the kitchen turning out delicious creations the whole family enjoys.

Emery carried this bowl of egg drop soup with bean thread noodles down to my home office this morning. The tiny bowl on the side held black vinegar. I mixed the vinegar into the soup and slurped it down.

I have never had a more delicious bowl of soup.

I love summer vacation. And I love having big kids.

By the way, they also take out trash and recycling, put away laundry, carry in the groceries, and sweep when asked.

Signed,
The Luckiest Mom In The World

Euro Greens creamy green soup {dairy-free}

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It pays to have friends in high places.

A few weeks ago I ended up with a half-dozen bags of assorted greens from Cut 'n Clean Greens, a local southern California company that grows all kinds of greens and packages them in ready-to-eat-or-cook bags and plastic containers. My friend Dorothy of Shockingly Delicious has been working for them for a while now. When we planned the "Kale-a-palooza" event for our Food Bloggers Los Angeles group, Dorothy brought the Cut 'n Clean folks and trucked along a whole mess o' greens to give out to the group.

I particularly liked their bagged Euro Greens mix, which contains Swiss chard, mustard greens, turnip greens, and kale. I turned it into a deliciously creamy green soup.

Nothing could be easier than this creamy soup. You start with onions and garlic. When they've sweated with a little olive oil, you add the bag of greens, one potato, and chicken broth. Cook, blend, done. Maybe finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Why the potato? It gives the soup a little body and a creamy mouth feel, even without cream.

Throw in a few croutons, a handful of popcorn, or some Goldfish crackers, and even the kids won't complain. Not that mine ever complain about soup. Well, hardly ever.

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Euro Greens creamy green soup

by Erika Kerekes February-13-2013

This soup uses one bag of Cut 'n Clean Greens' Euro Greens mix. It's creamy but contains no cream!

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 12-ounce bag Cut 'n Clean Greens Euro Greens mix
• 1 small potato, unpeeled, diced (any variety)
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 fresh lemon, juice only
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is translucent, about 3 minutes.Add the greens, potato and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer the soup about 20 minutes, until the greens and potato are very tender. Blend the soup until smooth using a hand-held immersion blender or a countertop blender. Return the soup to the pot (if using a countertop blender). Add the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 25 mins Yield: 6-8 servings

Creamy roast turkey wild rice soup

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If you end up with leftover roast turkey this week (and I know many of us will), try this hearty, creamy turkey wild rice soup. The wild rice gives the broth a uniquely nutty flavor, and the root vegetables make the whole thing aromatic and sweet. I used a combination of carrots, kohlrabi and potato, but turnips or rutabaga would be nice here too. This is one of those situations where the soup made of leftovers is almost better than the roast turkey you started with.

This is the first time I've cooked with wild rice, by the way. A friend from out of town brought me two big bags collected in the midwest, up near the Canadian border I think (Wisconsin? Minnesota? Not sure). It had been sitting in my pantry for too long. Fortunately, it aged well.

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Creamy turkey wild rice soup

by Erika Kerekes December-26-2012

Leftover turkey stars in this hearty soup. Wild rice gives the broth a uniquely nutty flavor. If you have homemade turkey stock made from your turkey carcass, use it; if not, prepared chicken stock will do.

Ingredients

• 4 Tablespoons butter
• 3 ribs celery, diced
• 3 large carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 medium kohlrabi (substitute 1 turnip or 1 rutabaga), peeled and diced
• 1 large or 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 quarts homemade turkey stock or chicken stock
• 1 1/2 cups wild rice
• 4 cups leftover roast turkey, cut into 1-inch cubes
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

In a large pot, heat the butter over medium-high heat until it melts and the foam subsides. Add the celery, carrots, kohlrabi, potatoes, and onions, and saute until the vegetables start to soften, about 7 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and cook, stirring, about 3 minutes - this will get rid of the raw flour taste.Add the turkey or chicken stock and the wild rice. Bring the soup to a boil, turn down the heat, cover the pot, and simmer the soup until the wild rice is tender and the grains are starting to burst, about 1 1/2 hours. (The exact time will depend on how fresh your wild rice is - the older it is, the longer it takes to cook.)When the wild rice is cooked, add the roast turkey to the soup and let it simmer until the turkey is warmed through. Taste and add salt and pepper as necessary. The saltier your stock was, the less salt you'll need (but you'll definitely need some). Serve very hot.Note: This soup gets better with a few days in the refrigerator, so feel free to make it a day or two ahead.

Details

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 2 hour Total time: 2 hour 20 mins Yield: 10 servings

My first e-book: Soups and Stews

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I am very pleased to announce that my first e-book is available for download for Kindle users at Amazon.com, and for iPad, Nook and other online formats in the Booktango.com bookstore.

Soups and Stews: Delicious Recipes for Chilly Days ($3.99) is a compilation of my favorite soup and stew recipes. The cover features my Grandma Rose's split pea soup for two reasons: First, I know Grandma Rose would be exceedingly proud to see her recipe "in print." And second, it was the only photo where I'd left enough blank space on top and bottom to fit the words.

If you have friends of family members who like to cook and own a Kindle or iPad, they'd probably like this e-book - especially right now, when the weather is damp and cold, and everyone needs a hot bowl of soup now and then. Why not order it for them and slip a copy of this blog post into their Christmas stocking?

Postcard from Northampton: A vegetarian lunch with Sarah

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My longtime friend Sarah served me a most delicious lunch when I stopped to visit her in Northampton, Massachusetts on my way to Vermont. The star of the meal: her mother's "gazborschto," a cold soup featuring the best of both borscht and gazpacho. We topped the soup with chopped cucumbers and scallions. Sarah made a simple cabbage salad and also put out a loaf of rosemary bread and a few hunks of cheese. It was a perfect meal to share with an old friend on a hot summer day.

Postcard from Downers: Vermont corn chowder

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Well, actually, the sign says "chowda" - fresh Vermont corn and potatoes in a thin cream broth. At the Country Creemee, a roadside snack bar just north of Springfield, Vermont. 

Superfoods Month: Paula Deen and creamy kale soup

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Today's Superfood: Kale
Vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, manganese, fiber

There's been a lot of talk about Paula Deen's announcement that she's had type II diabetes for three years.

Three years during which she's peddled butter, cream, cheese, sugar, fried foods and other health-conscious no-no's to the American public in shocking amounts and with remarkable consistency.

Why did she do it? For the ratings. People like that kind of food. Even if they know it's not good for them, they like hearing about it, they salivate over it, and most important, they'll watch her make it on TV week after week.

Paula Deen is getting a lot of criticism. She's being accused of feeding poison to the American people even as she knew it had caused grave health issues for her and had radically changed her own eating habits.

I'm not going to be too hard on Paula Deen. She's got a living to make, just like the rest of us. People make their own choices about what goes into their mouths. Paula Deen made her own choices about what kind of food she wanted to showcase on TV in order to maintain her personal brand and her ratings (or the Food Network made them for her, or they made the decisions together).

But it's caused me to take a long, hard look at the food I've been writing about for the past three years. And I realized something:

Unlike Paula Deen, I write about the food I eat, and my family eats, day in and day out. And most food bloggers I know do the same.

Mine is not an "always" or "never" family when it comes to food. We eat vegetables and we eat pasta. We eat salad and we eat dessert.

When I compiled my recipe index, there were more recipes in the "Vegetables" category than in the "Desserts" category. That surprised me, actually. But I realized that's truly a reflection of the way we eat.

We have "often" foods and "sometimes" foods. If this blog is truly a reflection of the way we eat as a family, then meat is a "sometimes" food and vegetables are an "often" food. That's a good thing for our health, and it's the way I want to be seen by you, my readers.

This Superfoods Month series started as a way to keep me on track with my New Year's resolution to eat healthier foods. But it hasn't been a stretch. This, today, is the way my family eats.

I hope you like this kale soup. It's easy to prepare and turned out the color of pine trees. And yes, this is what my family ate yesterday.

P.S. I brought this soup to a food blogger gathering celebrating Idaho potatoes - see the bottom of this post for more Idaho potato recipes.

Click here for all the recipes in this Superfoods Month series

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Creamy kale soup

by Erika Kerekes January-22-2012

A simple soup packed with vitamins and fiber. If you find kale too bitter, substitute chard, spinach or another milder green, or use a mixture.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 large bunch Tuscan or curly kale, leaves stripped from stems and roughly chopped
• 1 small potato, unpeeled, diced
• 1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute about 4 minutes, until the onion is softened and turning translucent. Add the garlic and stir another 30 seconds - don't let the garlic burn.Now add the kale, potato and stock. The liquid will not be enough to cover the kale; that's okay. Bring the pot to a boil, turn down the heat, cover the pot, and simmer the soup about 20 minutes, until the kale is soft and the potatoes are cooked through. Transfer the soup to the blender and puree, or use a hand-held immersion blender to puree the soup in the pot. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 25 mins Total time: 40 mins Yield: 4-6 servings

Superfoods Month: Simple lentil soup from Shockingly Delicious

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Happy Superfoods Month! This delicious Superfood recipe comes via veteran food writer Dorothy Reinhold. Dorothy writes the recipe blog ShockinglyDelicious, where she specializes in scrumptious, tried-and-true, scary-good recipes that you might need a 12-step program to wean yourself from. Dorothy and I have known each other for years - our kids went to preschool together - but now we've bonded over blogging!

Today's Superfood: Lentils
Protein, fiber, iron, manganese, folate

I didn’t grow up eating lentils, probably because my mother didn’t like them. That was a surprise revelation to me a few years ago when I gave her a lentil concoction I had made. I thought it was delicious, and wanted to share. She ate some, and politely told me it didn’t float her boat because she hated lentils.

What? The woman who cooked for a clan of six every single day for decades, and who introduced her suburban family to bagna cauda, who made her own frijoles refritos from scratch despite the fact she was Italian, not Mexican, who practically invented homemade salted caramels 45 years ago and who knows her way around Parmesan vs. Pecorino?

I was stunned. Luckily, she never told us about that hatred growing up, so I had no preconceived notions about lentils. I loved them when I tried them because they cook relatively quickly, and absorb whatever wonderful flavors, herbs and spices you pair with them.

I have since learned that they may be small, but they are nutritionally mighty, contributing to a happy heart, a happy digestive system, and stable blood sugar levels.

This wonderfully rich-tasting soup is my latest lentil addiction. While dried lentils cook relatively quickly and don’t need to be soaked like dried beans, I have speeded up this soup even more by using packaged steamed lentils from Melissa's Produce, which are readily available in most grocery stores.

Like most soups, this one is even better if you make it a day ahead and store it in the refrigerator. When you reheat and serve it the next night for dinner, the flavor will be richer, if that is even possible!

Lentil soup for dinner after work? Oh yes, and the leftovers for lunch the next day!

Click here for a list of all the Superfoods Month recipes in this series

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Superfoods month: Best ever simple lentil soup

by Dorothy Reinhold January-5-2012

A quick and hearty soup perfect for weeknight dinners.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 ribs of celery, chopped
• kosher salt to taste
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 17-ounce package Melissa's steamed lentils
• 4 cups low-salt, fat-free chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• grated parmesan cheese (for garnish)

Instructions

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot. Add the onion, carrots and celery and a pinch of kosher salt and cook until tender, about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.Add the tomatoes and their juice, rosemary and bay leaf, steamed lentils and another pinch of salt, broth, water and a few grinds of fresh pepper. Bring to a simmer, stir, cover and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. Remove and discard the rosemary and bay leaf.Serve, garnishing each bowl with a sprinkling of Parmesan.

Details

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 50 mins Yield: 4 servings

Grandma Rose's split pea soup with flanken (beef short ribs)

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My Grandma Rose was a good Jewish cook. We had dinner with my grandparents most Friday nights, not because it was Shabbat - we weren't observant - but because my brother and I had piano lessons on Friday afternoons close to their house.

Grandma Rose's repertoire wasn't huge, but what she made was very good. Chicken fricassee with little meatballs, my dad's favorite. Matzoh ball soup, which I later found out was Lipton's instant chicken noodle soup with matzoh balls from a mix. Stuffed cabbage, done sweet-and-sour Russian-style with golden raisins. Her famous rugelach once or twice a year. And, when we were really lucky, thick split pea soup with flanken beef ribs.

When Grandma Rose made split pea soup, she made a lot - enough to send us home with a few zip-top bags for our freezer. This soup warmed my belly on many a cold New York day.

If Grandma Rose had a recipe for this soup, I never saw it. I'm sharing with you my best guess. I know she used flanken (beef short ribs) and dried dill. I think I remember carrots and celery. My mother says Grandma used tiny pasta, but I like the chew of pearl barley.

A note about ingredients: If you can't find flanken (pronounced FLAHN-ken), regular short ribs or boneless English short ribs will do. I used dried dill weed from Spice Islands, which I find particularly flavorful (the Spice Islands people sent me a sample specifically to use in this recipe). They harvest the dill as it's flowering and include the tiny yellow flowers with the leaves when they dry the dill, which they say accounts for its potency.

By the way, the bowl in the photos is from a set of china that was handed down to me by my grandmother via my mother. No one else in the family wanted it because it can't go in the dishwasher. Lucky me!

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Split pea soup with flanken (beef short ribs)

by Erika Kerekes September-25-2011

My grandmother's stick-to-your-ribs split pea soup - the perfect dish for a chilly day. It's much better after it sits for a day or two in the refrigerator, so plan ahead.

Ingredients

• 2 large yellow onions
• 6 ribs of celery
• 6 carrots
• 2 Tbsp grapeseed or canola oil
• 2 pounds flanken (or regular short ribs)
• 1 pound green split peas
• 1/2 pound pearl barley
• 3 Tbsp dried dill
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Chop the onions, celery and carrots. Aim for 1/2-inch pieces, but don't get all OCD about it. You want them all roughly the same size, but a little bigger or smaller won't make a difference at all.Heat the oil in a large pot and brown the ribs on all sides. Remove the ribs to a plate, then add the chopped vegetables to the fat in the pot. Stir a minute or two until everything is coated in fat and starting to soften.Put the meat back in the pot, then add the split peas, pearl barley and dried dill. Add enough water to cover it all and bring the pot to a boil. Turn the heat down to low, cover the pot, and simmer the soup at least 2 hours, until it is thickened and the meat is tender.Shred the meat with two forks (or your fingers if you've let the soup cool for a while). The bones will have slipped out of the meat, so fish them out from the bottom of the pot with a spoon. Season with salt and pepper - you will need much more salt than seems reasonable, but keep salting until it tastes right to you.Serve hot for a hearty one-pot lunch or dinner.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 2 hour Total time: 2 hour 10 mins Yield: 12-14 servings