Tomato Soup From Scratch All Winter Long

Our record-breaking tomato harvest has already forced inspired me to make two kinds of salsa, tomato sauce, tomato puree, and several batches of roasted tomatoes with garlic and herbs. The shelves of our pantry are starting to sag and the freezer is filling up but each day brings even more bright red orbs. I miss seeing my countertops...

Needless to say, I've been frantically searching through all my favorite canning books (that's Food In Jars, Put 'Em Up, Saving the Season and the Ball Book, in case you were curious) for ideas. I also use the interwebs, of course. I got the idea for tomato soup from this site.

I've always loved tomato soup, especially with grilled cheese. As the tomatoes continued to mound up, it seemed like a better and better idea. A shelf filled with jars of my own homemade version of Campbells tomato soup that I could pop open any time a craving struck... Heavenly, right?

So I did it, quadrupling the recipe below. I'm not going to lie to you, between the slicing and the simmering and the straining and the canning, it was a lot of work. But I think it will be well worth the effort when I get to enjoy creamy tomato soup and crispy, melty grilled cheese on cold, gray days this winter.

I did need two pieces of equipment I don't often use - my food mill and my pressure canner. But if you do not have either one, you can use a sieve (more work and time but the same results) and you can always just freeze the soup rather than canning it - it's a lot easier that way!

-- print recipe --
Homemade Tomato Soup
Makes 4 pints

Ingredients

* 8 lbs ripe tomatoes, cored and quartered (you don't need to peel them)
* 1 cup celery, diced
* 2 cups onion, diced
* 4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
* 6 bay leaves
* 1/2 tsps black pepper
* 2 1/2 Tbsps sea salt
* 1/4 cup cane sugar
* 1 tsp citric acid or 4 Tbsps bottled lemon juice (for canning only)

Directions

1. Place the tomatoes, celery, onion, garlic and bay leaves in a large stainless steel pot and cook gently, uncovered, until tender, stirring as needed. Remove the bay leaves and puree the soup right in the pot, using an immersion blender.

2. Pass the mixture through a food mill or sieve into a large stainless steel pot to remove the skins and seeds (some of the seeds made it through mine but I don't mind them.) If you're planning to can your soup, prepare the canner and sterilize your jars and lids - it can take a while to get all that water boiling.

3. Bring the soup back to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and add the salt and sugar. Reduce the soup until it's thicker than you want it to be when you actually eat it since you will be thinning it with milk or broth. If you're not canning the soup, congratulations, you're done!

4. If you are canning the soup, put the heat on high and let the steam in the pressure canner escape through the vent for 10 minutes to purge the airspace inside the canner. Then put the weight on and let the pressure build to 10 to 15 pounds pressure in a weighted gauge canner or 11 to 13 pounds in a dial-type gauge canner.

5. When you're ready to can, add 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon citric acid to the bottom of each of your sterilized pint jars then ladle the hot soup into the jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe the rims with a clean, wet cloth and place the lids on the jars, then apply the bands and tighten to fingertip tightness. If you want to use quart jars, double the amount of lemon juice or citric acid and process for twice as long.

6. Process pints for 25 minutes in a pressure canner at 10 pounds of pressure for weighted gauge canners and 11 pounds for dial gauge canners. Then turn off the heat and let vent until the canner is cool enough to open, then remove the jars and let cool on a kitchen towel in a draft-free space for 12-24 hours. Remove the bands, test the seals (store any that failed in the fridge and use within a couple of weeks) and store for up to a year.

7. When you're ready to eat the soup, pour it into a pot and heat over a medium flame, thinning with milk, chicken broth or water to your desired consistency. If the soup is too thin, you can make a slurry of a little flour and water to thicken it, stir it in and let it cook for a couple minutes.

You might also like:

Swiss Chard, White Bean & Sausage Soup

Greek Lemon Soup with Chicken Meatballs - Avgolemono

Vichyssoise - Classic Potato Leek Soup

Roasted Curried Cauliflower Soup

I love roasted curried cauliflower and make it often. But last week, I took it one step further by adding some homemade vegetable stock (so easy to make your own - tips here) and some coconut milk, et voilà, this beautiful soup was born.

It's creamy and rich with the lovely nutty flavor of roasted cauliflower, the sweetness of caramelized onions and the warm, spicy flavors of places where the birds never need to fly south.

I like to use either grapeseed or peanut oils for roasting veggies because their relatively high smokepoints allow them to withstand the high temperatures of roasting without burning. And that is, as Martha Stewart would say, a good thing.

Toss the cauliflower with onions (or leeks), salt, pepper and plenty of curry powder and/or garam masala and don't skimp on the oil. I do this tossing right in the roasting pan to save myself from having to wash a mixing bowl. Then roast it until you've got a nice jumbled mess of soft, nutty florets with some nice browning on them.

Your vegetable stock provides the base for the soup while the coconut milk adds a wonderful richness and sweet depth of flavor.

Put it all in a pot and let it simmer for a bit before you blend it - I cooked mine on the woodstove for a while. Then I used my immersion blender to get it smooth and creamy. If you do not already have an immersion blender, get one right now!

I like to top it with a dollop of sour cream and some chopped cilantro. It's good on its own or served over some short grain brown rice.

-- print recipe --
Roasted Curried Cauliflower Soup
Serves 6

Ingredients

* 1 large (or 2 small) cauliflower, washed and cut into florets
* 1 large red onion, sliced
* 2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
* Couple generous glugs of oil (grapeseed or peanut)
* Sea salt
* Freshly ground black pepper
* 1 Tbsp Ground cumin
* 3 tsps curry powder and/or garam Masala
* Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
* 1 can coconut milk or coconut cream
* 1 quart vegetable stock
* 1 Tbsp maple syrup
* Cilantro, as a garnish
* Sour cream, as a garnish (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400. Toss the cauliflower with the spices, a teaspoon of sea salt, a few grinds of black pepper, onion, garlic and oil until well-coated. Turn out onto a thick baking sheet in a single layer and roast, turning several times, for 30-35 minutes, until tender when pierced with a fork.

2. Scrape the roasted cauliflower into a pot, add the stock, coconut milk and maple syrup and simmer on medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes. Allow to cool down slightly then blend until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasonings, as needed. Top with chopped cilantro and a dollop of sour cream or yogurt.

You might also like:

• Gobi Masala - Indian-Style Curried Cauliflower & Spinach
• 8 Soups That'll Warm Up Your Winter
• Roasted Veggies with Cilantro-Lemon Aioli

For more delicious recipes, gardening ideas, foraging tips, and food-related inspiration "like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter and Pinterest.

8 Soups To Warm Up Your Winter

Thanks to the revolving door of colds and coughs my kids bring home from school, I've been making quite a lot of soup. On the plus side, I love soup.

Some are old favorites while others, like this spicy red lentil soup with meyer lemon, are new favorites. Every one is warming and delicious. My advice to you is:

• Save your vegetable scraps - they make great stock - details here; and
• If you make more than you need, freeze what's left over - you'll be glad you did, especially next time you catch a cold and do not feel like cooking.

Swiss Chard, White Bean & Sausage Soup
This is one of those soups that is a meal in and of itself. Hearty and full of flavor, thanks in part to the vastly underutilized trick of saving your Parmesan cheese rinds to give your stock a huge boost. You can use kale in place of the chard - both are good. Simply skip the sausage if you want to make a vegetarian version.

Quick Coconut Vegetable Stew
This is a wonderful go-to meal that is packed with flavor and also wildly good for you. The vegetables are flexible but kabocha squash is one of my favorite additions because its dense, sweet flesh pairs so nicely with the warm curry powder and the rich coconut milk. Vegan to boot!

Creamy Roasted Garlic & Potato Soup
This is one of the most addictive soups I've ever eaten - it ranks right up there with my favoriteThai soup, tom kha gai. The nutty, mellow flavor of the roasted garlic is the perfect foil for potatoes' sweet starchiness. Add a little heavy cream and you are officially IN BUSINESS.

Curried Lentil & Sweet Potato Stew
A perfect vegetarian meal packed with protein and flavor. The exotic flavors of the curry marry beautifully with both lentils and sweet potatoes. Whatever other veggies (carrots, etc.,) you want to add are just icing on the cake.

Jerusalem Artichoke (Sunchoke) & Sweet Potato Soup
I discovered this recipe as a result of Eatwell Farm, our old CSA back in Berkeley that helpfully included it in a share box that featured a big bag of sunchokes. At the time, I had no idea what they were or what to do with them so I took the easy way out and made the soup even though it sounded a little weird to me. But it was sooooo good - sweet, nutty and with a nice kick from the green garlic! Now I yearn for sunchokes and am thinking about planting a bunch in the spring even though I've been warned that they have thuggish tendencies and like to take over. Considering how tasty they are, that might not be the worst thing in the world...

Red Lentil Soup with Chili Paste & Meyer Lemon
This is my new favorite soup, inspired by a recent New York Times recipe. Like all lentil soups, it's quick, hearty and nutritious and the chili paste and lemon juice pack a nice little punch of flavor.

Winter Squash & Pear Soup with Sage
Pear adds a lovely, floral sweetness to the nutty squash and sage anchors the flavors with its earthy astringency. Add a dollop of sour cream or crème fraîche to make this extra rich and serve with peasant bread or brown rice and a green salad.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup
A super simple, super tasty (accidentally) vegan soup made with roasted butternut squash, creamy coconut milk and warm, exotic curry powder. You can't lose with this soup! If you're not a vegan, top with a little sour cream, crème fraîche or plain, whole milk yogurt.

You might also like:

• 15 Unbeatable Kale Recipes
• Winter Squash Wonderland: 22 Recipes You'll Love
• 23 Delicious & Easy Thanksgiving Recipes

For more delicious recipes, gardening ideas, foraging tips, and food-related inspiration "like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter and Pinterest.

Red Lentil Soup with Chili Paste and Meyer Lemon

This soup was inspired by Melissa Clark's lovely recipe  in the New York Times  dining section a few weeks ago. The combination of the delicate yet hearty red lentils (so pretty!), bright lemon and spicy chili is addictive. And it's also easy to make, cheap and unquestionably good for you.

Lentils are a particularly good source of dietary fiber, protein, folate and iron and also high in potassium, calcium, zinc, niacin and vitamin K. They are also tasty, versatile and VERY affordable. What's not to love???

You to begin by sautéing onion, garlic, chili, tomato paste and cumin powder to create a wonderfully flavorful base for the soup. I used sambal oelek chili paste rather than chili powder or cayenne because I like the complexity it adds but any chili will do.

Then just add the stock, lentils, carrots and simmer for about half an hour or until the lentils are soft.

Then puree half the soup to create a nice texture that is part smooth and part chunky. I've said it many times but I'll say it again just in case you're a new reader, the immersion blender is one of the five best kitchen tools ever invented! I would probably never puree anything without it because I consider pouring hot soups and sauces into a blender a HUGE pain in the butt with a high potential for burning myself that also requires me to clean said blender afterwards. No, thanks!

A little lemon juice brightens all the flavors in this soup. I still had a few Meyer lemons left from our recent trip to northern California (we grabbed a handful of beauties from the prolific lemon bush at our old place on Josephine Street) and it added a lovely floral note. But regular lemon will work perfectly, too.

Make enough to enjoy for several meals (or to freeze) as the flavors will just improve with time.  If you are a vegetarian or vegan, simply use vegetable stock and skip the sour cream or yogurt. Enjoy!

-- print recipe --
Red Lentil Soup with Chili Paste & Meyer Lemon
(Adapted from Melissa Clarke's recipe in the New York Times)
Serves 4-6

Ingredients

* 3 Tbsps organic olive oil
* 2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
* 1 large onion, diced
* 1 Tbsp tomato paste
* 1 tsp ground cumin
* 1/2 tsp sea salt salt
* 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
* 1/2 tsp sambal oelek chili paste or 1/4 tsp ground chili powder (if you like things hot, use more!)
* 1 1/2 quarts stock (vegetable or chicken - it's good both ways)
* 1 cup red lentils
* 2 large carrots, peeled and diced
* Juice of 1/2 lemon (Meyer or regular)
* 3 Tbsps chopped fresh parsley or cilantro

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and then add the onion and garlic and sauté, stirring often for about 4 minutes.Then stir in tomato paste, cumin, salt, black pepper and chili paste or powder and sauté for another few minutes, stirring once or twice.

2. Add the broth, lentils and carrots and bring to a simmer, then cover and turn the heat down to low and simmer until the lentils are soft, about 30 minutes.

3. Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed. Using an immersion blender (or a regular blender of food processor if you don't have an immersion blender), purée half the soup and return to the pot.

4. Stir in the lemon juice and the fresh herbs and serve with a drizzle of olive oil or a dollop of yogurt or sour cream on top.

You might also like:

• Curried Lentil & Sweet Potato Stew
• Spiced Lentil Salad with Currants & Capers
• Mujadara - Syria's Traditional Lentil, Onion & Rice Stew

For more delicious recipes, gardening ideas, foraging tips, and food-related inspiration "like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter and Pinterest.

Potato Leek Soup (a.k.a. Vichyssoise)

I made a big pot of this wonderful soup earlier in the week. It is comfort incarnate, especially when served hot, topped with a dollop of sour cream or crème fraîche, which is how I like it. Traditionally, vichyssoise is served cold but this is simply not the season for cold soups, at least not here in the northeast...

I've had potatoes on the brain because they were one of my aunt Maggie's favorite foods and a mainstay of her diet during the rough periods in her battle with lymphoma.

She grew her own spuds in the dirt of her ever-expanding garden in Putney, Vermont. She'd eat them baked with lots of butter or blended in potato leek soup in an effort to put some meat back on her tiny bones during rounds of chemotherapy when, as she said, "It is often harder not to throw up than to."

Maggie with a "heart potato" she grew.

I've been re-reading Maggie's emails and her postings on her CaringBridge site since she died and I've found so much wisdom, courage and sweetness in her words. This excerpt from an entry Maggie posted after her cancer returned is a poignant reminder not to sleepwalk through our precious lives, to be present even when things are difficult or painful.

think of all the things we take for granted (excuse my sounding like a hallmark card, but i am struck so often by these thoughts); just brushing teeth, rubbing cream on face, slicing apples for a pie, eating a bowl of coffee ice cream cold on tongue, feeling the road under my boots.....an endless sensory barrage that we don't even realize we are experiencing until it may be taken away; YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YA GOT TIL IT'S GONE, thank you joni mitchell. maggie

One of the things I love about cooking is experiencing the beauty of the ingredients. The unique color, shape and texture of each potato, the vivid chartreuse core you find when you cut into a leek, the crunchy, white crystals of Kosher salt, the thick, smooth surface on a cup of cream. It's a feast for the senses.

This is one of the simplest soups to make - you start by slicing the leeks and chopping the potatoes, then you saute the leeks in butter or oil.

Once they've softened, you add the cubed potatoes and saute a bit longer.

Then add the stock and bring it to a simmer until the potatoes are cooked through.

Then it's time to break out your trusty immersion blender - one of my top five favorite kitchen tools - and blend until smooth (or not, it's up to you so just blend until it reaches your desired consistency.)

Although I sometimes make this soup with chicken broth and cream, I made this batch with vegetable broth (I was making a batch at the same time from my frozen veggie scraps) and skipped the cream, making it vegan. It's good either way.

Top with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of fresh herbs - dill, fennel, thyme, marjoram - pretty much anything goes well.

-- print recipe --
Potato Leek Soup (Vichyssoise)
Serves 6

Ingredients

* 4 organic potatoes, cubed (peel them if you want a really smooth soup)
* 6 leeks, white parts only, washed well to remove any dirt or sand, and chopped
* 6 cups vegetable or chicken stock
* 1 cup of organic milk, 1/2 & 1/2 or cream (optional)
* 3 Tbsps olive oil or butter
* A generous handful of fresh herbs, rinsed and chopped (dill, fennel fronds, thyme, marjoram, cilantro, etc.)
* Sea salt to taste
* Freshly ground black pepper to taste
* Sour cream or crème fraîche (optional)

Directions

1. Heat the butter or oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the leeks and saute them until soft - about 4-5 minutes. Add the potatoes and continue to saute until softened, another 8-10 minutes.

2. Add the stock and bring to a simmer. Cook until the vegetables are completely softened, about 20 minutes. Add the milk or cream, if you're using it.

3. Puree the soup in the pot using an immersion blender (or in batches in the blender) until completely smooth or until it reaches your desired consistency.

4. Season to taste with the salt and pepper. Serve warm, topped with a dollop of sour cream or crème fraîche and a sprinkling of fresh herbs.

You might also like:

• Winter Squash & Pear Soup with Sage
• Potato Celeriac Gratin
• Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Garden Herbs & Garlic

For more delicious recipes, gardening ideas, foraging tips, and food-related inspiration "like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter and Pinterest.