Tag: slow cooker

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It’s Orange-Colored Food Season

Did you know that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) advocates eating orange-colored food this time of year?

Without getting too deep into it, TCM interprets foods that are orange in color to be warming and as the weather gets colder, eating warming foods helps keep the body in balance.

My first thoughts when I think of orange food are memories from many years ago when I worked for a theater company (in administration). On the first day of rehearsal for every new show, there would be a mixer so that all of the administrative and production staff could meet the new cast. It was the tradition to serve what was affectionately called “orange food” — an extravaganza of all manner of orange junk food: Cheetos, goldfish crackers, Reese’s Pieces, you name it, with a tray of carrot sticks thrown in for good measure.

Although I am a big fan of Cheetos, I am pretty sure that it isn’t the kind of orange-colored foods that TCM is promoting. But if you think about it, TCM’s orange-colored food season does coincide with Trader Joe’s everything pumpkin season. Coincidence? Maybe not.

A few weeks ago, I was visiting a friend and she made a butternut squash soup. It was extra special because this friend does not like to cook. The gesture was not only thoughtful, but the soup was delicious. Last week, I was having a hankering for some orange-colored food (tis the season), and was remembering what a fun time we had together, so I decided to see if I could recreate the soup she made.

It was time to dust off the trusty slow cooker and try to whip up my own batch from memory. It didn’t quite turn out the way that I remembered (a hazard of not using a recipe or measuring) but it was still delicious (and easy).

Butternut Squash Carrot Ginger Soup

Ingredients

  • One onion, chopped
  • Three or four carrots, chopped
  • One butternut squash, peeled and chopped
  • Garlic (2 cloves or more)
  • Some ginger (I used two of the frozen cubes of ginger from Trader Joes – next time I will use more)
  • Some turmeric (at least a tablespoon)
  • Broth (I used chicken broth)
  • Can of coconut milk (I used light because that is what they had when I went to Trader Joes, also, I don’t know if I was supposed to use the whole can, but what was I going to do with the rest of it?)
  • Salt to taste

Process

  • Sauté the onion, carrots, and squash just to get it going a bit (~5 minutes)
  • Add the garlic, ginger, and turmeric, continue to sauté until it starts smelling like something is happening
  • Dump the container of broth, stir, cover,
  • Switch the cooker to slow and low and go about your day (you could always InstaPot for faster results)
  • Come back later (I let mine cook for 6 hours) and blitz it with the stick blender
  • Dump the coconut milk in, give it a good stir, see if it needs salt and you’re set (I let it go another hour with the coconut milk in because I wasn’t ready to have dinner yet)

Serving suggestions

  • A dollop of sour cream or crème fraiche
  • A sprinkle of scallions
  • A handful of pomegranate seeds
  • Croutons (or a grilled-cheese sandwich on the side)

I like this version much better than the butternut squash soup that I made last year. The next time I make it, I am going to be sure to use a lot more garlic, ginger, and turmeric – I think I would like it a bit jazzier.

Have you been eating more orange-colored food recently (other than Cheetos of course)? Got any great recipes to share?

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Soup Season, Part 1

Well winter has finally found her way to southern California. I don’t know why cold weather seems to be a particularly good reason to make soup, but Mr. Man and I have been souping up a storm around these parts. I suppose it is finally soup season.

Our favorite way to make soup is in the slow cooker. We have a fancy one with a sear setting that I use to sauté the onions and whatever other aromatics before switching to low and slow. I love using the slow cooker because I can throw everything together and then go off to do other things. Another great thing about making soup in the slow cooker is that there are plenty of opportunities to make adjustments if things aren’t turning out the way you want them to (a little Cayenne pepper can fix a lot). Here are some soups that we’ve made recently. *

*these aren’t actually proper recipes with measurements and specific ingredients; they are more like suggestions of things that you can throw in a pot.

Cream of Broccoli soup

Soup season started because my farm box delivery came with a big bunch of broccoli. I decided that a nice cream of broccoli soup would be a great way to use the stalks as well as the florets. It also allows a lot of leeway for you to decide where you want to fall on the healthy to indulgent continuum.

Here is how I’ve been making broccoli soup:

  • Dice one onion.
  • Roughly chop the broccoli stalks and remove the florets.
  • Sauté the onion and broccoli stalks in a good amount of butter until softened. Add a bit of salt and maybe a splash of white wine.
  • In a slow cooker combine sauteed vegetables with liquid (I like to use one carton of low-sodium chicken stock, but you can use four cups of water, some combination of any kind of broth/stock and water … whatever works for you), and the broccoli florets. Let it all cook for a while.
  • When everything is soft and starting to smell good, carefully go to work with your immersion blender. Or transfer to your blender and then back to the slow cooker. You should wind up with a creamy-ish puree. At this point, you have a fairly healthy soup but if you want to kick up the creaminess, you can add:
    • A cup of whole milk or cream (this is enough to give the soup a rich taste/texture).
    • OR … a bit of cream cheese,
    • OR … more butter,
    • OR … shredded cheese,
    • … you get the gist.

photo by Samee Anderson on Unsplash.
Thai Coconut Curry Chicken Soup

We had a package of boneless chicken thighs in the freezer that were just waiting for their moment of greatness as the centerpiece of a slow cooker meal and I finally decided to fake something up. Here is my completely made-up version of Thai Coconut Curry Chicken soup:

  • Seasoned the chicken thighs with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and ginger (I just used dried, powdered ginger).
  • Seared them (in the slow cooker or a pan) for about 5 minutes on each side. Put them on a plate to rest.
  • In whatever you used to sear the chicken: add some olive oil and sauté one onion and about an equal amount of chopped celery and carrots. Sauté for 5-10 minutes. Once it gets going it should pick up all the crusted-on chicken bits.
  • In your slow cooker, combine the softened veggies, the chicken, one jar of Trader Joes Thai Red Curry Sauce, and up to four cups of liquid. Let that cook for a while. Maybe add a chopped sweet potato (I love sweet with spicy, don’t you?). Eventually it should start smelling mostly like chicken soup with a bit of a kick. The longer you let it go, the more the flavors meld.
  • At some point, you are going to want to pull out the chicken and either chop or shred it.
  • When you get close to serving time (maybe an hour before, maybe less) add one can of coconut milk. This completely changes the complexion of the soup in a wonderful way.
  • If the liquid seems thin, don’t hesitate to add a bit of cornstarch dissolved in warm water, you want that thick, stew-style broth.

Serving suggestion: serve over rice.

The only problem with all the soup-making we’ve been doing this soup season is that I haven’t managed to make up a loaf of crusty bread to go with any of it! Thankfully, there is still time. I’ll share a couple more soup recipes next week. Do you have a favorite soup that you like to make? Do you use a slow cooker or the stovetop?