Orange Soup and More Boredom

Last weekend I visited a friend in Shelter Island; it was a brief but much needed 24-hours spent out of the city. We made an amazing dinner and had a very cold walk along the beach. If I was rich, I’d definitely buy in Shelter Island before buying in the Hamptons.

My friend is now out of the country for a few weeks so she gave me all of the veggies in her fridge to use up in her absence. Last night after my walk, I needed to cook, so I decided to make soup using all of the veggies I had, which all happened to be orange. I puréed the soup, and it turned out to be one of the best soups I’ve ever made – using a random mix of orange veggies. So here is the recipe for what I call “orange soup”. It’s also healthy and eats like a meal if you throw in some bread or croutons (I’ve also been on a focaccia making kick this week).

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 shallot, minced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 carrots (chopped)
• 2 orange bell peppers (chopped – make sure to strip seeds and white ribs)
• 2 large stalks of celery (finely chopped)
• 1 large sweet potato (peeled, and cut into small cubes)
• 1 large Idaho (or white/yellow variety potato) (peeled and cut into cubes)
• 1 box organic and free-range chicken stock or vegetable stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 TBS curry powder
• 1 TBS turmeric
• 1 TBS smoked paprika
• 2 Tsp cumin
• 1 TBS granulated sugar or honey
• pinch of cayenne
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup oat milk or dairy alternative of your choice
• enough olive oil to coat the bottom of your large soup pot (1/4 cup?)
• OPTIONAL (to serve): finely chopped spring onions and/or small dollop of sour cream

DIRECTIONS:

• Coat the bottom of a large soup pot with olive oil and turn to low heat
• Add in minced shallot and celery and saute on low heat for 4 min., stirring occasionally
• Add in minced garlic and bay leaf, cook over low heat for another 2 minutes
• Add in chopped peppers and cook over low heat for another 3 minutes
• Add in entire box of stock, plus 1-1.5 cups water and turn heat to high
• Add in curry powder, smoked paprika, and turmeric
• once water is boiling, add in chopped carrots and potatoes and boil over medium heat for 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are soft (you can either test with a fork or sample one to make sure it’s soft)
• Once all veggies are cooked through, remove bay leaf
• Blend entire contents of pot in a blender over medium heat (you’ll likely have to blend 1/3 of the soup at a time, and add blended mix back into pot as you use a ladle to scoop out chunks to blend) ***It’s OK if the soup has some chunks – texture is good, mmm’kay, class?***
• Once the soup is blended, continue to cook over medium-low heat and add in sugar, oat milk, salt/pepper, and pinch of cayenne
• OBVIOUSLY you’ll want to taste your soup to see if it needs more of any ingredient
• Once the soup tastes to your liking, remove from heat and serve in a bowl with finely chopped spring onions and/or a small dollop of sour cream
• Enjoy 🙂

I love soup, but you all know this if you know me. I am a soup junkie; I could live on it. Maybe I would lose weight if I lived on soup…probably not though – that’s my luck.

I made mushroom barely earlier this week. I fucking love the combo of sour cream and dill (must be the 1/4 Pole in me) so I topped it with that. I am also a sucker for any soup that contains loads of fiber, because I basically consume 1/2 a jumbo-sized pot at a time, and need to make sure I’m going to lose the weight the next day (if you know what I’m saying). Barley and lentils are my go-to ingredients for soup. I’ve been itching to make a seafood chowder or bisque, but unfortunately dairy substitutes don’t cut it for those (in my opinion). They are also high in fat and calories due to the butter-flour roux and heavy cream content. In a perfect world, I’d be eating a thick, seafood chowder every day. Now I am sitting her dreaming of crab corn chowder…

I feel slightly better than I have been feeling since I finally have some fresh hair. My roots and whites were coming in strong. My natural hair is basically dirty blonde at this point in my life. I don’t know how I went from a red-headed child to this, but I don’t like it. I finally squeezed in a couple of hours for my fiance to dye my hair (yes, he’s better than most of the hairdressers I’ve been to, and free LOL).

My natural color at this point is the color of my eyebrows but with heavy white thrown in around the temples. Not a good look for me. Also, why the fuck are the white hairs a totally different texture than my other hairs? Like, they’re coarse and unruly… pubes coming out of my scalp. Sorry for that graphic image.

I really need someone to cook for. Maybe I should open a soup kitchen LOL.