If your counter looks anything like mine, it’s probably that time of year when you gather up your haul of tomatoes and turn them into soup. Tomatoes are best stored and eaten warm, so you’ll probably be starting with tomatoes at room temperature. Plan on making this recipe early enough in the day that it has time to cool thoroughly. It will be worth it, especially on these hot, humid, late summer days. Continue reading
Category Archives: Soups
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Watermelon Gazpacho
Beautiful color, beautiful flavor, beautiful summer food. Something different and delicious…
8 cups watermelon (peeled from rind, seeded, and chopped)
3 pickling cucumbers (approx 6 inches long), diced
1 red bell pepper (cored, seeded, and diced)
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. green onions, chopped
3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 tsp. salt
Mix together all the ingredients in a large bowl.
Measure two cups of the ingredients into a blender or food processor, and pulse until chunky (not smooth). Collect the blended ingredients in a pitcher.
Continue to blend one small batch at a time until just 1/2 cup of the unblended mixture remains. Add this to the pitcher without processing, and stir. Refrigerate for at least 2 hrs, and serve chilled. Garnish as desired with more basil or parsley.
Yield: 6+ cups
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: The Very Best Gazpacho Recipe
It’s August, and I’m posting a gazpacho recipe every week for the entire month! Gazpacho is soup and salad, both at the same time. This one is made with golden tomatoes, and it looks as good as it tastes.
Chief Cook-and-Bottle-Washer brought home a tray of golden, acid-free tomatoes one Friday, and I had my eye on them from the minute they entered the house. We ate a few on Friday night, and more on Saturday. Then I couldn’t resist, and I swooped in on Sunday morning to pulverize the rest! Chief C&BW said it was okay, he would go buy more. Thank you, Chief. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Cucumber Gazpacho
This is the time of year for gazpacho, so get ready! I’m going to post some of my favorite traditional tomato gazpacho recipes in the coming weeks, but we’re starting with something a little different — cucumber gazpacho. Salad in a soup. I made a slightly different version of this gazpacho last night, and the avocado gave it a super creamy texture. Such a great way to get your veggies, to start your day with leftover gazpacho for a slightly unorthodox breakfast, and to fill your waiting belly with a pile of phytonutrients! Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Canned Soup
Let’s say you have no get-up-and-go. Let’s say you did, but you used it all up dealing with your boss, your kids, your spouse, your self, your neighbor, your coworker, or your pandemic. Then let’s say that it’s dinnertime and you wish you had it in you to throw together something more nourishing than breakfast cereal or potato chips, but you don’t. What follows is a great recipe for when that day comes. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Orange Soup (Marak Katom)
In the past week I received a lot of requests for Orange Soup (mah-RAHK kah-TOME), which I mentioned as having been my inspiration for last week’s Purple Soup (mah-RAHK seh-GOL) recipe. So I checked out a whole lot of recipes, and I used those plus the large pot of Orange Soup I made two weeks ago to come up with a version to share here. Please note that you will need an immersion blender to make Orange Soup. And, in case you like words and their derivations, Marak Katom is named for its orange color, which happens, in Hebrew, to be a completely different word (kah-tome) than the fruit (tah-pooz). Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Purple Soup
In Jerusalem, “Orange Soup” (Marak Katom, or מרק כתום), made with a mixture of sweet potatoes, carrots, and squash, is very popular at this time of year. When I was at the market last week buying ingredients for orange soup, I also noticed some beautiful purple potatoes and, nearby, packages of carrots like jewels, ranging from butter yellow to crimson to dark purple. Prior to the vendor realizing I was buying the ingredients for orange soup, he tried to convince me to buy the purple potatoes instead of the sweet potatoes. He had a recipe in mind, too, and suggested that I consider making mashed purple potatoes. A nearby customer even joined in to say that they are delicious with a little bit of thyme and date syrup. “You won’t regret it!” she said. Once the vendor realized my intention for the sweet potatoes, however, he raised his palms toward me, tipped his head slightly, and said something to the effect of “Oh, well, okay, in that case!” Orange soup is the kind of recipe that everyone makes in their own slightly different way but, at the end of the day, orange soup is orange soup and it’s not to be messed with. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: A Week of Menus and Recipes
I suppose it was inevitable, but last week I entered quarantine in a small apartment in Jerusalem for up to two weeks. Purely a precaution, no worries. Plus, there’s a balcony. And sunshine and wifi, so I am totally fine. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Avocado Soup
In honor of the new Vitamix recently delivered to the home of my son-in-law and daughter, I decided to post one of the most inspired and creative cold soup recipes that I’ve ever seen. I’ve been holding onto this one for a long while for just such an occasion as this.
If you’re bummed because you have most, but not all, of the ingredients in this recipe, as long as you have a ripe avocado I would just go for it. And the garnishes are strictly optional. Avocado soup is total delicious goodness. And if, after recent months, you’re looking for something really satisfying in a cozy, winter lockdown kind of way, but that doesn’t include sugar in the ingredient list, this is a great choice. Maybe it’s the nourishing fats from the avocado, or the heat from the jalapeño, but it’s gonna warm you from the inside out and you’ll be really glad you made it.
Complementary Colors: Nourishing Yourself from the Inside Out (with recipe)
One thing you may not know about me is that one of my casual hobbies is interior decorating. I’ve picked out paint colors for my friends, rearranged their furniture, and weighed in on frame choices, picture positioning, and all kinds of related activities. Have you ever heard of decorating with complementary colors? Have you ever even heard of complementary colors? It’s when you choose two colors from opposite sides of the color wheel, like purple and yellow, orange and blue, or red and green. They usually clash just a little bit, which confers added visual interest. Here are some examples: A pink pillow that makes a pale green couch really SING! Or a wrapped bunch of lavender stalks in a pale yellow vase on a lemon-yellow tablecloth strewn with tiny purple violets. Or a ceramic bowl painted in stripes of turquoise and orange. And that brings me to sweet potatoes and kale. Continue reading