Gingered Carrot Sweet Potato Soup

I bought a new cookbook.  I need another cookbook like I need another hole in my head.  But, it caught my eye and has SO many recipes that look tasty.  Today as I was making the kids lunch I popped this into the crock pot - so easy and so few ingredients.  Looks pretty strange for me, but we'll see!  I am on Weight Watchers, so this is a great recipe for me - only a few points per serving!

1 medium-large sweet potato

6 medium carrots

1 medium-large sweet onion

1 inch long piece of ginger

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

salt and pepper to taste

Yogurt or heavy cream or creme fraiche - optional

Peel sweet potato and chop into 1 inch pieces.  Peel carrots an chop into 3/4 inch pieces.  Peel onion and chop into 3/4 inch pieces.  Add all vegies to crock pot.  Peel ginger and mince (or grate) into crock pot.  Add broth.  If using canned broth, hold off on salt & pepper to see if you need it. Cover and cook on LOW until veggies are tender 9-11 hours.

Turn off slow cooker, uncover and allow soup to cool a few minutes.  Puree in blender or food processor.  Obtain the smoothest consistancy possible, so let the blender go for a few minutes.  Check the seasonings and add salt and pepper if needed.  Serve hot or cold and garnish with yogurt or cream as desired.

Nancy's Take:  I wanted something this simple to taste wonderful!  I wanted to love it.  And, in a small dose I think it is good.  But, a big bowl is just too much.  I could see having it at a formal dinner as one of several courses.  But, who entertains like that???  I did bite the bullet and buy a stick blender and it was amazing!!  I can't wait to get more use from it.

Dave's Take: I've had versions of carrot soups before and I don't think I really care for soups from carrots.  The consistency reminded me of baby food.  The ginger in the soup was interesting and gave it a nice kick.  Nancy and I spoke about the potential of using this soup as some sort of sauce.  It might be rather nice over some rice or chicken.  I didn't ask for seconds.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

I was supposed to make dinner for dinner-club.  But, I ended up not doing so (long story).  So, I had a ton of broccoli and only a few days to use it.  Since it is cold in Chicago I went searching for broccoli soup recipes.  Broccoli cheese soup is not usually a favorite of mine, but I figured I'd give it a try...

1 qt chicken broth (or vegetable)
2 cups milk (I used skim)

2 10 oz bags of frozen broccoli florets (I used fresh broccoli)

1/2 diced white onion

1/2 t black pepper

1/2 t kosher salt

1/2 t ground nutmeg

1 cup each of three different cheeses (I used jarlsberg, gruyere, and velveta)

Mince the onion into really small pieces.  The onions are going to soften in the milk and the broth, and need to be quite small so you don't crunch on onion pieces when the soup is complete.

Add the onion to your crockpot, and top with the milk, broth, and spices. Stir in the two frozen bags of broccoli.

Cook on low for 7-9 hours, or on high for 4-6. The broth is done when the onion is cooked nicely.

20 minutes or so before serving, shred all the cheese you are going to use, and stir it in. The cheese will be stringy and will stick to the broccoli florets.

Serve with your favorite rolls.

If you want a smoother texture, use a hand held stick blender to blend some of the large broccoli florets.  I don't have one, so didn't use one.

Nancy's Take:  I really liked the flavor - super yummy.  I liked the broccoli a lot.  The only thing I was unsure about was the consistency - very thin.  But, it tasted very rich and good.  The girls enjoyed dipping their bread and chicken in it for flavor.  But, they did not eat big spoonfuls.  The only soup they really dig into is Chicken Noodle - made by my mom.  They (especially Erin) love it!! 

Dave's Take:  I always look forward to a good Broccoli and cheddar soup.  What I didn't know was how much a fan I am of a SMOOTH broccoli and cheddar soup.  The taste of this soup was pretty good and I did ask for and finish seconds, but the cheese seemed to clump up to the pieces of broccoli and the broth was rather thin.  One thing Nancy and I said should be done differently in preparation next time was to blend the final soup in a blender or use one of those hand blenders.  So bottom line, taste good.  Texture, needs improvement.