No Meat March: Roasted Veggie Soup

Ironically, with this month being No Meat March, beef is back in the headlines. If you read my rather lengthy, but hopefully informative blog a few months back, A Better Beef, you may remember one of the topics - pink slime. Well it is back in the news. Pink Slime, also known as lean finely textured beef, is the meat filler that is treated with ammonia. Unfortunately, it is pretty common to find this filler in the beef you and your family may be eating.

Because people continue to demand better quality food, a couple of promising changes have occurred since the last time I wrote about this topic. Many news sources, ABC and CBC to name a couple, report that Taco bell, McDonald's and Burger King all are no longer using this filler in their meat. Also, last week, the USDA reported they will now give school cafeterias across the nation, the option to purchase two different types of beef - one with a low fat percentage, however with the use of filler OR a higher fat percentage beef. These are both great improvements!

Unfortunately, there is still more work to be done. It is still thought that up to 70% of grocery stores are still using this filler in the beef product they sell. The unfortunate part of this is there are still no laws about containing this information on the label, so you may not know.   What can you do?

Better Bonus Tips:

• Talk to your butcher, they might be able to tell you if the product they sell contains the filler
• Have your butcher grind up the meat fresh
• Shop at stores that have guaranteed no use - Whole Foods and Costco are a couple. As each day passes, more stores and saying they will start to provide meat that does not contain this filler
• Buy your beef from a local farmer that you can talk to about their process. Check out these websites to find local farmers' markets and farms near you: Local Harvest and Eat Wild
• Buy beef labeled organic

If you would like more information, below is one link from ABC news, but you can find many articles and videos out there. Do your own research. Decide what is important for you and your family.

ABC News

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Onto today’s blog...
What I love about cooking is, if you can devote time to learning instead of just following recipes (and what I'm hear to help with), you will notice cooking is really using the same techniques and changing ingredients. Soup is a perfect example of that.

I think soup is great, because you can really put anything into it and be creative.You can blend it up or keep it chunky. You can make it a broth based or cream based.  

My favorite way to make soup is with roasted vegetables. The flavor you get from roasting the veggies is amazing!

Here are some ideas for what to put into the soup:

• Parsnips
• Turnips
• Carrots
• Celery
• Cauliflower
• Broccoli
• Mushroom
• Asparagus
• Squash
• Beets
• Potato - sweet, russet, new, yukon, fingerling
• Greens - spinach, kale, arugula, cabbage
• Beans - garbanzo, cannellini, great northern, navy, kidney
• Onion - red, white, yellow, shallot, green scallions, leek

The foundation of my soup always consists of onion and garlic, wine, broth and a touch of cream. Then I use whatever veggies I have around the house from other meals or whatever is on sale that week.

This week, I made a roasted mushroom, asparagus and cauliflower soup. Give it a try or be creative with your own choices.

Roasted Veggie Soup
Servings: 4  

Ingredients:
Small head of cauliflower
One bunch of asparagus
Mushrooms, ½ lb
Onion, ½ large
Garlic, 3 cloves
Dry white wine, ¼ c
Broth - vegetable or chicken, 4 c
Cream, ¼ c
Oil
Salt
Pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Chop the cauliflower, asparagus and mushrooms and toss with oil and salt and pepper. Feel free to add any additional dried herbs from your spice cabinet if you would like.

Better Bonus Tips: If you plan on making a blended soup, don’t worry about spending a lot of time trying to chop your veggies in a consistent presentable shape. Keep them medium size - they will shrink when they roast and be easier to blend. If you are going to make a chunky, not blended soup, keep in mind the pieces will need to be small enough to eat with a spoon.

Roasted the veggies at 425 degrees for 25 - 35 minutes.  If you have a pan with sides, use that. 

Better Bonus Tips: If you plan to add greens, don’t roast them for the full time. They will take less than 10, so just add them later - you don’t want them to burn. If you plan to add beans - don’t put them in the oven at all, just add those to the pot of soup later. 

When the veggies are almost done roasting, add the chopped onion to a stock pot heated to medium heat. Cook the onion with a little oil, until translucent, 3-4 minutes. When the onion is almost done, add the garlic for the last 30 seconds to a minute. Make sure to not burn the garlic.

Better Bonus Tips:  I have found over the years of cooking, a lot of recipes direct you to add the onion and garlic to the pan at the same time. I disagree with this. I think the onion needs to cook longer and have found if I add at the same time, the garlic will burn before the onion is done.

Once the veggies are done cooking, remove from the oven.  Add the wine (or you can use broth) to the pan to help scrape up the crispy bits that have stuck to the pan.This is where using a pan with sides is helpful.

Better Bonus Tips:  Make roasted veggies as a side dish, by following the steps above prior to the point of adding the wine. 

Next, add the veggies and wine to the stockpot that is on the stove with the onion and garlic. Last, add the broth and cream.  

If you would like to blend the soup, I like to use an immersion blender.  If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can transfer the soup to a regular blender or food processor, but I recommend letting the soup cool some first. The heat of the soup and the heat of the blender working, can cause pressure and the lid to burst off the top, causing the soup to explode. 

Bring the pot of soup back to a boil and then reduce and let simmer for as long as you would like.

To serve, top the soup bowls with a piece of the veggie that is in the soup, crispy bacon, fried onion pieces, croutons, fresh herbs like chives or parsley, a swirl of cream, or any combination.

 










What combination did you try?

~Ashley