Carrot & Goat Cheese Soup

Is there anything better than a big, warm bowl of soup on a cold Fall day?  Not in my book, especially if the soup calls for just 7 easy ingredients and can be made in about 20 minutes.  And that’s if you chop it.  For the absolute fastest cooking time, grate the ingredients before adding them to the pot and they’ll cook in a flash.  If you’d rather chop them to a rough dice, that’s fine too; the cooking time will be slightly longer.   Use soft goat cheese for this recipe.  It’ll melt into the carrot and potato and make for a really smooth, creamy texture.  The potato thickens the soup and adds substance.

Go on, get outside!

I love that this meal comes together so quickly.  Even on the busiest, craziest of days, you can still get this one going as soon as you get in the front door, and let it simmer while you get a few other things done, and then sit down for a satisfying, warm, flavorful meal.  Or, pack it into a thermos, grab a few slices of bread, and bring it on one last hike in the beautiful Autumn woods.

Carrot & Goat Cheese Soup

3 tablespoons oil
1 yellow onion, diced
4-5 large carrots, peeled & grated
1 medium potato, peeled & grated
4 cups / 1 liter water (to make this faster, add hot or boiling water; otherwise cold is fine)
1 teaspoon salt; more to taste if needed
1 – 200 g container of soft goat cheese
chives, optional

In a medium-sized heavy bottom pot, heat the oil and then add the diced onion.  Cook until the onion is soft and translucent; about 5 minutes.  While the onion cooks, bring 4 cups/1 liter of water to a boil.

Add the carrots, potato and water to the pot.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and allow to cook until the vegetables are soft: 10 – 15 minutes depending on how you cut them.  Turn off the heat and, using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth (alternatively you can pour the hot soup into a blender or food processor and blend it there).  Add the goat cheese and salt and stir until the goat cheese has melted and is fully incorporated into the soup.  Taste and adjust seasoning.  Garnish with chives, if desired.  Serve with bread and maybe a small side salad.

Serves 4.

Sweet Pepper & Goat Cheese Tart

Here’s a savory tart that matches the colors of a beautiful Fall day.  Like this one.  The sun is shining in through my window this morning and I love the feel of the heat on my face, even though I know it’s close to freezing outside.

This is my favorite season, and I plan to relish it, outside whenever possible, until every last leaf is gone and snow covers everything.  But you gotta eat.  And if you plan to get out into the great wild wonder that surrounds us, you’ll need some serious sustenance.  This tart really delivers in flavor and nutritional value, with a crispy crust that shatters slightly underneath the tines of your fork, and the creamy goat cheese melting into the pepper combined with the mouthwatering flavors from the herbs.

Try this making this with oat milk, even if you aren’t lactose intolerant.   The oat milk works so well here, adding to the creaminess and creating a lightness in the custard that holds the whole tart together.

It will leave you smiling for hours afterward.  Especially if for some reason there are leftovers and you can have another slice later.

Sweet Pepper & Goat Cheese Tart

Sweet Pepper & Goat Cheese Tart

Heat oven to  200°C/425°F

1.  Make the crust

1 cup / 2.5 dl oatmeal
1/3 cup / 1 dl flour; preferably whole grain (I like barley flour in this; gluten-free flour also works well)
1 large carrot, grated
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and stir to thoroughly combine.  Make sure the carrot strands are mostly separated and covered in flour.  Pour the olive oil over and stir well to combine. Press the crust into the bottom of a tart pan and up the sides.  Bake for 10 minutes until crust is golden brown.

2.  While the crust bakes, make the filling

2 tablespoons rapeseed or other cooking oil
3 sweet peppers (I like to use one each of orange, yellow and red)
1 small onion, diced
1.5 teaspoons salt
1.5 teaspoons Italian seasoning (or 1/2 teaspoon each rosemary, oregano and thyme)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 – 200g log of goat cheese, sliced, each sliced halved, and each halved cut into thirds
3 eggs
1.5 cups / 4 dl of oat milk or cow’s milk

Place a heavy-bottom pan over medium-high heat and pour in the oil.  When the oil is hot, add the onions and cook until they are tender and translucent.  Add the peppers and cook until the begin to soften a bit; 5-6 minutes.  Add the salt, herbs and pepper, stir to combine, and remove from heat.

Beat the eggs in the bowl you use for the crust, add the milk, and beat again to combine thoroughly.

3.  Assembly

Remove the crust from the oven and turn the temperature down to 190°C/375°F.  Spread the goat cheese across the crust in a single layer, then spread the pepper-onion mixture over the top.  Pour the egg mixture evenly over the vegetables and cheese.  Place the tart into the hot oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the tart is set.  Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes.  Serve with a side salad.

Serves 4-6.

Nearly ready to bake

Pear, Purple Cauliflower, Walnut & Savoy Cabbage Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

As I look out my kitchen window this morning as I sit writing this blog and enjoying the lingering scent of sourdough pancakes and the energy in my legs after my morning run, I’m forced to accept the fact that Winter is coming.  It’s snowing out there.

Sure, the flakes are light and few and scattered; they won’t stick.  And the trees I see both near my apartment and across the sea are still full of their glorious Fall colors:  mostly yellows, some oranges, and a smattering of red among the steady green of the pine and fir trees.  But the ground is now covered with leaves carrying those same bright colors, meaning that the beauty is fleeting and this colorful season is slowly decaying under the steady onset of the much colder one.

There is never a year when I embrace Winter.  It’s gotten easier for me as I’ve come to mostly understand what is waiting around the corner as the darkness descends and the temperatures drop, but I never really love it.  It’s not the darkness that bothers me; it’s the cold.  The seemingly endless days of subzero temperatures sometimes combined with howling winds make me want to duck my head down, head back indoors, and snuggle in under a warm down blanket until the whole thing blows over.

But when you live in a place where long, cold, dark winters are inevitable, hunkering down for the duration of it is not really an option.  So I am learning to take a deep breath, make some satisfying food, connect with friends, buy a warmer hat, coat, gloves, boots.  Learn to cross country ski!   Ah…but thankfully, not yet.  It’s just a little snow, and it won’t stick.  There are still at least a few days ahead for hikes and runs through the woods, leaves crunching underfoot, and mushrooms to be found.  There are still days where the wind blowing through my hair doesn’t have a bitter freezing chill.  And then there are the dense, satisfying foods of late Fall and Winter that pull us through.

When I bought a giant head of Savoy Cabbage from the Slow Food Farmer’s Market in Fiskars, I had  no idea how much mileage I was going to get out of it.  Cabbage has a long shelf life if refrigerated properly, so mine is as crisp and sweet now as it was the day I bought it.  As I get closer and closer to the center of the cabbage, the color of the leaves gets lighter and (maybe I’m imagining this) even sweeter.

So after putting cabbage into a fall salad with apple, and into a casserole with curry and chicken, I am still left with a sizable piece.  The first salad was so delicious that I decided to make another one, using the theme of winter produce, but pairing it with a  sweet-tangy raspberry vinaigrette, and rounding it out with toasted walnuts.

This is a simple to make and a delight to eat – crunchy, flavorful, and satisfying.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Pear, Purple Cauliflower, Walnut & Savoy Cabbage Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

Pear, Purple Cauliflower, Walnut & Savoy Cabbage Salad 
            with Raspberry Vinaigrette

1.  Make the Raspberry Vinaigrette

In a small glass jar with a lid, combine and shake well:
2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
4 tablespoons quality extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup (or you could use liquid honey instead)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Set the mixture aside to allow the ingredients to meld while you make the salad.

2.  Assemble the salad

In a bowl combine:
1.5 cups of thinly sliced Savoy Cabbage
1 cup purple cauliflower (or you could use green or white cauliflower too)
1 large pear, peeled, cored and diced; reserve a few slices for garnish
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted; reserve a tablespoon for garnish*

Pour the Raspberry Vinaigrette over the salad and toss with clean hands to combine thoroughly.  Top with a few slices of pear and a sprinkling of walnuts.

Serves 4 as a side salad or 2 as a main course.

*I find the easiest way to toast walnuts is in a heavy-bottomed frying pan, preferably cast-iron.  Heat the pan over medium high heat.  Chop or crush the walnuts and pour them into the hot pan.  Shake the pan or stir the walnuts frequently so they don’t burn, and toast them until they are lightly browned an fragrant.  Pour them out of the pan and onto a plate, and proceed with the recipe above.