Healthy White Bean and Wheat Berry Soup

Now that the holidays are officially over, it's time to swap out my "festive" (aka indulgent) eating habits for some healthier choices.   Since we are in the dead of winter, I thought I would start by sharing a recent creation that is healthy, packed with vitamins and perfect for keeping warm during this chilly time of year-- White Bean, Veggie and Wheat Berry Soup!  This soup is filled with an array of delicious flavors and it is without a doubt my favorite go-to meal at the moment.   While it may look like a slightly complex recipe, I can assure you that it is totally do-able and the number of servings this recipe yields also helps to justify the time spent in the kitchen preparing this dish.  If you have time for a little cooking session this weekend, I strongly suggest giving this recipe a try.  

Ingredients

• 3 Lg Shallots
• Olive Oil
• 2 5oz pkgs Shiitake Mushrooms
• 3c Cooked Wheat Berries
• 1 Yellow Onion (quartered and sliced thin)
• 1 1/2c Diced Celery (4 Stalks)
• 4 Parsnips Peeled and Diced
• 1 Leek - Cleaned and Chopped (See this Video)
• 1 Parmesan Cheese Rind
• Bouquet Garni (Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme)
• 9c Vegetable Broth
• 3c Water
• Kosher Salt
• Fresh Cracked Pepper 
• Whole Wheat Baguette (optional)

Initial Cooking Prep Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit
2. Slice 2 large shallots thinly, spread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
3. Lightly spray shallots with olive oil and sprinkle with salt
4. Bake for 5-8 minutes, until slightly crispy, set aside
5. Meanwhile, in a 12-inch skillet, heat 2Tbs Olive oil on medium heat
6. When hot, add 2 packages of shiitake mushrooms (stems removed), sprinkle with salt and a splash of vegetable broth
7. Cook mushrooms until tender (8-10min) and set pan aside

For the Soup

1. In a large dutch oven, heat 3Tbs olive oil over medium high heat
2. When oil is hot, add 1 shallot (thinly sliced) and cook until it begins to turn golden brown
3. Add celery, onions, parsnips and leeks to dutch oven.
4. Cook down (aka Sweat) vegetables until onions begin to look translucent (about 8-10min)
5. Add vegetable broth, water, parmesan cheese rind and bouquet garni to dutch oven and simmer for 30 minutes (covered)
6. Once simmered, remove bouquet garni and cheese rind
7. Add cooked wheat berries, shiitake mushrooms and drained cannelloni beans to soup
8. Simmer for an additional 10 minutes
9. Add salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.  **Note- you may need to add anywhere from 1-3tsp of salt to this recipe to properly season. 
10. Serve soup with a garnish of charred shallots on top and toasted whole wheat baguette slices on the side. 

Healthy Butternut Squash Soup

Over the weekend I had been on a serious hunt for white pumpkins in very specific size.  My primary resource for gourds has and continues to be Trader Joes, which I have been diligently visiting for the past few weeks (multiple times each week) hoping those pumpkins would come into stock.  In the process of regularly checking for pumpkins (which did end up coming in this past weekend- see my latest instagram post here), Trader Joe's gourd selection caught my eye.  Yes, they have a very robust and diverse selection, but what I found most exciting was that they were charging by the unit and not by the pound!  $1.99 per gourd regardless of size!!  If you have ever bought a butternut squash or spaghetti squash from a grocery store, you know how annoying it can be to see a price tag of sometimes $12 for a really large squash.  I mean come on!  Well of course I had to take advantage of this insanely great deal and ended up purchasing a number of different gourds (*Note-they can keep for up to 3 months if left unopened). 

Since we are only at the very beginning of soup season, I was going to hold off on sharing this recipe for a few more weeks, however in light of my recent findings at Trader Joes, I felt it was necessary to bump up the debut date for my Healthy Butternut Squash Soup recipe.  This recipe can be made to be vegan friendly, it's easy to make and full of both flavor and lots of vitamins.  There are a few equipment essentials that have made this recipe infinitely easier to make:

• An Immersion Blender (regular blender works too, but an immersion blender is my recommendation)
• A very sharp chef's knife for cutting up the squash (like this one- currently on sale!)
• A good peeler (see my post here, for my favorite peeler)
• A Dutch Oven (a big pot with lid works fine too)

All-in-all, this healthy soup is a must try recipe during the chilly fall and winter months.  

Ingredients

• 6c Vegetable Broth
• 1c Water
• 3 lbs Butternut Squash (Peeled and diced into 1" cubes)
• 4 Stalks Celery (Diced)
• 4 Carrots (Peeled and Diced)
• 1 Medium Yellow Onion (Diced)
• 3 Cloves of Garlic (Minced)
• 1 Large Sweet Potato (Cooked, Peeled and Diced)
• 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
• 1/4 tsp Fresh Ground Pepper
• 2 tsp Salt (+ more as needed to taste)
• 3 Tbs Olive Oil
• 2 Dried Bay Leaves
• Creme Fraiche (Garnish)
• Fresh Thyme Leaves (Garnish)

Instructions

1. Heat the Olive Oil on Medium high heat
2. Add garlic and cook until it starts to brown (about 2 minutes)
3. Add the diced onion, carrots and celery
4. Sweat the mirepoix on medium high for approximately 10 minutes
5. Add the vegetable stock, water and bay leafs to the pot and bring to a boil
6. Then add the butternut squash, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover with lid and cook for approximately 20-25min until squash is fork tender
7. Once squash is cooked through, turn off heat, remove bay leaves and with your immersion blender, blend contents until completely smooth
8. Add cooked sweet potato pieces to soup and use immersion blender to incorporate sweet potato into the soup until smooth. (*The sweet potato will give the soup some additional body)
9. Stir in Cinnamon, Cumin, Pepper and Salt.  (*Note- taste to see if more salt is needed and add accordingly)
10. Garnish soup with Creme Fraiche and Fresh Thyme Leaves.  This soup is great to serve with toasted baguette slices.  

Favorite Flavor Enhancers for Cooking

When it comes to cooking, I am all about creating dishes that are packed with flavor.  I love incorporating fresh spices and herbs into my recipes because they not only enhance the flavor, but also aid in the creation of unique and interesting dishes.  Over time as I have continued to improve my skills as home cook, there have been some great tips and techniques that I have learned along the way.  These techniques are super easy to include in your recipes  and make a huge difference with the overall flavor profile of final products/dishes (especially soups and roasted chicken and turkey).

Bouquet Garni

A bouquet garni is a selection of various herbs and other aromatic plants that are tied together with kitchen string for easy removal during cooking, after the desired flavor has been extracted. A bouquet garni is a staple ingredient that I use to flavor my various soup, stew and roast chicken recipes.  According to the Professional Chef (*a textbook used by Culinary Institute of America Students, and a favorite resource of mine), a standard bouquet garni consists of:

• 1 sprig thyme
• 3 or 4 parsley stems
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 or 3 leek leaves and/or 1 celery stalk, cut in half lengthwise
• 1 carrot, cut in half lengthwise (optional)
• 1 parsnip, cut in half lengthwise (optional)

I will be the first to admit that this is a lot to have on hand, especially given that you are only going to be using a small quantity of each ingredient.  I really am not a fan of wasting food, so I have come up with an alternative Bouquet Garni option.  What I like to do is purchase the Poultry Blend fresh herb package (contains Rosemary, Thyme and Sage) and tie the contents of the package together with kitchen string.  This makes for a wonderful flavor enhancing bundle that you can throw in a soup you are making or even in the cavity of a chicken or turkey that you are roasting.  My version of the bouquet garni is something I would definitely recommend trying in your next recipe.  It really makes a difference in the flavor and is so easy to do!  

Mirepoix

Mirepoix is the French name for a combination of onions, carrots and celery (aka the holy trinity of aromatics).  Just like the bouquet garni, I love using a mirepoix whenever I am making a soup or roasting a chicken.  The additional flavor and color that a mirepoix brings to the dish is unreal!  It can really take your flavor profile to the next level and again, so easy to do!  

Classic Mirepoix Recipe

• 2 Parts Onion
• 1 Part Celery
• 1 Part Carrots

If making a white stock or cream soup, use the White Mirepoix Recipe:

• 1 Part/4oz Onion
• 1 Part/4oz Celery or Celeriac
• 1 Part/4oz Parsnip
• 1 Part/4oz Leek

**For more information on the other types of mirepoix combinations, check out the Professional Chef

When cooking a soup, I will start out by sweating down a diced mirepoix and when roasting a chicken I like to fill the base of the roasting pan with chunkier mirepoix pieces. Whether you are directly incorporating the mirepoix (ex. in a soup) or indirectly (ex. roasting a chicken), these aromatics are a "must" in my recipes.

Parmesan Cheese Rind

Parmesan cheese rinds make for a fabulous flavor enhancer when cooking soups.  Simply add a rind as soon as the liquid in your soup comes to a boil (*if using a crockpot to make soup it's ok to add the rind at the beginning when everything is still cold) and let the rind simmer throughout the duration of the soups cooking.  The heat from the cooking will cause the parmesan cheese rind to slowly release rich and nutty flavor notes into your soup, leaving you with a finished product that is bursting with wonderful flavor.  Just remember to remove the rind before serving the soup!  In addition to cutting the rind right off of the parmesan cheese block, you can also find parmesan cheese rinds for sale at cheese shops or in the cheese section at some grocery stores.  Un-used rinds will keep for a long time and can be frozen or refrigerated.  This is a great use for something that would normally be discarded.

All three flavor enhancing techniques discussed in this post are easy to do, provide great flavor for your recipes and promote minimal wasting of food.  Try one or all of these techniques the next time you make a soup or roast a chicken.  At the very least, you can definitely count on seeing these techniques in recipes featured on Redefining Domestics.  

Slow Cooker Lentil Soup

While it may seem like Winter is this long, cold, dry, depressing season during the year, I have to say that I totally don't believe this to be true.  From snow skiing to the entirely different wardrobe I get to take advantage of during this season, winter has a bunch of wonderful things to offer.  However, my #1 reason for loving winter would have to be Soup Season!   

I love soup and during the winter, I seem to exist off of it!  Its so warm, comforting, delicious and can be very healthy.  Speaking of healthy, I have come up with a wonderful and very healthy Lentil Soup recipe made in my beloved Crock Pot!!  Oh how I LOVE my Crock Pot.  Just set it and forget it!  The best part about this recipe?  In addition to being inexpensive to make, it's delicious, nutritious and also vegetarian friendly!  This recipe yields many servings of soup, so I love to make it over the weekend and then my husband and I will reheat it during the week.  This slow cooker lentil soup is definitely worthy of being a staple in your recipe repertoire. 

Ingredients

• 1 Bag of Hurst's Brand Garlic & Herb Lentils (Harris Teeter and Publix carry this specific bag of lentils.  You can also order them in bulk from the Hurst's Store Website)
• 1 Medium Yellow Onion Diced Coarse
• 5 Stalks of Celery cut into 1/2inch pieces
• 1.5 Cups of Carrots cut into 1/2inch pieces
• 6 Cups Vegetable Broth
• 2 Cups Water
• 1 Parmesan Cheese Rind (Either Cut this off of a parmesan block that you buy or you can go to grocery stores like Whole Foods and buy a container of Just the Rinds--the rinds will keep in your fridge for months and are a staple in most of my soup recipes because of all of the flavor they add)
• 5 Cloves of Garlic Minced
• 3 Fresh Bay Leaves Cut in the Center (see image below)
• 2 Dried Bay Leaves
• 1/4Cup Fresh Chopped Parsley
• Fresh Baby Kale
• Fresh Shaved Parmesan

Instructions:

1. Add the Vegetable Broth and Water to the Crock Pot
2. Add the Lentils, Flavor Packet, Celery, Carrots, Onion, Garlic, Parmesan Cheese Rind, Fresh Bay Leaves, Dried Bay Leaves and Parsley to the Crock Pot
3. Stir contents and set Crock Pot to High 6hrs (Stirring Contents Every 2hrs)

4.  Once the Crock Pot transitions to Warm mode, the soup should be done and ready to serve.

5.  Add the baby kale to the bowl first, then ladle the soup over the baby kale (the kale will wilt in a few minutes.  This way you will have deliciously wilted kale that is bright green in color.  **Adding the kale to the crockpot to cook with the lentils will cause the Kale to turn a green/gray color.**

6.  Garnish with parmesan cheese shavings and serve!