Roasted Garlic Chowder

Last weekend I did something I have yet to have done in the kitchen: roasting whole garlic heads. Basically take off as much of the outer layers as possible and leave the head and all of its cloves intact. Put them on a sheet of foil, drizzle some olive oil, and salt and pepper, and wrap them up tight. Put them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. Let the cloves cool and then you'll be able to easily pop the cloves out of their skin. They will be soft and sweet. You will want to do the same thing to some shallots if you're going to make roasted garlic soup.

Once everything is cool and skinned you can add them to a pot that already has some sauteed onions in it. Add in some white wine, boil for a bit, add in some skinned and cubed potatoes, and let simmer until the potatoes are soft. 

You'll want to divide the soup in half, getting the majority of the chunks, to liquify and add back to the pot. However, make sure you let it cool enough before blending, or.... you'll add up with one BIG mess! and maybe some burns. 

I accidentally exploded the lid of my blender from the heat of the liquid. Not only was it a huge mess, I burned some of my arm, but got it under control right away- I slathered mustard on my arm to suck out the heat- and yes that works.  After getting this all cleaned up I managed to save a good portion of the soup, and it ended up being delicious. The only downfall is that since this soup was loaded with potato, which is very starchy, and I do not eat a lot of starch any more, it made me super sleepy. I think I am going to make this again but using only have potato and half cauliflower. 

For the actual recipe check out Once Upon a Cutting Board.

Mushroom Soup

You may often think of cream of mushroom soup as an ingredient in most casseroles, but I do love mushrooms, but a gluten free version was hard to find for several years. I have been down the road of making cream of mushroom soup before, however that was a long time ago before I knew the difference between pressure canning and water bath canning, and I ended up growing some serious bacteria. I did not let that experience ruin my love for mushrooms and mushroom soup, so I worked off of this recipe from Skinny Jeans Food, although I did not follow it to the letter. Shocker, right? I only use recipes as a guideline.

In this instance, I did not use dry mushrooms, but button and portabellos.  I sauteed the mushrooms to start, with the garlic and onions, and then added them into the broth, with the drained chickpeas, and almond milk. I smoothed about half of the overall pot in the blender, which made the soup slightly more of a chowder, but still thin. I really liked the soup, although not super appealing to the eye, so I didn't bother taking a picture. Next time I would use even more mushrooms, and I think I would swap out the chickpeas for some cauliflower. 

Coconut Curry Soup

I picked up a can at the grocery outlet because I generally like what Amy's has to offer. This soup, was just ok. I'm trying to expand my love of soup, and for less than $2 a can I figured it was worth a try but it just wasn't my style.