Spinach, "Rice", and Egg Soup

This is a very simple, yummy soup. The inspiration comes from a recipe in the De Luca's cookbook. Enjoy!

Spinach, "Rice", and Egg Soup

Ingredients

9 cups stock (chicken is best)

1 cauliflower, riced (chopped in a food processor until it's the texture of rice)

1 Tbsp olive oil

4 cups spinach, coarsely chopped

4 eggs

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

fresh grated nutmeg, to taste

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Bring the stock to a boil in a large soup pot.

2. Add the cauliflower and simmer until tender.

3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan and cook the spinach until wilted. Set aside to cool.

4. Whisk the eggs with the nutritional yeast, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

5. Mix in the spinach.

6. Stir the egg mixture into the stock. Let the soup heat up for a few minutes.

7. Taste and adjust seasonings. 

8. Serve with a sprinkle of extra nutritional yeast, if desired.

Wonderful Pork Hocks

I love pork hocks. The first time I bought some, I only bought them because they were one of the cheapest cuts of meat available. Since then, I've learned how wonderful these neglected little bits of meat are.They have many uses, and the meat is rich and fatty and full of porky goodness. Honestly, is there any better meat than pork? Especially if they're heritage Mule Foot and Berkshire Pigs, which have really flavourful, rich, and fatty meat.

Pork hocks are kind of like pig ankles, they're the cut right above the feet (which are also really great). The stuff I get includes meat, bone, skin, and fat. This is great, because I can use them for so many things!

The skin

Soup is the best thing to make with pork hocks, and I'm going to share a recipe for a soup/stew with pork hocks. Soup is best because not only do you get an amazingly delicious pot of soup, but you also get skin for cracklings, fat for cooking with, and if you don't use the meat in the soup, you can use it for other things. Maybe carnitas, cooked in the fat? Mmmm, that would be yummy. But I'm using the meat in the soup... hmm... Nope, I'll stick with the soup. It tastes just as great and it'll last longer.

To make the soup, first I cooked the hocks overnight in the slow cooker on low with some water and apple cider vinegar after letting it sit in the vinegar water for a few hours (pork needs to be marinated in an acidic medium). In the morning, I separated the meat, bones, skin, and fat. The meat gets chopped up and is later tossed into the soup, the bones remain in the soup, the fat can later be rendered and used for cooking, and the skin can be fried for cracklings. Mmmm, those cracklings were just stinkin' DELICIOUS! Crispy, fatty, salty, chewy, yummy, porky goodness. I don't even know how to "properly" make cracklings. I just sprinkled the softened skin with salt and pepper, cut it into chunks, and stuck it in a frying pan. You don't even need any oil because the fat that sticks to the skin is more than enough. Yeah, as delicious as the meat is, I think the skin is definitely the best part. Bonus: the skin spent some hours in the broth, giving it enough time to infuse the soup with lots of that wonderful, healing substance known as gelatin.

Mmmmm... cracklings

Black-Eyed Pea and Pork Hock Soup/Stew

Just a warning, this does take a long time (as in, make it the day before you want it), but most of that time is just waiting. Also, this makes a lot, so you'll have leftovers for later in the week or to freeze. And this is definitely worth the wait!

Ingredients

2 large pork hocks

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 huge onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

4 carrots, chopped

optional: 2 bell peppers, chopped

2 medium sweet potatoes

1 tsp each: thyme, oregano, rosemary, smoked paprika

2 bay leaves

8 cups soaked black-eyed peas (more or less, depending on whether you want a soup or stew)

28 oz can of whole tomatoes, chopped, or can of chopped tomatoes

2 bunches kale, thinly sliced or chopped (if you can get collard greens, definitely use them! Superstore has a very limited greens section, so I chose kale) cabbage could be nice, if you want to try something different

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. The day before you want some soup/stew, put the pork hocks in a slow cooker with the apple cider vinegar and cover with water. Refrigerate for a few hours, it doesn't really make a huge difference how many; do this either in the morning or afternoon.

2. Turn the slow cooker on to low and let the hocks cook overnight.

3. Separate the skin form the fat, the fat from the meat, and the meat from the bones. Throw the bones back into the broth. Chop the meat into bite-sized pieces and set aside. Keep the fat, render it, and use it for other dishes. Fry the skin with salt and pepper to make cracklings (have it with your breakfast instead of bacon!)

4. Add the black-eyed peas, onion, garlic, celery, carrots, sweet potatoes, spices, bay leaves, tomatoes, and optional bell peppers to the broth with the bones. Cook on low. (You don't really need the amount of time, do you? I just say it's finished when I want dinner. Or, just cook until everything's tender. Most things take about 8 hours on low.) You can add some water if you want it soupier.

5. About 30 minutes before the soup/stew is done, add the kale and meat and cook until the kale's wilted.

6. Add salt and pepper, then taste to adjust for seasonings.

7. Serve with some paleo cornbread muffins, and enjoy!

Turkey Vegetable Soup

This works with chicken too, just use two carcasses instead of one, or halve all the other ingredient amounts. Yummy turkey soup is a great way to warm up, get healthy if you're sick, stay healthy if you're not, or just to enjoy! It's also really quick to make if you have the stock and meat on hand.

Turkey Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

1 meaty turkey carcass, made into stock, meat reserved and chopped (include 1 bay leaf and a large chunk of ginger in the stock, remove the meat as soon as it's cooked then add the bones back to the pot to keep simmering)

2 stalks of celery, sliced

2 medium onions, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

2 bell peppers, chopped (yellow, orange ore red is best, and a combination looks really pretty)

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 bunches of kale, thinly sliced

1 tsp each of thyme, sage, basil, oregano (dried, or triple quantities if fresh)

2 tsp dried rosemary (or 2 Tbsp fresh)

optional: 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp turmeric (for a slight curry flavour)

salt and pepper, to taste

2 Tbsp oil

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large soup pot.

2. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until lightly browned. 

3. Add the celery and carrots and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Add the bell pepper, cook for another 2-3 minutes.

5. Add the garlic and all other seasonings. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

6. Pour in the turkey stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer until the vegetables are just tender.

7. Add the kale and turkey meat. Cook until the kale is wilted and all vegetables are tender. Taste to adjust for seasonings.

Thai Green Soup

I actually made this as a sauce for curried mushroom and butternut squash cabbage rolls (sounds really really weird, but it actually tasted great-I'll post the recipe tomorrow!), but it made too much, so I ate the leftovers as a soup. It's creamy and green, and it's super healthy and delicious. Did I mention it's easy? Just throw everything in a blender! This tastes great cold, warm, and room temperature. Making your greens into this silky smooth and deliciously creamy soup is a fast and easy way to eat lots of them! If you get sick of eating this as a soup, just use it as a sauce. I bet it would taste great on spaghetti squash, meat, fish, eggs, or as a salad dressing. Experiment, you might find something delicious!

For extra flavour, add broth instead of water

Creamy Green Soup

1 bunch kale, lightly steamed (or raw, if you're not concerned with oxilates)
1 cup peas, fresh or frozen and defrosted/steamed with the kale
1 handful parsley
1/2 avocado
juice of 1 1/2 limes
1 can coconut milk
water, to thin

Directions

1. Throw everything in a blender and puree until smooth and creamy. Add enough water to achieve desired consistency.

Look how bright and vivid the green is!

2. That's it!

Fully blended soup

Butternut Squash Puree

This is so simple and easy, and it's super delicious! I'm definitely going to make this again; it was so good! Maybe I'll try some variations, roasted red pepper and thyme instead of the ginger? It's a pretty basic recipe, so if inspiration hits, feel free to add any additions that sound good to you. Save the seeds from the butternut squash, they're great toasted and used as a garnish.

Coconut Ginger Butternut Squash Puree 

Ingredients

1/2 butternut squash, cut into small squares (the bottom half)
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2-inch knob of ginger, chopped; or 1/2 Tbls dried ginger
1 cup coconut milk
salt pepper, to taste
coconut oil, melted

Directions

Not all of my squash fit into my mini
food processor, so I just mashed
it up and added it in at the end.

1. Set you oven to 450*F.

2. Toss the butternut squash cubes with salt, pepper, and coconut oil to coat. Roast in the oven for about an hour, or until tender. (Mine were all piled on top of each other in a small dish, so they might not take so long if spread out on a cookie sheet)

3. Meanwhile, saute the onion over medium heat in some more coconut oil.

4. When the onion is lightly browned, add the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute or two. (If using dried, just add the ginger to the food processor with the rest of the ingredients)

5. Put the onion mixture into a food processor along with the coconut milk. Puree for a few seconds. 

6. Add the roasted squash and puree until smooth. Taste, and add more salt, pepper, garlic, or powdered ginger if needed.  

Done! I also added some lacto-fermented carrots, as I'm always
trying to fit more into my diet, but I don't really like the taste.

Delicious and filling when served over broccoli and garnished
with the toasted squash seeds.

  I served this over broccoli, but I bet it would be good on top of any cooked vegetable, fish or chicken, cooled and served as a dip, as a dressing for kale salad (okay, that sounds delicious. I'm going to have to try it!), with some curry powder as a curry sauce, or even thinned with some broth and served as soup. Or a sauce for casserole. Hmm, that would be interesting. Strange, but could be good. Anyway, it's versatile, so innovate! Enjoy!

Dairy-Free Cream of Spinach Soup

This soup is fast and easy, and it tastes really great, although I found that it tasted a bit more like cauliflower cheddar soup than spinach soup. It's weird, because I didn't add anything cheesy, and the only thing that was creamy was the coconut milk (I know, coconut milk in spinach soup sounds weird, but it actually tastes really good!), but I guess as long as it tastes good that's all that matters. And it definitely tastes good! Maybe if you add more spinach it'll taste more like cream of spinach soup? Whatever, here's the recipe:

Cream of Spinach Soup

Ingredients

-1 or 2 Tbls coconut oil or other cooking fat

-1 large onion, chopped

-3 cloves of garlic, chopped

-1 head of cauliflower, coarsely chopped

-about 10 cups of stock (I used turkey but chicken or vegetable would work too)

-about 3 pounds spinach or other leafy greens, coarsely chopped (I just used a giant costco bag of spinach and a bunch of swiss chard)

-1 can full-fat coconut milk

-fresh nutmeg

-salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Heat the coconut oil in a large soup pot. When the oil is hot, add the onions and saute on medium-low until lightly browned. 

2. Add the garlic, saute for about a minute.

3. Add the cauliflower and pour the stock over everything. Turn the heat up, cover, and simmer until the cauliflower is tender. 

4. Add the spinach and cook until it wilts.

5. With a stick blender, blend the soup until smooth.

6. Add the coconut milk, grate some nutmeg into the soup and add salt and pepper. Give the soup another few seconds of blending.

7. Taste and adjust seasonings, then serve.

serves about 10

Tastes great with a sprinkling of nutritional yeast too!

Chinese Vegetable Soup

My first recipe! It's a soup, which I thought would be fitting. One thing that I want to mention about my recipes: I make these up as I go along, so feel free to make substitutions where you see fit. Also, I never measure anything, some add things to taste as the measurements might not be completely accurate. Anyway, onto the recipe! I made it with pork stock, since I had half a frozen pig's skull (from a previously roasted pig's head) and some frozen pork feet, and there's not much else to do with those things other than make a delicious, extremely gelatinous stock! But you can use whichever kind of stock you want.

Look at all that wonderful, healthy gelatin!

  

The Ingredients

Chinese Pork and Vegetable Soup

  -a few tablespoons of sesame oil, or other fat (I used a combination of sesame oil and self-rendered lard)

  -2 large onions, chopped

  -5 cloves of garlic, minced

  -2-inch knob of ginger, peeled and minced

  -3 stalks celery, thinly sliced on a bias

  -4 carrots, chopped (you can also slice these on a   bias, if you prefer)

  -1 head of bok choy, thinly sliced

                 

 

Celery sliced on a bias

  -1 bell pepper, chopped

  -1 large box of mushrooms, any kind (I used    about twice as much as are pictured)

-stock, as much as required to achieve desired liquidy-ness

-1 cooked spaghetti squash, separated into strands

-a large pinch of red pepper flakes

-salt and pepper, to taste

-organic tamari, to taste (I didn't use any because soy isn't allowed on the whole30, but obviously it would make this soup taste much more Chinese) all soy that isn't organic is genetically modified!

 

Directions
 1. Heat the sesame oil/fat in a large soup pot (make sure it's REALLY large, or do what I had to do, and use 2 pots. This recipe makes a lot of soup). When the sesame oil is hot, add the onions and saute on medium heat until lightly browned.
2. Add garlic and ginger, and cook for a few minutes.
3. Add the celery, carrots, and bok choy stalks (reserve the leaves for later use). Cook for a few minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a separate pot/pan, heat some more sesame oil/fat and saute the mushrooms on high heat until browned. (You could skip this step, and just add the mushrooms in with the peppers, but I think sauteing them separately gives them a nicer taste and texture.) When the mushroom are done, add them to the pot with the other vegetables.
5. Add the bell pepper. 
6. Pour in enough stock to cover the vegetables, or more if you want your soup more soupy. 
7. Add the bok choy leaves and the spaghetti squash. Cook until all the vegetables are tender.
8. Season to taste with red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and tamari. Add some powdered ginger if the soup if you want the soup to taste more gingery. A splash of rice wine vinegar might be nice too, but I didn't try it.

Makes about 12 servings.

Enjoy!