Spring Has Sprung...Healthy Spinach Bisque

Leeks and spinach give this silky soup its vibrant green color... and also an abundance of antioxidants. Potatoes lend an appealing velvety texture. Perk up your health with this bright Spring time soup!

¼ cup olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 large leeks, white and pale green parts only, diced and cleaned

1 T. fresh thyme or 1 t. dried thyme

Salt to taste

Freshly-ground pepper, to taste

4-6 cups GF vegetable or chicken broth

3 cups organic potatoes*, diced

16 ounces spinach leaves, chopped

1/2 cup milk or milk substitute, optional

Garnishes: yogurt, sprigs of fresh herbs, chive blossoms

Sauté onion and leeks, in olive oil over medium-low heat for 15 minutes until wilted. Add thyme, salt and pepper and stir well. Add broth and potatoes, cover, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Add spinach and simmer 3 more minutes.

Remove soup from heat and puree using a hand held immersion blender, or puree in batches in a blender or food processor. Return soup to stove and place over low heat.

Add milk, if using, and heat through. Add additional water or broth if a thinner consistency is preferred. Garnish, if desired, and serve warm.

Makes: Six to eight servings.

Notes: *I always use organic potatoes. Produce that grows in the ground such as potatoes, are frequently more contaminated by agricultural chemicals.

This recipe is available in my newest gluten free cookbook: The Farmer's Daughter Cooks Gluten Free, which is available at www.celiacdiseaseinfo.org

Lamb Shank and Bacon Stew with Root Vegetables

My favorite hearty lamb stew with rich, earthy flavors is made in the crock pot. The perfect dish for a cool Fall or Winter day!

½ pound of bacon

2 lamb shanks

2 T. GF flour

1-2 large onions, thinly sliced

2 t. garlic, mashed

1 t.salt 

½ t. pepper

Root veggies options

6 red potatoes, chopped

2 turnips, chopped

2 beets, chopped

4 carrots, slices

2 parsnips, chopped

1 T. fresh thyme or 1 t. dried thyme

2 cups GF broth

1 cup semi dry red or blush wine*

4 t. GF soy sauce or 3 T. Braggs Liquid Aminos

½ pound mushrooms, chopped (optional)

4 T. fresh parsley, minced (as garnish)

Fry the bacon until almost crisp. Drain off all but around 3 T. grease and set aside the bacon. Dust the shanks with the 2 T. flour, saute the shanks in the remaining grease, browning on all sides. Place the shanks in the bottom of the warm crock pot with the bacon.

Saute the garlic in the remaining fat. Remove and set aside. Saute the onions in the remaining bacon grease until brown and caramelized. Add the garlic and onions to the crock pot with the lamb. Add salt and pepper.

Now add the chopped root vegetables and thyme to crock pot. Mix together the liquid ingredients and pour over the top of the crock pot ingredients. Let the crock pot simmer on low for 8-10 hours, or until the meat falls from the bone. The last hour you may choose to remove the bones, throw in the mushrooms and adjust seasonings.

Garnish with parsley and serve in crocks or bowls with GF bread or baguettes.

Makes: Ten servings.

*Notes: I used our home made cranberry wine, which was a semi dry, amber-colored wine.

This recipe is from my cookbook: "The Farmer's Daughter Cooks Gluten Free."

To watch a slide show "tour" of the cookbook, click this link:

Youtube slide show "tour" of book here:

 

Thai Chicken Lime-Coconut Curry Soup...low glycemic and good for you!

Recently, I have become more aware of the very high glycemic index of many of the gluten free foods that we routinely prepare and purchase while being required to stay on the gluten free diet. 

With type II diabetes in my family, and now finding myself heading in that same direction, I have had to take a long, hard look at what I am eating and also, what I am suggesting to other celiacs in the form of my recipes. Statistics are showing us that now diabetes has become epidemic even among children in this country. A very high glycemic gluten free diet may be adding to the problem for celiac children.

So, in an attempt to "change my ways", from this point forward I will be posting recipes to my blog that are very low glycemic and wholesome....but still as tasty as possible! This soup is to fabulous...and also great for a head cold!

Here goes...

Thai Chicken Lime-Coconut
Curry Soup

Aromatic and satisfying with Thai flavors. The sweet potato adds a natural sweetness and reduces the need for barely any sugar in this recipe.

4 cups chicken stock

5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2 ½ T. fresh ginger, roughly chopped

1 T. green curry paste

2 t. coriander seed

1 t. cumin

½ t. peppercorns

¾ cup cilantro leaves and stems

8-12 ounces lite coconut milk

¾ cup shallots, sliced

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

1 carrot, peeled and shredded

½ sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced

1 boneless chicken breast, thinly sliced

1 T. fish sauce

2 T. lime juice, freshly squeezed

1-2 T. agave syrup or a smaller amount of a sugar substitute, such as stevia

1 jalapeno, thinly sliced and seeded

Garnish: ½ cup minced cilantro, and ½ cup coconut flakes.

In a pot on the stove, heat the first eight ingredients through cilantro. Bring to boil and simmer on low for 25 minutes. Now strain broth over a bowl using a fine mesh strainer. Return broth to pot and add coconut milk, the vegetables and chicken. Cook for about 7 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

In a small bowl, combine the fish sauce, lime juice, sweetener, and jalapeno. Stir and add mixture to the soup. Garnish and serve hot.

This recipe is from the cookbook: "The Farmer's Daughter Cooks Gluten Free."
To watch a slide show 
"tour" of the cookbook, click this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYVft_duuSo

Mulligatawny Soup

 
 This earthy, hearty Indian curry soup includes a unique ingredient...apple!

½ cup chopped onion

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 carrot, thinly sliced on side of cheese grater

¼ cup butter (this amount can be reduced)

1½ T. GF flour

1½ t. curry powder (I prefer a little more curry than this!)

4 cups chicken broth

½ to 1 whole apple, peeled, cored, and chopped

¼ cup uncooked white (Basmati is fine) rice

Salt to taste

Ground black pepper to taste

1 pinch dried thyme or 1 T. fresh
1 skinless, boneless chicken breast, sautéed and chopped into cubes or slices

½ cup GF heavy cream or half ‘n half, added hot as soup is served.

Sauté onion, celery, carrot, and butter in a large soup pot for five minutes. Add flour and curry, and cook for five more minutes. Add chicken stock, mix well and bring to boil.  Simmer about 20 minutes.

Add apple, rice, salt, pepper, and thyme. Simmer 15-20 minutes, or until rice is done. Fold in the cooked chicken and bring it to soup temperature. 

(If you are using brown rice, and not a quick cooking white variety, I would add the rice under step one or have it pre-cooked and then add it toward the end of recipe.)

Add hot cream just before serving.

Makes: Six cups of soup.

This recipe is from my cookbook: "Delicious! The Very Best of Gluten Free and Wheat Free Cooking." It is available at:   

http://www.celacdiseaseinfo.org

http://www.amazon.com/Delicious-Cooking-Collection-Celiacs-Sensitive/dp/0615305709/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282852260&sr=1-