Pot Luck Soup and Chili lunch at Work.

It's COLD in Atlanta. Is it Indiana cold? Colorado cold? Of course not.

But for Georgia, this is dead of Winter cold. The wind is howling and we will not get above freezing today.

On Monday, after a look at the weather forecast, a lady at our office suggested we throw a soup and chili pot luck lunch to insulate ourselves from today's chill.

We all shared and compared notes. My personal favorite was a delicious and earthy Chicken Tortilla with chunks of Avocado floating in it; followed closely by a very rich Mashed Potato Broccoli Cheese Soup.

For my contribution, I decided on a roasted root vegetable soup. I get the urge to make these about once or twice a year, always in the late Autumn into Winter. I don't have a recipe and it is never the same twice. This time I started by filling a baking sheet with butternut squash, turnips, carrots, leeks, and some garlic. These were liberally drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper then popped into a 450 degree oven for about 40 minutes.

I took them out of the oven and chopped them roughly before adding them into a blender. I added just a little chicken stock (you could use vegetable stock and this dish would be 100% vegan). I kept the blender on and continued to add stock, Little by Little until I got the consistency I wanted.

Next I seasoned the soup with additional salt and pepper. I also added cumin (fresh and toasted, if you please), paprika, ground up red pepper flakes and a few grounds of FRESH ginger from the Microplane.

For the office event I put the mixture into a Crock Pot which I turned on about an hour and a half before lunch. If I was serving this at home, I would either use warmed stock or move the soup from the blender to a sauce pan , stirring until warm enough to serve.

For the presentation, I placed a dollop of plain yogurt (of course you could use sour cream) in the middle and sprinkled on some minced chives and more cracked pepper. The devil in me required the I also add some Sriracha chili sauce. The color brings some good contrast and it adds a great kick.

Some previous variations I've had success with include:

• Using less stock but adding in some cream to give it some richness and smooth it out.
• Adding some bacon fat. It also smooths things out and really punches up the flavor (plus you can garnish with chopped bacon!)
• I nearly always use parsnips, as well, but Kroger really let me down, here.
• Add plantains! This idea was put forward to me, today and sounds great.
  

When you just can't take the leftovers any more.

So for the past few days, I have been content with Thanksgiving leftovers.

Now I'm over it. I cannot face another turkey sandwich.


When I did my grocery shopping, I may have gone a Little overboard. Aside from over spending, I also find myself with several ingredients that weren't needed for our feast and that I don't want to waste.

In my pantry I had left over fennel, onions, garlic and some homemade stock.

I also happened to have some pasta and some sweet italian sausage.

Mom #2 makes this great Italian soup. This seemed a perfect way to make use of these ingredients without revisiting the flavors of Thanksgiving.


I received some feedback from the first post that you would like to see recipes. When possible I will provide these.



WHITE BEAN, FENNEL AND SAUSAGE SOUP

8 Servings

2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, skinned and crumbled
2 medium or 1 large fennel bulbs (about 1 pound) coarsely chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
6 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley or fresh basil, firmly packed
6 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
1 28-oz. can Italian peeled tomatoes and juice
2 cups cooked white beans such as cannellini or Great Northern, rinse if canned
1 cup cooked macaroni or small shells
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Parmesan cheese, grated
Fennel leaves for garnish

1. In large heavy non-reactive skillet, heat the oil. Stir in the sausage and cook over high heat until well browned, about 5 minutes. Drain off all the fat. Lower the heat to moderate and add the fennel, onions, garlic and parsley. Cook until the vegetables are just crisp-tender, 10-15 minutes.
2. Add the chicken stock and the tomatoes with their juice. Break up the tomatoes with a spoon and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat and simmer until all the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.
3. When ready to serve, stir in the beans and cooked shells and heat through. Season with salt and pepper. Serve in shallow soup bowls with grated parmesan and fennel leaves on top.


Enjoy your leftovers.