Oh hey, 2014!

How’s week one of the new year going for everyone? We are in hibernation mode here in Ohio, which has given me lots of time to reflect on what to do with my time in the next 12 months (or rather the next 5 months, since new babies have a way of shifting your priorities).

To help me get my head on straight, I have been going through Lara Casey‘s Make It Happen series; it’s a goal-setting series that I absolutely recommend. Especially if you’re like me, AKA you have a huge desire to get your act together for the new year but have no idea where to start. I’ve got a lot of ideas swimming around in this head and Make It Happen has helped me to organize it all. So, yay, new year! And hooray for a new recipe today! Finally got off my duff and picked up my camera.

This soup was inspired by a lovely lunch I had with my friend Jillian (see how awesome she is below) at Wheat Penny here in Dayton. We sampled a little cup of their curried carrot soup to start our meal; it was grand. I love that curry powder gives such a distinct, comforting taste but doesn’t make things too spicy. For my at-home version, I used all the orange veggies we had on hand- carrots, butternut squash and sweet potato. Pumpkin would also work well; you can use what you have in any combination.

This soup works for a whole variety of diets and is almost impossible to mess up. It would be great with some crumbled bacon on top, or even some homemade croutons. You could kick up the spice by adding some thai red curry paste, too.

And beyond tasting good, this soup has great nutritional benefits:

• Healthy, filling fats
• Cold/Flu-fighting onions, garlic and turmeric
• Orange veggies filled with Vitamin A to boost the immune system
• Bone broth; rich in gelatin, vitamins and minerals and anti-inflammatory

A special thanks to my sweet friends Jillian and Megan for making this post happen- they came over to my house today and did all my dishes PLUS cleaned my fridge! It was amazing, and it motivated me to pull out the camera and get this post up. A clean kitchen = no excuses for this lady. Thanks, girls- you are such a blessing to me! I am ready to re-pay you in soup.

5.0 from 3 reviews

Curried Winter Soup with Carrot, Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash

 

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Author: Oven Love

Recipe type: Soup, Main Dish, Appetizer

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• a few tablespoons quality fat (grass-fed butter, ghee, coconut oil, lard, tallow)
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (optional)
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• ½-1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 tablespoon turmeric (optional)
• 6-8 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 large butternut squash; peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped (you can substitute more carrots or squash if you’re on GAPS or avoiding starches)
• 4-6 cups of bone broth (enough to cover the veggies in the pot)
• plain whole milk yogurt, for serving (optional, you can substitute full-fat coconut milk if you’re dairy-free)

Instructions

1. In a large stockpot or dutch oven, melt down the fat. Add the onions and garlic and saute until they begin to soften. Add the spices and let cook a few more minutes.
2. Add the carrots, squash and sweet potato to the pot, followed by the bone broth. Add enough broth to cover all of the vegetables. Bring it all to a boil.
3. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are fork-tender, about 20-30 minutes. When the veggies are soft, use an immersion blender to blend the soup until smooth.
4. Serve warm with a generous drizzle of yogurt.

#version#

Sweet potatoes, bacon, poached eggs.

My darlings.

I have been eating this combination regularly for weeks and I just can’t get enough. I am a like a bottomless pit of eggs and bacon- the vegetables are just thrown in for variety and nutrition (and because we would go bankrupt eating pastured bacon every day). These three ingredients are always in my house, so this is one of my favorite go-to meals when I haven’t planned ahead (I told you I need to take my own meal planning advice).

Have you ever poached an egg? You don’t have to poach the eggs for this meal if you don’t want to. (I am certainly not against frying them, you know me.) But why does poaching seem so fancy? It’s really just dropping an egg in some simmering water for a few minutes and scooping it out. I was scared of doing it until I bit the bullet and tried it out.. now it’s my go-to method.

I would gladly fry my eggs up in some butter, but I still haven’t mastered the art of frying eggs in stainless steel pans without breaking the yolks (there you go.. my secret’s out). So poaching the eggs is actually the lazy way in my house. We take our eggs seriously so I don’t want to risk wasting one on an already-doomed experiment in stainless steel. Is there any magical tip out there that I need to know? I mean, I’m cool with eating poached eggs all the time, but a girl needs a fried egg now and then, too.

Three more things:

1) I called this Sunrise Breakfast Hash because Sweet Potato, Yellow Pepper, Turnip, Onion and Bacon Hash was just not happening. Also, because it’s bright and sunny looking..

2) If I have spinach or arugula or another leafy green around, I will top it with the hash and egg for a yummy salad- no dressing required!  You can also add other root vegetables to the mix if you don’t like turnips- try rutabagas, parsnips or butternut squash if you like.

3) I am really not trying to make all of my food look like hearts (see the butter on these muffins?). It’s just happening spontaneously (except for my Valentine’s veggies). But feel free to take it as a secret love message. XOXO!

Sunrise Breakfast Hash with Poached Eggs

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Author: Oven Love

Recipe type: Breakfast

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 4 slices of thick cut bacon (pastured/grass-fed if you can find it)
• 1 sweet potato or yam, peeled and chopped
• 1 turnip, peeled and chopped
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 yellow or orange sweet pepper, seeded and chopped
• water or broth/stock
• 2-4 fresh eggs (they poach better)
• 1 tablespoon apple cider or white vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Cook the bacon until crisp. Let cool; chop or crumble, then set aside.
2. Using the bacon grease, lard, coconut oil or grass-fed butter (like Kerrygold), heat a saute pan (that has a lid) over medium heat. Add the sweet potato, turnip, onion and sweet pepper and saute for a few minutes until the mixture begins to brown.
3. Add some water or stock to the pan. It should be hot enough that it begins to steam. Put the lid on the pan and let the vegetables cook until tender (the sweet potatoes will take longest. check them with a fork to make sure they are soft). You may add more liquid if necessary. Be sure to stir it around so the vegetables don’t stick or burn.
4. While the vegetables are cooking, put a small saucepan filled ⅔ full with water on the stove and bring to a simmer. Add the vinegar. Do not bring to a full boil. When the water is just simmering, drop in your eggs carefully by a large spoon or measuring cup, one at a time. They will spread a bit and some foam will rise to the top of the water- that is normal.
5. Cook until your desired doneness- 6-7 minutes for a runny yolk, 8-10 for soft cooked yolk and longer for a hard cooked yolk. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and let them drip dry.
6. To plate, mix the bacon with the vegetables and transfer the mixture to a shallow bowl. Top with the poached egg and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

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