Potato Leek Soup with Bacon (Non Dairy)

So technically, it's end of October so soup weather should be upon us. But it has been warm but nevertheless I have started out with my fall soup repertoire. Here we have Potato Leek Soup with Bacon. Because you know as well as I do that bacon makes everything better.

This was a huge hit with my older daughter and husband. The younger daughter--not so much. Thought she did eat the bacon crumbles. 

Ingredients:
5 medium potatoes
3-4 leeks (white part only)
2-3 shallots finely chopped
6 -8 pieces good quality bacon (divided because you will blend some into the soup and use the rest as a topping)
4 cups of chicken stock  (I used low sodium organic chicken broth by Imagine, homemade stock would be even better)
1 cup of water

2 tablespoons of oil ( I used grapeseed)
Salt to taste

Seasoning of choice (I used a spice blend from Trader Joe's)

Prep:

Peel and chop shallots and set a side. 

Wash leeks really well. Chop and set aside 

Wash potatoes, peel if the skin looks meh, leave skin on if it's pretty unblemished. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces

In a large pot or preferably a Dutch oven, heat the oil about 2 minutes. 

Add shallots, cook on medium flame for about 3 minutes.

Add leeks. Cook another 5 minutes.

Add potatoes. Add stock and water.

Continue to cook till potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes.

Season with salt and seasoning. 

In the meantime, cook bacon in a skillet till crispy. Crumble and add 4-6 crumbled slices into the soup in the last 10 minutes of cooking. 

Blend till smooth, using immersion blender. Serve topped with reserved bacon crumbles. 

Potato Leek Soup with Bacon

Butternut Squash Parsnip Soup

This soup is a twist I tried on our family favorites, Butternut Squash Apple Soup . This version contains parsnips instead of apples and is topped with crunchy bacon. 

INGREDIENTS:
Butternut squash 
2 parsnips
4 small shallots or one medium onion, diced
4-5 cups of chicken stock (I use a combination of homemade chicken stock that I froze and Imagine Low Sodium Organic Chicken Broth)
1tbs oil, I use grapeseed
Salt pepper to taste
Pinch of nutmeg optional
1 teaspoon sugar
Sea salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1/2 cup of milk or cream ( I used 2 % milk)
1-2 pieces of bacon per bowl (Optional)

If you are able to get your hands on peeled and cut up squash, skip to the end of step 1.

1) Wash and dry your squash. Using a sharp knife to piece a few holes in the squash. Place it on a paper towel. Microwave about 3 minutes and flip over. Let cool a bit. At this point, you should be able to peel it, scoop out seeds and cut into cubes. 

2) Wash and peel parsnips. Chop into 1/2 inch pieces. 

3) In a medium pot, heat oil. Add shallots. Cook about 5 minutes till soften. Add squash, parsnips and broth. Cook on medium flame till squash and parsnip are soft, about 20 -25 minutes. 

4) Add salt, sugar, pepper and nutmeg if using. Another option to nutmeg if you like spicy is a bit of curry powder.  Add milk or cream.  Using immersion blender, blend your soup.

5) If using bacon, cook till crisp per package direction. Drain and chop into small pieces.

6) Add soup to bowls. Top with bacon if using and serve.

I served these with crackers I made out of Nasoya wonton wrappers. I cut the wrappers into strips, sprayed with cooking spray and baked at 350 till golden brown.

Roasted Balsamic Brussel Sprouts with Organic Bacon

Ingredients:
3 cups brussel sprouts cut in half, outer leaves removed
1.5 tablespoons of grape oil
1.5 tbsp aged balsamic vinegar
2-3 pieces of bacon (I used Applegate Organic)

Preheat oven with empty oven proof dish in it at highest possible temperature. I used my Breville Smart Convection Oven which I am completely obsessed with. In case you are interested, this is what it looks like.

It's highest temperature is 450.  If not, obviously a regular oven totally fine.

In the meantime, in a large bowl, toss brussel sprouts w oil.

Once oven preheated, carefully remove dish, add your brussels. Reduce temperature to 425. Roast about 1/2 hour. I usually remove some smaller ones earlier so they don't burn.

Cook bacon till crisp. Drain on paper towels. Cut into small buts, set aside.

Once brussels are well roasted, toss with balsamic (if you removed any brussels, add them back). Roast another 2 minutes. Add bacon.

Serve and enjoy.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Crunchy Bacon

I usually make these without bacon for an every day dinner but for Thanksgiving, I make these WITH BACON since everyone know that thanksgiving calories do not count.

Ingredients:

6 cups on brussel sprouts top layer removed and halved
3 tbsp oil
salt to taste
Bacon (I used 1 pack of Applegate Sunday Bacon)
Paper towels for draining

Toss brussel sprouts in oil and salt. Mix well. Roast at 425 for about 30 minutes (toss a few times to avoid burning). For the convection oven, I modified temperature to 400, otherwise, no big difference. Add bacon at the very end of cooking. Mix well and cook another 5 minutes with bacon.

My convection oven is something that I got recently and have been totally obsessed with this think to a point where I barely use my regular oven. The link here in case you are interested. 



Cook bacon till very crunchy. Drain on paper towels. Cut up into small bits. Toss with brussel sprouts. 


Enjoy!

ROASTED BRUSSEL SPROUTS WITH CRUNCHY BACON

Split Pea Soup with Sweet Potatoes and Bacon

INGREDIENTS:

1 bag of split peas (yellow or green, I used yellow)
Bacon-- 2 slices if thick cut or 4 if thinner cut 
       *I used the organic Sunday bacon by Applegate farms, 4 slices
3 small sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup of broth-any kind you like. I usually use 
        **Imagine Free Range Low Sodium Chicken Broth
A pinch of dry thyme or 1 tsp fresh thyme
Lemon juice


DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place sweet potato and bacon on a rimmed backing sheet. Roast until potatoes are golden and bacon is crisp, about 25 - 30 minutes. Toss every 15 minutes or so.

In a large saucepan, combine split peas w 6 cups of water.
Simmer uncovered until peas are very soft, about 50 minutes. 

Puree half the peas, I used an immersion blender, adding broth a little at a time till desired consistency. Add the remaining split peas. If you want a smoother soup, you can puree the whole thing. Add thyme, cook a few more minutes. 

Season w salt and pepper to taste. Add a squeeze of lemon juice if you like. 

Add to bowls, top each w sweet potato and bacon.

Enjoy!

Adapted from a Recipe by Tyler Florence, People Magazine October 8, 2012