vitamix soups

Rosy Cucumber Soup
Recipe By: Nina Graybill and Maxine Rapoport

2 large cucumber
16 ounces pickled beets, drained, juice reserved
1/2 cup onion
2 tablespoons parsley
3 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon pepper
salt and pepper — to taste
1/2 cup sour cream
green onion tops chopped

In two batches, puree cucumbers, beets, onions, and parsley in processor or blender, then blend in the chicken broth, seasonings and sour cream; transfer to a container. Taste for seasoning, adding reserved beet juice to taste. Refrigerate several hours or for several days.

Sprinkle with chopped green onion tops or chives before serving.

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Summer Corn Essence
Recipe By: Gretl Collins

1 small onion
knob of butter
1 teaspoon flour
1/4 cup white wine
fresh thyme
1 cup chicken broth
4 ear of corn
salt and pepper
1/4 cup half and half

1 small onion, chopped, sauteed in a Tbs butter (10″ nonstick skillet) –add one tsp flour and mix well with wooden spoon to thicken slightly –add about a generous 1/4 C white wine and some sprigs of fresh thyme. Boil to reduce a bit, and –add about 1 C chicken broth (I used Minor’s base).

Cut the kernels off the cob, and add to the mixture just to heat through. IF using uncooked corn, just heat longer to cook the corn a bit.

Fish out the thyme sprigs, season with salt and pepper, put the whole shebang in the VitaMix, and let it rip at high speed. I tasted it, and added about 1/4-plus cup of half-and-half to make the texture creamier.

To serve, I ladled a puddle of the corn cream on the plate, flanked by the buttered asparagus and roasted potatoes. I garnished it with chopped parsley and chives from the garden.

The flavor of the sweet creamy corn with the grilled salmon (and the sides) was amazing. I debated pushing it through a sieve, but chose not to. It had a bit of texture but not much.

I might even try this and more highly seasoned, with heavy cream to thicken.

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Avocado Soup with Lump Crab Meat
6 cup Vegetable stock, I use chicken broth
4 ripe Avocados
Juice of 2 Limes
2 tablespoon Greek Yogurt
3 dashes Hot Pepper Sauce
6 ounce Crab meat, lump
Olive Oil, your best finishing oil
2 tablespoon Chives, chopped

1. Put stock, avocados, lime juice, yogurt and pepper sauce into the blender or Vitamix. Blend until smooth and creamy.

2. Put into 6 pretty serving glasses and top with the crab meat, a drizzle of good olive oil and the chopped chives. A little extra hot sauce is nice and pretty.

Notes: Shrimp canned be used in addition to or instead of the crab

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Broccoli Cucumber Bisque
1/4 cup raw broccoli
1 large cucumber
squeeze of lime juice
sprinkle of dry mint

1. Put the broccoli and cucumber into the Vitamix. Sprinkle in a couple of pinches of salt.

2. Squeeze a little lime juice over each bowl of bisque and top with a little sprinkle of dried mint.

Notes from Terry: I needed to add about 1/4 cup of water and it really needs the lime. Best served very cold after several hours of refrigeration.<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ACM-xTnRW0>

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Carrot Ginger Soup
1 piece fresh ginger (about 3 inches long)
1 1/4 lbs carrots
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
5 cup vegetable broth
1 yellow onion
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
pinch of nutmeg (optional) freshly grated
Sea salt and black pepper

Cook onion and ginger in olive oil over medium heat in a soup pot. Stir occasionally – cook for about 5 minutes or until onions and ginger have softened.

Add carrots, orange juice, and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover with lid, and let simmer for about 45 minutes or until carrots are quite soft.

Transfer soup in batches to a blender and blend until smooth. If you have a hand-held blender, you can blend the whole batch right in the pot.

Season soup with sea salt, pepper, and nutmeg if you have it on hand.

The flavors in this delicious ginger carrot soup go together quite nicely with a ripe, room temperature avocado. If you enjoy avocados, try garnishing this soup with a few avocado slices just before serving.

This soup is full of immune-boosting ingredients; carrots are rich in carotenoids that can be converted to vitamin A, which is needed for optimal immune system strength; fresh orange juice is a decent source of natural vitamin C, good for overall immune system support; and just a little ginger provides a number of health benefits, including protection against cancer.

Nutmeg is an optional ingredient, but if you have some sitting around in a cupboard, I highly recommend that you add a pinch, as nutmeg goes together brilliantly with the rest of the ingredients in this beautiful, bright orange soup. (Terry’s note: don’t bother unless you have fresh nutmeg, if it’s old it has no flavor)  Serving Size: 4
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Terry’s Taco Tortilla Soup
3 cups Chicken broth
1 or 2 carrot
2 Celery stalk
1/4 cup Tomato
1 or more Jalapeño
1 teaspoon Taco seasoning
1 treaspoon cumin
add a couple of handfuls tortilla chips
1/2 to 3/4 can drained and rinsed Black beans
1 cup frozen Corn, thawed
chicken (cooked if you like)

Pulse to just chop the ingredients
Then top with some more of the whole corn and black beans and a dollop of sour cream or asadero cheese.

Buzz the first 7 ingredients until hot and steamy. Then add the tortilla chips and rest of ingredients and pulse gently until slightly chopped.

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