Roasted red pepper soup

Today was the last day for the Midtown Farmers Market for the season. Glad they had a decent weather day; those vendors could certainly use a break after coping with their second year in a cramped temporary location, pandemic protocols and riot-destroyed buildings across the street. I'll miss our weekly market run, the fresh produce and our friendly vendors, but I know they're ready for a winter rest.

I am in some ways as well. We spent the afternoon getting a good start on garden cleanup. At some point you're ready for it to be over, even if the price is winter. At least most of the snow has melted.

I roasted a mound of peppers from the market a few weeks ago and put some to work in this soup. A nice reminder of the market I can pull out of the freezer this winter.

Roasted red pepper soup 

Adapted from Cooking Light, Aug. 2006

Ingredients 

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups diced onions
1 tablespoon minced garlic
8 roasted red peppers, coarsely chopped
4 cups broth
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
5 black peppercorns
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon hot pepper sauce
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground pepper
2 tablespoons chopped chives (or green onion tops)
 

Method
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium low heat. Add onions and cook until softened. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add red peppers, broth, white wine vinegar and fennel seeds. Place peppercorns, thyme sprigs and bay leaf in a cheese cloth bag and add to pot. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.   

Remove cheesecloth bag and stir in salt and pepper. Let soup cool slightly and puree in blender or food processor. Heat pureed soup through and serve garnished with chopped chives. 

Rating: I made this once without the fennel, and found it a little too sharp tasting, perhaps from all that vinegar. Once I added the fennel it became less one-note, and I liked it quite a bit better.

Roasted fish with wine and tomatoes, two ways

 

Lots and lots of cherry tomatoes made the final trip inside just before the plants got zapped. Here are three ways I used up tiny tomatoes and a package of frozen fish.

Roasted fish and tomatoes with basil and white wine sauce

From "Fit Food" by Ellen Haas

Ingredients

2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves

4 thick fish fillets such as cod (a little over a pound total)

½ cup white wine

Method

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place tomatoes in a baking dish large enough to hold the fish in a single layer. Drizzle tomatoes with ½ tablespoon olive oil. Sprinkle with salt. Roast 15 to 20 minutes until soft.

Remove tomatoes from the oven and reduce oven heat to 350. Transfer tomatoes to a bowl. Toss with garlic and basil.

Place fish in baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle with remaining ½ tablespoon olive oil. Pour the wine on top of fish. Spoon the tomatoes over the top. Cook until fish is cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Rating: Dave liked it. I thought it a touch bland.

 

Cod with tomato-orange relish

From “Fit Food” by Ellen Haas

Ingredients

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

Zest of 1 orange

¼ cup fresh orange juice

1 small shallot, finely chopped

2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves

2 fish fillets such as cod

¼ cup white wine

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Method

Combine tomatoes, orange zest and juice, shallot, basil and salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate relish if not using that day.

Preheat oven to 350. Place fish I a shallow baking dish. Pour wine over the top. Season with salt and pepper. Bake for about 12 minutes until cooked through. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Serve topped with relish.

Rating: I was really rooting for this dish, but it comes up short. Maybe more garlic? Hot red pepper flakes? There's a fine line between not overwhelming the delicate nature of fish and being underwhelming, but this didn't tread anywhere near it. 

 

 Deviled fish with tomatoes bacon and leeks

And then there's one of our usual suspects, which no doubt does not qualify as fit food, but was by far the tastiest. I've blogged about deviled fish with tomatoes and bacon here.

Deviled fish with tomatoes and leeks bears repeating.

Chicken with roasted red pepper sauce

 

Sometimes you need a really fast weeknight supper. This one definitely qualifies, and it's pantry friendly. In my case I had just roasted a big batch of red peppers from the farmers market and had those on hand, but bottled would certainly be fine.

 Chicken with red pepper sauce

From "The 5 in 10 Chicken Breast Cookbook: 5 Ingredients in 10 Minutes or Less," by Melanie Barnard and Brooke Dojny.as published in the Star Tribune Taste section in March 2003.

Ingredients

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3 tablespoons olive oil

12-ounce jar roasted red peppers

¼ cup cream

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

3 cloves garlic, chopped

Method

Pound chicken breasts to flatten slightly. Season with some salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Cook chicken until browned on the outside and white inside, about 4 minutes a side. Remove from pan and keep warm.

Meanwhile, combine drained red peppers, cream, salt and pepper in a food processor. Blend until smooth.

Add garlic to chicken cooking pan and saute until fragrant. Stir in red pepper cream sauce to heat through. Serve chicken with sauce spooned on top.

Rating: Definitely repeatable. Consistency-wise it's reminiscent of Romesco sauce, but milder in flavor. Blessedly fast. Did I mention that it was yummy?

 

Cobb salad with green goddess dressing

 

When the snow starts sticking, everything gets thicker: sweaters, soups, sauces, you name it.

 In this case, it even includes the salad dressing. I'm usually more of a vinaigrette type of salad dresser than anything thick and creamy, but it does make for a heartier salad.This recipe makes a fair amount. It was originally scaled for 6 servings, but I suspect even if I was serving six people, there would still be leftover dressing.

I used the last of the mixed greens from the farmers market and some kale from the garden that doesn't seem to mind snow. The original recipe called for romaine lettuce and watercress, but since it's fall, locally harvested options are limited.

Cobb salad with green goddess dressing

From Cooking Light

Ingredients

½ cup plain yogurt

¼ cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

3 tablespoons chopped green onion

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

2 teaspoons fresh tarragon leaves

2 teaspoons anchovy paste

1 garlic clove, chopped

¼ ground black pepper

⅛ teaspoon salt

Mixed greens

Chopped cooked chicken

Hard cooked eggs, cut into wedges

Fresh tomato, cut into wedges

Chopped avocado

Crumbled blue cheese

Method

Combine yogurt, mayonnaise, vinegar, green onion, parsley, chives, tarragon, anchovy paste, garlic, pepper and salt in a food processor and whir until smooth. Refrigerate if not using right away.

Put a layer of salad greens on plates. Divide chopped chicken, eggs, tomato and avocado on top. Sprinkle with blue cheese and serve with dressing.

Rating: Fine. Still not a fan of thick dressings, but it helps hold the layered salad together.  That and a cup of golden cauliflower soup made a fine lunch. We just kept the shades closed so we couldn't see it snow.

Followup rating: That dressing makes an absolutely killer dip that is clearly going to have to go into the rotation. I don't know how much of that is due to the fact that it had a few hours curing time in the frig before I used it that way or if it's just its highest and best use, but that's a keeper.

 

Winter flowers

 Fall was pretty at our house, what there was of it. Bee-thronged wild asters and sedum were the main attraction, but it was a good fall color show throughout the neighborhood on our post-work walks. 

Sadly, I didn't get around to taking any pictures before 9 inches of snow put an abrupt end to fall. Much of the snow has melted, but it's still wintry and our plants are icicle fodder.

Our Henri clematis put out another cloud of blooms and buds just before we got clobbered with snow. Some of the blooms still look pristine, just encased in ice as if frozen in a time to which we wish we could go back.

But the sturdy kale just shrugged off the snow, so we're still in harvest mode.

When the bush is dripping ice, you just have to imagine next summer's blueberries.