It’s that time of year. Chilly evenings, crisp days, and October baseball (Go Rockies!). Time to make the transition from warm, lazy days to cool, shivery nights. It’s been snowing in the high country, even a little plastering here on Sunday (see my snow greeting from Colorado), so it’s a perfect time start in on soups and stews. This is an improv soup made from a few of the last tomatoes from my neighbor’s bountiful harvest (I saved a few to make a roasted tomato soup which is on the menu for later this week). This version has spicy sausage, roasted tomatoes and garlic, onions, green chiles, potatoes, corn, and chicken broth – a perfect blend of autumn flavors.
what you need
• a little creativity because there’s no “real” recipe
• 1 lb pork sausage (I used Wild Oat’s spicy Italian sausage; always ask to be sure it’s gluten-free and no fillers have been added)
• 2 to 4 tablespoons cooking oil*
• 3 red potatoes, boiled and cubed (you can multi-task and boil these while the tomatoes are roasting and the sausage is frying)
• 2 large tomatoes, sectioned and roasted
• 3 cloves garlic, slightly crushed and roasted with the tomatoes
• 1 small bag frozen corn
• green chiles (I used a bag of my own roasted, peeled, and frozen green chiles, but you can substitute a large can of whole green chiles – cut into random-sized pieces)
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1 carton Imagine Organic GF chicken broth
• sea salt and ground pepper
what you do
• quarter tomatoes and place in shallow baking dish
• peel and slightly crush garlic cloves (I use the handle of my knife) and mix in with tomatoes
• pour 1 tablespoon of oil over tomatoes and garlic and toss to coat
• sprinkle with sea salt and ground pepper
• roast in oven at 400º for 30 minutes, stir once or twice
• while the tomatoes and garlic are roasting, heat 1 or 2 tablespoons of oil in medium-sized skillet
• saute diced onion in skillet and place in soup pot
• crumble sausage in skillet and fry until cooked thoroughly, stirring frequently
• place all ingredients in soup pot (reserving 1/2 diced potato and half the tomatoes)
• blend potato and tomato with 1 cup water in blender (make sure it’s not too hot, the blender might revolt)
• add chicken broth and potato/tomato puree to soup pot and let simmer for a couple of hours to blend flavors
• season with salt and pepper and any other spices or herbs you might think of
*I often use grapeseed oil because of its neutral taste and smell and it’s high smoking point, but make sure it’s organic. It’s often made from grapes that have been highly sprayed with chemicals, so if you can’t find organic, go with something else. And stay tuned for a complete post on fats and oils (coming soon to a blog near you).
In good health,
Melissa
