Winter Pizza with White Beans, Chard, and Caramelized Onions

Posted on 4 April 2013 by Dr. P. K. Newby

CarmPizza_Full I recently had a massive craving for pizza. Couldn’t figure out why until I remembered I hadn’t eaten pizza since I was last in New York at Christmas. That’s a long time to go without eating pizza, I agree. (My usual intake is about every 4-6 weeks, in case you were wondering.) I just don’t make pizza as frequently in the winter compared to the summer, when sweet tomatoes and sprightly herbs inspire.

Even so, pizza is obviously delicious any time of the year and I finally gave in to my hankering. Enter today’s recipe, a version I’m calling “winter” since it is tomato-less and utilizes local chard, onions, and beans from my neighborhood winter farmers’ market. This dish also includes one of my favorite things ever, caramelized onions.

Now, if you’re new to my pizza posts and love pizza—as if there’s anyone who doesn’t—you’ll want to consult my other three pies for more cooking details and other delightful variants, which are:

Onward to today’s version, another marvelous combination that makes one of America’s favorite foods better for you and for local businesses, too.

Cooking Steps and Instructions

1. Caramelize onions, described here. Note: they take some time, so you’ll want to get them started first assuming you’re not making your own dough; likely the other steps will be completed before they’re done.

COnions_thyme

2. Prepare crust per your own recipe or use a good-quality store-bought brand. Whole grain, of course.

3. Cut chard into thin pieces and add to a pan including a bit of olive or other vegetable oil. Note: Use the whole bunch. It shrinks down. A lot.

CPizza_Chardpre

4. Sauté chard until wilted and set aside. (See?) Add crushed garlic and mix in for 45 seconds.

CPizza_Chardpost

5. Toss white beans (here’s how to prepare from dried) with a bit of olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, and parsley and season with salt and pepper.

6. Mix herbed ricotta, described here. Prepare other cheeses, if desired; Parmigiana Reggiano and fresh mozzarella add complexity and flavor.

CPizza_cheeses

7. Assemble pizza and cook 8-10 minutes at 425 degrees. Garnish with additional fresh parsley, parm, and crushed red pepper flakes (optional). Note: Beans can be added before or after cooking, whichever you prefer.

CPizza_Full

This pizza is absolutely delicious and packs a much healthier punch than most with its nutrient-rich chard, onions, beans, and whole grain crust. While not an everyday food, it’s certainly something to savored once in a while.

Craving fulfilled.

Dr. P. K. Newby is a nutrition scientist and educator with expertise in the prevention of obesity and chronic diseases through diet and the relations between agriculture, food production, and public health. She is currently training for the Boston Marathon, her third (more here, and here). She brings together her passions for food, cooking, science, and sustainability through her writing and videos to help people eat their way towards better health, one delectable bite at a time. If you like what you see here at The Nutrition Doctor is In the Kitchen, please subscribe to my blog from the home page, become a fan on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, check out my food porn on Pinterest, watch my cooking videos on YouTube, and peruse my recipe page for soups, salads, seafood, sweets, and more. Thanks for reading!

Thai Pumpkin Soup with Coconut, Cashews, and Curry

Posted on 11 March 2013 by Dr. P. K. Newby

pumpkinsoup I eat soup for dinner at least one to two times every week (here’s why) and there are quite a lot of soup recipes on my blog. That said, it’s been a while now since featuring my favorite supper. Enter today’s dish, which was originally created during a marathon cooking day when I was preparing several different varieties to send my sister for the holidays (“the gift of soup”). While roasted squash soup of any kind is delicious on its own, when it gets together with fabulous Thai ingredients the result is a luscious meal that’s loaded in nutrition and filling enough to warrant the starring place at the dinner table. Below is the how-to and some health notes on why it’s so good for you.

Additional Cooking Notes

Any kind of squash could be used in this soup if you don’t want to use pumpkin—although it’s really fun to roast them, and here’s how. This soup is similar in style to my Vietnamese noodle soup, so if you like this dish it’s worth looking at that post because you’ll see the recipes are in fact different. Today’s version is simpler, using dried curry powder and a few other classic spices while the Vietnamese soup brings in several more traditional ingredients (e.g., lemongrass, lime juice, tamarind, etc). Finally, do keep in mind that depending on what squash(es) you use, you might need a touch of sugar to adjust the balance. After my soup sat for a few hours and I retasted it, I decided to add a little honey to complete the dish (agave is also fine for a vegan version); it really was needed since pumpkins are less sweet than, say, butternut squash.

Whatever squashes you choose and whichever of the recipes you use to bring the beautiful tastes of South East Asia to you table, playing around with these fantastic spices—the key to great cooking—is sure to bring a lot of joy into your next soup.

P.K.’s Winter Pasta Sauce: On Canned Tomatoes and Carb-Loading

Posted on 4 March 2013 by Dr. P. K. Newby

So you think I’m only about whatever is at my local farmers’ market? Sure, as much as possible, but I live in New England, and I take nutrition and cooking far too seriously to limit my diet to only what’s in season. That’s why I’m calling today’s post…

It May Be Winter, But I Still Want Tomato Sauce

Chunky tomato sauce bursting with onions, peppers, spinach and zucchini over whole grain pasta is crazy nutritious way to carb load. Or just makes a great dinner!

It’s about this time of year that I start dreaming of sweet summer corn and tomatoes, two of my favorite foods that I consume prolifically for the better part of three months when they’re in season. Indeed, there is nothing I love more than a homemade sauce made lovingly from mounds of fresh summer tomatoes. And I do even chop up a few fresh tomatoes in the winter now and again for a quick pizza sauce or marinara. That said, I’m ever grateful the supermarket provides delightful canned tomatoes, which are a high-quality, nutritious, and delicious alternative when fresh aren’t in season.

Or, er, if you simply don’t feel like doing all that chopping, which is okay, too.

Simmering this sauce for a few hours will turn it from a compilation of canned, frozen, and fresh vegetables into a rich, thick, chunky pasta sauce.

Enter today’s dish, which is one of my favorite go-to dinners since I usually have a container of “summer” sauce sitting in my freezer. My supply is now tapped, however, so this past weekend I whipped up a new batch the night before my 20-miler using canned products and a selection of fresh and frozen veggies I had on hand. This version included no-salt canned tomatoes (diced, crushed, sauce) and frozen spinach along with white onions, three kinds of peppers (red, green, poblano), and zucchini.

For more cooking details, click here for step-by-step instructions and photos, simply substituting canned for the fresh.

Pasta and tomato sauce is such a filling, comforting dish, and my version takes a kid-friendly favorite and makes it a whole lot better for you. And, yes, pasta can be part of a nutritious diet, if it’s whole grain; more on paleo and gluten free diets here. As well, it’s a much healthier way to carb-load if you are an endurance athlete or runner training for the marathon, as I am. (More here and here on that.)

Better-for-you Carb Loading

In general, food decisions are based on taste, cost, and convenience. Nutrition and health considerations also matter for some people, like many of you reading this piece, no doubt. (Yay!) “Pasta and tomato sauce” is a classic meal used for carb loading, which boosts your glycogen stores in preparation for a long race.

While a great meal whether you’re “carb-loading” or not, today’s article also encourages athletes to take this familiar dish and make it even healthier by exchanging white pasta for whole grain and adding a whole slew of veggies for a nutrient boost that you won’t get from a store-bought sauce and white pasta. The latter dish will provide the carbs, yes, but can be loaded in salt and extra sugar and lacks the nutrients of unrefined grains. You get all the carbs you need from my version along with other fabulous vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients to fuel your body and race.

Side Bar: Tomatoes in Winter? Anathema!

I love tomatoes and corn so much that a number of my posts are dedicated to these very topics. In case you are looking for a little extra reading from The Nutrition Doctor, just search “corn” or tomatoes” from the “specifically speaking” word cloud on my home page and dream with me of Spanish grilled corn or heirloom tomatoes sandwiches with garlic aioli…

And guess what? My love of these foods doesn’t disappear once the autumn harvest is over.

Thus, as much as I enjoy eating seasonally, and do so as often as I can, I am ever grateful for the Spaghetti_Crop vast array of foods I can attain when I want or need them, as this generally keeps my diet healthier and more interesting. Yes, my meals are often dominated by all the great stuff I get at my local markets, but, as you can imagine, not so much on the tomato front in March. So I eat fewer of them, for sure, but tomatoes and other fresh veggies remain part of my repertoire during the other nine months of the year. The simple fact is that most Americans don’t eat enough vegetables, and frozen and even canned are fine sources assuming you read the ingredients and avoid brands with added salt and/or sugar.

So do what you need to do to eat more produce, however you can. Adding chopped veggies to something like tomato sauce is a great way to increase your intake while giving a major nutritional boost to your favorite foods.

And, you know, if it tricks your children or someone else you love into eating more vegetables, that’s great, too.

I’m dreaming of warm days filled with green-leafed trees and summer-sweet corn and tomatoes…

Chili: Three Tips for the Meal That Keeps on Giving

Posted on 8 February 2013 by Dr. P. K. Newby

Though I hadn’t been planning on it, all of the food media and then my own post ruminating on Super Bowl favorites finally got to me, and I simply had to make chili this past weekend. I took it up a notch with homemade cornbread, too, which I haven’t made in about five years. Ah, the power of suggestion, eh? Goodness knows I’ve written enough about chili, though, so today’s post is rather short, with just three tips and reminders pertaining to this dish and cooking in general.

1. Get creative and make it your own! The reason I love making chili so much is because there’s always a different variation I employ based on my mood and ingredients on hand. The version here has a Southwestern slant with corn, black beans, and tomatillo salsa, for example. This week’s included kidney, pinto and black beans, but no corn. (Both employed texturized vegetable protein, a fabulous soy-based protein alternative that takes on the flavor, texture, and semblance of ground beef. Stop rolling your eyes and give it a shot some Meatless Monday.)

Meal 1: My regular chili dinner is rice-less, but this time included corn bread for a special Super Bowl treat.

2. Stretch it out by serving with brown rice. Cooking can be pricey, and while chili is certainly economical, your dollar will go even further by serving it with a grain, like brown rice. (Remember: whole grains are far more nutritious than refined grains, and can be part of a healthy diet for most people.)

Meal 2: Serving the chili with a whole grain such as brown rice bumps up the nutrition and stretches your meal and dollar even further.

3. Make a big batch and use or freeze for another meal. Chili freezes beautifully, and making more for later is a time saver. This time around I didn’t freeze it myself because my freezer is jam-packed. Instead, we enjoyed chili for two separate dinners, shown above, and my husband enjoyed it twice for lunch.

With this weekend’s snow storm here in Boston, it’s actually the perfect time (again) to make chili, although I have Indian food on my mind, with more to come on that topic very soon.

What’s your favorite thing to cook on wintry weekends?

A Big Christmas Salad: Pretty as a Wreath

Posted on 30 December 2012 by Dr. P. K. Newby

Doesn’t this salad look like a festive Christmas wreath?

My feelings about eating a big salad for dinner are news to no one at this point. But it always pleases me when a “kitchen sink” salad—meaning, a salad that includes various things I have hanging around but wouldn’t necessarily have planned to include together—turns out to be particularly tasty and oh-so-pretty.

Such was the case on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. I had picked up some wonderful baby Tuscan kale and peppery arugula at the farmers’ market a few days prior, which formed the base. To that I added a sickle pear, scallions, toasted almonds, and pomegranate. (Call me gratuitous given my recent posts on martinis, margaritas, and champagne cocktails made with pomegranates, but I don’t care—it’s traditional for Christmas and also delicious). I simply dressed the salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and was truly delighted at how delectable it was! I was initially uncertain about the pear-pomegranate combination, but my fretting was for naught: something about the combination really worked.

A lot of salad posts from me recently, I know, and many featuring kale (albeit different types of kale, but let’s not split hairs). It’s just such a fabulous, hardy winter green, and I’m enjoying sharing with you the many ways to enjoy it.

I suppose you could also cook kale, eh? Yeah, I do that, too. Next time.

And you thought salad wasn't Christmassy!

And you thought (kale) salad wasn’t Christmassy!

Black Friday No More

Posted on 23 November 2012 by Dr. P. K. Newby

For as long as I can remember, the week of Thanksgiving has brought with it a feeling of dread. And, no, I’m not referring to holiday traffic or the inevitable family skirmishes that arise when too many cooks are in the kitchen. Nor am I speaking of actual “Black Friday” of American ilk occurring even as I write, that unsavory consumer shopping frenzy that apparently began on Thanksgiving Day itself for many establishments.

(Leaving this blog mainly to issues of food, eating, science, and sustainability, I’ll contain my personal comments on consumerism and Black Friday in particular. Suffice to say, I’d rather be cooking. Or running. Or, really, doing anything else.)

Ever seen this? Known as Romanescu cauliflower (or Roman cauliflower / broccoli), this elegant hybrid cruciferous vegetable is the perfect choice when indecision arises.

So why the angst, you ask?

Well (sniff, sniff), it’s because the week of Thanksgiving marks the last hours of the seasonal farmers’ markets here in Boston. And, when it’s the final day before Thanksgiving, it’s like Black Friday. Black Friday for foodies. I wrote about the experience last year, tissues in hand, as I (melo)dramatically lamented the end of the harvest that necessitates a shift in my shopping habits to suit the colder clime and shorter growing season of New England.

The market is the main place I shop from May through November, you see, as you likely already know. Here’s a round-up of a few posts in case you missed them; many have pretty pictures of produce I’ll bet you’ve not seen before, like the broccoli-cauliflower hybrid featured today. The point is that for culinary sorts like myself, the farmers’ market is akin to a toy store for a ten-year-old, and the week of Thanksgiving is filled with the same frenetic energy seen in shopping malls today. People scurry around scooping up the last of the seasonal fare, whether for holiday feast or later storage in fridge or freezer. (For context, check out last year’s post for a picture of just how much I bought; it was sort of insane.)

Happily, the mad rush punctuated by the occasional sob that usually occurs for me on Black Friday for Foodies is no longer needed, as winter markets have begun popping up around Boston and Cambridge. Local produce in February? You betcha. Hearty roots and apples have been stored and tender lettuces have been grown in greenhouses for a winter filled with local vegetables and salad, the cornerstones of my diet. Oysters and lobster, too. Huzzah!

So I feel rather light-hearted this week, and it’s not just because we made good time on the trip from Boston to New York yesterday or because the family squabbles remained at a low roar: the winter markets will soon open and I can continue getting my local produce on, allowing me to obtain goodies I can’t find anywhere else while supporting my regional food producers.

And I am thankful indeed.

And you thought cauliflower just came in green.

If you like what you see here at The Nutrition Doctor is In the Kitchen, don’t forget to subscribe to my blog from the home page, become a fan on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or check out my boards on Pinterest. And thank you for reading!

Leftover Wonderment: Vietnamese Noodle Soup with Squash, Coconut, and Curry (Video)

Posted on 24 April 2012 by Dr. P. K. Newby

Vietnamese soup with coconut and curry gets a healthy boost from roasted squash and brown rice noodles. (Optional garnish of chopped peanuts and sliced scallions.)

I will never cease to be amazed by people who hate leftovers. No offense to them or anything, it’s just such a foreign concept to me, is all. As my regular readers know, I cook purposefully in large amounts to create leftovers for both fridge and freezer. It’s wonderfully efficient and ensures I always have healthy, homemade food on hand. (As I’ve mentioned, I do not cook hot meals from scratch every day for reasons related to both time and my love of big salads for supper.) As well, on many a happy occasion culinary creativity kicks in and my leftovers are morphed into something altogether new, like…

Tomato sauce to tomato soup (video)
Tomato sauce to puttanesca sauce
Baingan bharta (indian roasted eggplant) to curried eggplant soup
Tomato sauce to chili
Roasted squash soup (video) to Vietnamese noodle soup (today’s post)

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I frequently have leftovers from the new dish I made from the original leftover, which always makes me smile. Thus far I’ve never morphed my secondary leftover creation into a tertiary concoction, in case you were wondering. Since often times sauces and such turn into soups, I’m not quite sure what the next step would be other than, say, blended baby food.

Additional Cooking and Nutrition Notes

Interestingly, you really can’t taste the squash all that much in this soup, and you should go ahead and vary the proportions of the liquids – squash, stock, and coconut – to suit your taste. But part of why I love my version so much is that by starting with squash soup you add thickness, body, and flavor via squash rather than solely with coconut milk. This addition decreases the energy density and increases the nutrient density of the dish, which is a key facet of healthful eating. And, because the roasted squash is so sweet, it’s a perfect complement to the coconut. (Note: I tried hard to come up with some clever “A squash walks into a coconut…” joke, to no avail.) Switching out brown rice noodles for nutritionally bereft refined also adds extra vitamins, minerals, and fiber, and you’ll never know the difference. (Incidentally, this soup ended up being both gluten-free and vegan, if that’s of concern, though it wasn’t designed as such.)

Also, while the soup is excellent as made in the video, when serving it I remembered a few things that complete the flavors that I failed to include in today’s version. Really, I just forgot. The soup was terrific but it’s even better with a few more ingredients. The first, tamarind paste (2-3 tsp or 1 tbsp) is not required but, like the fish sauce, creates an incredible party on your palate. Thai basil is another traditional ingredient that’s helpful, but not necessary. Finally, Kaffir lime and/or its leaves is another terrific ingredient you could add but I didn’t have any on hand; regular lime suffices. A garnish of chopped peanuts is optional, as depicted, but not at all necessary.

So, if you enjoy Southeast Asian cooking, whether coconut-ty sweet or super spicy, this soup is for you. If you like squash soup, you’ll adore it. But I’ll also bet that if you served it to someone who didn’t like squash soup (!?) they’d be none the wiser and you could trick them into liking something good for them. Sure, coconut milk is high in calories, but my recipe cuts it down substantially without compromising flavor, and there’s a lot of other highly nutritious stuff in there to boot (veggies, high fiber garbanzos and brown rice noodles, etc.). So, whereas coconut-based soups are not something I eat frequently, as they are certainly higher in calories than broth- or vegetable purée-based soups, they are a luscious addition to a plant-based diet.

Dig in.

And if you think of some good coconut-squash-curry jokes, let me know.

Dr. P. K. Newby is a nutrition scientist and educator with expertise in the prevention of obesity and chronic diseases through diet and the relations between agriculture, food production, and public health. She brings together her passions for food, cooking, science, and sustainability through her writing and videos to help people eat their way towards better health, one delectable bite at a time. If you like what you see here at The Nutrition Doctor is In the Kitchen, please subscribe to my blog from the home page, become a fan on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, check out my food porn on Pinterest, watch my cooking videos on YouTube, and peruse my recipe page for soups, salads, seafood, sweets, and more. Thanks for reading!

Kale, the Headless Crucifer, Rides Again

Posted on 10 April 2012 by Dr. P. K. Newby

Curly Kale with Beets, Carrots, and Toasted Almonds Topped with an Orange-Dijon Vinaigrette and Roasted Smoked Salmon.

Don’t tell me you haven’t yet tried kale. I mean, I get it and all. I, too, was a kale virgin until one fateful day in November when we first met over a salad of kale and roasted Brussels sprouts. I fell in love, and my cruciferous world was forever changed. Kale is actually a hearty fall vegetable, you may know, but it’s still around at the winter farmers’ markets for a few more weeks. I thus seized the opportunity this past weekend to make a big salad with it, perhaps the last I’ll make for a while. And, as it happens, the kale was the color of tender new grass, which made for a very pretty and spring-like salad indeed when adorned with magenta beets, red onions, orange carrots, and, um, salmon salmon.

Kale Salad with Beets, Carrots. and Toasted Almonds (Salmon Optional)

A feast for the palate as well as the eyes, this salad has a fabulous balance of flavors and textures that has “big salad” for dinner written all over it. If you remain reluctant to make kale’s acquaintance, you can read more about Molly Wizenberg’s first time, who inspired me to then, er, pull my own kale trigger; the original post also provides nutrition details. In today’s rendition, the sweetness of the beets complements the mildly bitter kale and toasted almonds add crunch. A zesty orange-dijon vinaigrette brings together all of the salad’s elements with panache. The heart- and brain-healthy fats present in the nuts, olive oil, and salmon, including both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, also help your body to absorb all of the nutrients in the salad. And guess what? Although roasted beets are terrific, you can thinly slice raw beets on a mandoline or grate them, as I did here, eliminating 45 minutes of prep time.

Vegetarian and Vegan Versions Still Rock

Don’t eat salmon? Adding fish was actually an afterthought, as my original idea was to top it with asiago (or parmigiana), below. However, I happened to have a smallish piece of fish in the fridge that I thought would make a savory addition. And it did. But long shards of cheese will give you a bit of umami sans animal flesh, if you prefer. To keep the whole shebang vegan, leave off both. Honestly, the salad still totally rocks. Really. I love cheese, but I also experimented the first time I made a kale salad and found it really did not need it. Another serving idea is to include orange segments for color contrast and flavor balance, which would be terrific. In an everyday hearty big salad I’ll often use tons of different veggies and whatnot but a salad like this one benefits from focusing on a few key ingredients, as piling on more stuff will start to detract. In many cases with cooking, less is actually more, but if you’re not using salmon or cheese on this salad oranges would work really well.

Make It Your Own… Within Reason

The point, as always is that eating healthy for life is about options, so take what you like, leave what you don’t, and – as always – make it your own. You do need to keep to the overall tenor of the “salad” idea to reap the health benefits, though, so be reasonable in your substitutions and remember the nutrition basics we’ve discussed to guide you.

In other words, don’t, say, substitute bacon for the kale.

Dr. P. K. Newby is a nutrition scientist and educator with expertise in the prevention of obesity and chronic diseases through diet and the relations between agriculture, food production, and public health. She brings together her passions for food, cooking, science, and sustainability through her writing and videos to help people eat their way towards better health, one delectable bite at a time. If you like what you see here at The Nutrition Doctor is In the Kitchen, please subscribe to my blog from the home page, become a fan on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, check out my food porn on Pinterest, watch my cooking videos on YouTube, and peruse my recipe page for soups, salads, seafood, sweets, and more. Thanks for reading!

Eat Squash, Not Slime (Roasted Squash Soup, That Is)

Posted on 3 April 2012 by Dr. P. K. Newby

Roasted squash soup: elegant on its own and a starting place for other recipes.

If you’re just tuning in, today is Part II of the squash series. Part I was the intro and prep, where we discussed ingredients and roasted our veggies. Today’s video brings this flavorful soup together in a few easy steps: chop, sauté, mix, blend, stir, done. I did a bit of editing to save some valuable minutes of your life. I mean, do you really need to see me blend soup for 40 seconds? I thought not.

Crazy Carotenoid Soup

Why “crazy carotenoid soup,” you ask? Well, better that than “crazy Cucurbita soup,” for starters, which refers to the winter squash genus. The sweet potatoes are in there this time just for variety, but all three bright orange vegetables are rich in the carotenoids alpha- and beta-carotene (like carrots). There are hundreds of carotenoids in nature that act powerfully in the body to promote health and prevent diseases like cardiovascular disease and cancers when consumed as part of a plant-based diet. These veggies also sport a few other key carotenoids, like lutein, zeaxanthin, and beta-cryptoxanthin (hence the “crazy carotenoid” name). They’re great sources of vitamins A and C and minerals like manganese and potassium; fiber, good starches, and many other phytonutrients are in there, too, all working together to reduce inflammation and increase insulin sensitivity, good things your body needs. Good for vision, too. Combine all that with the satiating power of soup and you’ve got a slime-free meal that will keep you healthy, satisfied, and coming back for more.

Perhaps over time, you’ll gradually come to see why soup is such a big part of my diet. And, incidentally, also makes a great gift. After all, nothing says “I love you” better than soup. Except maybe diamonds. But soup is cheaper, so, yeah, go with that.

Cooking Notes

I mention in the video that this is my “basic” squash soup recipe but I want to be clear that “basic” does not equal “boring.” It’s absolutely wonderful, and I encourage you to start with this foundation and then start playing once you get comfortable. Some people toss carrots and/or apples into the veggie mix. Others grate ginger or sprinkle in curry for an Asian flair. Maple syrup or honey provide sweetness and complexity, while cream contributes body and richness. I’ve made all of these variations as the mood and market strikes, and they’re all superb and keep things interesting. Finally, you can steam the squash or boil it in the stock rather than roast it if you prefer, but roasting produces a far tastier soup as the flavors and sugars concentrate during the process. As well, roasting with a bit of olive oil, a healthy monounsaturated fat, increases both the “yum” and the absorption of all those wonderful fat-soluble nutrients. However you prepare it, you saw just how easy it is, so you don’t always need to go to Au Bon Pain, Whole Foods, or wherever you go to get your squash soup on. Now you can make it at home, share it with a friend, freeze it, and use it a base for additional variants, like I do.

Squash Beats Slime

It took loads of discipline to post Part II of my squash series today rather than a Jon Stewart / Stephen Colbert satiric duo on Pink Slime. (Slime? Squash. Slime!? Squash. Slime?…and so it went. ) For better – and occasionally worse – I’ll pretty much always go for funny over not, hence my motto “Life is Short. Make it Funny.” That said, we really did need to move this squash soup video along so I can get to Part III, which is actually one of the best new dishes I’ve made this year. Stay tuned for that, and fear not the heat of the soup – you can make it as sweet or fiery as your little tastebuds desire.

Oh, and I did post a link to the Colbert video on my Facebook page, so you can check it out there if you’re so inclined; I’ll get the set up on my blog at some point, perhaps. In the meanwhile, dude, it’s beef. I mean, bro, it’s slime.

Whatever you call it, we can avoid the whole matter completely with squash.

Dr. P. K. Newby is a nutrition scientist and educator with expertise in the prevention of obesity and chronic diseases through diet and the relations between agriculture, food production, and public health. She brings together her passions for food, cooking, science, and sustainability through her writing and videos to help people eat their way towards better health, one delectable bite at a time. If you like what you see here at The Nutrition Doctor is In the Kitchen, please subscribe to my blog from the home page, become a fan on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, check out my food porn on Pinterest, watch my videos on YouTube, and peruse my recipe page for soups, salads, seafood, sweets, and more. Thanks for reading!

Squash Soup, Three Ways: Intro and Prep

Posted on 28 March 2012 by Dr. P. K. Newby

The makings of squash soup: butternut and acorn squash, celery root (or celery), onion, garlic, sweet potatoes, olive oil, and veggie scraps for stock.

I’m really excited to post another set of videos, this time on squash soup. A story in four parts, today will begin with the intro to the series and veggie prep. Later this week I’lll finish soup number one with you, which is basic squash soup. This version is made with butternut, acorn, and sweet potatoes, actually, because that’s what inspired me at the farm market during these final days of autumn/winter produce. I’ve made the same soup with only butternut. Use whatever you like!

I’m posting the intro and prep separately today for two reasons. First, I’m trying to keep things succinct, which as you know is a challenge for me both in writing and video. On a more practical note, however, you might consider roasting the squashes on a separate day. It’s really quick to make the soup, but the rate limiting step is roasting the veggies, which takes about 45 minutes at 425 degrees. I’ve actually been meaning to make this soup for weeks—good things squashes last—but I often work late so I never feel like starting the process by roasting veggies at 8 or 9 pm. If this sounds familiar, you can roast your veggies at a different time then put the soup together another day. Or just plan accordingly. Also, here’s a video on making veggie stock and a post on why it’s so much better for you and the environment; you can use store-bought if you prefer (but watch the sodium).

So easy. So delicious. So nutritious from all of those bright orange veggies I was calling it “Crazy Carotenoid Soup.” (In my head, that is. Didn’t want you to think I was weird, or something.) Carotenoids are phytonutrients important for chronic disease prevention alongside other great health benefits; more on nutrition later.

By the way, if you noticed my head being chopped off a bit later in the video this is an artistic effect known as “negative space.” It’s also more commonly known as “I can’t friggin’ get iMovie to stop cropping off the top edge of my video” (and I’m gonna hurt someone). Reminds me of another challenge when we first started filming this video and my husband, who very kindly acts as videographer, says to me. “That sweater really doesn’t look like a cooking outfit.” Um, what? Yeah. Okay. I’m just a regular person, sharing the love of cooking and eating sustainable, healthy, delicious food here on my humble blog. No professional videography. No expert editing. No cooking costumes.

This is my way of saying forgive my not-as-polished-as-I-would-like videos. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get to the gym for a long run to reduce my stress level (a major motivation for physical activity in my world) after fighting with iMovie for several hours. And stay tuned for more of this sensational squash series…

(Cooking outfit? Seriously? I don’t even know what that means. I feel badly enough my videos aren’t as glossy as I’d like and now my own husband is heckling me from behind the camera.)

Dr. P. K. Newby is a nutrition scientist and educator with expertise in the prevention of obesity and chronic diseases through diet and the relations between agriculture, food production, and public health. She brings together her passions for food, cooking, science, and sustainability through her writing and videos to help people eat their way towards better health, one delectable bite at a time. If you like what you see here at The Nutrition Doctor is In the Kitchen, please subscribe to my blog from the home page, become a fan on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, check out my food porn on Pinterest, watch my cooking videos on YouTube, and peruse my recipe page for soups, salads, seafood, sweets, and more. Thanks for reading!

The Nutrition Doctor is In the Kitchen

Where Science is Sexy and Healthy Eating is Spectacular

Category Archives: Winter

Winter Pizza with White Beans, Chard, and Caramelized Onions

Thai Pumpkin Soup with Coconut, Cashews, and Curry

P.K.’s Winter Pasta Sauce: On Canned Tomatoes and Carb-Loading

Chili: Three Tips for the Meal That Keeps on Giving

A Big Christmas Salad: Pretty as a Wreath

Black Friday No More

Leftover Wonderment: Vietnamese Noodle Soup with Squash, Coconut, and Curry (Video)

Kale, the Headless Crucifer, Rides Again

Eat Squash, Not Slime (Roasted Squash Soup, That Is)

Squash Soup, Three Ways: Intro and Prep

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