I think I found a new favorite soup. This is really easy, tastes great, and involves the Vita-Mix. What else can I ask for in the kitchen?

For the annual Soup Swap, I made 4 quarts. Unless you like to make a lot of soup for groups or freeze some for later, you might consider cutting this recipe in half.

Ingredients:

• 6 russet potatoes, baked (I usually don’t eat Russet, but I found some local organic Colorado potatoes at Whole Foods, so I made an exception to my little rule)
• 1 yellow onion
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 granny smith apples
• 2 stalks celery
• 1 quart veggie broth
• 1 quart (maybe more?) water
• 2-3 cups shredded white cheddar cheese. I used Tillamook white cheddar. Add more cheese if you’re not too concerned with fat and calories. It will definitely taste better that way!
• sea salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• Aleppo pepper or red pepper flakes
• 1/2 TB dried Thyme

I love making these for Thanksgiving and Christmas. They are addictively delicious.

This recipe is for 1.5 cups of Pecans. It is easy to make a big batch, and the proportions can be tweaked according to taste. I always use the same ingredients, but make them slightly differently, by adding more or less of something. So, have fun with them and enjoy.

Melt 2 TB butter in a sauce pan. Add raw pecans and coat. Add 2 TB maple syrup and coat again. Then 1/2 TB each of curry powder, onion powder, and garlic powder. Mix well. Then 1 tsp sea salt, 1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne (depending on how spicy you like them). Mix this all well and spread a single layer on a baking sheet (covered in foil to make clean-up easy) and bake at 250 for 15-20 minutes. Let them cool and enjoy on their own, on vanilla ice cream, on an arugula and pear salad… there are many options.

Soup-er easy. Especially if you already steamed a pumpkin and carved out the flesh. I am totally put-off by canned pumpkin, so I took the extra time to slice a pie pumpkin in half, scrape out the seeds, steam it for 30 minutes or until it is falling out of the skin, and finally remove the skin. I think that is the secret ingredient to this simple recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• The cream from the top of 1 small can (5.46 oz) coconut milk, left undisturbed for at least 2 hours
• 2 cups cooked fresh pumpkin
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup crunchy natural peanut butter
• 2 TB soy sauce
• 2 TB Vietnamese Sweet Lemon Curry Powder
• 2 TB Kecap Manis (found in your local Asian food market)
• 2 cups frozen spinach (fresh would be better if you have it- chopped)
• a pinch or more of Cayenne pepper

Simple, fast, delicious. Get some heavy whipping cream, pour it in your KitchenAid mixer with the wire whisk attachment, turn to speed 10, add a little salt and pepper (I cracked whole black peppercorns with my mortar and pestle), and in just a few minutes, you have butter.