Creamed Fennel and Cauliflower Soup (Paleo & Vegan)

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Last week I went to my dads house carrying a basket full of apples, and some how left his house with a lot more. The apple tree in the backyard is officially up for harvesting (so expect a lot of apple recipes coming your way soon), and I have plenty of apple love to share. (Apples are my favorite. The fact that I'm giving them away must mean that there are a lot of apple in the backyard). The garden at my Dad's house was flourishing, and with a lot more than apples--Kale, chard, basil, cucumbers, fennel. He loaded me up. There was so much kale growing in the garden bed that he said, "You have to take a bunch of kale home for every other vegetable you pick". 

Fair enough. (Actually, fair is the wrong word. I think I won that bargain...)

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One of the vegetables I picked was a fennel bulb the size of my abdomen. (Seriously. This thing  was large enough to be shaped into a fennel body suit). Even after pulling off all of the fronds, the bulb was probably twice as big as my face. Intimidating? Yes. But I know better than to fear an oversized vegetable.

Into the Instant Pot it went! Along with some bone broth, onion, garlic, and cauliflower. I made this soup the day after having my wisdom teeth removed, and pureeing it was the only answer. It took out the chew factor, but it also converted the soup into a lusciously creamy treat that was perfect for snuggling up on the couch with. 

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Enjoy this while fennel is in season! It's super easy. Now... does any one have a good recipe for Fennel Fronds? I tried making a pesto--not impressed. 

Creamed Fennel and Cauliflower Soup

Paleo, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free    |   Caitlin Sherwood    

This soup get it’s creamy texture from cauliflower.

Serves: 4   |    Total Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

For the salad:
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 white onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 extra large or 2 medium sized fennel bulbs, stalks and fronds removed
• 1 pound cauliflower florets
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 3 cups broth (bone broth or vegetable broth)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Optional: Truffle oil, for serving
• Optional: Black pepper for serving (NOTE: this recipe is AIP-friendly if you skip the pepper).

Directions:

1. Slice the onions, mince the garlic, and chop the fennel. If your cauliflower is not already chopped into florets, do that now. In the bottom of your pressure cooker, heat up the coconut oil. Sauté the onions until translucent. Add the garlic, fennel, and cauliflower. Sauté for 5-10 minutes, until the edges of the vegetables begin to turn golden.
2. Pour the broth and coconut milk into the pot. Add salt. Cook on the soup setting for at least 5 minutes.
3. Once the pressure cooker is done cooking, release the pressure and remove the lid. Use a standing blender or an immersion blender to puree the soup to a smooth, creamy consistency.
4. Scoop into serving bowls and drizzle with truffle oil. Top with freshly cracker pepper, and garnish with a left over fennel frond. Serve hot.

Paleo Cream of Mushroom Soup with Bacon and Leeks (yup, dairy free!)

Confession: I love mushrooms so much that it takes a lot of self control not to eat them all while I'm chopping them. 

Somehow, enough mushrooms actually ended up in the soup pot for this "cream-of" soup to become Cream of Mushroom Soup. You know that saying "good things come to those that wait"? Yea. Good things come to those that wait. 

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See, while the mushrooms sit on the cutting board, they're foamy little bites with earthy flavors that are extraordinarily fun to eat. But once they've been seared, seasoned, and drowned in a creamy broth, they become savory, meaty and rich. 

Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup blows the canned stuff out of the water, and not just in flavor and style. It is actually truly nourishing with whole ingredients, healing broth, and no mystery additives. Besides, this homemade version comes with bacon, and you can't beat that. Walking the line between creamy and gravy, this soup sticks to your bones. Each creamy bite is infused with the flavors of fresh herbs, leeks, and mushrooms. Little bits of bacon give your something to go searching for. An empty bowl begs to be licked clean. 

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Cream of Mushroom Soup with Bacon and Leeks

Primal, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free    |   Caitlin Sherwood    

Who invented the canned stuff anyways? No offense, but they were totally off the mark.

Serves: 3   |    Total Time: 60 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 3 slices bacon
• 1 small leek
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/2 medium white onion
• 20 ounces mushrooms, crimini or baby portobellos
• 2 tablespoons dry peppery red wine (such as Zinfandel or Pinot)
• 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder OR corn starch
• 1 cup bone broth
• 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk OR 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon rosemary, fresh, minced
• 1 tablespoon thyme, fresh, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons chives, fresh, minced

Directions:

1. Chop the bacon into bite-sized bits. Toss the pieces in the bottom of a soup pot over medium heat. Stir the bacon occasionally as it bacon cooks. Meanwhile, prepared the vegetables: remove the green parts of the leek and chop the white parts into thin slices. Mince the garlic, and finely dice the onion. Wash and slice the mushrooms.
2. When the bacon is crispy, use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon pieces from the pot (leaving the grease). Set the bacon bits aside for later. Add the leek slices to the hot pot, cooking them until just browning. Use a slotted spoon to remove about a quarter or the leeks, to use for garnishing later. Leave the rest of the leeks in the pot, and add the onion, garlic, and mushrooms. (Tip: To get a good sear on the mushrooms, it's important to have plenty of oil in the pan. If you pan seems a bit dry, add about a tablespoon of coconut oil before adding the mushrooms. It will depend on your bacon). Stir the vegetables occasionally, allowing them to sear and cook through.
3. Pour in the wine, scraping the bottom of the pot as you do. When the vegetables start look soft, add the arrowroot powder. Sprinkle it evenly over the vegetables, and then still once or twice, just until the powder is well distributed.
4. Add the bone broth and the coconut milk. Stir briefly to ensure no clumps of arrowroot form. Bring the soup to a simmer. Add the rosemary and thyme to the soup along with salt and pepper.
5. Allow the soup to simmer, covered, for 15-20 minutes. This will allow the broth to thicken and the flavors to blend. Ladle warm soup into bowl and top with a sprinkle of reserved leeks, bacons bits, and minced chives.

Hearty, Chunky Cioppino

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One thing is true about living landlocked: good seafood is hard to come by. Sure, there are special restaurants. Sushi joints, oyster bars, and rainbow trout on most "locavore" menus, but that's about where it ends. Scallops are a freezer-isle item. If they aren't in the freezer-isle, it doesn't mean they aren't frozen, it just means they're at the butcher's counter with the other imported seafood. 

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I've heard the raving: clam chowder is great, right? I wouldn't know. It's not really something people do when the ocean is hundreds of miles away. Lobster bisque, cioppino, jambalaya? We miss out on those too. 

This means I'm sort of a seafood noob. Yup. We buy scallops on occasion and usually we're at such a loss that all we do is fry them in the skillet and add a bit of lemon and a dash of cayenne. Not this time: for once it was going to be better. It was going to be Cioppino.

As a seafood noob I'm not really qualified to review this cioppino. As an eater, I can tell you that I was not disappointed. 

What's your best seafood recipe? Do you have a fall-back seafood indulgence? 

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Hearty Chunky Cioppino

Paleo, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free   |   Caitlin Sherwood    

Serves: 4-6   |    Total Time: 45 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 medium white onion
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 large carrot
• 1 parsnip
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon red chile flakes
• 1 tablespoon sage, minced
• 1/4 cup parsley, minced
• 1/4 cup dry wine
• 2 sixteen-ounce cans diced tomatoes in juice
• 3 cups fish stock
• 1/4 pound firm white fish (I use mahi-mahi)
• 1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 pound PEI mussels, scrubbed and debearded if not already
• 1/4 pound scallops

Directions:

1. Heat the coconut oil in the bottom of a large soup pot. Chop the onion and celery into small pieces, and brown in the pot.
2. Meanwhile, dice the carrot and parsnip into small pieces, and mince the garlic. Once onions have are translucent, add all three to the pot, stirring. Add the wine, red chile, and sage.
3. Pour in the tomatoes and broth. Add half of the parsley. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes, until soup base is fragrant and simmering. Meanwhile, prepare your seafood.
4. Chop the fish into 1-inch cubes, debeard the mussels, rinse the scallops, etc. Once the soup base is simmering, drop the shrimp, fish, and scallops into the pot, stirring once, and then covering the pot and cooking for 3-5 minutes.
5. Give the soup one final stir (over stirring with break up your fish too much), and sprinkle mussels over top. Cover the pot once more, cooking about 5 minutes, or until all of the mussels have opened.Garnish with the remaining parsley and serve hot!

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