Day 316: Curried Vegetable Bisque ♥

Today's creamy bisque soup, made creamy with potato and dried milk powder instead of the typical heavy cream. The bisque is slightly sweet, thanks to a healthy ration of Granny smith apples and a few currants or raisins. Low Fat. Weight Watchers Friendly. Vegetarian. Naturally Gluten Free.

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Curried Vegetable Bisque calls for just a few pantry vegetables, fruits and spices – isn't it rare for a fridge and pantry to be without onions, peppers, celery, carrots and potatoes plus apples and raisins? – which means, praise be, it's a soup to make on a whim, no special grocery run required, no delay waiting to pick up something special.

Mind you, this bisque is not an especially pretty soup – hence the carrot-currant garnish, a favorite I learned making Afghan Chicken & Rice Casserole (Kabeli Palau) and repeated often. (Croutons would work too! Or a dollop of sour cream and a few herbs. You'll have something in the fridge, I'm 99% sure!) Still, the garnish is entirely optional: just close your eyes and softly spoon the spiced soup home.

RECIPE for CURRIED VEGETABLE BISQUE

Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Time to table: 90 minutes
Makes 6 - 7 cups (see ALANNA's TIPS)

FOR BISQUE
3 cups vegetable, chicken or another stock

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 Granny Smith apples, skins on & chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped (red, green, even a poblano)
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 rib celery, diced
1 large Yukon gold potato, skin on and diced
1/4 cup dried currants or raisins (don't skip)
2 teaspoons curry or to taste
1/2 teaspoon cardamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon thyme
Salt to taste
Hot Stock

2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 1/2 cups milk (skim, 2%, whole)
3/4 cup dry milk powder

FOR OPTIONAL GARNISH
1 tablespoon butter
1 carrot, cut in thin strips (julienned)
2 tablespoons dried currants
Dash curry
Dash salt

BISQUE Bring the stock to a boil in the microwave. (This is a time-saving technique that can be skipped if there's no rush.)

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over MEDIUM HIGH. Add the fruit, vegetables, spices and salt as they're prepped, stirring each new addition to coat with fat, not allowing to brown, aiming for a golden color. Add the hot stock and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to MEDIUM and cook until the potato is cooked through, about 30 minutes.

Stir in the tomato paste. Use an immersion blender to purée the bisque as much as desired: "very smooth" is ideal for bisques but a chunky soup tastes great too. (Since dairy doesn't freeze well, stop here if you intend to freeze any/all of the soup.)

Stir in the milk and milk powder. Taste and adjust salt and other seasoning.

OPTIONAL GARNISH In a small skillet, melt the butter on MEDIUM until shimmery. Stir in the carrot, currants, curry and salt. Let cook, stirring occasionally, until carrot softens.

ALANNA'S TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
YIELD This soup's yield will vary based on the size of the fruits and vegetables used, also how much the soup cooks down while simmering.
DRIED MILK POWDER? Really? It's such an unusual ingredient for a soup but isn't essential to the flavor. If you have some, sure, use it. But if you don't, just add 1/2 cup more milk, maybe evaporated milk for the richness. I also think coconut milk would be good here!
SPECIAL COOKING TOOLS I don't have so many but I do pull out a decade-old Mandoline (also called a Japanese Benriner) regularly, especially when I'm looking for tiny, even vegetables. My knife skills aren't that good, a mandoline it is!

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Cup: 153 Calories; 2g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 3mg Cholesterol; 107mg Sodium; 28g Carb; 4g Fiber; 20g Sugar; 7g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS WW Old Points 3, WW PointsPlus 4, WW SmartPoints 6, WW Freestyle 4 CALORIE COUNTERS 100-calorie serving = 2/3 cup.

TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE INSPIRATION The inspiring recipe comes from Simply in Season, a new blog promoting the cookbook by the same name, Simply in Season (World Community Cookbooks).

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the
famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

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