Roasted Eggplant Soup ♥

Roasted Eggplant Soup, just eggplant and a few pantry ingredients. For Weight Watchers, just #PP2. Low Carb, Paleo, Gluten Free and easily Vegan.
graphic button small size size 10 Today's inexpensive, healthy winter soup recipe: Take a pretty eggplant, roast it and add a few pantry ingredients. You've got Roasted Eggplant Soup! Weight Watchers Friendly, just 2 PointsPlus. Low Cal. Low Carb. Gluten Free. Paleo. Not just vegan, "Vegan Done Real" (when made with vegetable stock). graphic button small size size 10

Eggplant this time of year, it's just so pretty! So plump, so perfect and oh-so-pretty – so pretty that last week, not one but two eggplants jumped into my grocery cart. The next day, My Favorite Cook stopped by the grocery for milk and (y'know where this is headed, right?) another one jumped into his cart! "It was so pretty!" he said. I had to laugh: we're so alike when it comes to vegetables, we can't resist the pretty ones. And then I wondered, What in good gravy am I going to do with three eggplants?

#1 Eggplant Soup. It was, um, shall we say, Not-So-Pretty? But I loved the silky texture and the smoky flavor. Win!

#2 One of these eggplant recipes. Right now I'm thinking Moroccan Chicken. (Yeah, I know, a better photo is in order.)

#3 Suggestions??? One to go!

RECIPE for ROASTED EGGPLANT SOUP

Hands-on time: 25 minutes over about 55 minutes
Time to table: 1 hour
Makes 6 cups

1 globe eggplant, about 1-1/2 pounds (700g)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoky paprika
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
Roasted Eggplant
4 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock

Sour cream thinned with a little buttermilk, for garnish, optional

EGGPLANT Turn on the broiler with the rack right below. Cut the eggplant on half lengthwise, place cut-side down on a baking sheet. Place under the broiler and roast until the eggplant skin turns dark and almost crispy and the interior is soft and creamy. (This took about 15 minutes in our upper oven but I'm getting the idea that its thermostat isn't working, so would advise checking every 5 minutes or so.) Once the eggplant is ready, let cool a bit, then scrape the creamy flesh off the skin. Discard the skin.

SOUP Meanwhile, in a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil until shimmery. Add the onion and carrots as they're prepped, stirring to coat with fat. Let cook until color (and thus flavor) really develops. Stir in the spices, cook for a minute or two. Add the tomatoes, eggplant and stock. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Let simmer for about 30 minutes.

Let cool, then puree in a blender – you know to be careful-careful with hot liquids in a hot blender, right? If not, please review these warnings and tips. Return the soup to the pot and bring back to temperature.

To serve, drizzle with sour cream thinned with a little buttermilk
To serve, a sprinkle of smoke paprika

ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
graphic button small size size 10 EGGPLANT A globe eggplant is the larger bulbous purple eggplant that, at least here in the Midwest, is most common. A globe eggplant has more seeds than the slimmer Asian eggplants and honestly, I wondered if the seeds would ruin the soup's texture. They don't! Even with just an expensive Target-sourced blender, the soup turns out as silky as can be.
graphic button small size size 10 DICED TOMATOES I used a can of Rotel with green chilies, great for adding a little underlying heat. "One of us" loved the heat, the "other one" didn't. Guesses, anyone? :-)
graphic button small size size 10 GARNISH Here's the thing, Eggplant Soup Is.Not.Pretty. You'll want to garnish it with something, anything.



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MORE FAVORITE EGGPLANT RECIPES

~ Eggplant Steaks ~
~ Cajun Dirty Rice with Eggplant ~
~ Baba Ganoush ~
~ more eggplant recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture

~ Roasted Veggie Enchilada Casserole ~
~ Mediterranean Eggplant ~
~ Eggplant & Bean Thai Curry ~
~ more eggplant recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade, my food column

A Veggie Venture is home of 'veggie evangelist' Alanna Kellogg and the
famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.
© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2015



Alanna Kellogg
Alanna Kellogg

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

Comments

  1. You sure do make it look pretty!

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  2. A question that's not necessarily particular to this recipe: You often include a can of tomatoes in recipes for soups and stews. Neither my husband nor I can eat that much tomato for physical (not pickiness) reasons. Do you have any thoughts for what to replace the can of tomatoes with, other than just more broth, to accomplish what the tomatoes do? I just included more broth in the sweet potato lentil curry which came out pretty good.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous ~ Why thank you!

    Anonymous ~ What a great question! Let’s think it through. I use tomatoes because they’re easily available, inexpensive, easy to store in the pantry, low in calories and carbs, full of nutrients. They also add color. But from a culinary perspective, they also add a little acidity that “just works”. None of these would match “all” those attributes but what would you think about roasted bell peppers? tomatillos? fennel? or even canned green beans (I’m a fan)? You might want to add a splash of good vinegar to compensate for acidity differences. Thoughts??? PS I’m presuming that all forms of tomatoes don’t work for you, e.g., dried and slow-roasted?

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  4. I've tried quite a few of your recipes w/ great success. But this Roasted Eggplant Soup is absolutely to DIE for!! I went shopping this morning, prepped all the veg, & just finished simmering on the stove - it did come together in about an hour & my eggplant did take almost 20 minutes to roast. Had to taste test & wow - I'll be lucky if I don't go through the whole pot in one sitting! Just wonderful on such a cold & snowy day - thank you for posting these great recipes & all your tips!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous ~ I ♥ you! So glad you liked it! And thanks so much for letting me know, it means the world! PS In real estate, it’s location-location-location. In food, I think, it’s timing-timing-timing.

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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe, whether a current recipe or a long-ago favorite. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. ~ Alanna