Brodetto di Mare ~ A Guest Post by Healthy Foodie Travels

If you've been reading Oh Cake for a while then you've heard a tale or two from my time spent living in Italy. Today my friend Kiri from Healthy Foodie Travels has a fantastic guest post to share of an Italian shellfish stew called Brodetto di Mare, which literally translates as "little broth of the sea." Isn't that a wonderful image to conjure up? If you enjoy flavorful, healthy food from all cultures around the world then Kiri's blog is the one for you. But I'll let Kiri tell you the rest... 

 Hi! I am Kiri, from Healthy Foodie Travels and I’m thrilled to guest post for Jessica today. She did a wonderful post for me a while back that now has me wanting to visit Boston not only for my beloved Red Sox, but also for its glorious farmer’s market. So let me introduce myself briefly -

Roasted Asparagus Soup with Truffle Scented Croutons

Does anything else announce spring like asparagus soup? It's very color is evocative of the budding trees and nascent blades of grass peeping out from under the dry brown cover of their older brothers lost to winter chill. Then the flavor - fresh and bright like early morning but with a warmth that says, "I know it's still chilly out there, girl. Here, let me wrap you in my velvety soup love and keep you warm."

Confession time: I was a picky eater as a child. Gasp! You're shocked, I know. And here's the kicker: not only did I love to eat (yeah, big surprise), I didn't know I was a picky eater! I ate everything my mother made me. I just didn't realize that she only gave me food she knew I would eat. Oh, those crafty Moms! My Mom (both my parents, really) were adamant that their children not grow up to be rude and spoiled brats. If someone else cooked for you, or invited you to their home, you ate as much as you could, even if you wanted to die inside, and you thanked them for it.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup is long overdue. If you've made the Chicken Enchilada Lasagna you're probably wondering, "what the heck were we supposed to do with the other half of the shredded chicken?" This flavorful stew-like soup is perfect for the crazy early spring weather when we still have chilly nights. 

Roasted Pepper & Tomato Soup with Bacon & Apple Grilled Cheese

Look, it's not a newsflash - you know the drill. It's cold. It's damp. It's gray. It's time for tomato soup and grilled cheese. But you're not six. You don't want canned soup and plastic cheese. You want to be able to wax poetic about this de rigeur comfort food. You want flavor, dammit, and you want it now.

I can help you with that. I got what you need. You need bacon (you know you want it). You need roasted red peppers (oh, that charred sweet flavor). You need gruyere and comté (fancy-pants cheese. Really, 'nuff said).

Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Soup

This velvety cauliflower and sweet potato soup is not only delicious, it's super easy to make and fast enough for a weeknight dinner. In fact, the soup will be ready in about the time it takes to make a salad, slice some crusty french bread, set the table, and corral everyone in for dinner. After all the excess of the holiday season it's nice to get back to some lighter fare for a bit.

My love of soup and of my immersion blender is already well-known. This healthy soup is lightly flavored with cinnamon, is gluten free, and can be made vegan by using vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.

Cauliflower Leek Soup - A Winter Chill Chaser

As the days grow shorter and the colder weather begins to seep through the windows and into my bones I make pot after pot of soup. This luscious cauliflower and leek soup is one of my favorites. Possessing a milder onion flavor than either white or yellow onions leeks are one of my favorite aromatics as they don't overpower the other flavors in this soup.

As a child I only ate Mom's chicken soup, tomato soup (with a grilled cheese... mmmm), and New England clam chowder. I don't recall the first time I had potato-leek soup but I do remember how magical I thought it was. After tasting that creamy, smooth, luscious soup pureed vegetable soups became some of my favorites. I distinctly recall one afternoon living in Bologna when the Mercato delle Erbe, the city's central produce market, was simply overflowing with leeks.

Lobster Bisque

When life hands you lobsters, make lobster stock. When you have lobster stock in your freezer - make lobster bisque!

Cinderella Goes to the Farm... and Turns a Pumpkin into Soup!

It's that time of year when cooks everywhere run to the orchards, the farmers markets, and the farm stands to fill their baskets with apples, pears, and pumpkins (and cider, cider doughnuts, and my favorite: a caramel apple rolled in chopped peanuts). In the last month I've been to five different farms for all of the above mentioned items. (Except for that caramel apple... I always get one at Honey Pot Hill Farms; but I haven't been there yet this autumn).