Roasted Tomato Soup

I love to make soups in the fall, they are so easy and a great way to warm up on a chilly day.  Soups are also so easy to make and freeze well so you don't have to eat the whole pot at once.  This year we probably had close to fifteen tomato plants in our backyard that turned into more of a tomato hedge.  I had so many to use up I thought that making a soup would be a great way to use up the tomatoes and enjoy them when we can no longer eat them fresh off the vine.  Plus I love tomato soup.  It makes me think of rainy days spent at my Grandma's house when I was growing up.  This isn't her recipe but any tomato soup brings back the memories.
This is an easy recipe to make and one you can do while making something else for dinner.  It has a lovely flavour to it and a wonderful thick consistency.  If you prefer a thinner soup simply add more stock to it.

Roasted Tomato Soup

5 large tomatoes, cut into 3/4" slices1 onion, cut into 1/2" slices1/2 jalapeno, cut in half lengthwise, seeded2 bell peppers, seeded, cut into 4 piecesolive oil1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika1/2 teaspoon garlic powder3/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)freshly ground black pepper2 cups vegetable broth1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (plus additional cheese for garnishing)few tablespoons of heavy cream or creme fraiche (optional)

1. Preheat your oven to 375.  On cookie sheets or in a roasting pan place the vegetables and sprinkle with olive oil.  Roast them for 20 to 30 minutes.
2. Blend the roasted vegetables in a standard blender and add them to a pot.  Add the remaining ingredients.  If you are using an immersion hand blender add all the ingredients into the pot and then blend.  
3. Bring the soup to a boil and then serve.  Garnish with parmesan cheese and or cream if you desire.

Swiss Chard with Pine Nuts and Garlic

So this year we decided to grow some chard in our backyard this year and we still have a lot left to use up before the frost comes so when I had my family over for dinner I thought it would be a great time to use some of it up.  I wanted to try something different so I decided to search for a new recipe.
This recipe was fairly easy to through together last minute while my husband was carving the beef.  I hope you enjoy it.

Swiss Chard with Pine Nuts and Pan Roasted Garlic

2 tbsp oliveoil

3 cloves garlic

1/3 pine nuts

1 bunch Swiss chard

1/4 cup water

salt and pepper

dash of lemon juice

1. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat.  
2. Slice garlic very thinly and add to the oil, cooking until it is lightly browned.
3. Add the pine nuts and sauté until golden brown.  Remove the garlic and pine nuts and set aside.
4. Trim stems from the chard and cut them into bite size pieces.  Add the stems to the pan with water and simmer until the water has evaporated.
5. Chop chard leaves roughly and add to pan.  Season lightly and toss them until they wilt. 
6. Return the garlic and pine nuts to the pan and sprinkle with lemon juice.  Adjust the seasoning and serve.

Green Tomato Chutney

I hate to waste good produce that I have been working hard to grow all year.  This year we had a late start with our tomatoes because of lack of sun and with fall coming I new that the rains would be coming soon.  The other day it looked as if it was going to start to rain soon so I called on my husband to help me pick the many unripened tomatoes in our back yard.  The whole process took about two hours and now anywhere there is a window that gets sun in our house there are a bunch of tomatoes laying in front of it, just waiting for the chance to ripen.

The past couple of years I have had more green tomatoes than window space and so I have started to make green tomato chutney with the extras.  I usually do this with the cherry and smaller tomatoes because they require less chopping.

Green Tomato Chutney

1 3/4 lb tomatoes, cut into chunks

2 granny smith apples, cored and cut into chunks

1 cup sliced shallots

2 dried chillies, seeded and finely chopped

1 inch grated ginger

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup raisins

1 1/2 brown sugar

1 tbsp mustard seed

1 tsp ground cardamon

1/2 tsp all spice

1 orange zested

1. Mix together all the ingredients in a non-reactive pot.
2. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a low boil, stirring frequently for 45 minutes.
3. Pour into sterilized jars and process according to the size of your jar.

* this recipe makes about a 1 litre of chutney