Stick to Your Ribs

After a tough track workout last night (but fun and awesome with my PauoleSport teammates) the only thing on my mind was this soup. I wanted something with a little salt, a bit of kick, that would calm my belly, warm my body, and stick to my ribs. My mom and I discovered this soup at Pequot Lakes’ Sibley Station in Northern MN. Years later she sent me a newspaper clipping with the recipe, because when you're a mom in the Midwest that's what you do. I also found it here from the Moosewood cookbook. Everytime I make it, I think of my parents and wish they lived closer.  

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped onions
• 4 T. Butter
• 1 lb sliced fresh mushrooms
• 2 t. dry dill weed
• 1T. Paprika
• 1T. soy sauce
• 2c. beef broth (you could probably use veggie)
• 1c. milk
• 3T. flour
• 1/2 c. sour cream
• salt and pepper

Steps

1. In a large pot, saute chopped onion and butter.
2. Add mushrooms and then stir in dill, Paprika, soy sauce, and beef broth.
3. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk and flour.
5. Pour into soup and stir well to blend.
6. Simmer for 15 minutes.
7. Stir in sour cream and season with salt & pepper.
8. Enjoy after cold, hard workouts.

Recipe card sent from my mom

And since this soup doesn’t quite go with my healthy living month theme, here’s the recipe/instructions I use for roasting vegetables (which I can’t seem to stop doing these days). Potatoes, yams, squash, carrots, Brussel sprouts, onions…lots of starchy vegetables down the gullet these days. So warm, wholesome, and delicious.

Roasted Winter Vegetables

• 1 lb Brussel sprouts, cleaned and halved lengthwise
• 2 sweet potatoes or 4 medium parsnips, halved lengthwise and sliced about 1/3 inch thick
• 4 medium waxy potatoes (gold or red or whatever you have on hand basically)
• 1 medium onion, halved and sliced 1/4 inch thick
• olive oil or melted butter
• coarse salt
• fresh herbs, roughly chopped (optional) - I'd recommend thyme, rosemary, or marjoram

Steps 

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Bring large pot of generously salted water to boil. Blanch the Brussel sprouts: Cook the halved Brussel sprouts until just barely tender. Drain and run under cold running water or plunge into an ice bath to stop the cooking process. When cool, set aside.
3. On a sheet pan, toss the uncooked vegetables with a good glug of olive oil or melted butter (enough to lightly coat the vegetables). Salt generously. Roast for 20 minutes.
4. While the other vegetables are roasting, toss the blanched Brussel sprouts with olive oil or butter to evenly coat. Salt generously. When the potatoes and onions have roasted for 20 minutes, remove the sheet pan from the oven and spread the Brussel sprouts over the other vegetables and toss all together. Return to the oven and roast for an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until golden and crisp.
5. Toss roasted vegetables with fresh herbs, if using, and serve hot.

And finally, here is the track workout we did: 10-15 minute warm-up, 6x1000m at 10k to 1/2 marathon pace with 200m recovery jog, 10 minute warm down. And the team even joined me for another 10 minutes of core work. It was a fun night under the clear, dark skies. The only thing that would have made it better is the food above, preferably cooked by my mom.

Enjoy with loved ones!

-CK