The Perpetual Feast

This is soup for two people. It is quite garlicky, so if there are two of you, both of you should eat it.  It is not a soup I would take to the office to reheat, lest my co-workers keel over either from the smell of reheating or my breath. That being said, it’s actually a pretty good and warming soup

I confess that when I first tasted it, I didn’t really like it.  But I added some ground sea salt, and that perked up the flavor.  The original recipe came from Cooking Light. If I make it again, I might put in more pepper and vinegar.  I ate this for dinner with a side of sliced tomatoes and a couple of slices of olive bread and a Laughing Cow cheese wedge.

Roasted Eggplant and Garlic Soup

1 (1-pound) eggplant, cut in half lengthwise
Cooking spray
10 large garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 teaspoon  coriander seeds
½ teaspoon  cumin seeds
2 teaspoons  olive oil
1 cup  chopped onion
¼ teaspoon  black pepper (or to taste
1½  tablespoons  all-purpose flour
¼ cup  water
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can vegetable broth
1 Tablespoon  balsamic vinegar (or to taste)
Salt to taste
2  Tablespoons  plain non-fat yogurt or sour cream

Preheat oven to 450°.

Place eggplant, cut sides down, in a baking pan coated with cooking spray; add garlic. Bake at 450° for 30 minutes or until eggplant is tender; cool. Scrape pulp from eggplant skins; discard skins. Squeeze cloves to extract garlic pulp; discard skins.

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add coriander, cumin, onion, and pepper; cook 5 minutes or until onion is tender, stirring frequently. Add flour; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add water and vegetable broth, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cool 5 minutes.

Combine eggplant pulp, garlic pulp, and broth mixture in a blender, and process until smooth. Return the pureed mixture to pan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, and cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in balsamic vinegar and salt. Ladle soup into  2 bowls. Top each serving with 1 tablespoon yogurt or sour cream.  Makes 2 servings with about 6 grams of fat/serving.