Eating out of the Garden: Winter

Soups and roasting are my go to's in winter. We are doing a little of both tonight, so I thought I'd share some recipes.

Chicken and Veggie soup
1/4 cup dry beans *I use a white Northern bean*
Water, at least 5 cups
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic
2 pieces of chicken * I used two thighs*
1/2 cup of carrots *I used canned carrots from my garden*
1/2 cup of shredded butternut squash
1 Tbs dried Oregano
2 Tbs dried Kale
1/2 Tbs Thyme
" Garlic Powder
" Salt
" Pepper
pinch of ginger
" Turmeric

Prep your beans, I start mine when I'm cooking breakfast, boil them for two min, let stand, covered, for 3-9 hours.
Combine everything at least a couple hours before serving, cooking on a medium heat and stirring occasionally.
I just use a peeler and 'shave' the squash, it's less messy. You could dice it instead, it doesn't matter, it dissolves into the soup base.
Before serving, scoop out the chicken bones and skin, adjust salt and spices to your taste.



Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Take a sweet potato, or a couple if they are small, mine was a locally grown monster the size of 2 fists. Cut it up smallish. I think the cut is called a julienne, the end results are french fry-ish bites. Now this is the hardest part of the whole dish. You want the pieces to be fairly even, so they'll cook at the same time. The sweet potato is kinda tough, and the skin can be a pain to remove. Trust me it's worth it.
Put the cut up sweet potato in a baking pan, I used a glass 9x9. Add 1/3 to 1/2 stick of butter, dust liberally with cinnamon and some salt.
Roast at 400 for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. You'll know they're ready when some crunchy bits appear on the edges, and smaller bits have caramelized.
It'll taste like candy.