Comfort food

When I miss home away from home (Portugal), I go straight to my portuguese cooking books. I don't know how to explain it, but just thinking about portuguese food is truly comforting to me!! As I have mentioned before, one of my favorite things to do is portuguese soups (sopas), and, thankfully, my kids love it too...!! I shared a recipe for a garbanzo soup with spinach here, and this time I would like to share one of our family favorites, and a super easy one, too!!

Sopa de Cenoura com Feijao Verde

(Carrot Soup with Green Beans)

4 to 5 medium potatos, cubed

3 large carrots, cubed

1 medium onion, cubed

1 lb bag frozen french style green beans (of course you can use fresh green beans, I just love shortcuts if they work!)

Throw the cubed potatos, carrots and onion in a pot, cover with water (water level whould be a couple of inches above vegetables) and cook for about half an hour. I often add a Knorr vegetable

bouillon but that is optional.

Once the vegetables are cooked, I use my favorite kitchen appliance, the hand blender, to

puree the soup right in the pot! Check the consistency of the soup, I usually add a little water at this point to bring it to the right creamy consistency. Add the green beans and bring it back to a boil for 5 to 10 minutes (the frozen green beans are already cooked, so they

really don't need much cooking time).

The last touch in all my soups is a generous few tablespoons of olive oil, added just a minute before turning the heat off. Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!!!

I have also been scouring FLICKR for some great photographs of Lisbon and gathered my favorites in a LISBON mosaic...






If you would like to see older posts of our stay in Lisbon (and London) this summer, including a few trips to flea markets, please go here... Some of my flea market favorite finds while there include this green enamel salt box, an awesome antique stamp set and, of course, lamps!!!