One of my favorite restaurants in New York City is Rouge Tomate – and not just because it’s conveniently located a few minutes from my apartment and across the street from Barneys, though that’s definitely an added bonus! The expansive bi-level space has super comfy seating with huge tables so you never feel cramped and the food is simply delicious. Everything is prepared under the supervision of an in-house nutritionist and you can easily have a filling multi-course meal for under 900 calories. There are so many wonderful restaurants in Manhattan, but few of them make a serious effort to be health conscious in addition to palette pleasing. It’s nice to be able to go to Rouge Tomate and know that no matter what I pick from the menu, it will be nutritionally balanced. Only seasonal vegetables and sustainable seafoods are used and there are lots of whole grains so as to comply with their S.P.E. charter (Sanitas Per Escam – Health Through Food).
One of my favorite menu items has just been added back and it’s their Market Squash Soup. It taste decadently creamy, but in fact is made without any cream! Best of all one serving has just 150 calories (hard to believe when you taste it…). I was able to get my hands on the recipe and I highly recommend it – perfect Thanksgiving/holiday soup! Jump for the recipe!
Market Squash Soup (Serves 4)
Ingredients:
- 2 tsp Olive Oil
- 4-5 cups Roasted Winter Squash (Hubbard, Delicata, or Butternut)
- ½ cup Carrot
- ½ cup Celery
- 1 cup Onion
1 ½ cup Whole Milk
- 2-3 cup stock (chicken or vegetable)
- Dash of Sea salt and pepper to taste
Sachet
- 1 spring of thyme
- 1 clove
- ¼ tsp black peppercorns
- 1 dried bay leaf
- ¼ tsp star anise
- 1 small stick cinnamon
Garnish:
- ¼ cup roasted diced apple
- ¼ cup roasted pumpkin seeds
- 2 tsp pumpkin seed oil
- 1 ginger snap
- Sweat all uncooked vegetables and roasted squash in a large pot with olive oil until soft but no color.
- Add the stock and sachet, and then cook until all vegetables are tender.
- Take off the heat, remove sachet, and add the milk.
- Blend until smooth and then pass through a sieve.
- Check seasoning.
- Divide soup evenly into four bowls and garnish with roasted apple and pumpkin seeds and drizzle with a touch of pumpkin seed oil.
- Grate a little gingersnap over each bowl. Serve hot.