Baby, it's cold outside...let's eat healthfully! This satisfying soup is packed with protein, vitamins and flavor, no to mention being easy to make! As with any recipe, I would strongly encourage you to read the ingredient list before you start, just to make sure you have everything.
Lentil-Kale Soup
Serves 6-8 with leftovers
3 T. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
4 large carrots, chopped
1 1/2 cups dried lentils (any color), rinsed
1 15oz can crushed tomatoes
1 t. ground mustard
1 t. paprika
1/2 t. ground cumin
1/2 t garlic granules
8 cups water
1-2 ham/soup bones
1 T chicken base
4-5 cups kale, chopped
1 large lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. In a large pot, add oil, onion and carrots. Saute for 3 minutes. Add a couple of big pinches of salt and about a teaspoon of pepper.
2. To the vegetables, add the lentils and seasonings, stirring until covered with oil.
3. Dump the can of tomatoes into the pot, then rinse the can clean with a portion of your 8 cups of water and add that liquid to the pot. Stir to combine.
4. Add the bone(s) to the pot, and cover with the remaining water. Add the chicken base and stir until it disolves.
5. Allow the soup to simmer for 20 minutes. This would be the time to taste the broth to see if it needs more salt. Remove the bones. Toss the kale into the soup and let it simmer another 20 minutes. Squeeze the lemon juice into the soup and stir just before serving.
This soup thickens nicely, and is quite hardy by itself, but for an extra treat, you can serve it with a cornbread muffin.
Showing posts with label soup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soup. Show all posts
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Monday, October 21, 2013
Baked potato soup
Oh, I do love the Fall! Changing leaves, cooler temps and pumpkin everything everywhere! This soup is an old classic that I am sure you and your loved ones will enjoy!
Baked Potato Soup
3-4 large baking potatoes
6 strips bacon
1/2 stick salted butter
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk (whole or 2%)
1/3 cup chopped green onion or chives
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese or smoked gouda
1/2 heavy cream
salt and black pepper
Directions:
1. Peel and finely dice two of the potatoes. In a large pot, melt the butter and add the diced potatoes. Sautee over medium heat, allowing the potatoes to sweat for 10 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Meanwhile, spread the bacon on a wire/cooling wrack and place on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan (any thin, flat pan with sides). Bake the bacon until crisp and all fat has been rendered. Remove the wire/cooling wrack, leaving the grease filled pan. Chop the bacon.
3. Cut the remaining potatoes into 1 inch cubes (skin on). Add them to the cookie sheet with the bacon grease, coating them well with the grease. Turn the oven up to 400 degrees and roast the potatoes in the grease until crispy and brown.
4. Chop the onion or chives and add to the pot of potatoes and butter. Add a couple of pinches of salt and pepper at this point. Pour in the chicken broth and allow everything to come to a boil. Remove from heat.
**This is the part that can be messy.**
5. In small batches, blend the stock/potato combo until smooth. You can also do this with a hand held blender. When finished, return the puree to the pot and turn the heat on low.
6. Pour in the milk and stir. Next, add the cheese a little at a time until it has melted smoothly into the liquid. Turn off the heat and add the heavy cream. Sprinkle in salt and pepper to taste.
Just before serving, toss in the roasted potatoes and bacon chunks (you thought I forgot about them, didn't you?). They add tons of extra potato flavor and great texture! This should serve 4 hungry lumberjacks or 6 regular people. Some choose to add a little sour cream for garnish and flavor, but I find it a bit of a turn off.
Baked Potato Soup
3-4 large baking potatoes
6 strips bacon
1/2 stick salted butter
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk (whole or 2%)
1/3 cup chopped green onion or chives
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese or smoked gouda
1/2 heavy cream
salt and black pepper
Directions:
1. Peel and finely dice two of the potatoes. In a large pot, melt the butter and add the diced potatoes. Sautee over medium heat, allowing the potatoes to sweat for 10 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Meanwhile, spread the bacon on a wire/cooling wrack and place on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan (any thin, flat pan with sides). Bake the bacon until crisp and all fat has been rendered. Remove the wire/cooling wrack, leaving the grease filled pan. Chop the bacon.
3. Cut the remaining potatoes into 1 inch cubes (skin on). Add them to the cookie sheet with the bacon grease, coating them well with the grease. Turn the oven up to 400 degrees and roast the potatoes in the grease until crispy and brown.
4. Chop the onion or chives and add to the pot of potatoes and butter. Add a couple of pinches of salt and pepper at this point. Pour in the chicken broth and allow everything to come to a boil. Remove from heat.
**This is the part that can be messy.**
5. In small batches, blend the stock/potato combo until smooth. You can also do this with a hand held blender. When finished, return the puree to the pot and turn the heat on low.
6. Pour in the milk and stir. Next, add the cheese a little at a time until it has melted smoothly into the liquid. Turn off the heat and add the heavy cream. Sprinkle in salt and pepper to taste.
Just before serving, toss in the roasted potatoes and bacon chunks (you thought I forgot about them, didn't you?). They add tons of extra potato flavor and great texture! This should serve 4 hungry lumberjacks or 6 regular people. Some choose to add a little sour cream for garnish and flavor, but I find it a bit of a turn off.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Seasonal Sensation: Okra & Tomato stew
Once again, I am on my soap box about the importance of transforming your children into veggie eaters, and how you can use the seasons to make the job a little easier. Summer is a great season for okra and tomatoes, but getting children (or even adults) to like okra can be sticky (pun intended). Tips: Take fresh okra and freeze it (raw) for a couple of hours before using it. Roasting or grilling it also seems to cut back on the sticky goo that tends to turn people off from this green wonder. If you can't beat the goo, use it! Tossing okra into soups and stews can help add body to the broth because the okra goo mixes in and thickens it slightly. Below is a dish I grew up eating, and it is certainly a southern classic. It can be made vegetarian or not, and is fairly inexpensive. It can be a side dish, or you can make it a full on main course soup (see notes at the bottom). Whatever you do, enjoy the nutritious bounties of summer with okra and tomatoes!
Okra and Tomato Stew (serves about 4)
2 T olive oil (or 4 slices of bacon, chopped)
2 cups sliced (rounds) okra (fresh or frozen)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can/15 oz diced tomatoes with juice
Salt and black pepper
Directions
1. In a large pot, warm oil over med-high heat. If using bacon, sautee the bacon until most of the fat is rendered, then remove the pieces from the pot (the bacon should be brown, but not burned. Now you have a little snack!). Add onions and a pinch of salt. Sautee the onions until translucent.
2. Add the garlic, okra and two pinches of salt. You will start to see the okra release it's sticky goo, and that's okay. It will be useful later! Sautee everything for about a minute, making sure the okra goo doesn't start to burn to the pot.
3. Add the tomatoes with their juice and scrape the bottom of the pot to dislodge any okra goo that may have stuck. Add a couple of pinches of salt and about a 1/2 t black pepper (or more to your taste). Let simmer for 10 minutes. Serve warm. If you'd like (and if you didn't eat all of it), you can garnish with the little bacon bits you made earlier.
NOTES:
To make this more of a main dish entree, you can add cooked, cubed chicken at the end and let it warm through in the broth, or follow the first step, then add raw chicken during the second step. Make sure the heat is stil med-high so you can get just a little sear on the chicken. Chicken thighs would be a great, economical cut to use, and would impart tons of flavor. Follow the rest of the directions, but add another 5 minutes onto the simmer time to make sure the chicken is cooked through.
To make this more of a soup, you can add 2 cups of either chicken stock, tomato juice or water when you add the tomatoes.
This dish is great with rice (fake or real). You can also add a squeeze of lemon juice a the end before eating to brighten everything.
For a more italian style dish, add 1 t dried basil and 1 t dried parsley when you add the tomatoes. They add a lovely sweet herbal note. If you're adding the herbs, I would suggest adding at least 1/2 cup-1 cup of water, chicken stock or tomato juice.
Okra and Tomato Stew (serves about 4)
2 T olive oil (or 4 slices of bacon, chopped)
2 cups sliced (rounds) okra (fresh or frozen)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can/15 oz diced tomatoes with juice
Salt and black pepper
Directions
1. In a large pot, warm oil over med-high heat. If using bacon, sautee the bacon until most of the fat is rendered, then remove the pieces from the pot (the bacon should be brown, but not burned. Now you have a little snack!). Add onions and a pinch of salt. Sautee the onions until translucent.
2. Add the garlic, okra and two pinches of salt. You will start to see the okra release it's sticky goo, and that's okay. It will be useful later! Sautee everything for about a minute, making sure the okra goo doesn't start to burn to the pot.
3. Add the tomatoes with their juice and scrape the bottom of the pot to dislodge any okra goo that may have stuck. Add a couple of pinches of salt and about a 1/2 t black pepper (or more to your taste). Let simmer for 10 minutes. Serve warm. If you'd like (and if you didn't eat all of it), you can garnish with the little bacon bits you made earlier.
NOTES:
To make this more of a main dish entree, you can add cooked, cubed chicken at the end and let it warm through in the broth, or follow the first step, then add raw chicken during the second step. Make sure the heat is stil med-high so you can get just a little sear on the chicken. Chicken thighs would be a great, economical cut to use, and would impart tons of flavor. Follow the rest of the directions, but add another 5 minutes onto the simmer time to make sure the chicken is cooked through.
To make this more of a soup, you can add 2 cups of either chicken stock, tomato juice or water when you add the tomatoes.
This dish is great with rice (fake or real). You can also add a squeeze of lemon juice a the end before eating to brighten everything.
For a more italian style dish, add 1 t dried basil and 1 t dried parsley when you add the tomatoes. They add a lovely sweet herbal note. If you're adding the herbs, I would suggest adding at least 1/2 cup-1 cup of water, chicken stock or tomato juice.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Culinary Elements: Color & Variety
When composing a meal, one must think about how the food will actually look on the plate. People eat with their eyes before they ever taste with their mouth. Meal planning means making sure you have plenty of variety in textures, colors, flavors and temperatures. I tend to not enjoy cold foods, so it is certainly a struggle for me to get multiple temperatures in the same meal (safely). At any rate, an extremely hearty meal that certainly pays homage to my southern roots, also provides a lovely example of the elements color and variety.
You are looking at dry rub, baby back ribs, french red onion and cabbage soup and roasted okra. Very tasty, low car, and quite healthy, as long as you watch the sodium in the rub and soup. I am not putting the recipe for the rub, since I think that totally depends on what your tastes are, but I will include the recipe for the soup and okra.
French Onion and Cabbage Soup:
1 med-large onion (any color, in the picture, I use red for the color)
3-4 cups chopped cabbage (red or green, again, I chose red)
3 cups chicken broth or water
2 cloves garlic, minced
Olive Oil
1-2 T butter
salt and pepper
On the stove top, turn the heat to med and warm the pot (without the oil). Halve, then slice the onion into half moons. Add enough oil to the heated pan to coat the bottom (roughly a 1/4 cup),the butter, then add the onions. Sprinkle a couple of pinches of salt over the onions to help begin the cramalization process. Keep the heat at low, and stir the onions until they are all coated in oil. Let the onions cook until brown (not burned) completely. This could take anywhere from 7 to 12 minutes, make sure you don't go too far! Toss in the cabbage and garlic. Stir well, and sprinkle with another couple of pinches of salt. When the cabbage begins to wilt, delgaze the pan with the water or chicken broth, scraping the bottom. Add a few dashes of pepper, give it one final stir then let it simmer for 15 minutes. Taste your broth, if it needs more salt, add it at this point and let it simmer for a couple of minutes further. If it is to your liking, you are ready to serve!
Roasted Okra
1 lb raw, whole okra
3 T seasoned salt (See below for my version)
Olive oil
Preheat oven to 450
Coat okra in oil, then sprinkle with seasoning. Place in pan (preferably on baking sheet) in a single layer, Roast until it starts to brown at the edges. Allow it to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving. Cooking it this way helps eliminate the gooey, sticky liquid most people associate with okra.
Seasoned Salt
1 T kosher salt
1 T smoked paprika
1 T garlic powder
2 t onion powder
2 t ground black pepper
Mix together and store in an airtight container. Great on chicken, pork and veggies. For steak seasoning, omit paprika and use course ground black pepper.
You are looking at dry rub, baby back ribs, french red onion and cabbage soup and roasted okra. Very tasty, low car, and quite healthy, as long as you watch the sodium in the rub and soup. I am not putting the recipe for the rub, since I think that totally depends on what your tastes are, but I will include the recipe for the soup and okra.
French Onion and Cabbage Soup:
1 med-large onion (any color, in the picture, I use red for the color)
3-4 cups chopped cabbage (red or green, again, I chose red)
3 cups chicken broth or water
2 cloves garlic, minced
Olive Oil
1-2 T butter
salt and pepper
On the stove top, turn the heat to med and warm the pot (without the oil). Halve, then slice the onion into half moons. Add enough oil to the heated pan to coat the bottom (roughly a 1/4 cup),the butter, then add the onions. Sprinkle a couple of pinches of salt over the onions to help begin the cramalization process. Keep the heat at low, and stir the onions until they are all coated in oil. Let the onions cook until brown (not burned) completely. This could take anywhere from 7 to 12 minutes, make sure you don't go too far! Toss in the cabbage and garlic. Stir well, and sprinkle with another couple of pinches of salt. When the cabbage begins to wilt, delgaze the pan with the water or chicken broth, scraping the bottom. Add a few dashes of pepper, give it one final stir then let it simmer for 15 minutes. Taste your broth, if it needs more salt, add it at this point and let it simmer for a couple of minutes further. If it is to your liking, you are ready to serve!
Roasted Okra
1 lb raw, whole okra
3 T seasoned salt (See below for my version)
Olive oil
Preheat oven to 450
Coat okra in oil, then sprinkle with seasoning. Place in pan (preferably on baking sheet) in a single layer, Roast until it starts to brown at the edges. Allow it to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving. Cooking it this way helps eliminate the gooey, sticky liquid most people associate with okra.
Seasoned Salt
1 T kosher salt
1 T smoked paprika
1 T garlic powder
2 t onion powder
2 t ground black pepper
Mix together and store in an airtight container. Great on chicken, pork and veggies. For steak seasoning, omit paprika and use course ground black pepper.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
A hug in a bowl
I have a weakness for sick people. My friends all know this about me. For the record, by "sick", I mean some sort of physical ailment such as a cold, the flu, the sniffles, etc. (Although with my dating track record, you'd think I meant the more disturbing kind of sick...) Anywho, so, earlier this week when I found out one of my very sweet girlfriends was sick, I immediately took some chicken out of the freezer. While I'm not a huge fan of soup, I do enjoy making it because it lends itself to all kinds of creativity. Think about it...soup is basically seasoned water. The last few times I've been sick, I made chicken enchilada soup, and it has turned out to be one of my favorite meals.
In November...possibly early December, another friend and I went to the oh-so-amazing, Homestead Heritage. I love that place, just sayin'. While there, among other goodies, I got some pasta mix. Really it's just a bag of semolina flour, but I guess people feel less intimidated by the use of the word "mix". All you do is add eggs, and BAM! it's pasta time. I hadn't used it yet...the poor bag had been sitting in my refrigerator unused for about two months. I thought making a classic pot of chicken noodle soup for my friend would be the way to go...until my creative juices got going. I then decided chicken and dumpling soup was needed. It would be hardier, and thus have greater healing powers. (side note: my secret hope is that one day I'll make soup that actually heals people, maybe even grows back a lost limb).
I set to work taste-patching. Taste-patching is what I do before creating something, or improving upon recipe. It's really no different than what a quilter does when planning the materials they will put together to make a quilt. First, I came up with the baseline flavor/texture: Creamy chicken. Secondly, I mentally flipped through my taste catalog and came up with other flavor components & ingredients: mixed veggies, garlic. Lastly, I picked some accents...some flavors/textures I wanted to stand out...pop...make the dish special. Pasta dumplings & green onions. Basically, the idea behind taste-patching is to mentally go through your taste memory catalog and select flovors you think will work well together, whether they are classic taste combinations or not. After all that was worked out, it was just a matter of figuring out how to create the food experience I'd envisioned.
The most worrisome part of this particular task, was to figure out how to make the pasta dumplings. I thought that if I just used the semolina flour and followed that recipe, I'd have some very dense, doughy pasta chunks. I couldn't remember whether or not I'd ever made dumplings before, so I began scouring my cookbooks for a dumpling recipe. I finally found one in a very old book, who's recipes in the past have greatly disappointed me. My plan wasn't use use the whole recipe anyway, so I felt better about consulting the book.
Chicken and Dumpling soup
2 cups chopped baked chicken (baking/roasting lends better flavor as opposed to boiling)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
3 cups chicken broth (either homemade or your favorite bullion, set aside 1 cup to help control soup consistency)
3-4 garlic cloves, minced (or 1 tsp garlic powder)
16 oz frozen mixed veggies
Salt
pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 tbs margarine or butter
green onion bunch
Pasta Dumplings
1-1 1/2 cups semolina flour (regular flour could also work)
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
3 Tbs shortening
pinch or two of salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
While it's preheating, start boiling the chicken broth (all of it, you'll set aside 1cup after the dumplings are done).
In a large roasting pan (preferably the one you used to roast the chicken), pour in the frozen veggies and the butter. Roast at 400 degrees for about 8-10 mins (or until cooked through and browned slightly).
In a small bowl, take a 1/2 cup of the flour and cut the shortening in.
In a larger bowl, mix the rest of the dumpling ingredients together, then add the shortening infused flour. A workable dough should form.
Dump this dough out onto a floured surface (if it's sticky, don't worry, just keep it covered with flour and you'll eventually knead enough in to make it easy to handle).
Knead it just until everything is well mixed.
Roll the dough out until it's about 1/4th of an inch thick.
Cut into squares or small triangles.
Put dumplings into boiling broth one at a time.
Let them cook 20-30 seconds longer after they rise to the surface (they should rise to the surface within seconds of being put in the broth).
Remove them from the broth, and place in a bowl, or in the roasting pan w/the veggies if they are done.
When all the dumplings are cooked, the broth level should be greatly reduced in the pot. Set aside some broth at this time.
Add the cans of mushroom soup.
Dump the chopped chicken in the roasting pan with the dumplings and veggies.
Add all spices to the mushroom soup mixture, then taste for seasoning. If it is too salty, add a little milk or broth (if the broth isn't salty).
When it is the desired consistency, pour the mixture over the contents of the roasting pan.
Mix until everything is coated.
Cover the pan with foil, and bake 10 mins at 375.
When you remove it from the oven, sprinkle with the chopped up stalks of the green onion (should be about a 1/2 cup) just before serving. This can be a fairly labor intensive meal, but it is completely worth it!
In November...possibly early December, another friend and I went to the oh-so-amazing, Homestead Heritage. I love that place, just sayin'. While there, among other goodies, I got some pasta mix. Really it's just a bag of semolina flour, but I guess people feel less intimidated by the use of the word "mix". All you do is add eggs, and BAM! it's pasta time. I hadn't used it yet...the poor bag had been sitting in my refrigerator unused for about two months. I thought making a classic pot of chicken noodle soup for my friend would be the way to go...until my creative juices got going. I then decided chicken and dumpling soup was needed. It would be hardier, and thus have greater healing powers. (side note: my secret hope is that one day I'll make soup that actually heals people, maybe even grows back a lost limb).
I set to work taste-patching. Taste-patching is what I do before creating something, or improving upon recipe. It's really no different than what a quilter does when planning the materials they will put together to make a quilt. First, I came up with the baseline flavor/texture: Creamy chicken. Secondly, I mentally flipped through my taste catalog and came up with other flavor components & ingredients: mixed veggies, garlic. Lastly, I picked some accents...some flavors/textures I wanted to stand out...pop...make the dish special. Pasta dumplings & green onions. Basically, the idea behind taste-patching is to mentally go through your taste memory catalog and select flovors you think will work well together, whether they are classic taste combinations or not. After all that was worked out, it was just a matter of figuring out how to create the food experience I'd envisioned.
The most worrisome part of this particular task, was to figure out how to make the pasta dumplings. I thought that if I just used the semolina flour and followed that recipe, I'd have some very dense, doughy pasta chunks. I couldn't remember whether or not I'd ever made dumplings before, so I began scouring my cookbooks for a dumpling recipe. I finally found one in a very old book, who's recipes in the past have greatly disappointed me. My plan wasn't use use the whole recipe anyway, so I felt better about consulting the book.
Chicken and Dumpling soup
2 cups chopped baked chicken (baking/roasting lends better flavor as opposed to boiling)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
3 cups chicken broth (either homemade or your favorite bullion, set aside 1 cup to help control soup consistency)
3-4 garlic cloves, minced (or 1 tsp garlic powder)
16 oz frozen mixed veggies
Salt
pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 tbs margarine or butter
green onion bunch
Pasta Dumplings
1-1 1/2 cups semolina flour (regular flour could also work)
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
3 Tbs shortening
pinch or two of salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
While it's preheating, start boiling the chicken broth (all of it, you'll set aside 1cup after the dumplings are done).
In a large roasting pan (preferably the one you used to roast the chicken), pour in the frozen veggies and the butter. Roast at 400 degrees for about 8-10 mins (or until cooked through and browned slightly).
In a small bowl, take a 1/2 cup of the flour and cut the shortening in.
In a larger bowl, mix the rest of the dumpling ingredients together, then add the shortening infused flour. A workable dough should form.
Dump this dough out onto a floured surface (if it's sticky, don't worry, just keep it covered with flour and you'll eventually knead enough in to make it easy to handle).
Knead it just until everything is well mixed.
Roll the dough out until it's about 1/4th of an inch thick.
Cut into squares or small triangles.
Put dumplings into boiling broth one at a time.
Let them cook 20-30 seconds longer after they rise to the surface (they should rise to the surface within seconds of being put in the broth).
Remove them from the broth, and place in a bowl, or in the roasting pan w/the veggies if they are done.
When all the dumplings are cooked, the broth level should be greatly reduced in the pot. Set aside some broth at this time.
Add the cans of mushroom soup.
Dump the chopped chicken in the roasting pan with the dumplings and veggies.
Add all spices to the mushroom soup mixture, then taste for seasoning. If it is too salty, add a little milk or broth (if the broth isn't salty).
When it is the desired consistency, pour the mixture over the contents of the roasting pan.
Mix until everything is coated.
Cover the pan with foil, and bake 10 mins at 375.
When you remove it from the oven, sprinkle with the chopped up stalks of the green onion (should be about a 1/2 cup) just before serving. This can be a fairly labor intensive meal, but it is completely worth it!
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