Soups

Thursday  around lunchtime  Mystie

It’s snowing outside and definitely soup weather! Today we are having potato soup with 2/3 whole-wheat no-knead bread. Once it starts getting cold I generally do soup at least twice a week. I love soups because they fall into my two favorite preparation categories: do-it-all-in-the-morning-and-have-dinner-whenever-you-want, and 20-minutes-from-start-to-eating. I “discovered” soups while we were doing the wheat- and dairy-free diet for Matt, and the soups are the only recipes from those days that I still use. :) I thought I’d post a few of our family favorites:

##Southwestern Chicken Soup
–One of Matt’s favorites–

Stovetop:
In a bit of oil, saute 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts that have been cut into 1/2-inch pieces, some diced onion, garlic, and peppers. Cook until chicken is cooked through and brown bits start collecting on the pan. Dump in 2 cups of chicken broth and whisk the bottom of the pan to get up those bits. Then add a can of corn and a can of black beans, both drained, and a can of diced tomatoes. Add taco seasoning to taste and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Crockpot:
To the crockpot, add 2 cups cooked, cut-up chicken; diced onion, garlic, and peppers; 2 cups chicken broth; 1 can corn, drained; 1 can black beans, rinsed & drained; 1 can diced tomatoes; and taco seasoning to taste. All the soup needs is to be warmed, so 1 hour on high would be fine or it can sit all day at low.

I like to eat this soup with a dollop of sour cream on top.

##Bean Soup

Boil 3 cups of dried beans (your choice) for 2 minutes; cover and let sit for 2 hours. Leave in the stockpot on the stove or dump beans and water into a crockpot. Add 1 cup raw rice, 1 raw ham hock, 1 cup chopped onion, 1 teaspoon salt, and 3 cups water. If on the stove, simmer for 3 hours. If in the crockpot, cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.

## No-Fuss Potato Soup

In a crockpot, combine 6 cups diced potatoes (I don’t peel potatoes on principle, but the recipe does say to peel them), 5 cups water, 2 cups diced onions, 1/2 cup diced celery, 1/2 cup chopped carrots, 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, 3 slices of cooked and chopped bacon, and 4 teaspoons chicken bouillon. Cook on high for 7-8 hours. Half an hour before dinner, stir in 12-ounces evaporated milk, 1 tablespoon dried parsley, and 1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese. Heat through and serve.

## Marji’s Italian Sausage Soup

Cook in saucepan 6-8 links of sweet Italian sausage. Remove from pan, drain, and slice. Drain the pan, but leave in the pan bits and a bit of fat. In the fat, saute one chopped onion, some chopped green pepper, and 1-2 diced zucchini. Add 4-6 cups water and whisk the bits off the bottom of the pan. Add 1 tablespoon beef bouillon, 28-ounces diced or crushed tomatoes, and a teaspoon of Italian seasoning; bring to a boil. Add 2 ounces of linguini, broken into pieces, and 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (cheese can easily be left out or sprinkled on top of individual bowls). Simmer until noodles are cooked, then serve.

## Tonya’s Busy-Day Soup

Combine in crockpot 1/2 pound stew meat, diced; 3 cups water; 16-ounces frozen mixed veggies (I just add a mix of frozen peas and green beans and add a small-diced carrot or two…I hate lima beans and therefore never buy frozen mixed veggies); 8-ounces tomato sauce; 3 teaspoons beef bouillon; one can diced tomatoes; and 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Turn crockpot to high and add 1/2 cup small noodles (like alphabet noodles) or white rice; cook 15-20 minutes longer.

## Kirsti’s Black Bean Chili
–No kitchen is complete without this recipe! It freezes well and is great served with cornbread or over potatoes.–

Saute 2 cups diced onions; 2 medium diced red peppers; 2-3 diced zucchini; and 6 chopped garlic cloves. Add 1/2 pound cooked ground beef (or brown it with the onions). Stir in 2 T. chili powder (I use about a teaspoon, though — I’m a wimp), 2 teaspoons oregano, 1 teaspoon cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I substitute paprika). Add 3 cans rinsed and drained black beans with 1/2 cup of the bean liquid or 1/2 cup of beef broth and 1 16-ounce can of tomato sauce. Let it simmer for 15 minutes or so…it won’t hurt it to simmer longer. :)

We also do split pea soup and taco soup a couple times a month, and with those I just toss in whatever I feel like and whatever I have on hand that sounds good. I always have to double-check the proportions of split peas to water, though, and I still never get it quite right. But it’s forgiving and you can let it sit in the crockpot on high with the lid off to thicken it or add more water to thin it.

I also posted a few soup recipes last year, too.

What are your favorite soup recipes? You can blog about it and paste a link in my comments box! :)

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 29th, 2007 at 1:32 pm and is filed under Cook. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.