soup

Veggie Tortilla Soup with Quinoa

Mar 19, 2015

I promised you another meatless recipe this week and here it is!

I’ve been having a weird craving for lots of veggies. I say weird because lately the only veggies I’ve been into have been my bizarre burger salads that I have every morning for breakfast.

Yeah, I totally put bread and butter pickles and ketchup on top of spinach.

I told you, bizarre.

So, of course I start craving Veggie Tortilla Soup as soon as the weather gets warm. This soup is so delicious though and I’m totally willing to eat hot soup in warm weather if it tastes this good!

It’s like your typical chicken tortilla soup except I hate chicken right now so I used beans and quinoa as the protein. And then it’s got the veggies I’d been craving, mostly carrots and zucchini. So yummy, especially if you top it with lots of stuff! Tortilla strips, avocado, and cilantro are my choices but you can do cheese, sour cream, whatever you like!

I ate this for lunch all week and I’d make it again today if I wasn’t desperately trying not to buy any groceries right now.

Aaaaaand, it took about 30 minutes to make! *high five*

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Corn and Chicken Chowder

Feb 24, 2015

Can we talk about how it just keeps snowing here in Colorado?

I didn’t really expect snow because last I’d heard, the weather guy was literally saying “Expect between 2 inches and 32 inches” which, you know, is kind of a broad range. And the jerk’s been known to lie about snow before. Plus the grocery stores were packed because everyone was buying ALL THE BOTTLED WATER and I just wanted to yell, “Quit! You’re jinxing it and it’s never going to snow and you’re going to be stuck with 57 cases of bottled water in your laundry room!”

Yeah, I’m totally that annoying person that doesn’t talk about certain things or won’t do certain things because I’m afraid of jinxing something.

My brain. It does funny things.

But anyway, it snowed a ton (somewhere between 2 and 32 inches – thanks weather guy!) and like I mentioned yesterday, we went sledding and then we went sledding some more and then we threw snowballs at each other. Because who knows when we’ll live in a snowy place again!

I made this Corn and Chicken Chowder to warm up after all the sledding. I don’t really know what inspired me to make soup because my kids seriously have no idea what to do with soup. But I think this one was thick enough and had enough going on because they were all about it. My oldest even said, “I had no idea I liked soup!”

It’s got corn and chicken and potatoes. And there may even be some bacon in there!

Yeah, there’s definitely bacon.

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Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup

Jan 14, 2015

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup – delicious creamy tomato soup with cheese tortellini! Quick and easy, perfect for a weeknight meatless meal!

Happy Wednesday!

I made Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup yesterday because it was really cold here in Colorado and it wasn’t the fun cold that comes with lots of fluffy snow to go sledding in.

It was the so-icy-that-my-husband-had-to-take-my-car-because-I-have-better-tires-and-four-wheel-drive kind of cold.

And that’s the worst.

I’ve always loved tomato soup – I used to have one of those Campbell’s drinkable tomato soups every single winter morning on the way to work. Because I needed something warm since my old Camaro had no heat but there was no point in coffee since work was Starbucks.

So I’d drink tomato soup at 4:45 am.

You gotta really love tomato soup to do that.

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Tortellini Minestrone

Dec 03, 2013

Confession: I’m an obsessive weather checker.

It’s extra ridiculous right now since we have snow in the forecast and if I stop obsessively checking it, the snow may disappear completely. That’s how my brain works. And how Colorado weather works.

But I can feel the snow in the air and it gave me a serious soup craving.

I wouldn’t normally make a vegetarian soup with my husband home but he’s still happily gnawing on turkey so I figured I’d be safe. I had no idea that he would actually eat half the pot without even realizing it’s meatless!

It’s really delicious and the big tortellini made it super kid friendly.

Tortellini Minestrone

adapted from Pink Parsley

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 carrots peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 stalks of celery cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium onion minced
5 ounces mushrooms sliced
4 garlic cloves minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3 cups vegetable broth
2 1/2 cups V8 vegetable juice
1 15-oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 9-oz package fresh cheese tortellini
1 medium zucchini halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
salt and black pepper
1/2 cup pesto for serving
grated Parmesan for serving

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Stir in the carrots, celery, and onions,1/4 teaspoon of salt, and black pepper to taste, and cook until just softened, 3-5 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms, and cook until all the vegetables are softened, 5-6 more minutes. Add the garlic and oregano and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Stir in the broth, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in the vegetable juice and beans and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook about 10 minutes.
Add the tortellini and zucchini and continue to simmer until they are cooked through and tender, 5-7 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide among serving bowls and top each portion with a spoonful of pesto and a sprinkling of Parmesan before serving.

Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup

Nov 05, 2013

If you follow me anywhere on social media, you probably know that I am on a snow kick. I cannot stop thinking about snow, talking about snow, annoying my husband about snow. I neeeed it to snow. We got a little bit a couple weeks ago but it melted as soon as it hit the ground so it doesn’t count. We were supposed to get snow last night but ehh, I am disappointed.

Since I’ve been such a cold weather mood lately, I’ve been really into soup. I make soup every time it snows and I made this one in preparation of the (no) snow we got last night. And then I made another batch, with pasta, the next day because my husband wanted to take it for lunch this week. And then last night he informed me that he’s going to need another batch today or tomorrow.

So yeah, he likes it a little bit.

One year ago: Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Wild Rice Stuffing
Two years ago: Tijuana Trash
Three years ago: Tofu Taco Salad
Five years ago: Doughnut Muffins

Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup

from Back For Seconds

Ingredients

6 cups chicken stock
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 bay leaves
2 stalks celery diced
1 medium onion diced
2 carrots diced
salt to taste
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
3/4 cups white rice NOT quick cooking
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
2 cups frozen corn

Instructions

Put chicken stock, chicken breasts, bay leaves, celery, onion, carrots, salt, lemon pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and cumin in the bowl of a slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 hours. Add rice; continue cooking for another hour or until rice is done. (You can stir in already cooked rice at the very end if you would prefer.)
About 30 minute before serving, whisk together flour and milk. Stir into slow cooker. Add corn. Allow to cook for about 30 more minutes.
Serve hot.

Lentil and Collard Soup

Oct 10, 2012

Can we talk about how excited I am for cold weather? Now, I am not good in cold weather. If I have to stand outside in the cold? I’m done. I will whine and complain and probably steal your jacket. But when I’m inside and only have to go outside to check the mail? I love it. And that’s exactly how it was this past weekend. I only opened the door to let the dog out and the cold was fantastic for those 30 seconds.

Having a good soup on the stove really helps with the cold enjoyment too. I made this because I had some collards that needed to be used and didn’t plan on blogging it, but I ended up loving it so much that I had to share.

This is my favorite kind of soup. I love pea/bean soups that get thick and creamy just from the peas/beans breaking down. This one is especially good because it has a ton of cumin, which is my favorite spice, and a bit of cinnamon, which was unexpected but really worked. Right before serving, you stir in some fresh lemon juice and that just takes it over the top.

I typically hate leftovers but I ate this 4 times and could’ve kept going if I didn’t run out of soup!

One year ago: Pumpkin Monkey Bread with Maple Glaze
Two years ago: Brie & Brisket Quesadilla

Lentil and Collard Soup

from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/lentil-and-green-collard-soup/

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup dry red lentils rinsed and picked over
6 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 bunch collard greens rinsed, stemmed, and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

Instructions

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, stir in onion, garlic and salt; cook until the onion softened and translucent, about 4 minutes. Stir in lentils, and cook for 1 minute. Pour in water, then bring to a boil over high heat; turn heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the lentils are tender, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add collard greens, and cook until wilted, about 10 minutes. When the lentils are tender, stir in the collard greens and season with cumin and cinnamon; allow to simmer 10 more minutes. Stir in lemon juice before serving.

Texas Tortilla Soup

Jan 08, 2012

Texas Tortilla Soup – spicy chicken tortilla soup topped with cheddar cheese, avocado and tortilla chips. The most comforting soup for winter!

How do you like your soups? Brothy or thick and creamy?

I’m a brothy soup person. There is nothing more comforting that steaming hot spicy broth based soup.

If you’re like me, you might love my Spicy Coconut Wonton Soup and you’re definitely going to love this Texas Tortilla Soup. It’s full of flavor and has the perfect amount of heat. Plus, I love a soup with a bunch of toppings.

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Cheddar Ale Soup in Soft Pretzel Bowls

Dec 06, 2011

Cheddar Ale Soup in Soft Pretzel Bowls – homemade pretzel bowls filled with cheesy bacon beer soup! The best part is eating the bowl once the soup is all gone!

You guys.

I made pretzels again! Only this time I made bowls out of them and stuffed them full of the things pretzels go best with: cheese and beer!

Yep.

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Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Nov 28, 2011

I’m digging the soups lately. Have you noticed?

I really love potato soups but I don’t like how they kind of turn into mashed potatoes once they sit overnight in the fridge. This soup, which uses gnocchi, solves that problem! The soup stays soupy but you still get the potato-ness that you love. It’s so tasty and comforting! Perfect with a slice of crusty bread.

I plan on making this a lot over the next few months but I’ll probably leave out the chicken from now on. The chicken was nice to make it feel like a “real” meal but I think the soup itself is heavy enough to not need it. To make it completely veggie, use vegetable broth in place of the chicken broth.

4 from 1 vote

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

adapted from A Taste of Home Cooking

Ingredients

4 teaspoons olive oil divided
1 onion diced
2 carrots peeled and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup half and half
2½ cups milk lowfat or skim is fine
1½ cups chicken broth
2 boneless chicken breasts cooked & diced
1 pound gnocchi
1 very large handful spinach coarsley chopped
¼ teaspoon cayenne
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan and green onions for servings

Instructions

Heat 2 teaspoons of the olive oil over medium heat in a large stock pot. Add onion and saute until the onion just begins to become translucent, about 2 minutes. Add carrots, saute the mixture for another 2 - 3 minutes until both are tender. Add garlic and Italian seasoning. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of olive oil and the flour. Stir to make sure all veggies are coated and continue to stir while the flour cooks. Slowly stir in half and half, milk, and chicken broth. Raise the heat to high and allow to bubble. The mixture will thicken slowly.
Once it's thickened, add chicken and gnocchi. The gnocchi only requires about 3 minutes of cooking and will float to the top when it's done. Once it floats, add the spinach - it will wilt almost immediately. Season with cayenne, salt, and pepper.
Serve piping hot with Parmesan and green onions on top.

Butternut Squash and Crab Bisque

Nov 25, 2011

Butternut Squash and Crab Bisque – Whole Foods copycat recipe! Rich and delicious and full of fall flavor!

I have to tell you guys that I’m pretty excited to move on from Thanksgiving related recipes.

I had planned on one more post highlighting an idea or 2 for leftover turkey but… uhhh, there is no leftover turkey.

You guys have that problem too? My husband is a turkey fiend which works out nicely because when it comes to leftovers, he takes care of the turkey and leaves all the yummy sides for me!

So because I have no turkey left, I made you some soup!

I wandered into Whole Foods last week because Pam had told me that her Whole Foods has butternut squash breakfast sausage.

I bee-lined it to the butcher and asked about the sausage and, of course, our store doesn’t sell it but the butcher pointed me in the direction of their butternut squash and crab bisque. Being the polite girl that I am, I snagged a sample even though I don’t like butternut squash or crab.

And omg, it was the best soup ever.

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Pasta Fagioli

Nov 10, 2011

Pasta Fagioli – Olive Garden copycat recipe. This hearty soup is filled with spicy Italian sausage, veggies, pasta, and beans and topped with fresh shredded Parmesan cheese. It is serious comfort food that the whole family will love!

My husband has been gone for a couple weeks now and while I’m the first to admit that it pretty much sucks, there are some good points to being alone.

My grocery bill is less than half of what it is with him home! I knew he ate a lot but holy cow.
I can get up at 4 am and no one yells at me!
To go with the above, I can sleep on the couch so that I can get up at 4 am without my children hearing and no one yells at me!
I can read all 3 books of The Hunger Games (again) without anyone asking me why I’m reading books meant for teenagers (again).
Real Housewives marathons. Enough said.
Peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwiches are officially considered dinner.
I can make instant coffee and not feel guilty because I know he won’t ask for espresso unless he sees me prepping the machine.
There are no PTs to wash every night!
I can cook whatever I want, whenever I want! (!!)

And that last one is the reason I made this soup.

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Guinness and Onion Soup with Irish Cheddar Crouton

Mar 16, 2011

If you haven’t bought your Guinness yet, you may just be out of luck! Yesterday morning I ran to Target for ingredients for this soup and they had one package of Guinness left! One! I really had no idea that so many people celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day. And by “celebrate” I obviously mean “eat corned beef and drink Guinness”.

If you already have some Guinness in your fridge, you need to set aside a can for this soup! It is the best onion soup ever and that’s saying a lot because I’m very picky about my onion soup. Most of the time it tends to be too onion-y or too beefy for me or not onion-y enough or not beefy enough. This one is just the right amount of onion, beef, thyme, and garlic with an extra layer of flavor from the Guinness. I’m very mad at myself for only making half a batch!

I had some people on Twitter tell me that they’re scared of how involved onion soup seems but let me tell you, it’s really not. Yes, it does take awhile but most of the time is spent waiting for onions to caramelize or waiting for the broth to boil. It’s not difficult and all, I promise.

Guinness and Onion Soup with Irish Cheddar Crouton

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves garlic minced
8 cups thinly sliced yellow onions about 2 large onions
Salt
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves chopped
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1 1/2 cups Guinness Draught not Stout
6 cups beef stock
1 bay leaf
Country bread loaf cut into six 1/2-inch thick slices, then toasted
1/2 lb Irish Cheddar thinly sliced

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a 6 quart Dutch oven over high heat. Stir in the garlic and cook until just fragrant. Add the onions, season with salt and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Reduce the heat to medium-low and saute the onions for another 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until they are a deep amber color.
Add the thyme, vinegar and beer. Cook until the liquid is reduced by half, then add the beef stock and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and continue to cook for 20 more minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the broiler and set out individual oven-proof soup bowls. Discard the bay leaf, then use a ladle to transfer the soup to the individual bowls. Top with toasted bread slices, then 3-4 slices of the cheddar cheese. Broil until the cheese is bubbly and slightly browned. Serve piping hot.

Beef & Barley Stew

Oct 26, 2009

I made a beef and barley soup last winter and we really enjoyed it but then for some reason I never thought about it again. I stumbled upon a recipe recently and decided I would make another one as soon as it got cold. This time I filled it with veggies and it was absolutely delicious. It’s not often that I look forward to leftovers but I had this stew for lunch for 3 days!

I served it with the honey yeast rolls and they were perfect together. My husband opened up the rolls and put a little stew in the middle.. said it was amazing!

5 from 1 vote

Beef & Barley Stew

Ingredients

1-1/2 pounds chuck steak cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion chopped
2 cups baby carrots
2 medium potatoes diced
2 cups water
2 cups broth chicken, beef, or veggie. whatever you have.
1 can 15 ounces tomato sauce
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups frozen green beans thawed
2 cups frozen corn thawed
3/4 cup medium pearl barley

Instructions

Place chuck steak, onion, carrots, and potatoes in 5 quart slow cooker. Add water, broth, tomato sauce, and seasonings. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
Add beans, corn, and barley. Cover and cook on low for 2 more hours or until barely and veggies are tender.

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