Chicken and Hominy Soup

I was very fortunate to find a friend in my new job! One of my favorite things is that she and I love food, and healthy recipes. She would tell me frequently about this soup recipe that her father made that she wanted me to try and make. So, she sent me the recipe this past week and I made it today for our Lazy Sunday!

I absolutely love chicken, and have a secret love for hominy. Although many people I ask have never heard of it, and think it sounds weird when I try to explain how wonderful it is… it’s the perfect combination for soup!

The recipe comes from Bon Appetit.

Ingredients

• 3 TBS olive oil
• 3 bunches green onions, sliced
• 4 tsp ground cumin
• 2 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 10 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1 can petite tomatoes in juice
• 3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
• 4 tsp hot pepper sauce (I added 5, I like the kick)
• 3 cans golden or white hominy
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add green onions, cumin, and paprika; saute 5 minutes.

2. Add broth, tomatoes in juice, chicken, and hot pepper sauce.

3. Puree 2 cans hominy with juice in a blender. You could puree all three, but I wanted to keep some of the hominy whole. Mix the puree in to soup; bring to a boil. Reduce heat’ simmer 15 minutes. Stir in cilantro and serve!

Winter Vegetable Soup

One Saturday morning I was watching one of the food channels and Trisha Yearwood’s show came on. I decided to watch it since she was talking about healthy recipes. One of the recipes she made on the show was this Winter Vegetable Soup. If you know me personally, you know I love soup. I could eat soup all day every day, year round.
Last night, I did not feel like cooking, but remembered how easy this was to make. It only took about 30 minutes, and it turned out great! This recipe will definitely be a go-to in our house. Thank you Trisha Yearwood for this wonderful recipe!

I apologize for the picture quality. I almost forgot to take a picture and has to take one of what was left! Shows how good it was.

Winter Vegetable Soup

Ingredients
48 oz chicken broth
3 red potatoes, diced
1 can diced tomatoes
10 oz frozen Lima beans (you could replace green beans)
2 Tbs finally diced onion
1 can creamed corn
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
In a soup pot, add everything but the creamed corn. Bring to a boil, turn to medium heat and let simmer for 25 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through.
Add creamed corn and cook for another 5 minutes. Taste to see if more salt or pepper is needed.
Serve and enjoy!

Japanese Ramen Noodle Soup

About 3 weeks ago, my husband and I have a life-changing experience. After watching a food documentary I was determined to try real, Japanese Ramen Soup. While talking about it with colleagues one day, I was encouraged to go to this restaurant in Austin, TX, Ramen Tatsu-ya.

We met up with our friends Sara and Charlie to try our first bowl of ramen. It was AMAZING. My husband hasn’t stopped talking about it since. I was determined to find an easy-to-make home recipe. I knew that of course, nothing to top what we had at the restaurant, where it takes them hours upon hours to make the flavorful broth. But I wanted something that I could have at home that would be similar.

While searching and searching online for a recipe that I could make with easy to find ingredients, and that wouldn’t take me forever I finally found one! http://www.bbcgoodfood.com had a recipe that I decided to try. Although I can’t fully compare it to what we had at the restaurant, it is a tasty, flavorful, and fun experience to have at home! My husband has said multiple times that it’s one of his favorite things I’ve made. Which is perfect, because it’s so easy!

Japanese Ramen Noodle Soup

Ingredients for the Stock

• 3 cups of chicken stock
• 2 cups water
• 3 garlic cloves
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp worsterchire sauce
• 1/2 tsp chinese five spice
• dash of chilli powder
• 1 tsp white sugar
• 2 slices of ginger

Ingredients for the Toppings

• 375g ramen noodles
• 400g sliced cooked pork or chicken breast (marinate in soy sauce and garlic)
• 100g baby english spinach leaves
• 4tbsp corn kernels
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and halved

Ingredients for the Garnish (optional)

• 1 sheet of sliced nori seaweed paper (5cm by 1/2cm each)
• sprinkle of sesame seeds
• sliced green spring onions (shallots)

Directions

1. Slice and fry the pork or chicken in a frypan with 1 clove of chopped garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil. Put into a bowl and reserve.
2. In the pot of boiling water, cook the ramen noodles for 5min then strain.
3. In a stockpot or large saucepan, place the chicken stock, 4 pieces of halved garlic cloves, soy sauce, worsterchire, ginger, five spice and chilli powder together and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer for 5 min. Taste the stock and adjust to your liking. If it is too salty add some sugar, add more soy if you prefer it saltier.
4. Divide the noodles into 4 soup bowls. Arrange the pork on top of the noodles, along with the spinach, half egg, and 1tbsp corn kernels each.
5. Bring the stock to boil once again, then take it off and divide the stock in the soup bowls.
6. Sprinkly the nori shavings (1/4 sheet each), spring onions and sesame on top of each soup bowl. Allow the spinach to slightly wilt before serving

Egg Drop Soup

One of my earliest memories of watching the Olympics is from when we first moved to Kaysville, UT. I remember we would drive through a local Chinese Restaurant, order egg drop soup (and other foods) and watch figure skating.
So, when I watch the Olympic games now I always associate it with Egg Drop Soup. This made it a perfect opportunity to try to make it on my own since my hubby and I were planning on seeing which Olympic games were on tonight.
This is such a simple soup to make with incredibly easy ingredients. It turned out so yummy! The best part? It’s healthy (yay)

Egg Drop Soup
Ingredients

• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1 Tbs corn starch or arrowroot powder
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• Dash of pepper

Directions
Bring 4 cups of chicken broth, salt, pepper and green onion to a boil. While you’re waiting for it to boil, pour the other cup of chicken broth in to a bowl and add corn starch (or arrowroot powder) and whisk together . Once broth is boiling, add broth with cornstarch in it. Boil for 2 more minutes. This should thicken the soup.
Pour in the beaten eggs in to the boiling broth mixture. The eggs should cook immediately. Stir a little bit to loosen the egg. Serve and enjoy!

 

Minestrone

I’ve been reading a book off an on for the past month titled “Nourishing Traditions.” This book basically challenges the “modern diet” and teaches us the purposes of fat, carbohydrates, protein, etc and how they are used/not used within our bodies. It also goes in to detail about various types of carbs, fats, etc to show the health benefits of some, and why others aren’t as good of a choice.

I love this book because it gives me the why behind many nutrition questions that I have. Why are certain fats better than others, etc… Another cool thing about this book is that it has TONS and TONS of recipes in it! YAY! More recipes for me to try!

I will admit some are quite a bit out of my circle of interest (duck pate…. bleh) but many are regular recipes that use whole, simple ingredients. So, since it’s been so cold here I decided to try soup! This minestrone recipe was a great base recipe in which I decided to add more vegetables to beef it up, Kev and I like our soups more chunky 🙂

Minestrone

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts beef stock (I used the Meijer naturals brand)
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 tomatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 cup gluten free pasta, crumbled (the book recommended a brown rice pasta, I used a quinoa pasta yum!)
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 2 cups kidney beans, cooked (I ended up using 2 cans, drained and rinsed)
• salt and pepper to taste

I also decided to add a cup (each) of frozen peas and green beans)

Directions:

Pour broth, beans and vegetables in to pot. Bring to a boil. Check the package of your gluten free pasta to see how long it takes to cook (this will determine when you add it.) After the soup comes to a boil you’ll need to turn down the temperature to medium-high and let cook for 10 minutes. Add your noodles when appropriate.

Check your noodles to make sure they’re done, serve, and enjoy!

Creamy Crockpot Tomato Soup

Continuing our stuck inside because of freezing temperatures party Kev and I really wanted soup! This is a great soup to make for a few reason:
1. You probably have most of the ingredients already.
2. It’s a crockpot meal (speaks for itself )
3. It’s pretty much all veggies!

Try it out!

Crockpot Creamy Tomato Soup
Ingredients
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup carrot, diced
1 cup celery, diced
28 oz can plum tomatoes
3 1/2 cups chicken or veggie broth
1 tsp thyme
1 TBS basil
Bay leaf
2 TBS flour
2 TBS butter
1 3/4 cup milk, heated
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Heat onion, celery and carrot in saucepan until onion is translucent. Add to crockpot. Add can of tomatoes, spices and broth. Cook on low for 6 hours. Using an immersion blender, blend soup mixture.
In a saucepan, melt butter and add flour. Whisk together for 4-5 minutes. Add a cup of the soup mixture to the pan, then the warmed milk. Mix together until smooth. Add to crockpot. Mix together then add Parmesan. Cook on low fur another 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
Serve and enjoy!!

Thank you to Skinny Taste for the recipe!

Stuffed Pepper Soup

Today was one if the most relaxing days I’ve had in a LONG time! Perfect timing as well since I’ve been fighting a nasty cold all week.
Since we were pretty much snowed in, I decided that it would be a perfect soup day! I decided to make stuffed pepper soup. I love the simple ingredients and I love peppers!

Stuffed Pepper Soup
Ingredients

• 3 Cups cooked brown rice (optional)
• 1 lb lean ground beef (or turkey)
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped red pepper
• 1 cup diced onion
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 cans petite diced tomatoes
• 1 3/4 cups tomato sauce
• 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 tsp dried marjoram
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
In large pot, brown meat. Drain fat and reduce heat to medium-low. Add peppers, onion and garlic. Cook about 5 minutes on low heat.
Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, marjoram and chicken broth. Season with salt and pepper, cover and summer on low for 30 minutes.
You can either add the rice to the pot, or, individually to each bowl of soup.
Enjoy!!

 

Ham and Bean Soup

The weather here (besides today’s crazy 70 degrees with tornado warnings in Mid-November Illinois weather) has been pretty dang chilly. This weather always make me want to eat soup, all day every day. I’ve been craving this simple soup for a week and FINALLY had a day at home where I could make it! This is probably one of the most simple soups ever.

This is also great to use if you have a leftover ham but if not you can certainly just buy a small amount from the store (like I did.) A ham hock is also a nice addition (you can also buy those separately from the grocery store.) I got lucky and found 3 packages ham hocks at the store, I’m going to freeze the other two!

This is a great soup for a chilly day!

Ham and Bean Soup in the Crockpot

Ingredients:

• I lb package dry Great Northern Beans
• 6 cups water
• 1 lb ham, diced
• 1 ham hock (optional)
• 2 tsp onion powder
• salt and pepper to taste

Direction

Rinse beans in colander, and remove any rocks. Put the beans, ham, water, and onion powder in the crockpot. Cook on low for 8 hours.

The great thing is that you don’t have to do anything after the 8 hours are up! It’s ready to eat! I found that I didn’t need to add any salt or pepper to it because the ham is salty by nature.

Hope you enjoy!

Skinny, Loaded Baked Potato Soup

It’s snowing. Which isn’t helping my urge to put up Christmas decorations, even though a Thanksgiving isn’t for another 2 weeks!
Because it’s snowing I thought I’d make soup!!
The website I got this recipe from is http://www.skinnytaste.com I absolutely loooove her recipes as she takes regular food and finds ways to make them “skinny.” No complaints there!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Ingredients

• 2 potatoes
• 1 small head cauliflower
• 3 strips cooked turkey bacon
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups lowfat milk
• 10 oz reduced fat cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup scallions
• 1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Poke holes with fork into potatoes. Microwave for 5 minutes, turn, microwave again for 3-5 minutes.
• In the meantime, steam cauliflower until fully steamed through. Drain and return to soup pot.
• Add milk, broth and potatoes to pot. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn down heat. With am immersion blender, blend until it reaches the desired consistency. I like mine mostly blended with a few little chunks.
• Add half of the scallions, sour cream, salt and pepper. Stir. Let cook on low for 10 minutes.
• Add bacon, crumbled, and stir in cheese. Top with the rest of the scallions.

You would never guess this soup was mainly cauliflower! Yum!

 

Beef Stew with Beer and Paprika

With the chilly weather rolling in over the past week I’ve been in the mood to make some soup! I had some beef in the freezer I’ve been meaning to use for stew, so I thought I’d make beef stew for dinner tonight. I’ve never made this recipe before, but considering it came from The Pioneer Woman, I knew it would be amazing! I made a few substitutions and additions of my own, but overall it turned out great!

Beef Stew with Beer and Paprika

Ingredients:

• 3 TBS olive oil
• 1 TBS butter
• 1.5 – 2 lbs stew meat
• 1 whole medium onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (12 oz) can of beer
• 4 cups beef stock (or 4 cups water, 4 beef bouillon cubes)
• 1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
• 2 TBS tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 4 whole carrots, roughly sliced
• 1 russet potato, cubed
• 2 turnips, cubed
• 1/2 cup frozen peas

Directions

Heat oil and butter (optional) in large pot over medium-high heat. Brown meat in pan, when browned on the outside, put on plate and set aside.

Add onions to the pot. Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes until softened, then add the garlic for another minute. Pour in the beef stock, beer, Worcestershire, tomato paste, salt, paprika, pepper, and sugar. Add beef back in to pot and stir to combine. Cover and let simmer for 1 1/2 to  2 hours.

The liquid will thicken a bit during this time. If it becomes to thick, add a little water.

Add carrots, potatoes, and turnips, cover and let cook for another 30 minutes. If stew gets too dry, add additional water if needed.

You could serve this over some rice, mashed potatoes, or with a nice french bread. Either way, it’s a great and very tasty stew for a chilly day!