Soup

Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup

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I love this soup! It’s  light and hearty at the same time. We eat a lot of soup at our house. Living in Michigan our weather is so unpredictable it can snow in April or even October! I make this soup for a quick dinner that’s really satisfying. The garnishes make it extra fun and give the soup an extra punch.  I like it because it’s not spicy but it’s got great flavor.  It comes together really quickly too because I use a  Rotisserie chicken! Enjoy!

  Ingredients:IMG_0811

  • 2 Tablespoons of butter or olive oil
  • 1 cup of diced onion
  • 1 cup of red bell pepper
  • 2 cups of shredded cooked chicken
  • 1- 15 oz can of black beans rinsed and drained
  • 1 cup of corn
  • 1 -7 oz can of diced green chiles
  • 4 cups of reduced sodium chicken broth
  • 2 1/2 tsp of Chili powder
  • 1 tsp of cumin
  • 1 tsp of garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper
  • 1 cup of half and half*
  • 3 Tablespoons of all-purpose flour
  •  2 cups of Colby/ Monterey Jack shredded cheese and/ or cheddar
  • Cilantro
  • Sliced scallions
  • Lime wedges
  • Tortilla chips/strips

In a heavy bottomed stock pot, melt butter and add onion and bell pepper. Sauté for 5 minutes until softened. Add the spices next then sprinkle flour and stir into the vegetables.  Add the (room temperature) chicken stock next and bring to a boil. Stir well so the flour thickens the stock.  Add the chiles, beans, corn, and chicken next. Turn heat to medium and add the cheese and the half and half. Stir until the cheese is melted.  Keep the heat on Med-low for 15 minutes. When serving, top with chopped cilantro, scallions, a squeeze of lime and some tortilla strips and enjoy!!!

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Stuffed Cabbage Soup

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My family and I live in The Midwest. Stuffed cabbage has been a big part of my and my husband’s life since we were little children.  Southeast Michigan has a large Polish population too and the food is pretty popular around here. My mother’s side of the family is Romanian and my mother, aunts, and grandmother all made stuffed cabbage at the holidays. I looked forward to it every holiday. There would be a HUGE roasting pan full of theses steamy, meaty, rolled up cabbage leaves, enough for 40 adults and children. Fast forward to adulthood. I HAVE made rolled stuffed cabbage but it is  a lot of work to do yourself. So I REALLY wanted stuffed cabbage so I thought shoot! Why don’t I just chop everything up and make soup instead?

I’ve been making this for more than ten years, and I think it’s my parents favorite soup I make for them. It’s great to make for friends on a winter day after snowmobiling or ice fishing. This soup makes around 8 quarts! I know it’s a lot but I’m the the type of person if I’m taking the time to make it I want to eat it, share it and freeze it for later. It’s a pretty easy soup to make. Once you brown your meat you just add the other ingredient and simmer. I put some Delishtips at the bottom of the recipe I hope you find them useful!

Tools

  • 8-10 quart stockpot
  • ladle
  • long spoon
  • cutting board
  • can opener
  • colander
  • glass bowl

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds of ground beef and pork*
  • 1 medium white onion, diced-about 1 1/2 cups
  • 1 cup of shredded carrot*, diced
  • 4 cloves of minced garlic
  • 1 Tablespoon of kosher salt**
  • 2 teaspoons of pepper
  • 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
  • 1 cup of long grained rice
  • 1 large head of green cabbage
  • 2- 28 ounce cans of crushed tomatoes-No salt added
  • 24 ounces of low sodium beef broth
  • 12 ounce beer
  • 2 quarts of low sodium V8 juice*

Recipe

Brown the meat mix until brown. Chop your onion, garlic and shredded carrots. Use your colander to drain the meat into the glass bowl. Add your vegetables, spices, meat, rice all the liquid and then chop the cabbage into small chunks like 1-2 inch squares. Add them to the soup. Stir and simmer on low for an hour stirring occasionally. Make sure you are at a simmer not a rolling boil as the rice and meat might stick to the bottom of your pot and burn. Cook until rice is done and cabbage is soft.

DELISHTIP 1: If you can find Meatloaf Mix buy it. Some grocery stores have it or you can get it from your butcher. It has beef, pork and veal and it’s great! I can’t always get it so I use ground beef and pork.

DELISHTIP 2: I buy organic shredded carrots for this recipe and I throw the leftover in salads. If you don’t have it don’t worry about it!

DELISHTIP 3: I buy canned products with low sodium or no salt, that’s why it calls for a Tablespoon of salt. If you use SALTED products start with a teaspoon of salt. You can always add but you can’t take it out.

DELISHTIP 4: If you can’t find V8 or a Vegetable juice you can try adding tomato juice. The flavor may be a little flat so you might want to add a few teaspoons of dried herbs.

Vegetarian Minestrone Soup

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There is no comparison to homemade soup! Minestrone soup is SO quick and easy to make. It’s delicious, healthy and hearty. I made today’s batch for a friend of mine for her birthday and I whipped it up after work. This recipe makes about four quarts of soup so the family ate some for dinner and then lunch the next day as well as the batch for my friend Nicole’s birthday! This minestrone is vegetarian because Nicole is actually vegan,  but you could substitute chicken stock in place of the veggie stock. Grated parmesan cheese is delish on top of this too! My recipes for soup may be may be different than some because I do NOT like to cook my pasta in my soup. I think the pasta absorbs too much of the broth and the pasta gets too mushy. So I cook my pasta separately and then add it to the bowl and pour the broth over it. I find extra broth freezes better without the pasta in it also.

Tools

  • Stockpot
  • pot for cooking pasta
  • cutting board
  • can opener
  • wooden spoon
  • Sharp knife
  • colander

Ingredients                                                                                

  • One cup of diced onions
  • One cup of diced carrots
  • half cup of diced celery including tops
  • three cloves of minced garlic
  • 12 ounces of tomato sauce
  • 64 oz of low sodium vegetable broth
  • One 14.5  oz can of diced tomatoes undrained
  • One 15.5 oz can of Cannelleni beans* drained and rinsed
  • One 15.5 oz can of Great Northern Beans* drained and rinsed
  • 12 oz bag of frozen Italian  Green beans
  • Two cups of Ditalini pasta
  • One teaspoon of dried herbs
  •  Tablespoon of salt for the pasta
  •  One teaspoon of salt for the stock
  • One Tablespoon of olive oil

Recipe

Put a pot of water on to boil the pasta. Once boiling add your Tablespoon of salt and add your ditalini pasta. Cook according to package directions. Drain pasta. Heat olive oil over medium high heat in your stockpot. Saute’ onions, carrots and celery, salt and pepper for 5 minutes. Add garlic, dried herbs, tomatoes, sauce and vegetable broth to the sautéed vegetables. Simmer for 15 minutes until carrots are tender. Add the rinsed and frozen beans to the broth and heat through 5-10 minutes longer. When serving add pasta to your serving bowl and pour your delicious broth on top, stir and enjoy!

DELISH TIP 1- Garbanzo beans and kidney beans go great in this soup too.

DELISH TIP 2- There are 3 options for the pasta.

OPTION 1 Cook the ditalini in the broth but it will get absorbed into the pasta and you won’t have as much broth at the end.

OPTION 2– Cook the ditalini separately and then add to your broth instead of the serving bowls. It won’t absorb as much broth until you put away the leftovers.

OPTION 3- listed above

 

Miso Soup with Tofu

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Bowl of Miso Soup

MMM Miso Soup

 

My daughter Emily LOVES Miso soup. The few times a year we treat ourselves to a hibachi restaurant or sushi, she always orders it. I love making soup so I researched a few recipes and then came up with my own version. It’s quite flavorful and comes together in around 15 minutes! So quick and warming in these freezing Michigan Winters! This soup is also very low calorie and low carb because of the shirataki noodles.

 

 

 

Tools

  • whisk
  • glass bowl                               
  • stockpot
  • colander
  • cutting board
  • kitchen shears

Ingredients

  • One Tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1 shallot diced
  • 2 teaspoons of minced garlic
  • 2 teaspoons of grated fresh ginger
  • 1 Tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon of pepper
  • 1 package of shiitake mushrooms* 3.5 ounces sliced thinly
  • 2-4 green onions thinly sliced
  • 2 cups of low sodium chicken broth
  • 5 cups of water
  • 4 Tablespoons of White Miso
  • 1 cup of silken tofu cubed
  • one 8 oz package of angel hair Shirataki noodles**

Recipe

In your stockpot, pour your olive oil and sauté your diced shallot, garlic, and ginger for a few minutes over medium heat until it smells fragrant. And your pepper and the low-sodium soy sauce. Then add the 2 cups of low sodium chicken broth and slice your shiitake mushrooms thinly and add them to the broth over medium heat. Meanwhile, scoop your miso into the glass bowl and pour one cup of hot water onto it, and whisk to dissolve. Add the miso mixture and the other 4 cups of water to your stockpot. Put the heat up to medium-high so the soup is at a low boil.  Take the Shirataki noodles and rinse them underwater in the colander. Cut the noodles into little pieces and add them to the broth. Cut your tofu into little cubes and add them last. Simmer the soup for a few minutes to heat the tofu through. Finally, add the green onions.

DELISH TIP 1: We use silken tofu because Emily likes the soft texture but you can use whatever texture you like.

DELISH TIP 2: Shirataki noodles are a low carb noodle. The noodles are made with yam flour and DO need to be rinsed from the liquid they are in. I like to snip them with scissors because they tend to ball up in the soup and are hard to eat if you don’t cut them into smaller pieces. I love their texture.

Clam Chowder Soup

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new-england-clam-chowder

Clam chowder is a comforting soup and it’s very satisfying!

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 lb of bacon diced* (Delish Tip below)
  • 1 TBS olive oil
  • 2 Carrots grated
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 whole onion, diced
  • 1 celery stalk, diced
  • 1 cup of flour
  • 1 can of beer
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 QT of half and half
  • 6 peeled Yukon Gold Potatoes
  • 1 can of corn (optional)
  • 1/2 Gallon of 2% milk
  • 16 oz of clam juice
  • 6 cans of chopped clams, undrained

In a heavy bottomed stockpot saute’ the bacon until brown, then remove with a slotted spoon.  Saute’ the onion, carrots, celery and garlic in the bacon fat until softened, about 5  minutes.

Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir over medium heat. It will make a roux that you will need to cook for 5-10 minutes to cook the flour taste out. It will look a little pasty but don’t worry!  When it starts to smell nutty (or like cookies), the flour is cooked and you can start adding the liquid.

I like to add the beer next because the foam loosens up the roux. Keep it over medium-high heat. Next, add the clam juice and the potatoes. Bring the mixture to a boil then add the milk and turn the heat down to medium. Add the clams, and their juice, the S & P and simmer covered,  until the potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.  Keep an eye on the heat and stir occasionally to make sure potatoes aren’t sticking to the bottom and that you don’t burn the milk or you’ll RUIN the soup.

Depending on how thick you like your soup add the half & half AFTER the potatoes are cooked for extra richness. The cream can separate (curdle) if the heat is on too high so I add it at the end.

Hey, if you don’t care about calories you could add heavy cream instead!!!

DELISH TIP: *Dice the bacon while it’s frozen (or almost frozen) it will be SO much easier!!