Creamy Cauliflower Soup

You know those days, you have no idea what to make for dinner, no ingedients, and you're so strapped for time you end up drinking soup out of a mug? It was one of those days at our house yesterday. After a 2 hour walk and 3 very short naps, Isla was a grumpy pants and wouldn't let me put her down all afternoon. It was all I could do to chop an onion and some cauliflower. So that's all I did folks, it's that simple.

Here is a great soup recipe perfect for fall. Very few ingredients and literally ready from scratch in less than a half hour, with about 5 minutes of hands on time. In the end, it all gets pureed so you don't even have to chop nicely!

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

1 onion, diced
1 head cauliflower, florets roughly removed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
4 cups chicken or veg stock
1/2 cup milk or half and half
salt and pepper
1 cup shredded chedder cheese (*optional)

1. Heat a large soup pot on med high. Add in olive oil and butter and heat until butter is melted. Add in onions and cauliflower. Give it a good stir and heat through for about 5 min.

2. Add the stock to the pot. Put the lid on. Bring to a boil, then reduce, simmer for 15 min or until cauliflower has completly softened.

3. Stir in your milk and a good dash of salt and pepper.

4. Using a hand blender (or regular blender, do half at a time) puree the soup until it's very smooth.

5. Return to the pot and add your shredded cheese. Stir until it melts. Taste and check if it needs more salt.

Chicken and Dumplings

This is very Southern Y'all. Truth be told, I had never eaten or even heard of chicken and dumplings until this year. But it's really not as foreign as it sounds, basically chicken noodle soup meets chicken stew with some dumplings instead of rice or noodles. If you're like me, you hear "dumplings" and think of Chinese dumplings...but no folks, this is something very very different.

Don't be afraid of the dumplings. They are just a couple things thrown together in a bowl and then spooned into simmering stock. The result is a very satisfying and a totally homemade treat. Give it a try next time you've got left over roast chicken!

Chicken and Dumplings

2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
4 lg carrots, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
8 cups chicken stock
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or diced
salt and pepper

Dumplings
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp of an herb (I used dill, but you could use thyme, rosemary or parsley)
2 tbsp cold butter, cut into small dice
milk

1. Prepare the dumplings: In a medium size bowl mix your flour, baking powder, salt and herb. Add in your diced cold butter. With your fingers, scrunch up the flour mixture with the butter until the butter is incorporated in tiny pieces. Add in enough milk to make a slightly sticky dough that is wet enough to scoop with a spoon.

2. Heat up a large pot and add the olive oil. Add in your carrots, onions, celery and garlic. Let saute for a few minutes until the veggies start to soften.

3. Add in your chicken stock. Bring to a simmer.

4. Add in your cooked chicken.

5. With the broth simmering, add in a tbsp of dumpling dough, 1 at a time, swirling the stock as you go.

6. Cover and let simmer for about 15 min

Super Simple Springtime Soup

Say that 4 times fast!

It's spring! Sorta. Well let us pretend it's spring and make a super fast, super yummy spring time soup. Before long the local asparagus should be flooding the markets and I've got the perfect recipe to use it all up.

This makes a ton of soup. Enough for a couple meals and some extra for the freezer. Done in 30 min flat. Or less if you're a quick chopper. (And don't make a fuss about the chopping, it's all getting wizzed up in the end anyways.)

Creamy Asparagus Soup
(adapted from simplerecipes.com)

1 large onion, chopped
3 tbsp butter
2 lbs asparagus (about 3 bunches, ends discarded, chopped
6 cups chicken or veg stock
2 springs of fresh thyme, leaves removed
4 tbsp fresh italian parsley, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream (or half and half)
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper

1. In a large pot, heat butter over med high heat. Add onion. Saute 5 min until translucent.
2. Add asparagus and thyme. Add some salt and pepper. Saute 5 min.
3. Add chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Cover. Simmer 15 min.
4. Remove from heat. Add parsley. Puree until smooth with a hand blender or in a blender.
5. Return to pot. Stir in cream and lemon juice. Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary.

That's it folks. Super simple. Super delicious.

Enjoy!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

What the heck is Chicken Tortilla Soup you ask? Apparently we've been missing out on an American staple. I've never ever had Tortilla Soup before, in fact, I don't think I've ever seen it on a menu. I follow many food blogs from people in the Southern US, and recipes like this one keep popping up. Well. LET. ME. TELL. YOU. It's glorious. Pretty spicy and pretty much like a taco in bowl.

If you've got left over roast chicken it's the perfect alternative to the same old chicken noodle.

Chicken Tortilla Soup (adapted from browneyedbaker.com)

Takes about 30 min if you've already got some roast chicken. Makes about 6 servings.


4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, minced
1 Serrano Pepper, seeded and minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons cornstarch
6 cups chicken broth
2 cups Roast Chicken meat, shredded or chopped
2 cups mild cheddar cheese, shredded
6 (6-inch)tortillas, minced
4 tablespoons lime juice
3/4 cup canned diced tomatoes
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt


1. In a large pot heat the oil over medium-low heat. Add the onion, pepper and garlic. Stir and cook slowly until translucent. About 8 min.

2. Whisk the cornstarch into the (cool) chicken broth, then add the broth mixture to the pot. Add the lime juice, diced tomatoes, cumin, cayenne pepper, oregano, and salt. Increase the heat to medium and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken, cheddar cheese, minced tortilla Give it a good stir. Let it simmer on med-low heat for about 15 min to let the flavors mingle.

Southwestern Cream of Chicken Soup

I admit it. I'm a soup girl. There is something so satisfying and convienient about a bowl of homemade soup. A small part of me is very sad every May when soups take the back shelf in lieu of salads and grilled fish. But for now. It's February, so Soup's On!

Another great soup coming from my kitchen. I'm continually suprised by many of the soups I make. I track down the recipes and choose them because I like the ingredients and I think they will add up to something great. In this soup I don't know what ingrediant takes it over the edge, but let me tell you, it's delicious.

Southwestern Cream of Chicken Soup (adapted from fortheloveofcooking.net)

1 tbsp oilve oil
1 tbsp butter
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and diced very fine
1/2 cup onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp corriander powder
1/2 tsp salt and pepper
6 tbsp flour, divided
3 cups milk
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup dry rice
1 cup Montary Jack cheese, shredded
2 cups roasted chicken, shredded or diced
4 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
3 tbsp of sriracha hot sauce (adjust depending on the heat you want)

1. Melt butter and olive oil in a large pot. Add in the bell pepper, jalepeno, onion, chili powder, cumin, corriander, salt and pepper. Sweat for 5 min.

2. Add in garlic, cook 1 min.

3. Whisk in 3 tbsp flour and cook 3 min.

4. Add in broth and milk, whisk until smooth.

5. Add rice, simmer while covered for 20 min.

6. Toss shredded cheese in the remaining 3 tbsp of flour. Add the cheese a bit at a time to the soup while whisking.

7. Add in chicken, sriracha and cilantro. Cook 3 min. Check your salt and pepper and the spiciness of the soup. Adjust if nessasary.

A Tale of Two Soups

The Challenge: Using a basic recipe for Creamy Vegetable Chowder, create a delicious concoction worthy of the winning title.

Challengers:
Brandy: a timid recipe follower with a meat and potatoes background.
Kristine: a vegetarian recently taking new chances in the kitchen.

The Recipe (adapted from fortheloveofcooking.net)

2 tbsp Butter
1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced
1 cup carrots, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
2 tbsp flour, divided
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups potatoes, diced
2/3 cup milk
2 cups broccoli florets
1 - 2 cups sharp Cheddar, shredded
1 sprig thyme
salt and pepper

1. Heat butter in a large pot over med heat. Add onions, carrots and celery and thyme. Saute 3 min.

2. Add garlic, cook 1 min.

3. Add 1 tbsp of flour, stir well.

4. Add stock and potatoes. Cover and let simmer for 20 min.

5. Add broccoli and let simmer 10 min more.

6. Add 1 tbsp of flour to the milk. Whisk well and then add to the soup along with the cheese.

7. Add salt and pepper. Check seasoning.

The Results:

Brandy: This soup was made with vegetable stalk (so our resident vegetarian could sample it...) Nice gesture on Brandy's behalf, but I must say I prefer the chicken stock with this recipe. Brandy cut her vegetables in larger dice, which was great because they held together well through the long cooking time. I was particularily impressed by the broccoli, it still had a "bite" to it, which is difficult to achieve. I must say the most impressive part of this soup was the addition of some hot sauce during cooking. Brandy took initiative here and played around with the recipe. I LOVED it. I will definitely be adding the spicy kick to my next batch.

Kristine: This soup was made with a Vegetarian Chicken flavored bouillon and I thought it worked really well. I loved the texture of this soup as it definitely was very thick and chowder like. I also really liked the size and texture of the potatoes. They were not too gritty and definitly not overcooked. Kirstine's broccoli fell apart quite a bit. That along with the choice of cheese used, lent to a more broccoli/cheese style soup. Good thing broccoli cheese is one of my favorites too!

The VERDICT:

Overall both girls did a very impressive job on their recipes. It's neat to see how one recipe can be adapted so differently. I'm hesitant to declare a winner because as far as I'm concerned (wait for it,...) when you toss out the canned soup and make it from scratch EVERYBODY WINS!. But, alas, in the spirit if the competition I declare the winner to be......





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BRANDY! Who edged out the win with the brilliant addition of the hot sauce!

My Favorite Soup of ALL TIME

I've made this soup dozens and dozens of times since I first tried it over a year ago. The original recipe came from Jamie Oliver, The Naked Chef Cookbook, although I've changed it enough that I now call it my own.

You need to be brave though, since chickpeas and leeks are the main ingrediants. Most people don't cook with either of these things very often. But trust me, if there ever was a recipe that is greater than the sum of it's parts, it's this soup. The icing on the cake is that this recipe is super duper healthy and filling.

*A note about Chickpeas. I firmly believe that dried chickpeas taste a million times better than canned ones. Personally, it's all I use. If you want to try the dried ones, a little prep is nessasary. You'll have to soak the dried beans in water overnight and then cook them in a huge pot of boiling water for about an hour until they soften. I usually do a huge bag of them and then throw them in a Ziploc in the freezer, then they are ready to use any time. They keep forever.

If it's you're first time with Chickpeas, you can used the canned ones (I would recommend the Organic ones, make sure you rinse them really well.)

LEEK AND CHICKPEA SOUP

12 oz Chickpeas (canned, rinsed /or dried, soaked and cooked.)
5 med Leeks (white and light green only, rinsed, sliced lengthwise and then crosswise into small halfmoon shaped pieces)
1 tbsp Olive Oil
knob of Butter
2 strips good quality Bacon (left in whole rashers)
1 sprig fresh Rosemary
2 cloves, Garlic (minced)
salt and pepper
4 cups chicken stock
Parmesean Cheese

1. Heat olive oil and butter in a large pot on med heat. Add the 2 rashers of bacon. Cook for 2 min.

2. Add leeks, garlic and sprig of rosemary to the pot. Add some salt and pepper. Cook for 6 min until tender. Do not brown the leeks.

3. Add the chickpeas and 2/3 or the stock. Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 15-20 min until chickpeas are tender.

4. Remove the bacon and rosemary.

5. Puree half of all of the soup (I like to puree only half so that it still has some texture.)

6. Add the rest of the stock. Check for seasoning and add more salt or pepper if needed.

7. Add some fresh grated parmesean and stir.

8. Serve topped with a drizzle of good olive oil.

Back to normal...

I sure haven't been a very good blogger lately. Work has been crazy but things are settling down now, so time to get back to it.

I just finished one of the two busiest weekends of the year at work. I organized and ran a series of 8 huge music recitals in a local high school theatre Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Three 12 hour days and let me just say, I am glad they are over!

I got a new cookbook a couple weeks ago too. It's called Bite Me. It's super fun and so far all the recipes I've tried have been great!

I've got a couple recipes for you from the book. (Better than Campbell's, in my opinion) Roasted Tomato Soup
(from Bite Me)
2 x 796ml cans diced tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

2 tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
2 medium celery stalks, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp flour
3 cups chicken broth
1 dried bay leaf
2 tsp sugar
salt and pepper
2 tbsp butter (optional)
1 tbsp fresh chopped basil (optional)

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with tin foil and spray with cooking spray.
Strain canned tomatoes over a bowl, reserving the juice. Put strained tomatoes on the baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 min.

2) Meanwhile, in a large soup pot set on med-low, combine olive oil, onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook until soft, about 8 min. Add flour and stir. Turn up the heat. Add roasted tomatoes, tomato juice, chicken broth, bay leaf, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer with the lid on for 30 min.

3) Remove bay leaf. Puree in a blender or with a hand blender until smooth. Stir in butter and basil if using.
** The recipe gives the idea to top with "mini grilled cheese croutons. Basically make grilled cheese and cut it into crouton size pieces and float in the soup. Might be fun for kids.**

Piquant Pasta Puttanesca
(from Bite Me)

This may sound a little strange, but it is AMAZING! Apparently this pasta is also called "Whore's Pasta" because it used to be used to lure men off the street into bordello's. Not that we need strange men in our houses, but it will definitely keep your husbands at home :)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup of black pitted olives, halved
1 tbsp capers, drained
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 796ml can of diced tomatoes
1/4 cup dry red wine
1 lb fettuccine or linguine
fresh Parmesan cheese
fresh parsley

1) Heat olive oil in a big skillet or pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add olives, capers, oregano, salt and red pepper flakes, and saute for 3 min. Add diced tomatoes (with juice) and red wine. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 min.

2) Cook pasta and drain. Toss hot pasta with the sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and parsley.


The book also has a great recipe for White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies. I've made those too and they are great. I will post the recipe later this week.

Hummus and vache qui what?

Although I hate to take away from the fact that today really is Kelsey's day, (see post below,)
I must show you my lunch because it was so very yummy.

Half Moon Hummus (from Joy of Cooking)

In a food processor, combine:
2 cups of canned chick peas (1 big can), rinsed and drained
2/3 cup tahini (sesame seed paste) * find it with the organic nut butters at grocery stores
3/4 cup lemon juice
2 cloves of garlic1/4 cup pitted black olives (strange I know, but adds something so awesome!!)
1 tsp salt and pepper

Wizz it up until it's super smooth. Stir in some chopped fresh parsley and enjoy with pita or crudites*. (* fancy way to sat raw veggies...)
"Vache qui rit" Soup (from Laura Caulder's French Taste)

Sounds fancy right? Wrong. Vache qui rit means "laughing cow"in french. As in "Laughing Cow Cheese." The best part is, you can serve to others and call it by the french name. People will think your a genius and spent all day preparing it. You will know however that you can make it in less time then it takes to heat up a bowl of canned soup. This recipe is basically 3 ingredients. I tried it today and it is awesome!

In a pot combine:
2 cups chicken broth
2 chopped zucchini (skin on)
1 finely chopped onion
pinch of cumin
salt and pepper

Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 min with the lid on.

Add 4 pieces of laughing cow cheese.

Puree using a regular or immersion blender until very smooth.
Thin with a little milk if you like.
I'm telling you. Tastes gourmet. Healthy. So fast and simple.

Super Easy Wanton Soup for Lunch

Happy Wednesday!

I wanted to share a super easy wanton soup recipe that I made this morning. I've made Asian-style meatballs before and Asian-style soups. This is a mixture of the two, simplified.

Trust me, it's simple.

Get yourself some "wanton wrappers" from the grocery store. They come in little square packages, usually with the tofu at the grocery store. Everything else is pretty standard and you probably have it in your fridge.

Wanton Soup
For the Wantons:
-1 pkg ground meat (I use chicken, but pork is good too)
-Pack of Wanton wrappers (you'll only use about 40, but they keep in the fridge for months)
-2 Green Onions, chopped
-2 tbsp soya sauce
-1 tsp sesame oil
-little bit of ginger
-garlic or garlic salt
Lay out the wanton wrappers on a large platter or cutting board. Get a small bowl of water to sip your fingers into. Mix all ingredients (except the wrappers...) in a bowl. Place a small amount (less than you'd think) of the meat mixture on the wantons. Use your fingers to dab some water around the edges of the wrappers and seal tightly.
For the Soup:-1 quart of chicken stock (or beef or veg stock. whatever..)
-2 tbsp soya sauce-2 cloves garlic, just cut in half (you will be fishing these out)
-tsp coriander seeds or fresh cilantro (you will also take these out before eating.

Bring some stock to a boil. Add in the soya sauce, garlic halves and coriander. Simmer for 10 min. Strain out the garlic and coriander. Return to stove and bring back to a boil. Add wantons (6 or so per person) and simmer for 5-6 min.

Top with fresh chopped green onion and slivered carrots.

**The wantons freeze really great, so make a whole bunch! Just throw them in a freezer bag in layers separated by parchment paper. You can also steam them and serve with some soya sauce for another meal!