"Best Ever Tortellini Soup"

A double batch!

Many many moons ago, when the boys were still young, Arta gave me a photocopied list of soup recipes.  I have carried those recipes around in a ratty binder for years, bringing then out with regularity.  In it was this beauty for "Best Ever Tortellini Soup". 

It is one of Duncan's favourites. 

There are a number of pluses to this recipe, including that it takes very few ingredients, is quick to pull together, and.... IT FREEZES WELL!

This is a perfect soup to make in a large batch, to move into 2 cup mason jars to put in the freezer, so it can be brought out later in the season for food happiness.   That is, pull a mason jar of soup out of the freezer in the morning (or the night before), take it to work with me (it won't spill in my knapsack), and then microwave it at lunch to have a delicious, healthy, warm jar of soup at work in the middle of the day. 

I thought I would post the recipe here so that I am not always searching for the photocopy! 

I do have a few 'notes' having made this soup so many times:

PROCESS:

I try to have three 'zones':  

a.    BOIL WATER FOR TORETLLINI:  I get one pot on the stove with water heating up, so can get the tortellini cooking.  You can cook it at the lower rather than higher end of the suggested minutes range, because it is going to be sitting in a hot soup eventually, so it will further soften up.

b.  OPEN TINNED TOMATOES AND PUREE IN BLENDER:  you could make the soup without pureeing the tomatoes, but then you would get a different kind of chunky stew.   I often blend them up first, so that they are just sitting in the blender waiting to be added to pot once the onion/bacon blend is done. 

 c.  FRY BACON AND ONIONS TOGETHER:  I don't actually add any oil to the pan, as the bacon tends to have enough in it to get the onions carmelized.  If i am using green onions, I chop the whites and green tops apart, and add the white ends first once the bacon is already starting to get cooked.  I keep the green tops and the garlic back til near the end of the frying process, since they really don't take any time at all to cook down.  

--> and then it all just comes together.  Add the tomato puree, the stock, the toretllini, and then season to taste.   I generally add LOTS of basil and dill (like, several tablespoons full).  Really, this is a matter of following your taste.  Salt and Pepper too.  I don't really scrimp there.

SUBSTITIONS and MODIFICATIONS:

1.   You can use as much or as little tortellini as you like.   If you want the soup more substantial, then you can put in enough that is more like soupy tortellini than toretellini soup.   Both ways are tasty!

2.   You can do it with regular onions instead of green onions.  In that case, it will simply take you longer at the first stage to get your onions nice and carmellized.  When I go in that direction, I sometimes adapt to use two or three onions, so there are LOTS of them in the soup.   It takes longer, but it is another possibility that is equally tasty.

3.   You can use as much or as little meat as you want.   I like making this recipe if we have left over meat of any kind (ie. from a chicken the night before?), and then i just chop up and toss in whatever there is to hand.  I see adding the extra meat as just a choice, not as central to the recipe.   For example, if you have chosen a beef tortelinni, you might think you have meat enough.  Also, I can see no reason why tofu wouldn't work if you wanted to do this in a more vegetarian way, and ditch the bacon.

4.  Parmesan cheese on top is a winner.   But it is also good if you happen to have a different kind of shredded cheese around, and want to sprinkle it on top.  You just can't go wrong.

 

Hot and Sour Noodle Soup

1/3 head of cabbage

2 chorizo sausages

1 cup celery

1 cup carrots

4 cups broth

1 cup shiitake mushrooms

1

Moiya asked me to write her up the recipe for my new favourite soup.   I don't really have a 'recipe', but I do have a method!

1.   Fry up an onion or two in a big pot (we did 3 last time).  I also sometimes throw in 1 large chopped up chorizo sausage/bacon to cook along with it (obviously, skip the sausage if you want it to be vegetarian)

2.   Add in other vegetables!

• Cabbage:  slice it up thin-ish, so it is almost like noodles.  It can cook quite a bit, so add it in once the onions look good.  We did about 1/3 of a green cabbage or about 3 cups.
• Mushrooms:  I put in a cup or more of shiitake mushrooms.  i often use fresh, but it is also great to use reconstituted dried ones (1/2 cup)... but then you need to pour boiling water over them 20 minutes ahead to reconstitute and remember to take off the stems...then slice them up, and the water from the mushrooms can go into your soup
• Celery or Shredded Carrot or Peppers (red or orange if i am thinking about colour).  We put in 2 peppers last time we made it.
• The liquid in the vegetables will gradually evaporate

3.  Clear a spot in the bottom of the pot and add a spoonful or two of oil (regular, or coconut or whatever you like), then put a big spoonful of chopped garlic into the oil patch, so the garlic can brown up a bit... maybe 3 minutes?

4.   Add broth, or water (any stock powder that you like) to cover over the vegetables, or as  watery you like.  Then add some soya sauce and vinegar and hot sauce (franks, or siracha, or sambal olek or whatever).   This is totally about your own enjoyment of the balance of hot and sour.  you will get salt from the soya sauce, sour from the vinegar, and hot from the chilis.  This is totally to taste.  I like this to taste, which is irritating to read.  So start with 1 cup of soya sauce and 1 cup vinegar if it look like you have about 12 to 16 cups of soup in your pot by now.  If there is chicken left over from another day's meal, you can shred this up and put it into the soup.  

On adding the hot sauce?  This is going to vary per family.  We like it very hot.

no calories
Look at the back of the package!

5.  Add a package or two of shirataki noodles if you want (good if you are on a low carb diet, but are craving noodles).  Put in any noodles you want.

6.  IF you like your soup thick, you could use a spoonful of cornstarch in water at the end, to thicken it.  I don't because i am trying to keep the carbs low, but if you DO, then it will look more like the hot and sour soup you would get in a restaurant.  

Easy Roasted Pumpkin Coconut Curry Soup

Mary and I made pumpkin soup last week.  You guessed it.  From the pumpkin left over from Halloween.  Mary had done the roasting of the pumpkin.  All that was left was to make the soup.  Having no curry in the house, Mary mixed some up.

"Who has all of the spices to make curry power, but no curry powder?", she laughed.

This is not the same recipe.

Just a recipe for

Easy Roasted Pumpkin Coconut Curry Soup

This link is from thecafesucrefarine.com

Also, do a search on pumpkin to find a similar recipe from last year.

Arta

African peanut lentil soup

AFRICAN PEANUT LENTIL SOUP

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PREP TIME

15 mins

COOK TIME

25 mins

TOTAL TIME

40 mins

African Inspired Peanut Lentil Soup. African Peanut Stew with lentils and veggies. Harissa Spice, Nut butter, Sweet potato, veggies and lentils. Serves 3 to 4 or more.

Author: Vegan Richa

Recipe type: stew

Cuisine: African Inspired

Serves: 3

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tsp oil
• ½ medium onion
• 2 juicy tomatoes
• 4-5 garlic cloves
• 1 inch ginger
• 1 tbsp sambal oelek or asian chili sauce or other hot chile sauce to taste
• 1 tbsp tomato paste or ketchup
• 1.5 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 to 1.5 tsp Harissa Spice Blend or harissa spice paste or use paprika
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• ¼ cup nut butter like peanut butter or almond butter
• 2 tbsp peanuts
• ½ cup red lentils (masoor dal)
• 2 cups veggies, chopped small or thin slices - zucchini, sweet potato or potato, carrots, eggplant, broccoflower etc
• 2.5 to 3 cups vegetable stock or water
• ¾ tsp to 1 salt
• 1 tsp or more lime or lemon juice
• ½ cup packed baby spinach or other baby greens.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook until translucent. 5 minutes
2. Meanwhile, blend the tomatoes, garlic, ginger, chili sauce, tomato paste, spices until pureed. Add to the saucepan. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes.
3. Add peanut butter, half of the nuts, lentils, veggies, stock, salt and lemon juice. Mix, cover and cook.
4. Stir at 15 minutes.Taste and adjust salt, heat and check if the veggies are al-dente. Add in the baby spinach. Cook for another 5 minutes or until the veggies and lentils are cooked through. Add more water if needed.
5. Garnish with rest of the peanuts, cilantro, more lemon juice. Serve with flatbread, crackers or as is.

NOTES

Pressure Cook: Follow steps 1 and 2 in a pressure cooker over medium heat. Add peanut butter, lentils, half of the peanuts, veggies, stock, salt and lemon juice, mix, close the lid and bring to high pressure. Cook for 5 minutes * (Manual setting for 5 minutes for IP). Let the pressure release naturally. Taste and adjust salt and spice. Fold in the spinach and let it sit for 2 minutes in the hot stew before serving.

* Depending on your pressure cooker, lentils and your preference of consistency, you might need to cook for less or more time.

Hot and Sour Soup

Sometimes I want to cook something, and if I just take the recipe and get it up on this blog, that seems to fill my need to cook it.  That was the case when I wanted to make some cheese muffins.  I did have all of the ingredients in the fridge.  But I looked up what I thought would be a good recipe, blogged it, and by that time I was too tired to make the muffins.

I don't think that will be the case with this soup, a recipe from Mary.  She gave me this list of ingredients when I asked her how she had made the healthy soup she had at work:

Hot and sour soup dry mix packet, 3 kinds of mushrooms, carrots, bok choy, onions, celery, maybe a can of tomatoes. Thick on veggies, just enough broth to fill in the spaces in between.

Here the trick will be to buy hot and sour soup dry mix packet, and then get 3 kinds of mushrooms in the house and some bok choy.  Those ingredients I will have to write on a piece of paper, get that paper to the store, and then remember where the recipe is when I start wondering what I am going to do with the bok choy.

Oh yes, I forgot to say that Mary had one more thing to say about her recipe.  That was, yum!

And one last tip.  Mary was looking for tamarind soup but couldn't find it.  If your eyes light upon it in the supermarket, buy it and substitute it for the sweet and sour soup mix.  That will be a double yum.

Arta

Clam Chowder - The Best!

Clam Chowder

Ham, White Bean and Tomato Soup

I am at the lake and trying to fill the freezer with healthy soups, using the tomatoes that are on the vines by the side of my house.  I am going to try this soup today.  I picked it out over other recipes, which were also interesting, but asked for things like 1 tablespoon of chili paste.  Having that in my fridge in Calgary, but not here was a small blip, since this recipe calls for a series of dried spices which I do have in my cupboards here.

I am going for it!

2 slices bacon
1 onion, diced
1 stalk celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (10 ounce) bag Baby Spinach, sliced into thin slices
1⁄2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1⁄2 teaspoon allspice
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
3 cups chicken broth
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (28 ounce) can white beans, drained
3⁄4 cup chopped cooked ham
5 sage leaves, minced
5 sprigs minced thyme
5 sprigs minced parsley


DIRECTIONS Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until just crisp, turning several times, about 4 minutes; remove bacon, crumble and set aside.

Add onion and celery to skillet; cook until softened, about 5 minutes; stir in garlic, cook 1 minute; stir in spinach, cook until wilted, about 2 minutes.

Season with red pepper flakes, allspice, salt and black pepper; add chicken broth, tomatoes, beans, ham, sage, thyme and parsley; cook until flavors blend about 20 minutes.


http://www.food.com/recipe/ham-white-bean-and-tomato-soup-89130

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

I was looking for a way to use up some frozen broccoli in my freezer.

Here is an award winning recipe from the Dairy Goodness people.

I noticed other recipes called for some celery and carrots, which I couldn't see would hurt throwing in.  In the comments section of this recipe one reader said she didn't think thyme, hot pepper flakes and orange rind were a good combination.  Other readers said that they add some chili powder or even a pinch of curry to all cream soups.  You will have to decide.  I am going with this recipe today, to use up that broccoli and to test out thyme, hot pepper and orange rind.  Sounds good to me.  As well I have some bits of Balderson's Double Smoked Cheese and I think I will try that on top.

Ingredients

1 bunch broccoli (1-1/2 lbs/750 g)

1 medium onion, chopped

2 small baking potatoes, peeled and diced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups (500 mL) reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable broth

1 tsp (2 mL) grated orange rind

1/2 tsp (2 mL) dried thyme

1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper

pinch hot pepper flakes

2 cups (500 mL) milk, (approx.)

1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt, (approx.)

1 cup (250 mL) shredded Canadian Cheddar or 

 Gruyère cheese

Peel and chop broccoli stems and coarsely chop florets, keeping stems and florets separate (you should have about 6 cups/1.5 L total).

In a pot, combine broccoli stems, onion, potatoes, garlic, broth, orange rind, thyme, pepper and hot pepper flakes; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 min. Add florets; simmer, covered, for 5 min or until vegetables are softened.

Transfer to a blender or food processor, in batches, or use an immersion blender in the pot and purée soup, adding milk, until smooth. Return to pot, if necessary. Heat over medium heat, stirring, until steaming, but do not let boil. Stir in more milk if soup is too thick. Season with up to 1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt. Ladle into bowls; sprinkle with cheese.

Tips

To dress this soup up for entertaining, sprinkle the cheese on thin slices of baguette and toast under the broiler for elegant croutons, then float them in the bowls of soup.

Reduce broccoli to 4 cups (1 L) and add 2 cups (500 mL) chopped trimmed rapini with the florets. Add 1 tbsp (15 mL) chopped fresh sage instead of the dried thyme.

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

A butternut squash soup is cooked slowly in the slow cooker, with cream cheese added at the end for a creamy finish.

Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

½ cup chopped onion

1 (2-lb.) butternut squash, peeled and cubed

2 cups water

½ teaspoon dried thyme

¼ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper

4 chicken-flavor bullion cubes

1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, cubed

Instructions

Melt the butter in a skillet. Add the onion and cook until translucent, stirring occasionally.

In a 3½ – 4-quart slow cooker, combine the onion and all remaining ingredients except the cream cheese.

Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

About 40 minutes before serving, place about ⅓ of the mixture at a time in a food processor or blender and blend on high speed until smooth. Return the mixture to the slow cooker.

Add the cubed cream cheese and stir. Cover and cook on low an additional 25 to 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted, stirring with a whisk until smooth.

Dill Potato Soup

Dill Potato Soup    submitted by Desiree Vaughn

Description:

Mom gave me this recipe because I really liked it when she made it

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c.               diced potatoes

1 c.                     sliced carrots

1 c.                     sliced celery

1 large                onion diced

2 c.                     boiling water

1/2 tsp.               salt

1/4 tsp.               dill weed

1/4 tsp.               pepper

1 10 oz. can        cream of mushroom soup

1/2 c.                  shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Put Veggi's in boiling water and let it boil rapidly for 10 minutes.   Add everything else except for cheese and stir.   I usually put the cheese in right at the end.   If it's too thick I add a little bit of milk as well.

Number Of Servings: 2

Preparation Time: 20 min