Bean and Swiss Chard Soup

I've tried some real stinker recipes lately (Pasta with Chicken, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Gorgonzola and Pine Nuts comes to mind, as does Scampi Fra Diavolo...meh) so this was a pleasant suprise. I found it on Epicurious.com which sometimes trips me up when I try and incorporate user reviews but I found a nice blend with the suggested changes and I've incorporated them in the recipe below. This is perfect with a grilled cheese sandwich.

1/2 pound (225 g) Swiss chard or kale, trimmed (I used Kale)
1 teaspoon coarse salt, plus additional to taste
2 flat anchovy fillets
1/4 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves or dried
1/3 cup (80 ml) olive oil
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1can white beans or drained and rinsed canned beans (I used Navy Beans)
4 cups (1 liter) chicken stock
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup (60 g) small shell macaroni
freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

Coarsely chop the chard. Very finely chop anchovies together with the rosemary.

In a medium saucepan, stir together the oil and garlic over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic is pale gold, about 10 minutes. Stir in the anchovies, rosemary and chopped chard/kale and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring to thoroughly coat it with the oil. Stir in the beans. Cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the reserved cooking liquid and the stock. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and stir in the macaroni. Boil for 6 minutes, or until the pasta is tender. Adjust the seasoning, if necessary.

Pass Parmesan cheese at the table.

Ultrafast Avocado Soup

Yay! Another recipe to put in the "don't want to ever make again" file!

I've been reading/watching Mark Bittman's recipes and blogs from the New York Times now for almost a year and I think this is the first recipe I've actually tried. The recipe is so easy that in his video blog he didn't even need speak. I thought, "This recipe is for me!"

I sure wish I had actually read the recipe. Maybe that would have helped? Because when I made it it was way too thick and rich. Now that I see his written recipe I realize maybe I didn't add enough milk? Regardless, I won't be trying this again soon. BUT, the shrimp skewers were fine and on sale pre-prepared for $1.50/skewer at WF it was quite the bargain. Too bad a few shrimp don't make for a filling meal.

Recipe: Ultrafast Avocado Soup

Time: 10 minutes, plus chilling
About 2 cups chopped ripe avocado flesh (3 or 4 small avocados)
3 cups milk, preferably whole
Salt and cayenne pepper to taste
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice, or to taste
A handful or more of small cooked shrimp
Chopped fresh cilantro or parsley leaves.

1. Put chopped avocado in a blender. Add half the milk, a large pinch of salt and a small pinch of cayenne; process to a purée. Add remaining milk and purée, then chill for up to 6 hours if you have time (press a piece of plastic wrap to surface of soup so it does not discolor).

2. Add lime juice, taste, then adjust seasoning, if necessary. Garnish with shrimp and parsley or cilantro, and serve.

Yield: 4 servings.

Six Can Tortilla Soup

This is the lazy man's tortilla soup (or maybe, the working woman's). It's too easy but it's also tastes pretty good, it's healthy, and if you fix it up with some avocado, tortilla chips, shredded cheese or sour cream it adds a little authenticity for a six can recipe.

Ingredients:
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth (low fat and low sodium)
1 (10 ounce) can chunk chicken*
1 (15 ounce) can black beans (rinse beans)
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, drained

DIRECTIONS
Open the cans of corn, chicken broth, chunk chicken, black beans, and diced tomatoes with green chilies. Pour everything into a large saucepan or stock pot. Simmer over medium heat until chicken is heated through. THAT'S IT!!

Season in with some cumin, chili powder, pepper, garlic powder or jalapenos to your liking. (I highly recommend the cumin!)

*I do boil one or two chicken breasts and shred them instead of using canned chicken but it does add an extra step.

Tuscan Soup

This is my favorite in our soup rotation. The potatoes, spinach, and Italian sausage are a great combination. I've make this a dozen times now and I'm still not tired of making or eating it.

Ingredients:

6 cups chicken broth

1 onion, chopped

3 (3.5 ounce) links spicy Italian sausage

3 large potatoes, cubed

1 bunch fresh spinach, washed and chopped

1/4 cup evaporated milk

salt to taste

ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Remove skin from sausage and crumble into frying pan. Add chopped onion, and cook over medium heat until meat is no longer pink (I strain off any grease or fat but that's optional, sometimes I rinse the meat under cold water).
2. Place meat in a large pot, add stock an potatoes. Boil until potato is cooked (about 18 - 20 minutes, depending on the size of the cubes).

3. Add spinach. Continue boiling until spinach is lightly cooked.

4. Remove soup from heat, stir in evaporated milk, and season to taste. I don't add salt because even the low-sodium broth has enough to make it plenty salty.

Now I've gone and made myself hungry.

(I've also put a small picture at the bottom of the page this time because it's such a bad photo. U like my shady marketing techniques? Eh? Eh?)

Pasta Fagioli Soup

I've never been been one to eat minestrone but I do like this recipe and with all the pasta, beans, and other stuff going on it's not too heavy on the tomato broth. Pasta e fagioli means "pasta and beans" and I believe most traditional fagioli recipes use cannelloni beans so I'm not sure Cooking Light got the name entirely right here. Regardless, it's pretty good and Allen now calls it his favorite of our soup recipes it that means anything to you. It's tasty, super easy to make and it does have a lot of fiber and it's a good way to get me to eat some zucchini (though I prefer zucchini bread).

12 ounces Santa Fe chicken sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced (such as Amy's) -- this is what the recipe says but I haven't found any Amy's in the store. I have bought sausage at CM that's worked and spicy Italian sausage too.
3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup uncooked pasta shells (I use the baby shells)
2 cups coarsely chopped zucchini (about 2 small zucchini) -- I had some extra yellow squash one night and threw it in and it also works.
1 (14.5-ounce) can stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano object
1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup (about 1 1/2 ounces) shredded Asiago cheese

Instructions: Heat a large saucepan over high heat. Add sausage; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add broth and pasta; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 4 minutes. Add zucchini and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 2 minutes. Stir in basil, oregano, and beans; cover and simmer for 3 minutes or until pasta and zucchini are tender. Sprinkle with cheese.

Yield
5 servings (serving size: about 1 1/3 cups soup and about 1 tablespoon asiago cheese)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 319(26% from fat); FAT 9.2g (sat 3.3g,mono 3.8g,poly 0.8g); PROTEIN 21.9g; CHOLESTEROL 56mg; CALCIUM 56mg; SODIUM 858mg; FIBER 9.6g; IRON 4.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 39.7g

White Christmas Chili (a.k.a White Chicken Chili)

I make soup about once a week and throughout winter we'll throw chili in the mix. When we get tired of regular chili we'll make this version. Typically I'll half the recipe but only cut the seasoning by 1/4 so it still has a lot of flavor. It's great topped off with some sour cream and a few tortilla chips.

Ingredients:
8 skinned and boned chicken breast halves (you can also use boneless, skinless breasts)
2 medium onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans chicken broth
4 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and mashed
2 (4.5 ounce) cans chopped green chilies
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

1. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces
2. Saute chicken, onion, and garlic in hot oil in dutch oven over medium-heat for 10 minutes or until chicken is done.
3. Stir in broth and next 10 ingredients; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.

P.S. Sorry for the lame, blah, picture. My camera kinda sucks. I tastes a lot better than it looks!

Delicious Ham and Potato Soup

First off, I didn't name this soup but it sure is delicious.

Second, why ham and potato soup you ask? Well, my parents are pushers. After the holidays (or any trip to their house for that matter), when you're ready to head back home, food is forced upon you (they'll even do this to any friends that may be traveling with you). You need a sandwich (and chips and a soda) for the plane ride. If you're within driving distance it's taken to a whole new level. You need Ziploc bags full of turkey, a half-dozen grapefruit, leftover salad and a jar of mustard. This year, amongst other things (a gold paintpen!), I ended up with quite a bit of ham. I froze one Ziploc bag (yes, there were two) and made sandwiches with the rest until my sodium level had exceed the allowable monthly intake.

I love potato soup so when I came across this recipe on allrecipes.com I though it was worth trying out...especially since it had an average five star rating after over one thousand reviews. Turns out it's easy, delicious and it goes wonderfully with the no-kneed bread. (Make them together, you won't be disappointed.)

This is suppose to make four servings but we only stretched it to three. I also substituted carrots for celery since that's what was in the fridge (and I don't like celery).

1-3/4 cups peeled and diced potatoes
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons diced celery
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons finely chopped onion
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons diced cooked ham
1-1/2 cups and 2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon granules
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
2 tablespoons and 1-1/2 teaspoons butter
2 tablespoons and 1-1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk



1. Combine the potatoes, carrot, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.
3. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.
4. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.



This isn't reeaally as bad for you as other creamy soups since there isn't any heavy cream or loads of butter. I not saying you'll lose weight eating either though so don't go suing me if you eat it all the time and it makes you fat!