Tag: soup

Pause for 24 Hrs.

Sometimes you have to step off the treadmill – road – pathway – of your daily life.  All sorts of things can require this:  health, family, work, emergency.  And then you have to get back into the daily rut.

I’ve done this from Sunday until yesterday.  On top of everything, I came down with a 100.3+ F temperature, which is high for me.  Misery compounded!

Today, do-nothing-I-don’t-need-to-do day!  Slept in.  Coffee. Shopping for tonight’s dinner (Roasted Mushroom Steak Soup with Baby Spinach and Kale).  Nap.  Coffee.  Chocolate.  Wash wool.

It’s working.  Fever is gone and feeling like my old self.

And in a bit I may go outdoors and enjoy the brisk spring winds.  Or do something else.

Simple things in life are the best!

 

Soup Night

I like cream soups more than I like brothy ones.  I also like to use items that are kind of not at their peak – not spoiled – but not really the best they could be.  However, I don’t think true cream soups – made with half and half, full-fat cream, etc., are the best for overall health.  So, I use my own methods.  Follows is a spinach soup, but you can use any vegetable you want in its place.  I even use lettuce that is not really perky, and it all comes out fine.  So, here you go!

Cream of Spinach (or Whatever) Soup

  • olive oil – 2-3 T.
  • 1/4-1/2 chopped onion
  • 6 oz. spinach
  • 3 c. chicken stock
  • Pepper, salt, garlic powder, nutmeg – or other flavors for seasoning
  • 1 c. unsweetened, plain almond milk
  • 1 c. Greek yogurt
  • Parmesan cheese, sour cream, full cream, or whatever you want for garnish

Saute onion in heated oil.  Add spinach and saute some more.  Pour in chicken broth and cover.  Cook until spinach is soft and wilted.  If you use other vegetables, you may need to simmer longer.  If you do, watch your pot and add more liquid if necessary!  Season with your choice of seasoning.  Remove to blender – or use immersion blender – and puree until very smooth.  Return to pot and stir in almond milk and yogurt.  Blend well.  Heat through.  Strain if you have bits of stuff you want to get rid of or just to be fancy and serve in bowl.  Garnish with garnish of your choice.

Serves 2-3.

Little Rags

About a month ago I was browsing through different food blogs and came across what seemed to me to be a perfect dish.  Not Chinese Egg Drop Soup, which is thickened with cornstarch and, to me, rather unappealing.  Not Greek Lemon Egg Soup, which I love, but didn’t have the taste for at lunch – though I do love lemon, and have lemons on the counter top.  What I wanted was something simple and quick and made with ingredients on hand.

Enter Stracciatelle – “little rags” in Italian.  A simple soup that takes about 5 minutes if you have stock, some greens or parsley, an egg, and some Romano or Parmesan cheese.

Besides being easy to make, it is damned fun to say!  The Italian language just lends itself to enTHUsiasm!

Stracciatelle

I made this for myself at lunch – just multiply the amounts for each person if it going to be main meal, or maybe a little less for an appetizer.

1 – 1.5 c. chicken broth
handful of spinach, or some parsley, or some basil
1 egg
2-3 T. grated Romano cheese

Beat together the egg and cheese. Set aside. Put broth in sauce pan, bring to a simmer, dump in the green vegetables. Stir. As you stir, pour in the egg-cheese mixture. Cook until the egg is done and looks like its namesake – little rags.

Serve with fresh pepper and perhaps, if you want, a bit extra cheese.

 

 

 

Kitchen Sink Soup

eat-72478_1280

Toward the end of the month, and with $0.02 left in the food budget, we have to get creative.   Hence, Kitchen Sink Soup!

In the freezer, I found a cut-up chicken. I put it in a stew pot, added water, celery, onion, tomato slices, bay leaves, peppercorns, a carrot, and some herbs. I brought it to a boil, turned it down to a low simmer, covered, and cooked the chicken. I pulled out the chicken, and set it aside for a pot pie or something else for tomorrow (after all the soup is gone). I ran the broth through a sieve, set it aside, discarded the cooked veggies (put them into your compost if you have it), and washed out the kettle. From there, I did this:

Kitchen Sink Soup

2-3 T. olive oil
1 andouille or other sausage or leftover meat (or none), chopped
4-6 cloves grated garlic
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 ribs celery, diced,
1 zucchini, diced
1 28-oz can plum tomatoes (I used Cento’s San Marzano Plum Tomatoes)
1 15-oz can Great Northern Beans
1/2 c. pasta (I used orecchiette)
broth from the chicken I just stewed (you can use regular broth, about 6-8 cups)
salt, pepper, etc.
Romano or Parmesan cheese, grated

Heat stew pot, add olive oil. Place chopped onion in pan, saute over low heat until clear and golden. Add meat (if using) and saute a bit. Stir in grated garlic. Add remaining diced vegetables, saute until cooked. Once the vegetables are at the desired degree of being done, pour in the can of tomatoes. Mash up the tomatoes (I used my potato masher), and cook a bit more. Put in the chicken broth or whatever stock you are using. Bring to a boil, add pasta and beans. Drop to a simmer and cover pot. Watch to make sure the pot does not boil over from the cooking pasta. Check pasta for al dente. Ready to serve!

Ladle into bowls, sprinkle grated cheese on top, and eat with good bread. (We used our homemade sourdough.)

Enjoy!