Curry Cauliflower Soup

This blender soup is surprisingly easy and delicious.  You just need a few ingredients, and it's ready in about half an hour.  The roasted vegetables are light, and the curry powder gives it a lot of flavor, which makes this a perfect dish for spicing up your regular menu.

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Curry Cauliflower Soup
(adapted from the Blendtec recipe, and no, you don't need a fancy blender for this one to work)

1 head cauliflower
1/2 onion, cut into rings or slices
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp salt
3 cups water
2 tsp chicken bouillon

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Chop the head of cauliflower into florets.  Place the cauliflower and onions in a shallow baking dish, and brush them with olive oil.  Evenly sprinkle the curry powder and salt over the vegetables.  If needed, toss them to make sure they're evenly coated.
3. Roast the vegetables for 25 minutes.  When they're tender, place half of the vegetables in a blender with all of the water and bouillon.  Blend until smooth.
4. Serve the soup topped with the rest of the vegetables and enjoy this light, refreshing soup.

Pasta Fagioli Soup

I found this soup in a slow-cooker recipe book and tweaked it a bit to use what I had on hand.  It would be delicious paired with a baguette or some parmesan cheese bread.  It's especially light if you omit the ground beef or sausage and just stick with beans and vegetables.

Image thanks to The Best Slow Cooker Recipes

Pasta Fagioli Soup
(adapted from The Best Slow Cooker Recipes)

1/2 lb ground beef or italian sausage
2 cans (or about 16 oz) beef or chicken broth
1/2 can (16 oz) Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1-1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup small shell or tubetti pasta, uncooked
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

1.  In a skillet, brown the ground beef or sausage over medium heat.  Drain it, and toss it in the slow cooker.
2.  Add the broth, beans, tomatoes, zucchini, olive oil, garlic, basil, and oregano.  Stir to mix well, then cover and cook on low 3-4 hours.
3.  Stir in pasta.  Cover, and continue cooking on low for another hour, or until pasta is tender.  Top with Parmesan or Romano cheese.
4.  Eat it out on the patio as you watch the sunset and enjoy the glorious spring weather we've been having (at least, in my neck of the woods).

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Corn Chili

I found this recipe when we were newlyweds and I was in my final semester of college.  Money was tight, and that meant that recipes that were hearty and filling (but didn't include meat) were on the menu.  I threw together this chili with whatever I had laying in the pantry and some guidance from good old allrecipes.com.  It takes no more than 20 minutes from the time you decide to make it until it's on the table.  This made a surprisingly big pot of chili that lasted quite a while.  Try serving it with sour cream and tortilla chips.  Or pair it with a little homemade cornbread, and it's the perfect meal to warm you up on a chilly autumn day.

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Corn Chili
(adapted from Corn Chili on allrecipes.com)

2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper (or less if you don't want it to be too spicy)
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp taco seasoning (optional)
2 cans corn (or 1 lb frozen corn)
2 cans (14.5 oz) diced OR stewed tomatoes (regular or Mexican-style for more spice)
1 can (15 oz) pinto beans, drained
1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained
2 chicken bouillon cubes (or 2 tsp granules)
1 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
2 Tbsp tomato paste

1. In a large stock pot, cook onion in oil over medium heat for one minute.  Stir in cayenne pepper, oregano, and taco seasoning.  Cook one minute more, stirring.  This recipe can easily be adjusted to suit your tastes.  Play around with the spices, adding more or less, to achieve that perfect chili taste that will win you first prize in the neighborhood chili cook-off.  
2. Stir in corn, tomatoes, beans, bouillon, water, salt, pepper, tomato sauce, and tomato paste.  Cook, uncovered, until heated through and slightly thickened, 10-15 minutes.  If it's too thick, just add more water. Too thin?  Add a bit more tomato paste.
3. Serve your chili in a large soup bowl and let it warm you right up.

Ham and Potato Soup

I'm sitting here on my couch all cuddled up in a blanket.  Tonight is supposed to be the first really cold night since last winter.  With cold weather on the brain, warm food comes to mind.  My crock pot soups are always favorites when the weather is chilly, but this ham and potato soup is one of my all-time favorites.  You can whip up a pot in about half an hour, and it is delicious in a bread bowl.

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Ham and Potato Soup
(adapted from Delicious Ham and Potato Soup on allrecipes.com)

3 1/2 cups potatoes, diced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1/3 cup onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup cooked ham, diced (even cutting up lunch meat works here)
3 1/2 cups water
5 chicken bouillon cubes (or about 2 Tbsp bouillon granules)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
5 Tbsp butter
5 Tbsp flour (also the same as 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp)
2 cups milk

1. Combine potatoes, celery, onion, ham, and water in a large stock pot.  Bring to a boil and cook over medium-high heat for 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are just tender.  Reduce heat to low and stir in bouillon, salt, and pepper.
2. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat.  Whisk in flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 1 minute.  Slowly whisk in the milk, stirring constantly to avoid clumps.  Continue cooking, stirring frequently for 5-7 minutes or until the mixture is slightly thickened.  This might take longer than that, depending on how low your heat is.  If it doesn't seem to be any thicker, keep cooking it until it does.
3. Pour milk mixture into the large stock pot and stir to combine.  Turn up the heat to medium, and cook until heated through.
4. Serve up some comfort with this soup in a homemade bread bowl.  Mmm...

Homemade Bread Bowls

What's better than soup?  Soup in a bread bowl, of course.  But what's better than soup in a bread bowl?  Soup in a homemade bread bowl.  It seems like a challenge--like you'd have to be crazy to make your own bread bowls, but it's surprisingly simple and is a sure fire way to impress guests.

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Homemade Bread Bowls
(from this recipe on allrecipes.com)
*Yields 8 medium bread bowls or 6 large bread bowls

2 (.25 oz) packets active dry yeast (or about 4 1/2 tsp)
2 1/2 cups warm water
2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp oil (I like olive oil best)
7 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp cornmeal
1 egg white
1 Tbsp water

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.  Let it stand until creamy, or about 10 minutes.
2. Add salt, oil, and 4 cups of flour.  Beat well.  Stir in remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with each addition.  When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (about 6 minutes).
3. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume (about 40 minutes).  If you have a cold house, which is usually the case when you're making bread or soup, just switch the oven to warm for a minute, then turn it off.  Place the bowl of dough and a shallow pan of warm water into the oven, and let it rise in the warm oven.
4. Punch the dough down, and divide it into 8 equal portions (or 6, if you want larger bread bowls).  Form each portion of dough into a round loaf (basically the same as a large roll).  Make sure that you get it into a nice rounded shape.  If it's too flat, there won't be any room for soup inside it.  
5. Grease 2 cookie sheets and sprinkle them with the cornmeal.  Place dough balls onto the cookie sheets (half on each sheet), and let them rise in a warm place until doubled (about 30 minutes).  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
6. In a small bowl, beat together the egg white (or the whole egg, whatever) and 1 Tbsp water.  Lightly brush the loaves with half of the egg wash.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.  Brush with remaining egg mixture, and bake for 10-15 minutes more (depending on whether you made small or medium-sized bowls), until the loaves are golden brown.  If you're cooking both cookie sheets at the same time, remember to switch which pan is on the top or bottom here so they cook evenly.  Cool on wire racks.
8.  Cut the top 1/2 inch off of each bread bowl, and scoop out the inside bread, leaving a wall 3/4 inch thick on all sides.  Fill it with soup, and use the scooped out bread to dip in the soup.  Delicious!

Turkey Minestrone Soup

I invented a new soup yesterday, so I'm putting it up here before I forget what I did.  Isn't it fun when you can take a couple of recipes that sound good and create your own thing?  And then when it ends up tasting good, doesn't it just make you so excited for life?  That's how it feels for me.  With a little bit of everything, I give you my newest soup invention.

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Turkey Minestrone Soup

1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup carrots, sliced
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic salt
1 quart (4 cups) turkey broth (or chicken broth, if that's all you've got)
2 (15 oz) cans stewed tomatoes
1 cup cooked turkey, chopped (again, this would be great with chicken too)
2/3 cup uncooked brown rice
1/2 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 (14.5 oz) can green beans, roughly chopped
1 (15.5 oz) can garbonzo beans (same as chick peas)
Salt and pepper

1. In a large stock pot, warm olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions and carrots, then saute until vegetables are almost tender, stirring frequently (about 5 minutes).  Note: because you're sauteing them in a pot, rather than a skillet, the chances of them sticking to the pan or burning quickly are higher, so make sure you watch them.
2. Add broth, stewed tomatoes, turkey, brown rice, Italian seasoning, and poultry seasoning.  Return to a boil, cover, and reduce heat.  Simmer for 25-30 minutes, or until rice is tender.  Add green beans and garbonzo beans and heat until warm.  You can add the beans earlier if you want them to be more flavorful, but adding them too early may make them too soft, depending on your texture preferences.
3. Salt and pepper to taste, and serve it up with some parmesan cheese bread.

What to do with Potatoes?

Potatoes.  They're cheap, and like a lot of people, I need cheap ideas for dinner.  So when my grocery budget is spent and I look in the pantry to see a big bag of potatoes, here's what I do with them.  I make Dirt Cheap Potato Soup, Garlic Parmesan Potato Wedges, or good old fashioned Mashed Potatoes.

 
Dirt Cheap Potato Soup
(adapted from "Peppery Potato Soup" in The Best Slow Cooker Recipes cookbook)

The thing we love about this recipe is that we can make a whole crock pot of soup for approximately $1.50, and it makes about 8 servings.  That's like 19 cents a serving!  Delicious and dirt cheap--a wonderful combination.

4-5 potatoes, halved and thinly sliced
4 cups chicken broth (or two 14.5 oz cans)
1 large onion, quartered and sliced
1-2 stalks celery, sliced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup half-and-half
1 Tbsp butter (optional)

1. Combine broth, potatoes, onion, celery, flour, pepper, and salt in slow cooker; mix well.  Cover and cook on LOW 6-7 hours. (Or, if you're short on time, just switch the slow cooker to high and half the cooking time.)
2. Stir in half-and-half.  Cover and continue to cook on LOW for one more hour.
3. Remove slow cooker lid.  Slightly crush potato mixture with a potato masher (or a whisk if you don't have a potato masher).  Continue to cook, uncovered, for another 30 minutes or until soup is slightly thickened.  Stir in butter, if desired, just before serving.
4. Eat, and revel in the fact that you just fed your family for pennies.
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Garlic Parmesan Potato Wedges
(adapted from Parmesan Potato Wedges in the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook)

This one is a favorite of my husband.  It makes a surprisingly filling snack or side dish.

3-4 potatoes, cut into wedges (usually I cut them into 6 or 8 wedges per potato, depending on the size of the potato)
1 Tbsp oil or melted butter (olive oil tastes the best if you've got it)
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic salt
Parmesan Cheese (to taste)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F).
2. Wash and cut potatoes into wedges, leaving skins on.
3. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine oil (or melted butter), Italian seasoning, and garlic salt.  Toss potatoes in oil mixture until evenly coated.
4. Line a small baking sheet (with sides) in aluminum foil and spread coated potatoes evenly across the pan.  Bake for 30 minutes at 425 degrees, flipping over the potatoes after the first 15 minutes.  Not crispy enough for you?  Just keep them in there for a few minutes longer.  The longer they cook, the crispier they will be.
5. Remove potatoes from oven and let cool for a few minutes.  They will be very hot.
6. Grab some napkins and enjoy.
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Mashed Potatoes 

Nobody makes better mashed potatoes than your mom, so think of her while you eat this comfort food.

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4-5 potatoes, diced
2-4 Tbsp butter (depending on how flavorful versus how healthy you want them to be)
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Dice the potatoes.  No need to skin them--they're healthier that way.  Put diced potatoes in a large pot with enough water to just cover the potatoes.  Boil potatoes for about 15 minutes or until they're tender.  Drain water.  If you overboil, you'll have mushed potatoes, rather than mashed, and nobody likes that except for maybe babies.
2. Either using a hand masher or an electric mixer, mash potatoes.  Add butter, and keep mashing/mixing until all of the butter melts.  Add milk, sour cream, and salt and pepper, mixing until you achieve the desired consistency.
3. Eat!

Italian Chicken Soup

After searching for the perfect chicken soup, I decided that it was taking way too long to find one that called for the ingredients I had.  As a result, I meshed together a few recipes that sounded tasty and ended up with this.  I love this recipe because it's incredibly easy to make, tasty, and has a bit of a different flavor from ordinary chicken soup.  It's definitely become a comfort food for me.

Image thanks to quick-and-easy-dinner.com

Italian Chicken Soup

1 chicken breast (don't worry if it's frozen, just stick it in the slow cooker and it can thaw as it cooks)
5 cups chicken broth
1/4 large onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, sliced
1/2 cup carrots, sliced
1 Tbsp italian seasoning
2 clove garlic or 1/2 tsp garlic salt (real garlic will give the best flavor, but I usually use garlic salt because it's cheap and convenient)
Salt and pepper to taste
10 oz wide egg noodles
1 cup half and half
Hot water as needed

1. Place chicken breast, whole into crock pot.  Add 3 cups of the chicken broth (yes, just 3 cups--the other 2 cups will come in later), onion, celery, carrots, and seasonings.  Cover and cook on low for about 6 hours.  If you're running late on time, just turn the slow cooker to high and cook for half the time instead.  The chicken may not be quite as tender this way, but it will still taste delicious.
2. Remove the chicken breast from the slow cooker.  Shred chicken and replace chicken into the broth mixture.  Don't forget to put the lid back on while you're shredding the chicken or too much moisture will escape.
3. Add half and half, egg noodles, and remaining 2 cups of broth.  Add just enough hot water to cover all ingredients, and replace lid.  Cook on HIGH for approximately 15-20 minutes or until noodles are just tender.
4. Serve and enjoy!