I’m bored and want to make something different. Generally, I rotate the following soups (I make soup at least once/week).
West African Chicken Stew (on allrecipes.com)
Chili
Vegetable
Cabbage (last batch sucked though)
Potato
Sausage, kale & chickpea
Whatever strikes my fancy…
I tend to go for heated rather than cold and chunky instead of pureed, although I just made split pea for the first time ever and was pretty impressed with myself!
I know I can search the recipes site, but it’s funner to hear from people here! What’s your favorite recipe?
Well I’m just about ready to start a batch ofbeer cheddar soup. Or maybe this one.
Well, I just made cream of asparagus soup.
Sautéed onion in some butter, tossed in a bunch of asparagus that I had chopped up and added chicken broth and a dash of salt and pepper. Cooked at a simmer until the asparagus was tender, added a little milk and used the immersion blender. I left a few chunks in there but not many.
Turned out quite delicious!
I don’t have a name for this soup, you can call it whatever you want, I made it up myself, and, by coincidence, just made a batch today!
6 cups chicken stock(bouillon will do)
9-1/2 ounces corn, fresh if possible, canned if not
16 ounces of potato, peeled and chopped into small cubes or pieces
4-1/2 ounces chopped onion
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, minced finely
7 teaspoons of oil
14 teaspoons of flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Simmer the chicken stock with the potatoes. When the potatoes are nearly cooked, throw in the corn, onion and garlic. While this simmers, in a separate pan, make a roux out of the oil and flour. When it’s well cooked/thickened, add some of the broth from the bigger pan, or a little extra water or broth. When it thickens again add it to the big pot and continue to simmer until the flavors of the veggies are well blended. Add the salt and pepper and stir.
It should be thicker than broth but not too much so. When it cools it does thicken some more. It’s kind of like a chowder but with no milk products in it.
It’s a good cool weather soup.
There’s not enough pork soups! OK, maybe there is, but I kinda made up this one anyway:
Spicy Ginger Pork
18 oz Pork Chop - trimmed
1 T Ginger - minced
1 Onion
1 1/2 T Chives - chopped
(fry in 1 T each of Olive/Sesame Oil)
Add:
2 Hot Peppers (I’ve mixed up which, often pepperoncini)
1 Carrot - halved julienned
1 T Horseradish
1 t Black Pepper
1/2 t White Pepper
1 T Soya Sauce
1/2 T Fish Sauce
3 cloves Garlic - minced
2 C Chicken broth
(keep at low boil 20 min)
Add:
1/4 Handful of linguini - broken into <2" length
1/4 C water
(keep at low boil for another 12 min or until pasta is done)
I fly by the seat of my pants a bit in the kitchen, so it will often turn out a little different each time. Feedback very welcome.
CarnalK, that sounds good! I’m going to have to bookmark this thread.
Ooh, that does look good. I don’t think I could resist adding some finely shredded cabbage and straw mushrooms, though.
One of my favorite weeknight soups is the good ol’ Weight Watchers Taco soup. I use more beans than it calls for and often add or leave out stuff as my whims and pantry dictate, but it’s more or less:
Taco Soup
1 Onion, chopped
1 lb ground beef or turkey
Can or two or three of beans (kidney, pinto, black, whatever; I like a mix)
Can of corn or bag of frozen corn (I especially like fire roasted corn for this.)
Can of diced tomatoes and chilis
Can of plain diced tomatoes
2 T (or one packet) taco seasoning
2 T (or one packet) dry ranch dressing mix
Brown the meat and onions. (I don’t add any oil; the fat in the ground meat is enough to keep the onions happy.) Then add the rest without draining the canned stuff. Let simmer 30 minutes, or until the kids break down the kitchen door.
It gives you something in between a soup and a heathen chili - my son treats it like chili, adding cheese and sour scream. My daughter as a soup, crumbling in some gluten free crackers.
My all time favorite “something different” soup comes from America Cooks: The General Federation of Women’s Clubs COOKBOOK, an ancient tome of WASP housewife lore. They call it “English Soup”. I’ve never been able to figure out why, so I call it “Creamy Carrot Delicious Oh My God This Is Good Soup.” Or Creamy Carrot Soup, for short.
**
Creamy Carrot Soup**
2 T butter
1 pound ground beef, ground turkey or TVP (Boca Crumbles)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 c water
3 c tomato juice
2 10.5 ounce cans condensed cream of celery soup, or 2.5 cups of your homemade equivalent
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp marjoram
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp sugar
3 cups shredded carrots (the preshredded bagged ones are fine, or shred them in your food processor)
Melt butter and brown meat/TVP with the onion. Add everything else. Cover and simmer one hour.
I used to make Turkish red lentil soup probably once every week or two, until Tom Scud got tired of it, but I still love it - and it uses almost all pantry ingredients! You can blend it or not, as you like - I like it a little chunky. This recipe is a combination of several I found online:
Olive oil to fry onions
2 onions, diced
3 cloves minced garlic
1 cup red lentils
7 - 8 cups water
1 t turmeric
1 t paprika
Cayenne or Aleppo pepper, to taste
1/2 c. bulgur or rice, or 1 small potato, if you like it a bit thicker
1/2 small can of tomato paste
1 T dried mint
Salt to taste
Sautee onions until translucent in olive oil, then add garlic and sautee until aromatic. Add the turmeric and paprika and sautee another minute or two. Add the lentils and sautee until everything is thoroughly mixed. Add the water, tomato paste, bulgur or rice or potato if using, and mint and cook for ~ 45 minutes, or until the lentils break down. Add the mint and cook for another few minutes. Add salt and cayenne or Aleppo pepper to taste. Blend if you like, and add more water if the soup is too thick.
Eva Luna, that’s the only soup I’ve ever seen with mint in it!
How about clam chowder? Or cioppino?
I like to make a batch of spaghetti sauce with Italian sausage, thin it out a bit and add some white beans to it instead of pasta. Good, flavorful soup, much fewer carbs.
I have a good butternut squash soup recipe around somewhere and will post it when I find it.
Here it is:
Butternut Squash Soup with Star Anise and Ginger Shrimp
Gourmet Magazine
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
2/3 cup chopped shallot
1-3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 whole star anise
1 tablespoon sweet curry powder
2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1-3/4 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into ½ inch pieces (5 cups)
4 cups chicken stock or broth
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Garnish: fresh cilantro
Toss shrimp with ginger in a bowl and marinate, chilled, no longer than 30 minutes. Meanwhile, cook shallot, garlic, anise and curry powder in butter in a heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until shallot is softened, about 5 minutes.
Add squash and stock and simmer, uncovered, until squash is very tender, about 20 minutes. Remove star anise. Puree soup in 2 batches in a blender until very smooth, about one minute per batch, then transfer to cleaned pan and keep warm, covered.
Sprinkle marinated shrimp with salt. Heat oil in a large skillet over moderately high heat, then sauté shrimp in batches, stirring, until just cooked through, about 3 minutes per batch, and remove to paper towels. Bring soup to a simmer and season with salt and pepper. Place in shallow soup bowls, mounding three shrimp in the center and garnishing with cilantro.
I am a big fan of this roasted garlic butternut squash soup. I don’t like pureed or creamy soups so I leave out the cream, and instead of a blender I use a potato masher. That leaves enough chunks for me to be happy.
Oh and if I am feeling adventurous I will add some bacon.
http://m.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Butternut-Squash-and-Roasted-Garlic-Bisque-104280
Well then here’s another one for you - Persian beggar’s soup.
There’s also a fabulous Lebanese restaurant near here that makes a lemony spinach and bulgur soup that I’ve never quite been able to duplicate, and I’m pretty sure it has mint in it.
I made this today and it was terrific.
Simmer a bunch of veggies until soft. Take some out and coarse chop. Add cream cheese, approximately 1/2 a block per quart. Hand blend in the pot. Add back chopped veg. Season to taste. If desired add meat, beans, tofu, cooked grains/rice, etc.
Easy. Infinitely variable.
That looks fabulous! I’m actually making minestrone right now for the first time (chicken stock is chilling in the fridge for tomorrow night), and roasting the veggies looks like a great idea.
Ukrainian Borsch.
I’ve made this recipe. It’s a bit of effort, but the result is fantastic.
With the recent poisonously hot weather I would be interested in a vichysoisse or however it’s spelled soup.
For movingfinger and others who wanted a cold soup.
Chilled Melon Soup
3 c. each ripe cantaloupe & honeydew melon
1 c. fresh orange juice
2 tbls fresh lime juice
Mint leaves to garnish
Separately put the melons in the blender (so you have on container of honeydew and another of cantaloupe) I use pitcher for my containers. Chill for at least 2 hours I have chilled overnight and part of the next day.
Right before serving: Put ½ cup of the OJ & 1 tbls lime juice in each pitcher with the melon and stir to blend
Present:
Pour the pitchers simultaneously so the honeydew is on one side and the cantaloupe on the other use mint leaves as garnish – to be really fancy move your hands while pouring so you have a ying/yang shape – use the mint as the dots in the ying/yang.
This makes 4 servings
How about Sausage, kale & sweet potato?
Dice 1 large or 2 smaller sweet potatoes - simmer in chicken broth (1 quart box plus a cup or three of water). Brown a couple of brat patties from the farmer’s market (about 1/2 lb meat), dice & toss in the pot, then a whole buncha chopped kale - about 1/2 lb the last time I made it. Could probably use some onion and or garlic (I like alliums!) Makes 3ish servings.
My lazy veggie crockpot stew:
2 bags frozen soup veggies - Kroger/Payless has a nice mix with okra in it
2 cans pre-seasoned diced tomatoes (am partial to Red Gold Roasted Garlic & Onion
and Basil, Garlic & Oregano)
1 can beans - I’ve tried most kinds, so whatever your preference is
Toss it all in the crockpot, frozen veggies first - cook on high for a few hours, then turn to low for the rest of the day (or low for 6-8 hrs) - add tomato juice or broth if you like it soupier. This will make 5-6 servings.
Totally unexciting and totally delicious:
Chez Dorkness Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients:
Stock:
1 roast chicken, after you’ve gotten a meal off of it.
2 carrots broken into pieces
2 stalks celery broken into pieces
4 cloves garlic
3 quarts or so water
Salt
Cut the meat off the carcass and toss it in the pot with everything else. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 1-2 hours. (If you let it stay on a rolling boil, the soup will be cloudy and not as lovely).
I usually do this the night of the chicken-roasting, then cool the stock that night.
Soup:
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
Chicken Stock
Chicken meat, chopped
2 handfuls egg noodles
Scoop some of the lovely chicken fat from the top of the chilled stock and put it in the pot. Saute the veggies in the fat until they’re tender and delicious-smelling. Add the stock and heat until simmering. Add the chopped chicken meat and the noodles. Cook 10 minutes and serve.
It’s what we’re having for dinner tonight, and it’s incredibly-much better than any other chicken soup I’ve ever had.