Recipes Discovered

Mighty Minestrone Recipe

I know, another soup recipe, but I was pretty excited about this one. Veggies, beans, and pasta, all in one bowl, plus it is a fairly quick cooking soup. Just saute onions, garlic, carrots, celery, and a bay leave until the veggies are soft, and then season them with salt and pepper. To that, add beans, thyme, tomatoes, and stock to the pot. Once the soup is simmering, add kale and let it wilt down until it’s tender. At this point, you can add water and pasta directly to the soup or you can cook the pasta separately and just let the soup simmer while the pasta cooks. Since I would definitely have leftover soup, I cooked the pasta separately and just added it to each bowl before filling the bowls with soup. I served the soup with grated Parmesan cheese.

I was actually disappointed with this soup. It didn’t have a lot of flavor and the kale really took over everything. I could probably play with the recipe, add some more spices and less kale, which would improve the soup, but does anyone have a good recipe for minestrone?

Roasted Tomato Soup Recipe

A couple weeks ago I wrote about tomato soup that I had made. It was quick and easy and tasted much better than the canned variety. However, I recently discovered another recipe for tomato soup that involves roasting the tomatoes with garlic, oil, and balsamic vinegar. By roasted the tomatoes, the flavors are concentrated and deepened. After the tomatoes are roasted, they are added to sauteed onions, basil, thyme, and chicken stock. The mixture is then blended until smooth. I also added a pinch of sugar, just to mellow out some of the acidity of the tomatoes. This is definitely a superior tomato soup to what I made previously. The flavors are bolder and more intense, the texture is better, and the addition of fresh basil is a perfect compliment to the tomatoes. It’s not quite as quick as to other recipe, but taking the time to roast the tomatoes is worth it.

Butternut Squash, Sausage, and Rice Soup Recipe

When it’s really cold outside, I love to have a nice, hot bowl of soup. This recipe for butternut squash soup is great because it includes sausage and rice, so it’s a complete meal in a bowl.

First, I peeled, seeded, and chopped a large butternut squash into 1 inch cubes. Then I roasted it with a little olive oil for about 45 minutes, until it was really tender. Once it cooled a little bit, I put it in the blender with enough chicken broth to puree it, about a cup. While the squash was roasting, I cooked some brown rice in chicken broth with some onions. That also took about 45 minutes, so it was done the same time as the squash.

After the squash and rice were cooked, I added some olive oil and the sausage to my dutch oven. Once sausage was browned, I added the rest of the onions and the corn. I was really uncertain about the corn in this recipe, but in the end I was glad I added it. It adds a difference sweetness and texture to the soup. When the onion was soft, I added the squash puree and chicken broth. I added 3 cups of chicken broth, but I like a fairly thick soup. Add as much as you like, and remember, more can always be added later. I covered my pot and let everything simmer for 20 minutes before add the rice and cooking for another 10 minutes. At that point, I seasoned it with a little salt and pepper and served the soup with a sprinkle of fresh parsley.

To me, the soup was perfect. It was very thick and creamy, plus it was sweet from the squash, smokey from the sausage, and had a nice texture with the rice and corn. Seth even agreed with me, and he generally isn’t that into soup. I wish I had made more because I hear it’s going to be cold for quite awhile.

Butternut Squash, Sausage, and Rice Soup Recipe

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

One of my new favorite ingredients is butternut squash. I have made everything from raviolis to waffles with it, but I think it’s best in a simple dish where it’s flavor can shine. I roasted a squash the other night for a side dish, but with so much leftover, I needed to find another recipe to use it up. I came across this really easy soup recipe that I thought sounded outstanding. Just saute some onions and put them in a blender with the roasted squash. Add chicken stock to puree the mixture, and then return it to the pot to heat though. I added about 2 cups of chicken stock total to get a nice thick soup. I also crisped up some sage leaves to sprinkle on top of the soup. It was simple, but it tasted so good. I think it’s one of my new favorite soups!

Easy Vegetable Soup Recipe

With the holiday season already started, it’s difficult to stay away from food that might not be so healthy. I’m sure I will be posting a ton of dessert and cookie recipes in the weeks to come, so I thought I would make a quick post about vegetable soup. I really wanted a bowl of soup last night, and this is what I made up as I went along. I first sauteed onions, carrots, and celery for about 10 minutes, and then added some garlic. After sauteing the garlic for a minute, I added tomato sauce, chicken broth, and frozen peas, corn, and green beans. I let everything cook together another 10 minutes or so, and then removed it from the heat and added a squeeze of lemon juice and some parsley. It was a simple and delicious dinner that made me feel a little better about eating all that pie over Thanksgiving.