I am now a
graduate student, which means that there are certain weeks where I do not have the time to make dinner during
the week. So, I have gotten back into the swing of making a couple of dishes
over the weekend--that way, all I have to do when I get home from school is
take 10 minutes to reheat dinner and maybe make a side salad. Stew, lasagna,
casseroles, and chili are all excellent one-pot wonders that can easily be
reheated for dinner. Recently I have enjoyed making one or two hearty soups on
Sunday that Brendan and I can enjoy throughout the week. Our dinners are
increasingly becoming soup nights...grad student soup nights, as I would like to call them. I already posted the recipe for Butternut Squash Soup with
Apples--a really simple soup that tastes great with a side salad and slice of
rustic bread. Here are some additional soups I have made over the last couple
of weeks:
· Turkey Meatball
Soup with Greens
· Vegetarian
Chili
· Butternut
Squash Soup with Poblano Peppers
· Chicken Curry
with Vegetables
· Autumn
Vegetable Soup with Sausages & Lentils
All of these dishes are relatively easy
to make, except for the Autumn Vegetable Soup with Sausages & Lentils—that
soup has a lengthy list of ingredients and takes much longer to make.
However, it is TOTALLY worth the time and effort, and is legitimately one of the best
soups I have ever made (or tasted for that matter). And though it takes dedication to make it, the end result is enough soup for a few nights of dinner, plus some left to freeze! Happy soup making!
Turkey Meatball Soup with Greens (from Cooking Light)
I followed directions almost exactly as
written from the magazine! My only change: I used beet greens and broccoli rabe as the "greens", because that's what I had laying around my kitchen. Click on the link for directions.
Vegetarian Chili (from Fight Back with Food)
Serves 4
Ingredients
-2 x 15oz.
kidney beans, canned & low-sodium
-1 tablespoon
olive oil
-1 onion,
chopped
-3 garlic
cloves, minced
-1 red bell
pepper, chopped
-1 green bell
pepper, chopped
-1 small
butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 1-inch chunks
-2
tablespoons cocoa powder (unsweetened)
-1 tablespoon
light brown sugar
-1 teaspoon
dried oregano
-1/2 teaspoon
salt
-1 ½ cups
canned crushed tomatoes, no salt added
-1 chipotle
pepper in adobo sauce, minced (plus extra if you like your chili spicy!)
Directions
1. In a soup
pot heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic for 7 minutes,
until onion is translucent.
2. Add the
bell peppers and butternut squash. Cook for 8 minutes, until peppers are
tender.
3. Stir in
the cocoa powder, brown sugar, oregano, and salt, and make sure the veggies are
coated.
4. Add the
beans, 1 cup water, tomatoes, and chipotle pepper. Bring to a boil.
5. Simmer for
45 minutes to 1 hour, until all veggies are cooked through (particularly the
butternut squash).
6. Serve hot
with shredded cheddar cheese on top and a side of corn bread.
Serves 6
The reason I
made this soup is because we received a TON of poblano peppers in our CSA and I was
running out of ideas for how to use them. I ran across this recipe and thought
“bingo!”
Ingredients:
-1 large
butternut squash, sliced in half and seeded
-1 sweet
potato
-4 poblano
peppers
-2 onions,
chopped
-2
tablespoons olive oil
-4 cups
vegetable broth or water
-1/2 cup
cilantro, chopped
-1 lemon,
seeded and juiced
-salt &
pepper
Directions:
1. Preheat
the oven to 400°F.
2. Lay the
squash, flesh side down, on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Pierce holes
throughout the sweet potato (whole) and place it on the same baking sheet as
the squash.
3. Bake for 1
hour, until you can easily pierce through the squash skin and sweet potato.
4. Scoop out
the flesh from the squash into a bowl. Halve the sweet potato and scoop out the
flesh into the same bowl.
5. Turn on
the broiler in the oven. Place the poblano peppers on a baking sheet (I just
used the same one that the squash was on) and broil the peppers for about 15-20
minutes, until skin is charred.
6. Take
peppers out of oven, place them in a bowl, and cover the bowl with plastic
wrap. Let the peppers “sweat” for about 5-10 minutes, until they are cool to
the touch and you can easily peel off their skin. Chop the peppers.
7. While the
peppers are in the oven, heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the
onion and garlic. Cook for about 10 minutes.
8. Add the
squash, sweet potato, cilantro, and 2 cups of water + broth (or just 6 cups of
water).
9. Bring soup
to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes.
10. Using an
immersion blender or regular blender, puree the soup until perfectly smooth.
You may need to add a bit of water, if the soup is too thick for your taste.
11. Once the
soup is pureed, stir in the chopped pepper and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper
to taste.
12. This soup
tastes great with some pumpkin seeds sprinkled on top.
Chicken Curry with Vegetables (from Fight
Back with Food)
Ok, so this is not technically soup,
but it is damn good!
Serves 4
Ingredients:
-1 pound skinless, boneless chicken
thighs, cut into 1 inch chunks
-2 teaspoons olive oil
-1 onion, cut into thick slices
-4 garlic cloves, minced
-3 carrots, thinly sliced
-1 pound red-skinned potatoes, cut into
1 inch chunks
-2 teaspoons peanut butter
-1 large head of broccoli, cut into
large chunks
-1/2 teaspoon salt
Spice Mixture
-1 tablespoon turmeric
-1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/2 teaspoon sugar
-1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Directions:
1. In a medium bowl combine the spice
mixture with the chicken. Toss to coat.
2. In a soup pot or Dutch oven, heat
the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic. Cook for 5-7 minutes, until
onions are translucent.
3. Add ½ cup water, the carrots,
potatoes, peanut butter, and ½ teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil and then reduce
heat to a simmer. Cook for about 5 minutes.
4. Add the chicken and stir it until
chicken is no longer pink (about 5 minutes).
5. Stir in 2 cups of water and bring to
a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Add broccoli and cook for another 5
minutes, until broccoli is tender.
7. Serve warm
Autumn Vegetable Soup with Sausages
& Lentils (from Flour
Too Cookbook)
Serves 10
*Since this
soup makes SO much, I suggest freezing at least half of it. It will last for
about 1-2 months in the freezer.
Ingredients:
-1 tablespoon
vegetable oil
-3 sweet
Italian sausages, casing removed
-1 onion,
chopped
-2 garlic
cloves, minced
-1 carrot,
chopped
-2 celery
stalks, chopped
-1 small
potato, peeled and chopped
-1 parsnip,
peeled and chopped
-1 leek, well
rinsed and chopped
-8 baby bella
mushrooms, cut into quarters
-1 turnip,
peeled and chopped
-1/4
butternut squash, peeled and chopped (about 1-2 cups)
-2 quarts
vegetable or chicken stock (if using store bought, try to get low-sodium)
-1 cup canned
crushed tomatoes, no salt added
-3/4 cup
lentils
-2 cups
greens (kale, Swiss chard, etc.), chopped
-2
tablespoons tomato paste
-2 bay leaves
-1/2 teaspoon
salt
-1 teaspoon
ground black pepper
Spice Mixture:
-1 tablespoon paprika
-1 teaspoon thyme, dried
-1 teaspoon turmeric
-1 teaspoon oregano,
dried
-3/4 teaspoon cumin
-1/2 teaspoon fennel
seeds, finely chopped or ground
-1/2 teaspoon curry
powder
-1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions:
1. In a large
soup pot, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat and sauté the sausage.
Split up the large chunks with a wooden spoon and cook until the meat is mostly
cooked through (about 5 minutes).
2. Remove
sausage from pan using a slotted spoon and set aside.
3. Sauté
onion, garlic, carrot, and celery in soup pot for about 4 minutes. Be sure to
scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan (from the sausage) because it
adds a lot of flavor!
4. Reduce
heat to medium-low and add tomato paste, ½ teaspoon salt, and 2 bay leaves.
Stir to make sure everything is covered by paste (about 1 minute)
5. Add spice
mixture. Stir for 2 minutes, making sure all veggies are coated with this
mixture.
6. Add the
reserved sausage, potato, parsnip, leek, mushroom, turnip, and squash. Raise
heat to medium-high and stir for 3 minutes.
7. Add the
stock, canned tomatoes, and ground black pepper. Raise the heat and bring the
pot to a boil.
8. Reduce
heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
9. Add the lentils
and simmer for an additional 40 minutes.
10. Add
winter greens and simmer for another 1 minute.
11. Find the
bay leaves and discard them (this can be a bit tricky, but make sure you take
them out because you don’t want to accidentally chew on a stiff bay leaf!).
12. Serve
warm with a additional salt/pepper for garnish and a nice slice of bread on the
side.
