Mexican Lentil Soup

Hello Crushers!

Last night I did not have time or the energy to post this great soup I made. I totally winged it, and it worked. OK, that's not entirely true. I looked up several recipes, and based on those I decided to wing it because:

1. I did not have all the ingredients
2. I did not have time to go and get the extra ingredients
3. Necessity is the motherhood of invention, or something like that...

Anyway, it turned out really well!

Mexican Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Garlic Grapeseed Oil from Wildtree

1 cup onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

3 carrots, peeled and diced (about a cup)

1 pound lentils, rinsed (and sorted for weird bits)

1/2 cup medium salsa

2 quarts veggie or chicken broth

1 Tbsp Wildtree Taco Seasoning

1 heaping tsp Rancher Steak Rub

For more heat, add more taco seasoning and 2-3 crushed garlic cloves.

Directions:

Heat the oil in a big pot. When it starts to shimmer, add the onion, pepper and carrots. Cook for about 6-7 minutes until the onions are translucent and the peppers and carrots have softened. 

Add in the other ingredients and stir. Bring it to a gentle boil. Turn down the temperature to a simmer, put the lid on, and cook for about 35 minutes.

If you are lucky enough to have an immersion blender, use it to make a nice smooth soup. A few chunks are OK. 

If you aren't lucky enough to have one, use your regular blender and just make a lot more dishes dirty (which is what I had to do).

Once it's all finished, I suggest serving it with quesadillas, avocado, tortilla chips and/or some sour cream. Really, garnishing is up to you. You could also add some nice chopped cilantro, but we didn't have any (remember #1 up there?).

Enjoy!

Lessons in Soup Making

Good morning, Crushers!

Remember when I shared some delicious soup recipes back here? Well, last night I made the Slow Cooker Tomato Rotini Soup. However, we were packing up the house, and I forgot to start it earlier in the day. Instead, I'm going to give you a few tips on how to make it on the stove top in less than an hour. It's so delicious. Thanks again to Susan for sharing!

Here is a link to the original recipe. Here is what I did, and tips from Susan:
Tomato Rotini Soup
Ingredients:

4 cups vegetable or chicken broth

4 cups tomato juice

1 heaping tablespoon of Penzey’s Pasta Sprinkle (basil, garlic and oregano)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 medium carrots, sliced (1 cup)

2 medium stalks celery, chopped (1 cup)

1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)

1-ish cup sliced mushrooms

1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 box uncooked rotini pasta (make in a separate sauce pan)

Gear you'll need: Big soup pot, smaller pot or sauce pan for the noodles, spoons, a sharp knife for chopping up veggies, and measuring cups/spoons.

Directions: In the large pot, heat the broth (I used chicken broth) and tomato juice to a boil and then turn down the heat. Stir in the spices. For a lower-sodium version of this soup, try and find the low-sodium juice and broth. It's going to be flavorful enough without adding more salt. Your heart with thank you.

Chop up all of the veggies and put them in the pot. Put the can of tomatoes in as well. I accidentally bought the Italian kind, but that worked really well. If you want, you could soften up the veggies by cooking them with a half tablespoon of olive oil before putting them in the pot. However, we like chunky veggies at our house! Cook the tomato base and veggies on medium for at least 25 minutes if not 30.

Tip from Susan: For a spicier soup, you can use the spicy tomato juice (sometimes called zesty in the store) or throw in a few red pepper flakes. If we had had the red pepper flakes, I'm sure we would have used them!

Soup bubbling away before I added the noodles.

When you have about 8 minutes left on the soup, cook the rotini in a separate pot. I tried a little experiment last night and found that the soup is better when you don't cook the noodles in the pot. I cooked half in and half out. The half out was better because it didn't soak up all the juices. By the time we were done with dinner, the half in noodles had become enormous and soaked up lots of juice. When I reheat it, I think I'll just add more juice or broth. It'll still taste good.

Here are more tips from Susan:

• "I get enough to freeze a dinner size portion for Dave (her husband) and myself and then usually 2 lunch size portions for me to take to work.  More than likely we will have leftovers from the dinner size portion that turn into another lunch portion for myself bringing that total up to 3 (maybe 4 depending on how hungry we are the night we have the soup and what we have with it."
• Grilled cheese is an EXCELLENT side to the tomato (we did this last night).
• "I let the soup cool for close to 2 hours and then I freeze the dinner portions in gallon Ziploc bags and lay them flat in the freezer so they freeze nice and flat.  The lunch portions I do freeze in Tupperware so that all I have to do to take them for lunch is move it from the freeze to the fridge the night before and then transfer to my lunch bag in the morning." 

 Thanks to Susan for sharing this soup recipe and all her tips! Enjoy!

Faith-filled Friday: Soup review and more

Good morning, Crushers!

What a week? I'm so glad I spent most of Tuesday night making soup and food ahead for the rest of the week. It's been crazy around here in, mostly, good ways.

Have you ever, as an adult, had one of those days where you're all, "I don't want to be a grown up any more!" That was my day yesterday. If you've been a reader since March, you know that we're trying to sell our house. It's been a bit of a bumpy process. Yesterday, we got some information on our house that is basically telling us that we're going to need a new roof.

You know what? I don't want to have to buy a new roof. I don't want to have to be all responsible and junk. I just want a bowl of soup, some comfy clothes and a good episode of Grey's Anatomy. Yes, I know that Grey's isn't a child-friendly show, but all of my Disney movies are packed. When I was thinking of today's posting, I thought of 1 Corinthians 13:11:

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

I have definitely grown up. I have a career, a house, a husband, and a really cool new frying pan from William-Sonoma. I'm all responsible and stuff. I called a contractor for an estimate on our roof. I put on my big girl pants and moved on.

Gorgeous new Calphalon 12-inch fry pan to replace the one that got all scratched up.

However, I'd like to point out that thinking like a child isn't always a bad thing. Matthew 19:14 says:

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

A child-like faith isn't just something to hope for, it should be something you actively seek. Kids are so trusting that it makes you want to be the kind of person that they think you are. Jesus is that person. We can have faith in him because he is exactly what we expect of him and so much more. We too can be "heirs of eternal life" and have the kingdom of Heaven belong to us!

In between calling a contractor and wanting to hide in my couch-cushion fort, there is a happy medium. I can do both. I can watch my show and eat soup. You can too!

Speaking of soup, here is the 4th place winner dish from our office cooking contest! I think that if it had been vegetarian, I would have gotten more votes. If you want, you can omit the sausage and you'd be fine serving it to vegetarians. I know because I asked. I got this recipe from Chow.com, but I used Italian sausage instead of bratwurst. I also used 9 oz of spinach instead of 6 oz because I love spinach! The recipe below is how I made it, not how it is on the website.

Sausage and Butternut Squash Stew

Ingredients:

• 1 (1-pound) butternut squash
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound of uncased Italian Sausage (about 3-4 sausages)
• 1 medium yellow onion, medium dice
• 4 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 10 ounces red potatoes, large dice
• 3/4 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes and their juices
• 3 cups water
• 9 ounces baby spinach

Gear you'll need : 1 big soup pot, a good knife for slicing veggies, a strong veggie peeler (I have an OXO one that I love), a cutting board, a paper-towel-lined plate, measuring cups and spoons and one big spoon for stirring.

Instructions:
Get the squash ready: Peel off the skin with a vegetable peeler. Trim the top and bottom. Cut the neck from the bulb of the squash. Halve each piece lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Cut the squash into 1-inch cubes and set aside. This is the best way I've found to cut a butternut squash. They even did a video feature on CNN about it!

Love that color. I should paint a room that color...

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. When it shimmers, add the sausage and cook, turning occasionally, until well browned all over, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside. This lets all the grease drip off. I hate when you pull soup out of the fridge and there is grease globs floating on the top. Gross. 

Sausage sizzling away

Return the pan to medium heat, add the onion and garlic, and season with salt and pepper. I'd go heavier on the pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add the squash and potatoes and cook until the potatoes are just starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the caraway and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the tomatoes, their juices, and water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the vegetables are fork tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Add the sausage back to the pan along with the spinach. Cook until the sausage is heated through and the spinach is wilted, about 2 minutes. 

So good, bright and colorful!

Serve up with a big hunk of bread and enjoy! So good! 

Virtual Running Date No. 28: More Fall Soups!

Good morning, Crushers!

October is here in full force with wind and rain mixed with sun and falling leaves. It's gorgeous! If we were on a running date, I'd be talking all about fall. Fall is soup time for me. If you hadn't noticed from the other soup recipes that I posted from Susan, I'm going to give you another today.

If we were running today, I'd tell you about how excited I am that we are expecting a new nephew today! I cannot wait to meet the little man and shower him with kisses and snuggles. Fortunately, that's just what we get to do this coming weekend! So excited!

If we were running today, I'd tell you how Steve and I went running this past weekend and then got caught in a heavy downpour. Rain is good for the ground and all, but blinding when you're running without a hat, right? After that, we went to see the homecoming football game for the high school where Steve teaches. And it rained some more. With lightning! Being the dedicated fans we are, we huddled together under an umbrella and stuck it out until they cleared the kids to come back out on the field to keep playing.

Empty the field! (note how we're winning)

Rain, rain go away! The stands are soaked and kids want to play!

Pre-rain

 If we were running today, I'd tell you how proud I am of my friends Margaret and Kristen who did the Chicago Marathon yesterday. All I could think of was that moment at the beginning of my last half marathon where we all took a few seconds to remember what happened in Boston. Those few moments of silence are enough to make you tear up.

If we were running today, I'd tell you about the wonderful spaghetti squash that I roasted last night while I was baking bread (which turned out so well). It's ready for some spicy African sausage that we found at the farmers' market last week. The sausage is called boerewors, which is a South African sausage based on a Dutch recipe. It's very lean and flavorful. I'm excited to try it with some squash and marinara sauce. We might also throw it in some jambalaya. Yum! So hungry now!

I had two different sized loaf pans. Can you tell?

If we were running today, I'd just keep up the recipe sharing and let you know about this bratwurst and butternut squash stew recipe I just found on Chow.com. I think I'll use it for my office's annual fall food challenge. It seems nice and hearty, and I could use a turkey sausage to make it healthier. Otherwise, it's all veggies! Maybe I'll replace some of the potatoes with carrots. What do you think?

Bratwurst and Butternut Squash Stew

• 1 (1-pound) butternut squash
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 12 ounces fresh Bratwurst Sausage (about 3 sausages - I'll probably use turkey sausage)
• 1 medium yellow onion, medium dice
• 4 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 10 ounces red potatoes, large dice (maybe use some carrots or yams instead?)
• 3/4 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes and their juices
• 3 cups water
• 6 ounces baby spinach

Doesn't that sound delicious?!

 

Have a wonderful day, Crushers!

We're going to need a freezer...

I have no idea what has gotten into me, but I kind of loaded the freezer with three bags of gnocchi, lots of blanched veggies and other assorted items. If I plan to keep going this way and making some soup for lunches or dinners ahead of time, we're going to run out of freezer space soon.

Uh oh.

I'm thinking we're going to need something like this:

Source

I've got big plans for this freezer. Since the most popular post on this blog is about freezer meal prep, it only makes sense to explore this more, right? I've got a few other ideas up my sleeve, too.

In the mean time, please enjoy these soup recipes from loyal reader, Susan. (Hi Susan!) I'll be making these soups in the future, but feel free to use the recipes now!

• Zesty Minestrone from Kraft
• Slow Cooker Tomato Rotini Soup from Betty Crocker

Chicken and dumplings: Soup for a chilly day

Like much of the country, Wisconsin is having one weird winter. We've gotten freezing temperatures in the single digits, then 50 degree F weather, and snow and rain all in ONE WEEK. Then it decides to do one thing for a whole week, but then goes back to freaking out. All of this freezing and thawing is really taking a toll on our roads making driving on the streets like driving in a video game, but instead of dodging cartoon turtle shells, you're trying to avoid potholes the size of a kiddie pool.

In order to have a relaxing evening in, may I suggest a warms-you-up soup like one of my kitchen crushes Paula Deen's Chicken and Dumplings recipe? This soup is so good and it fills a whole big pot so you can enjoy this for a few days or hand some out to your friends and family members.

This recipe is so easy to follow, all you need is patience. My kitchen smelled amazing! There is one warning though: watch the salt!

I didn't read that you just needed a teaspoon of the house seasoning, so our soup was a bit salty, but then you just add more water and you're fine. Whoops!

Again, here is the link to the recipe, and below is my commentary on the directions. Learn from my mistakes and experience and you will probably have a smoother soup experience!

Directions:

Fills the whole pot!

To start the chicken: Place the chicken, celery, onion, bay leaves, bouillon, and House Seasoning in a large pot. 

Note: I didn't use a whole chicken, but instead I used two thigh/leg portions and some extra chicken legs that I had in my freezer. No use in going out to buy more when I've got chicken portions in the freezer!

Add 4 quarts of water and in water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer the chicken until it is tender and the thigh juices run clear, about 40 minutes. 

Note: This is important because you don't want chicken that isn't cooked through to ruin your soup. Chicken is one of those meats that you should NEVER eat without making sure that it is fully cooked. No one wants Salmonella Soup.

Remove the chicken from the pot and, when it is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and separate the meat from the bones. Return the chicken meat to the pot. Keep warm over low heat.

Tip: I found a really easy way to remove the skin. What you can do is cut a slice down the side of the meat and just peel back the skin. You don't have to wrestle it to get it all off since you're just going to pick the bones clean and chop up the meat. You can toss the chicken bones and skin. You may want to take your garbage out right away, but be sure and tie up your garbage bag otherwise raccoons or cats will be attracted to your garbage can!

To prepare the dumplings: Mix the flour with the salt and mound together in a mixing bowl. Beginning at the center of the mound, drizzle a small amount of ice water over the flour. Using your fingers, and moving from the center to the sides of the bowl, gradually incorporate about 3/4 cup of ice water. Knead the dough and form it into ball.

Note: My dough turned out to be firm, but sticky. You can either butter your hands a bit to keep it from sticking or dust your hands with flour first. It'll help A LOT!

Dust a good amount of flour onto a clean work surface. Roll out the dough (it will be firm), working from center to 1/8-inch thick. Let the dough relax for several minutes.

Note: I read ahead and saw that it said to cut the dough into 1-inch pieces, so I took a pizza cutter and sliced up the dough. That worked nice for a while, but then I ended up just taking a hunk of dough and ripping off small pieces. It was way easier.

Add the cream of celery soup to the pot with the chicken and simmer gently over medium-low heat.

Cut the dough into 1-inch pieces. Pull a piece in half and drop the halves into the simmering soup. (See my note above about ripping pieces - much easier, but not uniform) Repeat. Do not stir the chicken once the dumplings have been added. Gently move the pot in a circular motion so the dumplings become submerged and cook evenly. Cook until the dumplings float and are no longer doughy, 3 to 4 minutes.

Note: In order to submerge the dumplings without stirring them into a goopy mess, I found it easiest to dip my spoon all they way into the pot and gently stir the soup while keeping the spoon in contact with the bottom of the pot. That way it just makes all the soup move together without a lot of fuss.

To serve, ladle chicken, gravy, and dumplings into warm bowls. Enjoy!

I made a few too many chicken legs, so I saved two and added them to our soup bowls. Delicious!

There are solutions in the recipe link for thickening up the soup. You'll want to make sure that your dumplings are cooked before you add the cornstarch though otherwise it'll cling to the dumplings. Then it just gets weird.

Enjoy this soup and I hope you all have had a safe winter so far!