Salsa Chicken and Black Bean Soup

Another soup recipe from me today. This recipe is actually a slow cooker recipe, but I find a lot of slow cooker recipes I use make things too mushy. So I decided to use the stove top and see how this one would turn out. The recipe is from A Year of Slow Cooking. Here were my simplifications/modifications:

Ingredients:
1 pound chicken
2 cans, drained and rinsed ( or 1 cup dried black beans, make sure you soak them properly before use )
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup frozen corn
1 jar prepared salsa (16 oz)
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 cup sour cream (to stir in at the end)

Directions:
1. Drain and rinse the beans. Add to the pot. Put in the chicken, and add the broth and salsa. Pour in the corn, and add the cumin. Stir, but don’t disturb the beans—let them stay at the bottom of the pot, closest to the heating element.
2. Cover and cook on medium for 1 hour.
3. Stir in the 1 cup of sour cream before serving.

I omitted a few ingredients, just because I didn’t have them around and never bothered with the blender part. I also added more sour cream, and actually found this dairy free version which was very good:

I thought the soup was very good, not too spicy, whcih is big for my kids. And I ate leftovers a few days afterwards for lunch and the soup was still good!

White Chicken Chili

Another favorite soup recipe that my sister-in-law Krista shared with me is White Chicken Chili. She got this recipe from her college roommate and it is simple and easy. This is a meal with dairy that we enjoy every few months as a treat, but I am sure you could find some dairy-free substitutes if you wanted.

Ingredients:
1 lb. chicken, cut into half inch pieces
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1.5 t. garlic powder
1 40 oz (2 lb 8 oz) can great white northern beans, drained and rinsed
2.5 c. chicken broth
1 can chopped green chilies
1 t. salt
1 t. cumin
1 t. oregano
1 t. pepper
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1 c. fat free sour cream
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream (or half and half or light cream)

Directions:
1. Sauté chicken, onion and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink.
2. Add beans, broth, chilies and seasoning.
3. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.
4. Remove from heat. Stir in sour cream and whipping cream.
5. Top with cheese.

Enjoy,

Chicken Wild Rice Soup

I really enjoy eating homemade soups, so I am already posting my second soup recipe. This Chicken Wild Rice Soup recipe is from All Recipes and is one we eat every few weeks in our home.

Ingredients:
2 quarts chicken broth
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, chopped
1 cup finely chopped celery
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1/2 cup dry white wine or additional chicken broth
3 cups cooked wild rice
2 cups cubed, cooked chicken

Directions:
1. In a large saucepan, combine the first nine ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
2. In a soup kettle or Dutch oven, melt butter. stir in flour until smooth. Gradually whisk in broth mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Whisk in soup and wine or broth. Add rice and chicken; heat through.

You can see the picture below doesn’t look too creamy. I omitted the cream of mushroom soup and it was still tasty. I like it both ways, it just depends if you are more in the mood for a cream-based or broth-based soup. You can also see we ate it last time with cornbread, which is the recipe i will share on my next post.

Enjoy,

Lentil Soup

A few years ago when I realized I needed to start cooking a bit more, I decided to ask some of my family members that I knew were good cooks for some of their favorite recipes.  My sister-in-law Krista was at the top of the list.  She loves to cook and is always on the lookout for a new recipe.  You will get to meet a few of her recipes as I post on here, but one of the first is her lentil soup. This recipe was passed from her neighbor to her mom onto her.

Now if you are a meat and potatoes kind of person, this might not be for you.  But I like to cook vegetarian (and preferably vegan) at least once a week.  I love using this recipe because it is simple, includes ingredients that you can find anywhere in the world and is great on the wallet!  I don’t think it looks like anything special, but I love the taste.  And the kids love it too, which is surprising for this kind of dish.  Abby (my oldest, age 6) actually said this is what she wants for her birthday dinner this year.

Here is the simplicity of it:

Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp. marjoram leaves
2 tablespoons parsley
1 cup dry lentils, washed
1 lb. can crushed tomatoes
3 cup chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Sauté 3-5 minutes the onion and carrot in oil.
Add thyme and marjoram leaves and sauté 1 minute more or until soft.
Add chicken broth, tomatoes, lentils, parsley and salt/pepper.
Bring to a boil.
Cover and simmer about 45 minutes or until lentils are soft.
Top with parmesan cheese if desired.

It is a super easy recipe and very forgiving too. I often throw in different spices if I don’t have something on hand (sometimes I put in oregano or basil). I also use bullion to make the broth instead of buying it canned. And when we are in Italy, we usually throw some of the wonderful fresh Parmesan cheese they have here on top.

For those of you in the U.S. snowed in with the cold winter weather, this might be a good meal to warm you up after you come back inside. Enjoy!