Chicken Tortilla Soup

Last week, Chris was battling the inevitable change-of-season-virus, so it was chicken soup to the rescue. Except I didn't want to make chicken noodle soup because that for some reason smells like body odor to me - don't ask but that's what I think it smells like - so I spiced it up with help from The Pioneer Woman's tortilla soup recipe to make some sinus clearing chicken tortilla soup.

Happy weekend before Christmas!

Broccoli & White Cheddar Soup

When winter is in the air I only want to eat warm cozy bowls of soup.  I found a recipe for broccoli cheese soup on the super tasty recipe-filled blog,  not without salt.  I adapted this recipe to make it my own yummy (less heavy) version for dinner. I think this would be a great warm-up dish for Turkey Day.

Click through to see how I kept this soup rich & creamy without using cream!

Easy Cheesy Broccoli Soup with Spicy Homemade Croutons

If we have broccoli in the fridge I usually make this pasta dish. It’s a house favorite & is super easy to make from memory - no recipe needed if you make it as much as I do.  Every now & then I do like to change up even favorites which is always risky, but this time my friends it was a win - a big fat win. In fact, Chris calls this soup “the best soup I’ve ever had.”  I don’t mean to brag but I’ll take it.  It has all the same flavors of our favorite pasta dish with all the comfort of a soup. Plus, I added some spicy homemade croutons for a bit of crunch on top.

Besides being super tasty this soup is EASY! Give it a try & let me know if you like it as much as we did.

Green Pea & Asparagus Soup with Poached Eggs & Toast

I love a flavorful soup that isn’t full of cream (although cream based soups are delicious too). This soup that I found while skimming the pages of Cooking Light magazine called out to me. It’s vegetable based & only has a little bit of butter. Plus, they recommend serving it with a poached egg & toast which is a no brainer for me that I was automatically going to love this recipe. I did. Chris did. You will. It’s a perfectly green & light enough for warm spring days or nights yet satisfying soup!

Easy Black Bean Soup

I've been eating this black bean soup since Saturday & I'm happily having it for lunch again, today. Granted I made enough to feed a small country but it was too easy not too & I'll confess when I cook with dried beans I always forget that those 1lb bags make A LOT.

As I just hinted at I used dried beans for this recipe, so while it is easy it is time consumptive as in the beans take about 2 hours to cook. If you have a free afternoon or some time on the weekend I recommend making this & then eating it for lunch for two weeks. You can also easily freeze it after it has cooled down.

One thing that I ask you to do to fully enjoy this soup is to top it with this cream sauce. The tanginess of the yogurt & acidity of the lime take this to another level. Do it!

PS: you can totally make this recipe gluten-free if you don't eat it with tortilla chips that have flour & you can make it vegan by using veggie stock & skipping the cream sauce.

PPS: if you don't wan to make 2lbs of beans cut the recipe in half!

3 Bean Escarole Soup with Garlic Oil & Homemade Croutons

Growing up my mom would make what my grandfather & father would call ’scroll & beans. For those not familiar with this language ‘scarole means escarole. If you’ve never had escarole I encourage you to try. It’s actually a lettuce but it tastes really good, almost sweet, when it’s cooked. I’ve always had it in chicken broth with canellini beans, grated cheese & crusty bread so when I found this recipe I channeled my youth & conjured up my take on this classic (to me) combination. I used three different kinds of beans because I didn’t have three cans of cannellini beans, so if you want to stick to one kind - go for it! You can skip the croutons & extra cheese if you like - but why would you want to do that? This is a quick & satisfying dinner especially while this weather continues to flirt with spring (it was 37 degrees yesterday & I think that’s pretty close to spring - today not so much.)

PS: For those observing Lent this will be a great meatless dish for your Friday dinner. Enjoy!

PPS: if you're gluten-free - skip my beloved croutons!

Hearty Minestrone

Seems as though the beginning of this week will be almost springish but, le sigh, January will return by the week's end.  So with the big chill on the horizon I see lots of warm soups in my near future.

Try this minestrone soup on for size, I did. (Photos & recipe after the jump!)

Butternut Squash & Pumpkin Soup

I'm no stranger to the Food Network & have spent much couch time taking in the recipes from (my mother-in-law's fave) the Barefoot Contessa.  After watching her make this soup, I needed to make it.  I jazzed it up with some of my own garnishes.  Click through for easy ways to make a new take on a homemade crouton (hint: it's made from corn bread!) & a simple way to make sage fancy.

Oh & a super huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Dulcie! Love you little lady! Hope this is the best year yet! XO

Better Home Cooking Basics: #70 Neutralize Too Acidic Soups & Sauces with Baking Soda.

There’s a few things I learned about cooking with wine. The first is you have to have some in order to cook with it. If you have no wine you can’t cook with it. The second is vinegar is not the same as wine. It’s much MUCH more acidic. When you cook wine (or vinegar) it concentrates the flavor so you better like the flavor to begin with.

Why am I rambling about all this? To get to my tip of course so you can learn through my crazy mistake & miraculous quick fix. On Sunday I decided I was going to make this sauce. Four cups of red wine makes up most of the liquid of the sauce. I didn’t have any red wine on hand but I did have some red wine vinegar & some beef stock. (Remember: vinegar & wine are not the same.)

Ricotta Gnudi with Spicy Tomato Sauce

Last week I posted about recipes for gnudi (pronounced nude-y) that I wanted to try. To be honest, I didn't grow up eating gnudi. Yes I have ate lots of delicious American-Italian cheese & sauce covered dishes but gnudi wasn't one of them. I had it at a restaurant once & it put it on the map.

So mom & Jennifer (who didn't know what gnudi was when I told them about it) gnudi is like a cheesy dumpling - or as I like to think of it a delicious cheese blob - but that might not sound so appetizing - but it is. They're kind of like the cousin of a ravioli, the difference is there is no clear definition between the pasta & the filling - it's all one homogeneous mixture. DELICIOUS.

I went with Lottie + Doof's  ricotta gnudi recipe.  I used the sauce I posted about on Monday. Overall it made for a pretty tasty Sunday dinner.

Click through for Lottie + Doof's  recipe & photos, of course.

Better Home Cooking Basics: #11 "Well Seasoned" = Salt & Pepper

Whenever you hear the phrase “well seasoned” it means salt & pepper was used well.  If you don’t collect spices (like I do) all you really need for simply tasty food is salt & pepper.  Don’t just put it on the table, cook with it. Cook with salt & pepper throughout the dish so that all bites are seasoned, not just the top layer which is what happens if you add the salt & pepper at the end.  When you’re making a soup add salt & pepper with each ingredient a little bit at a time, that way, hopefully, you won’t have to add a ton at the end. If you taste your food & it just needs a little something - chances are it’s salt & pepper.

Ok, now that I’ve beaten that point to a pulp, I’d love to hear from you. What are you making lately? What kinds of recipes would you like me to try first so that you can learn from my trials & tribulations? My friend Lindsey wants me to make pretzel rolls & fried chicken, so those are on the list.

PS: Happy birthday to a special little lady who I know as Merky.

Better Home Cooking Basics: #7 Dress Your Salad from the Outside

Whether you've made salad dressing from scratch or you just unscrewed the cap & are ready to dress you salad - dress your salad from the outside.  Don't dump the dressing all in the middle & wonder why you have salad dressing soup. Instead, start light. Drizzle a ring of dressing around the outside perimeter of your salad where it touches the bowl & then toss inward using your hands, tongs, a fork & spoon - whatever you've got.  Your salad will be more evenly dressed & you might even use less dressing, but only because you wanted to.

Check out more better home cooking basic tips here.

Tomato Toasts

I served these tomato toasts up with broccoli cheddar soup for dinner.  They'd make a delicious & quick lunch or an easy appetizer.

Ingredients:

• 6 slices of hearty bread
• 1 large heirloom tomato
• olive oil for drizzling
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons fresh taragon
• salt & pepper

Make it!

1. Drizzle bread with olive oil.
2. Toast the bread under a broiler until golden brown, be careful not to burn them(!).
3. Slice the tomato into 1/4 inch slices.
4. Lay the tomato slices out on a cutting board & pour vinegar over all of the tomatoes.
5. Sprinkle each slice with salt & pepper.
6. Place the tomato slices on top of the toast.
7. Top with fresh tarragon.

Better Home Cooking Basics: #54 Thicken Soups & Sauces by Blending Them instead of Adding Extra Fat.

It’s still freezing & there’s nothing more that I want to eat than thick, creamy soups & sauces. While adding cream or a roux (butter + flour) to soups & sauces will no doubt thicken them up that’s not the only way to achieve a creamy texture. You can do it simply by blending some of the chunky veggies with the broth & it will add instant thickness to whatever you’re cooking (like I did here & here). I love using my immersion blender to do this because I can blend in the pot i’m already cooking in & there is no flip flopping of putting your soup/sauce in the blender & then back in the pot.
Now that your soups & sauces are thicker you can eat more without the extra fat!

Get more of my better home cooking basics here.  

Better Home Cooking Basics: #16 Swap Out Mayo & Sour Cream with Greek Yogurt

If you’ve made any of the recipes on this blog you’ll notice I’m a fan of using Greek yogurt.  It’s thick & tangy like sour cream but it's also packed with protein & I just feel better about eating it.  If you’re making a dip (think of that packet of french onion soup mix you mix) with sour cream  swap it out with Greek yogurt. You won’t be able to tell the difference & you might even feel a little lighter on your feet.

If you’re making tuna for lunch swap out the mayo with some Greek yogurt. Same reward here.

Check out more better home cooking basic tips here.