Moqueca

This is the new favorite soup at our household. It is relatively quick and we almost always have the ingredients on hand. It is a version of the Brazilian fish stew called Moqueca (mo-KEH-ka) that simplyrecipes.com got me to try (here is her post ). I only changed minor things.

Ingredients:
2 lbs firm white fish (I use cod), chopped into bite size pieces
3 large cloves garlic, minced
5 TBSP lime juice
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped (any color is fine)
2 cups chopped tomatoes (canned or fresh)
3-4 green onions (sliced)
1 TBSP paprika
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 bunch cilantro (chopped, reserve a little for garnish)
1 14 oz. can coconut milk
1 TBSP canola oil
salt and pepper

Directions:
Marinate fish in lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil in large pot, then saute pepper, onion, paprika and red pepper flakes until veggies start to soften. Sprinkle with quite a bit of salt (about 1 tsp) and pepper Add tomatoes and green onions, simmer for 5 minutes, then add cilantro, fish (with the juice), and coconut milk. Simmer for 10-15 min.  Garnish with cilantro and serve with crusty bread (I just learned the easiest way to make crusty artisan bread-so we make it a lot) or rice.  Serves 4

New England Clam Chowder

About the beginning of autumn when I start seeing leaves change, I am reminded of a fantastic vacation spent on the coast of Maine.

 A friend and I took a 5 day trip to see the New England leaves, lighthouses, coastline and to eat as much seafood as we could every day. My favorite meal had to be the lobster they pulled right out of the ocean and cooked right there on the dock. It was sooooo tasty.

During that trip, I also made sure to sample everyone's good New England clam chowder. Yum!

 I just HAD to make clam chowder yesterday when it was raining hard (which it also does a lot on the coast of Maine) and brought back all those memories. Here's the best version I have come up with in land-locked Utah (even though we have equally beautiful autumn leaves).

I'm not the kind of girl that has heavy cream just hanging around my house unless I buy it specifically for a recipe a couple times a year. The rest of it tends to go to waste because it doesn't freeze well. I recently discovered a magical thing of UHT shelf-stable whipping cream at Gossners (they also do UHT milk that is great for food storage). I can have it in my pantry and not have to worry about it going bad. I think it tastes just as good, too.


Recipe Ingredients:
2 cloves minced garlic
1/3 cup diced onion
1/4 cup chopped carrot
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped potato
1 cup clam juice (can use the juice in the can + bottled kind)
1-2 tsp old bay seasoning (I made my own from a recipe online)
1 1/2 TBSP flour
1 1/2 TBSP margarine
1 1/2 cup milk (I use 1% milk)
1/2 cup cream
1 can clams
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Put garlic, onion, carrot, celery and potato in a soup pot and cover with clam juice. Boil until veggies are soft. Add Old Bay seasoning and set aside in a bowl. Turn heat down to med-low. Melt margarine in pot and stir in flour until it forms a firm paste (roux) like this.

Add milk a little at a time and mix thoroughly into paste until it becomes a smooth, thicker liquid. (cooking it during that process helps to get rid of the flour-y taste). Add veggies and stir to combine. Add in cream and clams and just heat through (don't boil). Add salt and pepper and parsley flakes to garnish.

Summer Gazpacho

I made a brilliant discovery this summer, watermelon and tomatoes actually go well together! Before you roll your eyes and stop reading, you have to try it first. The sweetness of the watermelon compliments all the other savory ingredients of a typical gazpacho (cold, tomato soup) so it was much easier to love-most are way too salty for me. It also has a bonus for all you onion haters out there-I don't use ANY in this recipe...which is tough to find for gazpacho.

This soup was inspired by a wonderful watermelon-tomato salad that I made for a party with my girlfriends purely because I stumbled upon it while browsing www.epicurious.com and the picture was captivating.  Whether it tasted good or not would be irrelevant because of its beauty, I thought. Turns out, it was surprisingly delicious and addicting so that I craved it for weeks before I collected enough of the ingredients to have it again. The next time I made it, I had leftovers so I made it into a great summer gazpacho. I really suggest making the salad first and then having the gazpacho the next day-so you get the best of both worlds. Isnt' it pretty?

This cold soup is fun in that the spicy-heat of it makes you forget it is actually a cold soup you are eating. Despite that, it really isn't as good unless you serve it really cold (this means chilling it for a couple hrs before serving or else pouring over ice cubes). As with all cold soups-use mini portions and you'll enjoy it more.

I even had it one day with lime-marinated shrimp on top, which was awesome! It made me think of having ceviche at a Mexican resort on the beach.

Ingredients for Salad:
watermelon
tomatoes of different colors
cucumber
avocado
2 TBSP lime juice
Fresh herbs (I used mint and tarragon, but cilantro would be awesome too)
(cut each fruit/vegetable into chunks and arrange on plate, sprinkle with lime juice and herbs)

Dressing:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 TBSP olive oil
1 tsp ground coriander
(mix into flask and drizzle onto the salad right before eating)

To make Gazpacho:
Any leftover watermelon/tomato salad
2 cloves garlic
1/2 jalepeno (seeded)
1-2 TBSP of dressing (see above)
lime-marinated shrimp (optional)

Put all ingredients into a blender (reserving a few small chunks to use as a garnish). Chill, and serve.

Minestrone soup

I love this time of summer when people hand out fresh produce from their gardens like candy (they taste much better than candy, though). Someday I will have my own beautiful garden of produce, too. I'm starting small with two tomato plants in pots on my tiny back porch this year. They are alive and actually producing so I feel accomplished. I'm not the best at growing but I can sure cook and use up produce quickly. Here is one of the easiest ways to use the tomatoes and zucchini hanging out on your counter.

Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tsp margarine
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 large carrot (or 10 baby carrots), chopped
4 C chicken broth
2 fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 can kidney beans
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 C zucchini, chopped
1 C ditalini pasta
1-2 tsp each of basil, oregano, thyme and parsley
salt and pepper

Sauté margarine, onion, and garlic in a big soup pot for 3 min. Add broth, carrot and celery and simmer for 5 minutes. Add everything else. Simmer for 10 more minutes. Kind of hard to mess up.

Egg Drop Soup

Ever get a head cold in the middle of a hot summer? Ever need a quick meal with minimal effort?  This was my delicious solution today. Normally I don't go for the Chinese takeout version of this soup because it is too thickened and a little blah. I learned that it doesn't need much thickening and that minimal addition of ginger gives new life to this old staple among soups.

Ingredients
2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp cornstarch whisked with 2 tsp water
1 egg (beaten smooth)
a few slices of fresh ginger (or if you must, use a few shakes of ginger powder)
white pepper and scallions (optional)

Put chicken broth and ginger in small pot and bring to a boil. Add in cornstarch mixture and whisk. Turn down heat and stir in circular motion while pouring in beaten egg so it makes strands. Simmer for 30 seconds until egg is cooked. Garnish with pepper and scallions if desired.

Chicken and Rice Soup

Ever heard of an elimination diet? Since my gut seems to be very unhappy with me for a while now for some unknown reason, I have decided to put myself on this kind of special diet. That means I have to stick to only a few foods that are least likely to be causing any issue before I can slowly add other foods back in. Two of those simple foods happen to be chicken and rice so that's what we are having for many of our meals. Tonight's menu is the soup form.  Anyone else that may need a simple or nourishing recovery soup, here is your recipe.

Hopefully soon, I will get back to all my plans for fresh soups using all that garden produce or beachfront seafood that I'm craving. 

Have any family members that complain about eating leftovers? This is also a great way to re-purpose extra chicken or rice hanging around. Doing that will also cut your cooking time down considerably. Remember that even though we are going simple, it doesn't mean it has to be unflavorful.

Ingredients:
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 green onions, sliced
5 baby carrots, thinly sliced
4 cups chicken broth
1 small chicken breast, cut in small chunks
1/2 C uncooked long grain rice
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil or thyme
1/4 tsp celery salt 
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper

Start by a quick saute of the garlic, onion and carrots. Add in herbs, celery salt, bay leaf and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, while cutting chicken. Season chicken with little salt and pepper, then drop into the soup. After a minute or two, add in rice and boil for about 15 min. Serve.

p.s. If you are using precooked rice, only add 1/4 cup. Then only boil 3 min.

Miso Soup

We love Asian cuisine at our house. Lately we've been on a Japanese kick, which means I actually have ingredients like miso paste, nori, bonito flakes, and dashi  in my cupboard. This is very helpful when I get the urge for miso soup. (if you don't happen to have them at your house, they are pretty cheap at any Asain market or grocery stores that have an international food section).

For those days when I am ill or recovering from something, this simple, mild soup can hit the spot. Think of it as a chicken noodle soup with an Eastern flair.

Ingredients: 
4 cups water
2 tsp dashi granules (1 packet)
2 1/2 TBSP miso paste (I used white but some people prefer red or brown)
8 oz firm tofu
2 green onions, sliced
1 tsp salt


Method:
Wrap tofu in 2 paper towels and let rest for 10-15 min. (this pulls out the excess moisture so it keeps its shape). Bring water, salt and dashi to a boil. Turn down heat to a bare simmer, whisk in miso paste. Cut tofu into small cubes, add to broth along with green onions. Let sit for 10 min with minimal heat (do not boil) so the tofu soaks up more flavor.

Summer Corn Chowder

Isn't corn on the cob an essential "summer food"? Have any leftover corn on the cob from a recent barbeque? Perfect! Here's your solution.

Now,  I love the creamy, heavier chowders in the fall and winter but this is summer! The season calls for a fresh, light kind of chowder; a great menu item for the days when it is a little cooler and rainier outside, like it has been this week.

I used tarragon as the herb in this chowder (thanks for the idea "simplyrecipes.com").  I don't actually use it much in my cooking, but I had some for a fun salad I made for a girl's night this week and found it does go well with the corn. Since it has a mild licorice/minty type of flavor, it adds a fresh feel to the soup, which is part of its charm. It you are not a fan of tarragon, I think a little fresh basil would work well instead.

Ingredients:
2 cobs of corn (cooked or uncooked)
2 large red potatoes, chopped
2 parsnips, peeled and chopped)
5 cups chicken/vegetable stock
1 TBSP butter/margarine
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup lowfat milk
1-2 tsp lemon juice
fresh tarragon
salt and pepper

First, cut the corn kernels off the cob and set aside. Boil 5 cups of stock with the cobs also in the pot (this will help give that broth some extra corn taste and add a little body to the base). Saute the butter with the onions and garlic in a skillet for a couple minutes. Add in potatoes and parsnips and toss to coat. Then, once the broth is boiling add in the skillet's mixture. Simmer until potatoes are soft (about 10-15 min). Remove the cobs. Add the milk and corn pieces. Add salt and pepper to taste. Thinly slice some tarragon leaves and sprinkle a little lemon juice right before serving.

Strawberry Soup

I remember when I was young, back when my taste buds were much less adventurous, the thought of cold soup made me squirm. Soup was supposed to be comforting and warm. Perfect on a winter day, not something cold and refreshing on a hot day.  When I had tried them, it wasn't necessarily a good experience.

Then, I went on a cruise to the Caribbean and the chefs there changed my mind. They let you order as many appetizers as you wanted so I always had to try a few each dinner and be adventurous as you wanted. This is where I learned that cold soup could be good!

The secret, in my opinion, to cold soups is to eat them in small portions. They aren't hearty or one-dish-meal worthy but work great as a starter/appetizer or dessert. This one, works as both. I thought it more attractive and not too overwhelmingly sweet when eaten from a dessert bowl or ramekin. I created this recipe to mimic my favorite one from the cruise. I tried to keep the added sugar to a minimum-most other recipes you will see for strawberry soup are loaded with sugar. It is sad, because they are missing out on that fantastic, tangy punch the natural fruit provides.

Since it is the 4th of July this week, wouldn't it be great to impress your dinner guests with a patriotic dessert soup?

There are multiple uses for any leftovers. It freezes great into popsicles or to make smoothies.

Strawberry Soup
1 pint strawberries (hulled)
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 TBSP  or less of sugar
1/4 cup cream
whipped cream and blueberries for garnish

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Chill in the fridge until you serve (I would recommend at least 1 hr). Add garnish and serve.

Italian Wedding Soup

Although a catchy name, this soup is not about marriage in the traditional sense. It is meant to show how good it is to pair meat and greens together. Makes a good "marriage", don't you think. Now, I have never been a great fan of eating meatballs, mostly because everyone seems to think the only way to eat them is to smother them in some kind of sweet sauce... I have attempted to make my own on occasion for soups like this before but never really succeeded in anything that had much flavor. My greatest find lately is that Costco has some decent meatballs...much to my husband's delight. I think they taste more like Italian sausage. Yum! It also makes this soup very easy to throw together since they are pre-cooked. (you may want to cut them in half so kids can eat them easier)

Ingredients:
2 small garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped carrots
1/4 cup chopped celery
5 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 cup uncooked ditaloni pasta
10 frozen Italian-style beef meatballs
2 large handfuls of spinach
parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
1 tsp oregano

Saute garlic, onion, carrots, and celery together in the saucepan for 2-3 minutes on medium heat. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and meatballs and simmer for 10-12 minutes. Add in oregano and enough salt and pepper for flavor. Add spinach right before serving so it just gets wilted then grate the parmesan cheese on top (just like any good Italian recipe). Don't omit this part. Serves 4

Heinz's Pork and Beans

This is a shout out to all those of you who grew up on hot dogs, spaghettios, and baked beans. Also, for those of you who are very, very limited on budget or cooking time/skill, here is a soup for you. I agreed to humor the idea to try this out.  I admit, though really not my style, it did bring back some childhood memories and I finished my bowl. So, please welcome our first guest cook, Ben, and give him some encouragement for actually wanting to make a soup himself!

Ingredients
1/2 onion
4 hot dogs, sliced (Hebrew Nationals are his favorite)
1 large can pork and beans (28 oz)
1 can stewed tomatoes
ketchup to taste (it looked like about 1/2 cup total)
2 TBSP brown sugar

Saute the onion and hot dogs in sauce pan until slightly brown, dump in pork and beans, tomatoes, ketchup and brown sugar and heat through. Serve with toast. Makes 4-6 servings

Black Bean Soup

My mom was usually the cook at our house. There were nights she was gone and my dad had to take on the role and cook for all 7 kids. From what I can remember, his specialties were spaghetti, pancakes, fast food runs, and occasionally canned soup. The two soups that made a memorable impression (aka: long-standing family jokes) were the "cheese soup" and "chocolate soup". They are in quotations because there was nothing related to real cheese in the cheese soup (even for kids that would eat velveeta cheese plain, we refused to eat more than a few bites...our dad finally tasted it and let us dump it out and scavenge for something else). The "chocolate" soup was actually black bean soup, but since there were several bean-haters in our family, he thought he could get us to eat it by calling it chocolate. Ha ha. Nice try dad. One bite in we knew he was trying to trick us.  I was one of the few that would eat beans but I don't remember liking that soup. This recipe, however is nothing like canned bean soup. It is awesome! My friends at ourbestbites.com gave me the great idea of adding green chilies to the soup, which I think is a great addition. It doesn't make it too spicy so I still add the kick of red pepper flakes too. Then, as I was writing this, I thought...maybe my dad has something there...wouldn't a little cocoa powder add an extra layer of depth to this soup? I'm dying to try that next time. I'll let you know if it turns out even better.

Recipe:

Black Bean Soup
1-2 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup carrot, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 14 oz. can black beans
1/2 can green chilies
2 cups broth  (chicken, vegetable, or beef)
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin
salt and black pepper
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp lime juice

Method:
Start with the mirepoix (onion, carrot, and celery) and garlic sauteing in the oil until they start to get soft. Add all the spices and allow it them to soak in and get fragrant. Then add the black beans, green chilies and broth. Let it simmer for 15 min. Use your immersion blender and briefly blend it to get the base of the soup creamy. Don't get it too smooth, I think it is best with quite a bit of the beans and texture left. Squeeze the lime juice at the end and mix in. We like it without any significant garnishes or fat put on top.

Spicy Turkey Soup

My ward and neighborhood has a lot of people having babies.  That means I get to take dinner to a lot of families lately. I have several recipes that I know I can put together quick enough that even if I get home late from work, I can still have it ready by 6pm to bring it over. This is one of those. It gets good reviews and happens to use things I keep in my house all the time.

It is a popular combination of flavors because I have seen other blogs/websites that have very similar soups. I guess you can't go wrong with tomatoes, beans, meat and spinach, right? The hardest part I had with this post was actually naming the soup. So, forgive me if the name is dumb.

I use a combo of ground Italian sausage and ground turkey. I really think it needs the Italian sausage for the flavor but I mix it with the turkey so I feel better about the fat content. The rest of the ingredients are also very healthy so it's really a good meal. You may have noticed that I leave basil out of almost every recipe, but that is because it makes my husband very sick...I know, odd. But, then again, I am allergic to every tree, grass, weed, feather, dog, cat, etc. so I guess he's allowed one. But, you can feel free to add it in here, it is delicious. I used parsley instead and still thought it was good.

Ingredients:
1 TBSP olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 lb. Italian pork sausage/ground turkey mix
1-2 tsp oregano
1 TBSP chopped parsley (or basil)
pinch red pepper flakes
24 oz. broth
1 can white navy beans, drained
1 can diced tomatoes
4 Cups fresh spinach
black pepper and salt

Method:
Saute the onions and garlic in the oil for a minute, then add the meat, oregano, red pepper flakes. Brown the meat completely then add in broth, beans and tomatoes. Before serving, taste and add more pepper or salt if needed and mix in spinach. 

Chipotle Chicken Soup

The first time I made this soup, I used some sort of recipe. The next time I wanted to make it, I went back to find it again and couldn’t place it anywhere. None of my favorite cookbooks, magazines, food bloggers or recipe sites had it…so I set out to recreate it by memory. My mind created an extremely simple version but  it still tasted good. This soup is also probably the fastest yet, and super fresh. Chances are you have a lot of the ingredients in your house already.  It is easy to make a lot or a little, too. I listed the amount of ingredients I used for 4 people this time. The ingredients are definitely colorful and very flexible if you need to get rid of some leftovers… Ben absolutely loves this one. Easy dinner for tonight!

 Sauté the garlic in saucepan with just a little oil in a saucepan until they start getting fragrant but not brown. Add chicken broth and chipotle pepper with a little of the sauce. Chipotle peppers are actually dried, smoked jalapenos canned in a sweet red sauce. You don't need much of them to get the flavor/heat.  (I freeze the rest of the can by either separating the peppers in ice cube trays or in a Ziploc baggie to use in the future).  I find them in the mexican foods section of the grocery store.

 

Stir and smash the pepper against the sides of the pot to release all the juices and infuse it into the broth. The more the pepper disintegrates, the more smoky chipotle flavor and spicy-heat the broth gets. You want that, even if the broth seems a bit potent at first. (Don’t worry, the other ingredients tone it down when you combine them together).  Bring broth to a boil.

Meanwhile, chop up cooked chicken  (I used leftover breast that I cooked the night before already seasoned with chili powder, salt and pepper but you could also use rotisserie chicken), tomatoes, and avocado. Divide into individual bowls, along with a spoon of beans, corn,  and/or anything else you feel like putting in (spinach, olives, Pico de Gallo, green onions, hominy, etc.).

Sprinkle with a little lime juice. Pour boiling broth right  over the fresh ingredients and let it sit for a couple minutes. You can even top with cilantro, cheese, sour cream or tortilla strips, if desired.

Chipotle Chicken Soup

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

6 cups chicken broth

1 cooked chicken breast, chopped or shredded

1 large tomato, diced

1 avocado, diced

1 green onion, chopped

1 can black beans (rinsed)

2/3 cup frozen corn (thawed)

Lime juice

Cilantro

Sauté the garlic in saucepan with just a little oil. Add chicken broth and chipotle pepper with a little of the sauce. Stir and smash the pepper to release all the juices and infuse it into the broth. Bring to a boil.

Chop up cooked, tomatoes, and avocado. Divide into individual bowls, along with a spoon of beans, corn, green onions, and/or anything else you feel like putting in (spinach, olives, Pico de Gallo, hominy, etc.). Sprinkle with lime juice. Pour boiling broth on top of the fresh ingredients and let it sit for a couple minutes. Top with more black pepper, cilantro, cheese, sour cream or tortilla strips, if desired. Done.