Soup!!!

[SoonerTexan]

Lend me your best soup recipes!

Bonus points if it is a light version of chicken and dumplings or involves cilantro.

[MsSassyBaskets]

I made 2 this week, both hearty "dinner" soups that we just paired with a salad and bread/crackers.

The first was a potato-leek soup and it went something like this (I don't really use recipes, so bear with me):

1-2 tbsp butter
2 large leeks, white and light green parts only, separated, washed, and sliced thinly (make sure to slice them in half, separate them and then wash them thoroughly, they are always SO dirty!)
about 4 medium russet potatoes, chopped to about 1/2 inch
2 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 cartons chicken stock (about 48 oz total)
2-4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley and/or dill
salt
pepper
cream (you could try subbing creme fraiche or maybe even low/nonfat greek yogurt)

Sautee the leeks and garlic in the butter until soft. Add the potatoes and enough broth to comfortably cover them. Add about 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. I also added a dash of cayenne and a dash of thyme. A lot of things will work well in this! Bring the broth to a boil, lower to a simmer, and simmer until potatoes are soft. Turn off the burner and use either your hand blender or regular blender to puree the soup, leaving it slightly chunky. Turn the burner back on med-low, stir in your parsley and/or dill, and bring it back to a simmer for another 5 minutes or so to blend the flavors. Taste and adjust your salt and pepper. Now, add as much cream as you're comfortable with! ( I did about 1/2 cup, and it made about 4 servings total, so you can estimate the fat content that way...) If you're going to try creme fraiche or greek yogurt, add these with the burner off at the very end, and just start with a dollop. Give it another good stir and you're ready to eat.

[MsSassyBaskets]

Here's the other one.

Butternut squash soup
1 medium-sized butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped to about 1 inch
1 medium yellow onion
3 regular whole carrots, scrubbed, trimmed and chopped to 1 inch
3-4 cloves garlic
1.5 cartons chicken stock (about 48 oz total)
1 tsp curry powder
salt
pepper
cream

Roughly chop the squash, onion, carrots and garlic. Put them in your pot and cover with broth. Add your curry powder (I used garam masala for some warmer cinnamon flavor, but a regular yellow curry mix will do), and about 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper. Give it a stir and put the heat on med-high. Bring it to a boil, lower back down to a simmer and cover for about 30-45 minutes. When the squash is soft, use a hand blender or regular blender to puree it thoroughly. Put it back on the heat and bring back to a simmer. Taste and adjust salt. Remove from heat and add just a splash of cream to bring the flavors together (maybe 1/4 cup?). Done!

[SoonerTexan]

Mmmm

[ides]

Yum. Potato leek soup sounds SO good right now. I'm coming down with a cold & it sounds divine. I wish Dh could cook!

[Vanquisher]

Mexican-Style Chicken and Dumpling
(Cuisine at home, February 2004, Issue 43, p. 17)
Makes: About 8 Cups Total Time: 1 1/2 Hours Rating: Intermediate


For the Chicken —
Cut into Pieces:
1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Dredge in; Brown in 2 T. Vegetable Oil:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 t. kosher salt
1/2 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. chili powder
1/2 t. black pepper

Sweat in 1 T. Vegetable Oil:
1 cup yellow onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup carrot, chopped
1 t. garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1 canned chipotle chile in adobo, minced

Deglaze with:
1/4 cup dry white wine

Stir in:
Remaining dredging flour

Gradually Add; Braise:
1 qt. low-sodium chicken broth
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes with juice

Stir in:
Browned chicken
1/2 cup canned black beans,drained, rinsed
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
1 t. chopped fresh oregano
Juice of 1/2 a lime

For the Dumplings —
Blend:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup masa harina
1 can (4.5 oz.) diced mild green chiles
3 T. Parmesan cheese, grated
2 T. sugar
2 1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. kosher salt
1/2 t. white pepper

Heat:
2/3 cup whole or 2% milk
3 T. unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 375° with rack in the center.

Cut chicken into large pieces. Combine flour and seasonings in a resealable plastic bag.

Dredge chicken in flour, shaking off excess. In a deep ovenproof pot, heat 1 T. oil over med.-high heat. Brown half the chicken; transfer to a plate. Brown the rest in 1 T. oil; remove. Reduce heat to medium.

Sweat vegetables, garlic, bay leaves, and chile in oil until softened, 5 minutes.

Deglaze with wine; simmer until nearly evaporated.

Stir in flour to coat vegetables.

Gradually add broth and tomatoes. Cover pot and transfer to the oven; cook for 20 minutes.

Stir in chicken, beans, corn, herbs, and lime juice before adding dumplings. Bring stew to a simmer on the stove, then place dumplings on top. Cover and return stew to the oven; cook until dumplings are done, about 20 minutes.

Blend dry ingredients for dumplings in a mixing bowl.

Heat milk and butter until butter melts; blend into dry ingredients. Shape, then drop dumplings onto the simmering stew. Braise in oven until dumplings are cooked through, about 20 minutes. Stir in chicken, beans, corn, herbs, and lime juice before adding dumplings. Bring stew to a simmer on the stove, then place dumplings on top. Cover and return stew to the oven; cook until dumplings are done, about 20 minutes. Serve with garnishes on the side for each person to add to their stew as desired.

A little chipotle goes a long way — they're spicy. You can freeze any leftover chiles to use later.

Nutrition Information (Per 1 cup):
416 calories 38% calories from fat 17g total fat 41g carb. 1548mg sodium 5g fiber

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© August Home Publishing Company
www.CuisineAtHome.com

[SoonerTexan]

Oh man. You combined dumplings and cilantro. (okay I don't see cilantro in the recipe, but it's the type of soup that is begging for it).

That looks delicious. Heidi for the win!

[Vanquisher]

It is delish. I've made it a few times. I was totally thinking you could add cilantro.

[SoonerTexan]

I'm making it this weekend

[SoonerTexan]

It's amazig

[Liisi]

That butternut squash soup sounds delicious, as does the Mexican-style chicken and dumpling soup, but I think the former is all I could manage. I'm not so good in the kitchen yet, especially with meat - I was a vegetarian from my senior year of college until just a couple years ago, so I have a lot of catching up to do, re: learning to cook meat!

I've been playing around with soups in the crock pot, thanks to this blog - http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

But my favorite soup, the very bare bones version, is Sweet Potato Peanut Butter soup. So simple it's not even a recipe. You boil big chunks of sweet potato and onion in broth, until they're soft enough to be mashed with a potato masher. Then you mash it all up, add a big glob of peanut butter, and cover a simmer a while longer. Then add as much salt and pepper as you want. That's all!! Probably there's a real recipe that includes proportions, extra spices, maybe some other vegetables, etc... but just that basic version is so yummy, especially with bread.

[GreyhoundsRUs]

Was that the soup that you had the backup meal planned for? It turned out yummy, huh?

[bokelley]

Anybody got a veggie soup that rocks?

[ides]

Ive got three that I make regularly. I'll post them later when I'm home & at the computer.

[ladymoreta]

This is one from my Once-A-Month Cooking cookbook. It calls for turkey meatballs, but you can leave those out. I put the freezing instructions, in case someone wants to make it ahead, but you can obviously skip that. It was great, and DS ate about a gallon of it.

1 14.5 oz can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 14.5 oz can beef broth (I assume you can substitute vegetable broth)
1 cup peeled and chopped carrots
1/2 sliced onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped zucchini
1.5 Tablespoons dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 12 oz package Italian style ready-to-eat turkey meatballs

In a medium mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients except the meatballs and pour into a labeled 1-gallon freezer bag. Tape this bag to the meatball package and freeze.

To serve, thaw the ingredients of both bags. Pour the soup ingredients into a large saucepan. Bring to boil, reduce the heat, and simmer 30 minutes. Add the meatballs and simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.