Thai Chicken Soup with Rice

I like my chicken soup to be a little on the creamy side - usually I get this result by adding a can of cream of chicken soup to the pot, but yesterday I happened to be out so I had to get creative. The only creamy anything I had in my pantry was a can of coconut milk - this is what I came up with:

1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
3-4 carrots, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced ginger
2 cups cooked chicken, diced
2 cups chicken broth
1 can coconut milk
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 teaspoons red thai curry
3-4 cups cooked rice (great way to use leftovers!)

Heat olive oil in large saucepan. Add onion, celery, carrots and saute until softening (you could add other vegetables here as well - maybe snow peas or broccoli) Add garlic and ginger and saute a few more minutes until aromatic. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Garnish with cilantro or fresh mint.

Carrot Soup

I actually found this recipe on the back of a cracker box - It looked simple and yummy so I set it aside to try at a later date. Last night, I didn't feel like cooking at all so this was perfect. I have to admit that I was surprised at how well it turned out. My kids probably would have liked it more if it was smoother in texture, but since my blender died I had to puree it with an immersion blender which leaves it with more chunks.

1 small onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup Italian salad dressing
1 lb. carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
4 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup sour cream

Cook and stir onion and salad dressing in a large saucepan over medium-high heat for 5 minutes until onion is tender. Add carrots, broth, and cumin; mix well. Cook 10 minutes or until carrots are tender, stirring frequently

Pour into blender container; cover. Blend until pureed. Add sour cream; cover. Blend until smooth. Pour into bowls and garnish with sour cream.

I should note that I used half chicken broth and half veggie broth when I made this. My veggie broth is the reserved liquid that I freeze after cooking beans. This particular batch of beans I made with jalepenos so the broth had a bit of a kick to it. The end result was a creamy, sweet soup with a bit of a zing! Delicious, but it might be hard to recreate!

Alice Waters' Cauliflower Soup

After years of wondering how anyone could like cauliflower, I now have several recipes in my repertoire the use the strange little vegetable - and two of them happen to be soups. I found this recipe by Alice Waters over on Jane Spice and tried it the other night - and liked it even better than the creamy Pioneer Woman version.

All the spices in this soup make it ideal for a cold winter night, alongside a salad and some nice crusty bread. I used an immersion blender to get the consistency where I wanted it - with just a few chunks of cauliflower here and there and the rest thickening the broth. I didn't have coriander seed so I just substituted 1/4 teaspoon coriander - I imagine you could do the same with the cumin. I also don't like the taste of cooked cilantro so I left that out... and if you decide to use it as a garnish, I recommend mincing it very finely otherwise the texture clashes with the creaminess of the cauliflower. Don't forget the splash of lime juice - it will make all those spices jump! Very yummy!

Christmas Fare

Last year I made an elaborate Christmas meal, only to have all my kids get sick and not be able to enjoy it.

This year I decided to chill out and enjoy the day a bit more, so here is what we had for dinner:

Christmas Eve

My family has a long standing tradition of eating a "Jerusalem Dinner" on Christmas Eve. Depending on the age of the kids, we would sometimes dress up in nativity costumes and we almost always ate by candlelight. Dinner would consist of things that Joseph and Mary might have eaten in their day. This year we ate fish (lightly pan fried in a little EVOO), dried plums and apricots, olives, and pita bread with goat cheese (as well as some other cheeses that the kids would like). I also had some smoked oysters that a friend gave us when he cleaned out his pantry, so I made a cream cheese spread with them to eat on the pita bread. We drank grape juice with the meal. Leah added to the scene by placing nativity characters around the table.

Christmas Brunch

After the excitement of opening presents, we sat down to cinnamon rolls, mango-berry juice, and CranApple Acorn Squash. I was going to serve grapefruit as well, but we really didn't need anything more - it was a perfect snack to keep us going as we tried out our games and toys.

Christmas Dinner

The last thing I wanted was to be stuck in the kitchen all day, so I found this great recipe for Posole which cooked in the slow cooker all day and served up great with a batch of cornbread and a little salad.

Borscht with Lamb

We've had a bunch of beets languishing in our refrigerator for about a month now and, while they keep very well, I decided it was time to do something with them so I combined a couple of recipes and came up with this slightly Indian version of borscht if there can be such a thing.

olive oil
2 pounds roasted beets, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 pound lamb stew meat, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 1/2 quarts beef broth
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 head cabbage, cored and shredded
1 can crushed tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 pint sour cream
chopped dill

Heat oven to 350. Trim beet tops to 1/2 inch, wash, and clip root. Rub with olive oil. Mix coriander, cumin, cloves, turmeric, salt, and pepper and rub mixture onto beets. Place in roasting dish in single layer and cook, stirring once or twice, for 1 1/2 hours. Remove when skins are wrinkled and beets are easy to pierce with a fork. Allow to cool, then cut off top and root, peel away papery skin (it's okay if you don't peel it all off), and dice.

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large stockpot until very hot. Add the cubed lamb, and sear until well browned. Stir in the onion, and cook until tender and translucent, about 2 minutes. Pour in the beef broth, vinegar, and lemon juice; add the cabbage, tomatoes, diced beets, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the lamb is tender, about 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish the soup bowls with a dollop of sour cream, and a sprinkling of dill after ladling in the soup.

I was actually surprised at how well this turned out - I guess I had in my mind that borscht would be tricky to make. I served it with dilled cornbread and two of my kids really liked it... let me tell you, two out of three ain't bad!

Cauliflower Soup

Photo courtesy of thepioneerwoman.com

In my continuing quest to find ways to enjoy foods that I previously avoided, I found this recipe for Cauliflower Soup posted by my friend the Pioneer Woman. And since I've pretty much enjoyed every recipe of hers that I've tried so far, I decided I would put it to the test.... and I was not disappointed! This soup was creamy deliciousness and I loved every bite! And when I say creamy, I mean CREAMY - we're talking whole milk, half-and-half, and sour cream creaminess. I'm sure you could substitute low-fat versions but I definitely think it would detract from the overall deliciousness that is this soup.

Everyone in our house thought it was great - even the kids! In fact, this would be perfect for a toddler just getting used to textures because the chunks of vegetables are so tender that they just fall apart in your mouth. Really, a very lovely dish.

Thai Spiced Pumpkin Soup

We tried this lovely recipe from 101 cookbooks this week and I seriously couldn't get enough. The Thai curry and coconut milk show off the pumpkin so well! I happened to have a sugar pie pumpkin from Halloween decorations that was begging to be used so I made the puree for this one - I imagine it would be fine using pumpkin out of the can as well. Roasted pumpkin seeds sprinkled on top added the perfect final touch - a bit of crunchiness to contrast the creaminess of the soup.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce or tomato juice

2 cups water or chicken broth

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 Tbsp diced green chilis

1 clove garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 cups cooked chicken, cut in bite sized pieces

1 zucchini or yellow squash, diced

Combine all ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes. Serve with the following to be added as desired:

broken tortilla chips

sliced black olives

shredded cheddar cheese

sour cream

diced avocado

Lentil Stew

1 lb lentils
1 lb smoked sausage
4 cans (8 cups) chicken broth
2 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste

Rinse lentils and remove any stones. Cook lentils, sausage, and broth 30 minutes. Add spices and cook for another 30 minutes. Serve with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Tomato Soup

My daughter requested tomato soup for dinner today so I pulled out an old favorite that I haven't made in awhile. I actually got this recipe from my sister-in-law, whose mother is a wonder in the kitchen. I think this is a improvement on something they tasted in a restaurant once. The best part is that it's super easy!

2-12 oz cans tomato juice

2-14 oz cans diced tomatoes

1-8 oz package cream cheese

1 tsp Italian seasoning

salt and pepper, to taste

Heat the tomato juice and cream cheese over medium heat, stirring to break up the cream cheese and help it melt. If you're impatient like me, you can use an immersion blender to speed up the process once it's started melting. Add diced tomatoes and seasoning. Let simmer for 20 minutes. Serve with crusty bread.

Chicken Corn Chowder

One of our favorite dinners and super easy to throw together!

1 small onion, diced

1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced

1 cup celery, sliced thin

2 cups cubed, peeled potatoes

1 cup carrots, sliced

2 cups cubed, cooked chicken breast

1 can creamed corn

1 can whole kernel corn, undrained

1 can evaporated milk

2 cups chicken broth

red pepper flakes, to taste

fresh ground pepper, to taste

Saute onion and bell pepper in 1 Tbsp olive oil until tender. Dice the potatoes and place in microwave safe container. Cook on high for 5 minutes. Add to onions along with cubed chicken and saute another 2-3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and let simmer 20 minutes. Enjoy!