Spicy Carrot Ginger Soup

I first had a version of this soup at a friend's house. They purchased the prepared soup at Whole Foods. It was delicious! A perfect way to start a meal.  I figured I had to make it myself so I found a recipe and tweaked it a bit. I also added some fun garnishes because I think not only do they make the soup more visually appealing, but they add more flavor and substance. 

Ingredients: 

-1 large yellow onion (or two small)

-8 cups of vegetable broth

-6 cloves of garlic

-2 lbs of carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

-2 medium yukon gold potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped

-3 Tbsp of freshly grated ginger

-1 Tbsp. cumin

-1 tsp. cinnamon

-2 tsp. jalepeno powder (optional)

-2 Tbsp salt

-3 Tbsp sugar

-2 tsp lemon juice

Italian Wedding Soup

Italian Wedding Soup has been one of my favorites for years. It's a meal in a bowl and who doesn't like meatballs? Brings me back to my Spaghetti-O's with Meatballs phase. But this is much butter. The recipe I originally followed was Rachael Ray's, but I've tweaked and added (specifically more broth) over the years.  Make this big batch and freeze the leftovers in muffin tins. They reheat wonderfully. 

Ingredients: 

-2 Tbsp olive oil

-4 carrots, peeled and diced

-3 ribs of celery, peeled and diced

-1 large white onion

-1 dried bay leaf

-1 lb lean ground beef, veal or pork

-1 egg, beaten

-3 garlic cloves, minced

-1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

-1/2 tsp nutmeg

-1/2 cup bread crumbs

-10 cups chicken stock

-1 pkg (16 oz) of small pasta - I use Acini di Pepe (orzo or mini shells will work, too)
-1 lb (large bag) baby spinach

Springtime Radish Top Soup

This soup is the perfect springtime soup that uses the fresh green tops of radishes that usually get thrown away.  It's a filling soup without a drop of cream in the recipe.  The creaminess comes from the typical potager recipe which is a puree of vegetables and potatoes.  I first had this amazing first-course at a cookbook event at Frank Bonanno's local Lou's Food Bar in which cookbook author (a personal favorite), Diane Morgan hosted a 6-course meal straight from her new cookbook, Roots.  This is one of the amazing recipes from the book that focuses on the under utilized vegetable family, roots.

Ingredients:

-2 Tbsp unsalted butter
-1 leek, white and light green part only, thinly sliced
-1 carrot, peeled and diced
-1 yellow onion, diced
-1 1/2 tsp salt
-1 medium russet potato, peeled and diced
-4 cups water
-1 1/2 tsp sugar
-1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
-5 cups radish tops (from 3 bushy bunches)
-5 or 6 radishes, trimmed and cut into matchsticks

Elk Rotini Soup

It's fall (at least in Denver) which means it's soup time! I love having a big pot of broth, veggies and meat simmering on the stove all day.  This is down-home comfort soup is made with game meat — elk — but you can use ground beef, buffalo, or turkey.  Freeze any leftovers in muffin tins and pop them out once frozen.  Put three frozen soup blocks in a plastic baggy and back in the freezer for a quick week-night meal.  

Ingredients:

-1 lb ground elk (or other meat such as beef)

-2 Tbsp Montreal steak seasoning

-2 carrots, diced

-1 white onion, diced

-1 celery rib, diced

-2 Tbsp olive oil

-1 can (11-ounce) corn

-1/2 can (7 ounces) peas

-1 large can (14-ounce) diced tomatoes

-6 cups beef broth

-6 cups water

-3 Tbsp tomato paste

-1 lb. dried rotini pasta

Easy Vegetable Stock from Old Scraps

This is the most thoughtless and cheapest recipe I've ever made because it's basically from water and frozen vegetable scraps.  It started with a gallon freezer bag and a few extra carrots I had leftover from a recipe.  Over the next few weeks I added chopped red onions, white onions halves, celery stalks, parsnips, wilted herbs, sprouting garlic, and a Parmesan rind. Basically anything that was no longer "good" to use in my kitchen but by no means rotten.  After a few weeks I had a FREE bag of vegetable stock goodness.  With olive oil and some water you have an amazing vegetable stock for soups, sauces and more.

Optional Veggies (and other things) to Add to your Freezer Bag:


-carrots
-celery
-parsnips
-turnips
-white, yellow, green or red onions
-leeks
-mushrooms
-tomatoes or tomato paste
-bell peppers
-yellow or butternut squash
-zucchini
-garlic cloves
-parsley leaves and/or stems
-other fresh or dried herbs
-hard cheese rinds such as parmesan
-bay leaves
-cloves
-whole peppercorns

How-To: Easy Homemade Chicken Stock

Chicken Stock at home is so easy that you will be shocked you've never done it before once you've tried it.  First thing's first: What is the difference between stock and broth? Well, they are very similar, both use parts of chickens, water and veggies to make.  The main difference is that stock uses just the bones (carcass) of the bird while broth uses the whole chicken, meat included.  Stock has a richer taste with more "body".  Often times the bones from roasted chickens are used to make a stock.  This is what I have done here.  Just follow one of my two roast chicken recipes below..... and keep the bones:

Easy Roast Chicken

Roast Chicken on a bed of Lemon and Onions

Ingredients:

-bones and carcass from a roasted chicken (most of the meat removed)

-water

-3-4 stalks of celery

-2-3 carrots

-2 white onions

-2 Tbsp black peppercorns

-2 dried bay leaves

-5-6 springs of fresh parsley

Optional additional ingredients:

-fresh springs of thyme

-fresh sprigs of rosemary

-2-3 garlic cloves, crushed with a knife

-1 parsnip, peeled and cut into pieces

-2-3 cloves (if you like the flavor)

Quick Tortellini Soup

I was craving a fresh yet filling soup last night so scoured the pantry and freezer just like the other night when I made the Crispy Baked Chicken with Pesto Cream Sauce.  Luckily I had some chicken broth and frozen tortellini, which is the main part of this soup.  It's probably the quickest meal I've made on the blog...15 minutes tops! It's a great throw-together-dinner after work when you need something to warm you up while still filling you up.

Ingredients:


-6 cups chicken broth (one 48-oz box)
-4 cloves garlic
-1 shallot
-1 Tbsp olive oil
-salt and pepper to taste
-small pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
-2 cups refrigerated tortellini (any filling your heart desires)
-3 Tbsp shredded Parmesan Cheese
-3 Tbsp chopped tomato
-3 Tbsp chopped parsley

Japanese Onion Soup

When I grew up, one of my favorite dinner spots was our local Japanese Steakhouse.  You know, the place where they cook in front of you, throw knives around and you try to catch shrimp in your mouth.  One of my favorite courses was the very first one, the Japanese Onion Soup.  It was always so clean, clear but flavorful. I finally found a recipe from Meemo's Kitchen for a re-creation of this famous recipe.  I've never really fried anything but these little onion slice were easy as pie.  I imagine you could use the canned fried onions, such as French's.

Ingredients:


-4 cups chicken broth
-2 cups water
-1 white onion
-1 carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
-1 rib celery, coarsely chopped
-1/2 tsp salt
-6 white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
-4 green onion, chopped
-1 cup vegetable oil (for frying)
-1 cup milk
-1 cup flour

Oxtail Pho

This stuff is the real deal! My past Pho recipes, Meatball and Salmon have been great, but an easy version of the Vietnamese soup. One of my mom's great friends, Judy, came over yesterday and taught me how to make Pho "the real way"! It simmered all day and created a rich beef broth. Oxtail meat is not actually the tail of an ox, rather the tail of a cow.  The culinary term is just Oxtail.  In this recipe the bones and meat are used to make the broth and then the meat is added back in to the soup.  If you're not a fan of oxtail meat, you could always make the broth and then add another type of meat like, chicken, filet or meatballs.  I think once I get to Denver I will have a "Pho Party" with meat and topping options, yet sticking to this recipe for my broth. It's hard to beat!

Ingredients:

-4 lbs oxtails

-2 gallons cold water

-3-inch piece ginger, unpeeled

-1 large white onion, halved and unpeeled

-1/3 cup fish sauce

-8 whole star of anise pods

-5 whole cloves

-1 large cinnamon stick (about 3 inches long)

-1 tsp fennel seeds

-3 bay leaves

-1 lb rice noodles

Optional Garnishes:

-green onions, chopped

-fresh cilantro, roughly torn

-fresh basil, roughly torn

-limes, cut into wedges

-bean sprouts

-jalapeno peppers, sliced

-banana peppers, sliced
-Hoison Sauce
-Sriracha sauce

Meatball Pho

The last time I made Pho was with Salmon and it was great although nothing compares to Pho with meatballs!  I was having a Vietnamese soup craving (weird, I know) and decided to use some of the leftover meatballs I made in this Florentine Mac and Cheese with Meatball recipe.  I wasn't sure if the meatballs would stay together in the soup, but sure enough they did and the dish was just what I wanted!  The recipe below is basically a merge of the two linked above, but with smaller meatballs.  To make things easier you can find the two recipes below.

Ingredients for Meatballs:

-1.5 lb of ground turkey (or chicken)
-2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary (or about 1 Tbsp dried)
-2 tsp fennel seeds
-3 cloves of garlic, grated
-1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
-1 cup of low-fat ricotta cheese-1 1/2 cups of shredded Parmesan cheese
-1 cup of bread crumbs (maybe more)

-1 egg

Ingredients for Pho:

-1 1/4 cup thinly sliced white onion

-1 Tbsp minced ginger

-1 Tbsp minced garlic

-1 Tbsp vegetable oil

-2 cups water

-4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

-2 Tbsp fish sauce

-1 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

-3 whole cloves

-1 Tbsp sugar

-1 bunch fresh cilantro

-Fresh or dried Shiitake mushrooms

-1/2 cup shredded carrots

-1/4 cup chopped green onions

-1 cup cooked rice-stick noodles

Optional for garnish:

-fresh bean sprouts

-additional chopped green onions

-torn fresh mint leaves

-torn fresh basil leaves

-sliced jalapeño pepper

-lime wedges

-Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce aka "Cock" Sauce

-Hoisin Sauce

Salmon Pho

What the heck is Pho? Well it's my new obsession.  More specifically it is a Vietnamese Noodle Soup...Mmm.  I've usually had chicken, steak or meatballs in my Pho so I was intrigued when I stumbled upon this recipe in Cuisine at Home. Salmon? Why not? This recipe makes two large servings.  Perfect for two people or just one and another bowl for leftovers!

My favorite salmon to smoke at home is Scottish Salmon. You can order it online at Chef's Fresh Fish. It has a buttery texture...clean (not fishy!) taste and it's super fatty. High in Omega-3's. Even better? Sushi-grade.

Ingredients:

-1 1/4 thinly sliced white onion

-1 Tbsp minced ginger

-1 Tbsp minced garlic

-1 Tbsp vegetable oil

-2 cups water

-3 cups low-sodium chicken broth

-2 Tbsp fish sauce

-1 Tbsp sugar + additional 1 tsp

-1 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

-3 whole cloves

-1 bunch fresh cilantro

-Fresh or dried Shiitake mushrooms

-6 oz of fresh Scottish Salmon fillet, thinly sliced

-1/2 tsp ground coriander 

-1/2 cup shredded carrots

-1/4 cup chopped green onions

-1 cup cooked rice-stick noodles

Optional for garnish:

-fresh bean sprouts

-additional chopped green onions

-torn fresh mint leaves

-torn fresh basil leaves

-sliced jalapeño pepper

-lime wedges

-Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce aka "Cock" Sauce

-Hoisin Sauce