soup

Green Posole with Black Beans

This is far from a summer recipe.  It’s soup.  It’s hot and comforting.  Not exactly what anyone is looking for when temps are rising outside.  The last thing you probably want to do is eat a bowl of something warm.  But my sister sent the recipe to me after trying it herself and I didn’t want to wait!

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This spicy vegetarian posole is super delicious.  I’ll definitely be bringing this recipe out again in the fall.  But even with the warm weather my husband and I still really enjoyed this soup and will be having leftovers tonight.

I topped this subtly spicy soup with chunks of avocado, monterey jack cheese, cilantro, tortilla strips, sour cream and a spritz from a lime wedge.  My sister recommends radish slices and shredded green cabbage.  Having all of those things as options would be a great way to serve this soup to guests.

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The recipe calls for a blender to puree some of the ingredients, but it just about filled my blender to the brim.  My sister used an immersion blender with great results, so use one of those if you have one.  A blender works fine if not.

I forget how much I love posole.  There’s just something about the hominy that makes me happy.  It has such a great texture, especially in soup.  The chiles and poblano add a nice heat, but it’s not terribly spicy.  If you like it hot, then don’t be so careful when seeding the peppers.  Be sure to check the seasonings after the soup has simmered.  Mine needed a nice dose of salt along with the lime juice.  You could easily add some cooked shredded chicken for a heartier version.

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Green Posole with Black Beans

From Martha Stewart adapted from Homesick Texan

Serves 6

Ingredients

  • 1 poblano chile
  • 1/2 pound fresh tomatillos, husks removed
  • 2 serrano chiles, stemmed, quartered, and seeded
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro (extra for serving)
  • 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 ounce baby spinach leaves, 1 large handful, about 1 cup
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 6 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
  • 2 cans (15 ounces) hominy, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
  • fresh lime juice from 1 lime (extra wedges for serving)
  • kosher salt
  • monterey jack cheese
  • 1 avocado, sliced or cut into chunks
  • sour cream
  • tortilla chips or baked tortilla strips

Directions

  1. Heat broiler with rack in top position.  Place a sheet of foil on the rack.  Broil the poblano until charred and skin is bubbling, 4-5 minutes per side.   You can also do this over a gas burner using tongs.  Transfer to a paper sack or zip-top plastic bag, close it tightly, and let steam 20 minutes.  Rub the poblano with paper towels to remove skin.  Stem, seed, and place in a blender.
  2. In a large pot of boiling water, cook tomatillos until soft, about 5 minutes.  Drain and transfer to the blender.
  3. Add serranos, onion, garlic, cilantro, parsley, spinach, cumin, oregano, and 2 cups of broth.  Blend until smooth.  OR you can put everything from the poblano to the broth to a pot and blend with an immersion blender.
  4. Pour tomatillo mixture into a large pot and stir in 4 cups broth, the hominy, and the black beans.
  5. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.
  6. Add lime juice.  Taste, add salt and adjust seasonings.
  7. Garnish with avocado, cilantro, cheese, sour cream, chips and extra lime juice if desired.

Curried Chicken and Rice Soup

This is a great meal if you’re looking for a nice alternative to chicken noodle soup.  This hearty chicken and rice soup is flavorful, loaded with veggies and has a nice crisp flavor thanks to the fresh herbs and lemon juice added at the end.  The curry isn’t overwhelming, but gives the soup a nice spice that makes it a unique chicken soup.  It’s great with the herbs and lemon.

We really enjoyed what was most likely the last hot soup we’ll have for a while.  I have a feeling that the weather is just not going to get cool enough for soup until October or November.  Oh, Houston.  If you live somewhere that is still experiencing or expecting a cool and rainy day, take advantage of it and give this soup a try.

I used this recipe from the Food Network kitchens as my starting point for this soup and then changed a few things to create a soup that had more of the things I like.  I’m sure it’s still great without the changes I made.  I added more carrots and celery, more broth, more rice, pureed only some of the soup instead of all of the rice mixture, added spinach and put lemon juice right in the soup instead of serving it with lemon wedges.  I also changed the cooking method a bit by doing it all in one pot instead of cooking the soup base and rice separately.

Since this was my first time to make this and I was kind of figuring it out as I went, I didn’t measure exactly how much broth and water I used.  Luckily, you can add as much or as little liquid as you want near the end of the cooking to get the consistency you want in this soup.  When I reheated this soup last night for dinner I added a little more broth since it had thickened up overnight in the fridge.  Soups are so forgiving, one of the many reasons I love them.

To make getting this meal on the table quicker and easier cook the chicken ahead of time and refrigerate it, or shred a rotisserie chicken.  If you do this, you will still need all the chicken broth and water called for below.  Slice the onion and chop the carrots and celery and store them in baggies or containers, the onion should be in its own container since it goes in before the carrots and celery.  You can chop the herbs and store them as well, but I think they lose some of their flavor if they are chopped too far in advance.  I’d recommend chopping them while the rice is cooking, but I doubt there would be much difference in flavor if they sat in the fridge for a few hours, just make sure to store them in covered containers to keep them from drying out.

Curried Chicken and Rice Soup

Adapted from Food Network Magazine

Ingredients

  • 2 bone-in chicken breast halves, skin removed
  • 5-6 cups low sodium chicken broth, divided
  • 4-5 cups water, divided
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
  • kosher salt and black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 large carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch coins
  • 4 large celery stalks, cut 1/2 inch slices (you may want to halve the stalks if they are very large)
  • 1 large yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
  • 2 teaspoons curry powder
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 cup white rice
  • 3-4 ounces baby spinach leaves (left whole or roughly chopped)
  • 3 tablespoons chopped dill
  • 3 tablespoons chopped mint
  • 1 large lemon, juiced

Directions

  1. In a large pot, heat 3 cups of water and 3 cups of broth over medium heat.  Once liquid starts to simmer, add chicken breasts, a pinch of kosher salt, peppercorns and bay leaves.  Bring to a boil, cover, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
  2. Remove chicken from broth and let cool until you can handle the chicken and shred it.  Strain the bay leaves and peppercorns out of the broth and set the broth aside.
  3. In a large saucepan or dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat.  Add the onions, sugar and a pinch of salt.  Cook, stirring frequently, until onions begin to soften.  Add carrots and celery and cook for another 4-5 minutes.
  4. Add curry powder, stir and cook for 1 minute.  Add the rice, stir and cook for about 2 minutes, then add 3 cups of the reserved broth.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.
  5. After rice is cooked, take about 2 cups of the soup and puree it in a blender or food processor until smooth.  Add it back to the soup along with the chicken.  At this point you can add more liquid to achieve the consistency you’d like in your soup.  I added equal amount of broth and water, probably a cup of each to start with, but you can do what looks right to you.  More broth for a soupier soup, less broth for a more stew-like soup.
  6. With heat on medium low, stir in spinach and herbs.  Let simmer for 5-10 minutes until spinach is wilted down.
  7. Stir in lemon juice.  Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

Italian Sausage & Vegetable Soup

When I bought the ingredients for this soup today it was intended to be “Italian Tortellini Soup”, a recipe I got from a woman who came to a Bible study group I am involved with.  It became this Italian sausage & vegetable soup when I realized that I did not use a large enough pot and had to leave out half the mushrooms and the entire package of tortellini.  Thankfully the soup came out OK and we’ll be enjoying it for the next few days!  It might be a blessing in disguise that my pot was too small.  This way we won’t be eating the same thing all week long.

Soup is quite forgiving.  The world does not come crashing down when you realize you’ve left something out, don’t have quite enough of an ingredient, added your ingredients in the wrong order, or added more of something than directed.  Thank goodness, since almost all of those things happened to me!

Ben was not happy when I told him the tortellini soup had no tortellini.  Ben likes tortellini.  But he ate it anyway and I think he thought it was pretty good.  He had a bowl and a half, so it couldn’t have been that bad.  I really liked how chock full of veggies this soup was.  The amount of sausage made it just meaty enough and provided a nice flavor.  I added a huge handful of torn basil leaves right before serving and that was lovely.  I really enjoy fresh basil and am sad I will have to wait until next summer to grow some of my own.  I have attempted this before…and failed.  But every summer I try again.  Maybe this next time I’ll get it right and it won’t wither and die on me.

Here is the recipe, which was adapted more than just a little bit since I was not quite on top of things when I went grocery shopping.  I will try out the original recipe sometime and post that as well.  Enjoy! (more…)

Black Bean, Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup

Even though the temperature is now in the 80’s, it was in the upper 40’s here this morning.  This cooler weather inspired me to make a more fall-like dish for dinner.  I love sweet potatoes, but rarely cook with them…I can’t tell you why, it’s just a problem I have.  They’re so good for you, and a great fall ingredient.  I also like their versatility.  Sweet potatoes can be used in tons of dishes, both sweet and savory.  You can even make fries with them!  I am sure the deep frying that makes sweet potato fries so delicious cancels out some of their nutritive value, but it still makes me feel better to eat them instead of regular french fries.  Some of you are saying, “You know that you can bake sweet potato fries in the oven” but you and I both know they’re not as good.  Sorry.

Anyway, I don’t know how I arrived at this recipe.  I searched for sweet potato soup recipes and ended up with black beans and sausage in there at some point.  I found a lot of variations with similar basic ingredients, so I used a few recipes and combined what I liked about each of them to make this soup.

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Classic Chicken Noodle Soup for the Soul

The last few days have been a bit, well, what’s the word…bad?  No, that will not do.  Terrible.  Dreadful.  Upsetting.  Frustrating.  Disheartening.  Disappointing.  Oh, and tear inducing.  Those will work.

Here is my story.  I was scheduled to leave Amarillo Friday morning at 6:55 to help prepare everything for my sisters baby shower that is today at 3.  I took the day off of work a few weeks ago, and days off are a precious commodity.  As you may or may not know Amarillo received a good foot of snow on Thursday resulting in both Ben and I getting the day off!  So exciting!  Or so I thought.

The Panhandle weather also caused business closures, highway closures, and flight cancellations.  As of this moment my flights have been cancelled and rescheduled a total of 3 times.  If all goes well, I will be in Austin tonight.  I will miss the baby shower and the 3 dozen bird cookies that I made will not be enjoyed.  The cookies I spent all day Thursday rolling and baking.  Argh.  They are cute, no?

I know that I should not complain.  Some people have been affected by the weather in far worse ways than I.  I am in a warm house and I am safe, so I am thankful for that.  I am sad about not being able to see my family.  After Southwest called me this afternoon to cancel my morning flight for tomorrow I decided that I needed to make something for dinner that would bring some sort of comfort to my weary soul!  Nothing says comfort like chicken noodle soup.

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Chicken Posole with Avocado and Lime

This is a yummy, comforting and spicy soup that is similar to chicken tortilla soup, but with more substance and kick.  The hominy provides the substance, and the roasted poblanos give a smoky, spiciness that increases as it sits.  So be prepared for a spicier soup if you have any leftovers that you eat the next day.  The avocado and sour cream contrast the spice nicely.

This is not “traditional” New Mexican posole/pozole, which is usually made with pork.  So, I guess this is kind of a cheater, short cut recipe, but it is delicious, quick and easy.  We ate this with a green salad and cornbread.  Corn tortillas would also be great with this soup.

The recipe came from Sunset magazine, and we made a few changes.  Some of the methods for putting the soup together didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, and seemed to be a bit tedious.  I am sure that if you followed the directions step-by-step from the magazine you would end up with a great pot of soup.

Chicken Posole with Avocado and Lime

(Adapted from Sunset Magazine)

  • 3 large poblano chiles
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 1 large onion
  • 2 cans (14 1/2 oz. each) white hominy
  • 1 ½  pounds boned, skinned chicken thighs
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 ½  teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • 3 tablespoons ground red New Mexico chiles
  • Garnishes: sliced avocado, lime wedges, cilantro sprigs, and sour cream
  1. Preheat broiler. When hot, broil poblanos on a baking sheet until blackened, turning as needed, about 15 minutes.
  2. Finely chop garlic and onion. Drain hominy; set aside.
  3. Boil chicken in water with salt and pepper for 15-20 minutes.  Remove chicken, let cool, then shred.
  4. Heat oil in a large saucepan or soup pot over medium heat. Add onion mixture and oregano to pan and sauté until onion is softened, 3 minutes. Add ground chiles to pan and cook, stirring, about 30 seconds.
  5. Add broth, hominy, and chicken to pan. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer to blend flavors, 10 minutes.
  6. Remove stems, skins, and seeds from poblanos and discard; chop poblanos.
  7. Stir poblanos into posole and cook 1 minute. Ladle into bowls; top with garnishes.

Thai Coconut Soup

My parents came up from Round Rock to visit for a day on their way to Oklahoma City.  They also came to drop off my amazing Swedish truck!  I am not quite sure where to put it yet.  It’s one of the biggest pieces in our house other than our bed and the couch which makes the options for placement a bit limited.

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There is no rhyme or reason to our house.  I have some modern, some traditional, and some antique furniture and decor.  The problem is that I love certain things about all those styles.  While I dream of a house that would embarrass the homes in Dwell, I know that day will never come.  I am OK with that.  A lot of what we have has been given to me from my mom or Ben’s mom, and I can’t imagine replacing it with anything.  So, welcome to my hodge podge home.

While my mom was here we got pedicures and then went to the store to get ingredients for dinner.  One of the other things my mom brought to me was a wok that I’d bought for $7.99 at IKEA last weekend.  It’s not the best quality piece of cookware I own, but I still wanted to use it.  I decided to make a chicken stir fry and coconut soup.

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