Soup

I love soup. Chowders, bisques, hearty legume-based -- even gazpacho.

Lately I've been making my own to reduce my sodium intake and increase my fiber in trying to shed some weight (down 10 lbs!).

So gimme your soup recipes! JEV, this means you. I want that lentil soup recipe (a decidely tempting photo of which you posted not too long ago).

To be fair, here are some of the recent ones I've been following (none of which are my own), and all have been quite tasty!

Split Pea Soup:

SERVES 8 -12

Ingredients:

2 (16 ounce) bags split peas, pre-soaked
5 medium carrots (diced)
1 large onion (diced or pureed)
2 medium potatoes (diced)
1 meaty ham bone or 2 smoked pork shanks
2 bay leaves
2T oregano
salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients into a large stew pot.
2. Cover ingredients with water about 2 inches above the top of the ingredients.
3. Bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat and simmer for about 3 hours, or until peas are pureed and slightly thickened.
5. Take ham hock out of the soup, remove bone and cut ham into bite sized bits and place back in soup.

Instead of the ham bone\pork shank method, I use powdered ham stock and mix in enough for 8 cups of broth. I then dice a pound or so of ham and add to the soup.

Navy Bean and Ham Soup:

SERVES 8 -12

Ingredients:

2 (16 ounce) bags navy beans, pre-soaked
5 medium carrots (diced)
5 celery stalks (diced)
1 large onion (diced or pureed)
1 meaty ham bone or 2 smoked pork shanks
2 bay leaves
2 - 4 cloves of garlic (depending on how much you like garlic)
2T oregano
salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients into a large stew pot.
2. Cover ingredients with water about 2 inches above the top of the ingredients.
3. Bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat and simmer for about 4 hours, or until navy beans are part pureed and slightly thickened.
5. Take ham hock out of the soup, remove bone and cut ham into bite sized bits and place back in soup.

Instead of the ham bone method, I use powdered ham stock and mix in enough to make 8 cups of broth. I then dice a pound or so of ham and add to the soup.

Ruby Tuesday's White Chicken Chili:

Serves/Makes: 6

Ingredients:

6 cups chicken stock
1 pound great northern beans (soaked in water overnight)
2 medium Spanish onions, chopped
6 cups diced cooked chicken
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
2 diced chili peppers (I use Anaheims)
1 1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 teaspoons cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup salsa
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Salt to taste
Sour cream (optional garnish)
Monterey Jack cheese (optional garnish)

Directions:

Simmer beans, half the onions, and half the garlic for 2 hours in the chicken stock or until the beans soften, stirring frequently. Add chicken and salsa.

Saute pepper, spices, and the remaining onions and garlic in the oil and add to the chili. Simmer for one more hour.

Garnish with sour cream or Monterey Jack cheese.

Here ya go Jim.
I'll be making it this weekend and posting pics too.

Wild Rice Soup

2 c low sodium chicken broth
1 c water
1 c shredded chicken
pre-cooked long grain and wild rice ( raw,fresh-not the boxed crap that is seasoned)
1/4 t salt ( or add to taste after)
1/4 t black pepper
1/4 c AP flour
1/3 c butter
1 c heavy cream

Combine the broth, water and chicken in a pot.
Bring it to a boil, then stir in the rice.
Make a roux with the flour and butter, then slowly stir in the cream.
Add this to the pot and simmer til rice is tender.
Eat. Yum.

Holy carp, Lolita! I'm tryin' to lose weight, not gain it!


















But, I'm still gonna try it.

Keep this coming guys. I'm a soup fanatic. I can eat it by th bucketful.

Growing up, my mom wasn't the greatest cook in the world, just good, solid home cooking. She was a really good baker and the lady could make soup. She had about a dozen different soups that she would make and would rotate them. She could make a Scotch Broth that could bring a corpse back to life on a cold winter day. The price of her visits to the States was that she had to make a huge pot of soup at least twice during her visits. Ah, I miss her.

jpr62902 said:

Holy carp, Lolita! I'm tryin' to lose weight, not gain it!


















But, I'm still gonna try it.

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Now now, all's ya gotta do is fit it into the daily meal scheme o' things..
Do not fear the butter and cream.
As long as you're eating within your chosen daily allowance of whatever, this shouldn't hurt ya at all.

EastTexFrank said:

Keep this coming guys. I'm a soup fanatic. I can eat it by th bucketful.

Growing up, my mom wasn't the greatest cook in the world, just good solid home cooking, but the lady could make soup. She had about a dozen different soups that she would make and would rotate them. She could make a Scotch Broth that could bring a corpse back to life on a cold winter day. The price of her visits to the States was that she had to make a huge pot of soup at least twice during her visits. Ah, I miss her.

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I'm with you Frank. Nothing like a good bowl of homemade soup.
Right now I have 6 containers in the freezer from last year of a rockin' tomato basil that I made from 'maters and herbs from my brother in law's garden.

I added some shredded carrot to the soup-which is actually more like a chowdahh, then made some bread sticks to go with it.

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...a=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbs=isch:1

jpr62902 said:

JEV, this means you. I want that lentil soup recipe (a decidely tempting photo of which you posted not too long ago).

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I'm still waiting for that recipe as well. I was given all the ingredients in a mason jar with a ribbon around the neck with directions to put the contents into 7 cups of water, bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes and serve. This came from a friend's wife in return for some honey whole wheat sandwich rolls I made for them. I'll e-mail him again and see if he can get her to send it to me. It was damn good soup!

My friend e-mailed me the ingredients for the Curried Lentil soup, so here you go:

16oz. dry lentils (there were 3 colors of lentils in the jar, but I would guess any lentils would work)


3-1/2 tsp salt

3 tablespoons dried onion flakes

1 tablespoon curry powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1/2 cup dried apple and or dried cranberries

Put all in a pot with 7 cups of water (more if you want to stretch it and thin it out a bit), bring to a boil then turn down, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

JEV said:

My friend e-mailed me the ingredients for the Curried Lentil soup, so here you go:

16oz. dry lentils (there were 3 colors of lentils in the jar, but I would guess any lentils would work)


3-1/2 tsp salt

3 tablespoons dried onion flakes

1 tablespoon curry powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1/2 cup dried apple and or dried cranberries

Put all in a pot with 7 cups of water (more if you want to stretch it and thin it out a bit), bring to a boil then turn down, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

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I'm not a big fan of curry, Joe, but something tells me I'm still gonna try your recipe anyway.

I found a recipe for "German" Lentil soup and here it is:

Ingredients:
1 package (16 ounce size) dried lentils
3 quarts ham stock
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 drops hot pepper sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground caraway
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped yellow onion
2 tablespoons bacon grease
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon freshly minced parsley
1/2 pound ham, diced
Croutons for garnish
Directions:
Pick over lentils, removing any grit. Place in stockpot; add stock, bay leaf, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, nutmeg, hot pepper sauce, caraway and celery salt. Bring to boil over high heat; reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Add water as needed, up to 2 quarts, to retain soupy texture. Stir in carrots, celery and onion and cook 10 minutes more.
Meanwhile, in separate saucepan, combine bacon grease and flour. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until just browned, to make roux. Add roux to soup, little by little, until soup has consistency of gravy. Add parsley and ham, simmer 5 minutes more to heat through. Serve hot, garnished with croutons.

jpr62902 said:

Holy carp, Lolita! I'm tryin' to lose weight, not gain it!

But, I'm still gonna try it.

Click to expand...

Soooooo.. did you ever try it?

pirate_girl said:

Soooooo.. did you ever try it?

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I haven't lost the weight yet ...

jpr62902 said:

I haven't lost the weight yet ...

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'cause you be phat...

jpr62902 said:

I haven't lost the weight yet ...

Click to expand...

A sure sign of aging. It becomes more difficult to drop the pounds as we age, sans an illness. I have found that portion control of the same foods I always eat is a good approach. Additionally, adding more fresh veggies (steamed) also help, short of becoming a raving animal whilst on a strict diet. I want to die well fed, not well built for the coffin.

Here's my family's favorite soup-

Pappy’s Chicken Soup


5 cups chicken stock
2 cups vegetable stock
4+ boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cubed
1 large onion, diced
1 large carrot, sliced thin
2 stalks celery, sliced thin
½ cup red lentils
¼ cup pearl barely
1 cup yellow split peas
¼ cup brown rice
¼ cup wild rice
¼ cup parsley
1 ½ tsp. Italian seasoning
1 bay leaf
salt to taste
fresh ground pepper to taste
¼ tsp. Cayenne pepper
¼ cup white rice
8 medium mushrooms, sliced thick
4+ garlic cloves, minced

Combine all but the last three ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and let it cook for about an hour, stirring regularly to keep it from catching the bottom of the pot. If it gets too thick, add some additional water or stock. When the peas and lentils are cooked, add the white rice, mushrooms, and garlic, then cook another 25 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and serve.

Looks good, Pappy! But I'll probably need to take some Beano before trying it (or sample it in solitude).

my favorite soup

my original base

Zuppa Toscana like Olive Garden

2lbs hot bulk italian sausage
2 lbs potatoes
3 cups half and half
hot chili's to taste
1/2 cup ham for the smokiness
3 cups chicken stock
14 cups of water
1 bunch of kale
shake of tony's while sausage is cooking
1 large diced onion
2 cloves garlic

Saute Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in pot. Drain excess fat, refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients.


In the same pan, sautee bacon, onions and garlic for approxiamtly 15 mins. or until the onions are soft.
Mix together the chicken bouillon and water, then add it to the onions, bacon and garlic. Cook until boiling.


Add potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour.
Add heavy cream and cook until thoughouly heated.
Stir in the sausage.
Add kale just before serving. Sprinkle with lots of cheese.




slow cooker version(both versions are equally good)


1 lb mild italian sausage
1/2 large onion chopped
6 cloves garlic
3 14oz cans chicken stock
28 oz water
i bunch kale
parmesan cheese(shaker kind)
1 pint half and half
1 lb potatoes sliced
1 tablespoon of cajun seasoning
1 whole dried red chili chopped
pepper

brown meat,add spices,onions,garlic..drain grease... put everything in crockpot except half and half/kale...cook on high until potatoes are tender...add kale,cream,some parm..stir and cook until kale is tender...doesnt take long...top with more parm.