spicy leek and potato soup
As you know one of my favorite things in the world is soup. One of my newest faves is an easy spin on leek and potato soup. I’m working on adding more veggies to my diet and having meatless meals more often, and this soup does both with making me feel deprived. It’s not really low calorie, but any broth based soup that fills you up is going to be lower calorie than most meaty meals anyway.
This one is super easy, and it’s a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes. If you don’t want to make mashed potatoes just for this, you can use a small package of instant. Keep in mind I’m not so perfect with the measurements. More or less any of these ingredients won’t make much difference. Sweat your onions, not the small stuff.
- 3 medium leeks, cleaned and julienned
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- about 1 cup mashed potatoes, or use equivalent instant
- 36-48 oz can chicken broth (less if you use real mashed potatoes, more if you use instant)
- 2 tbsp butter or olive oil
- Salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup any cream (optional)
I like my onions pretty well cooked (crunchy onions in soup = ewww!) so start sweating your onions in the butter or olive oil first. Don’t brown them, just make them translucent.
While those cook you can prep your leeks. I like to split them down the middle and finely julienne them so I have fairly small pieces. Then I put them in a big pot of water to soak. The leeks will float and the dirt that is always caught in them will fall to the bottom. Once they are clean just skim the leeks right off the surface of the water and put them in with your onions to cook down.
When the leeks and onions are both translucent you can add your broth, potatoes, and spices. If you like your soup a little creamier you can add some half and half or whatever you have on hand. Simmer for a few minutes, and it’s ready.
Note: I like my soup pretty spicy so I add about 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne, but you can skip that if you don’t want it hot.
Let me know if you try it! I’m going to have my leftovers right now…
simple egg drop soup
Some days I crave Chinese food in the worst way, especially the soups. Oh, how do I love hot and sour soup and egg drop soup. This is one of those days!
Instead of ordering out I make a simple, quick, and low calorie egg drop soup that is just as satisfying, and better for me, than the restaurant version.
Simple Egg Drop Soup
One cup of water.
One bouillon cube (Preferably low sodium because holy cow do you know one regular bouillon cube is almost half of your daily sodium allowance??!)
1/2 cup to 1 cup fresh bite size spinach - I use baby spinach so I can throw in the stems and all and I don’t have to tear it up.
1 large egg
Microwave the water and bouillon in a large mug 1-2 minutes until it’s boiling and bouillon has dissolved.
Beat one egg with a fork in a separate bowl.
Slowly slide the egg into the water (or equivalent broth) and stir gently. Add in the spinach.
The hot water will cook the egg and wilt the spinach perfectly!
Now enjoy your 84 calorie lunch!
By the way, you can replace the spinach with anything you prefer: diced scallions, julienned Chinese peapods, bean sprouts, cooked carrots, water chestnuts, kale, etc. I just happen to like spinach in my soups and generally have it on hand.
it’s all about the pie
So this past Saturday I had committed to working at a bake sale for a local charity that I’m involved with. Well you can’t go work a bake sale and not bring something baked to sell! I knew others were bringing cookies so that was out. What’s even easier than cookies? Pie. Pumpkin pie is way easier than cookies! Apparently other people don’t think so though.
I brought six pies and I got a number of comments about how ambitious that was. More ambitious than dozens of cookies? No way!
Cookies have to be portioned out evenly on the pans so they all look the same. They have to be watched carefully as they cook or they’re likely to burn. They have to be baked in batches because there’s never enough room in the oven. You have to wash the cookie sheets in between batches since you never have enough of them. You never ever get to leave the kitchen when you make cookies.
Six pies? That’s just six pre-made crusts spread over six tin foil pans. A few ingredients all mixed together in the biggest bowl you have. All can be baked at once. All come out at the same time. Plus or minus a minute or two of cooking time won’t ruin them, and they take long enough to bake that you can go sit on the couch for a while! Easy peasy!
At least I thought so, until I got an email from someone who bought one, loved it, and asked if I would make more for her. Huh? She thought I did if for a living. Huh? It occurred to me that not everyone realizes how easy it is to make a pumpkin pie. Have they always just had the crappy ones from the grocery store and don’t know the difference? Seriously?
Have any of you never made a pumpkin pie?
If you haven’t you really should try it. Don’t worry about the crust. No one cares about the bottom crust anyway, just use the Pillsbury ones that you unroll out on to the pie plate. (Now pies with a top crust are different. You really need to make homemade crust for that. Sorry!) Pumpkin pie is all about the filling.
So here’s my recipe for easy pumpkin pie, adapted my way from the back of a can of pumpkin.
1 - 15oz can of pumpkin (do not use the One-Pie brand, only use plain canned pumpkin)
1 - 12oz can of evaporated milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla (I use just a little extra - and I do use homemade vanilla so that makes a slight difference in taste.)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg
dash ground cloves
Mix well with whisk. Pour into pie shell.
Bake at 450 for ten minutes then turn oven down to 350 for another 30 minutes. At this point it’s good to cover the crust with a little tin foil (or a crust cover if you have one) to keep them from over browning. I hate burnt crust! Keep baking for another 10-20 minutes - until you stick a fork in and it comes out clean, and it doesn’t jiggle. Really scientific!
Oh, and no, I didn’t bake more pies for her. I have to work on my real job so I sent her this recipe instead!
Filed Under cooking, recipes Tagged cooking, food, holidays, pie, recipes
tortilla soup
I haven’t posted a recipe in ages. I was typing up this soup recipe I created over the weekend and I thought it would be great for today’s post - it’s chilly and overcast out and a warm hearty soup is perfect.
This soup was good enough that DH wants to eat it a third night in a row tonight! I figured if we like it that might you might too.
Quick and Hearty Tortilla soup
1 package ground chicken or turkey
1 large (48 oz) box chicken broth
2 cups tomato juice
1 ½ cups cooked rice
2 tablespoons dry quinoa
1 package taco seasoning
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can corn, drained, or use frozen
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
5 or 6 pepperoncinis, chopped fine, or other equivalent hot peppers
1 tablespoon minced garlic
chili powder
cumin
black pepper
lightly crushed tortillas
In soup pot, cook down carrots, celery and onion with a splash of olive oil. Add a tiny bit of broth as needed if it starts to stick.
In a separate pan, cook ground chicken or turkey with the taco seasoning, cumin, chili powder, and black pepper to taste.
As the veggies have cooked a bit, add corn, garlic, peppers, and black beans. When everything is hot through, add chicken/turkey mixture, tomato juice and chicken broth.
Bring to bowl, add quinoa and rice, and lower heat to a simmer for 20 minutes or until quinoa is cooked. Taste test for seasonings. Serve with crushed tortillas on top.
Btw, if you’ve never cooked with quinoa, you should really try it - it’s considered a super food and it’s a great way to bulk up a soup with extra fiber and nutrients.
Filed Under cooking, food, recipes Tagged cooking, quinoa, recipes, soup
cooking, just for fun
You all know I like to cook, but when it comes to making meals day in and day out, it gets a little tiring. With no little one around this week relying on me for sustenance, I resolved to only cook what I felt like, when I felt like. That’s just what I did today.
I had two things in the pantry that I wanted to use up. A bag of hot dog rolls. Not yucky, but just a little dry and past their prime. Eh, If hot dog rolls really have a prime that is. I also had a can of condensed milk that was nearing it’s sell by date. Do those two things together inspire you? Make you think of anything?
How about bread pudding?
Specifically, caramel bread pudding:
Oh. My. God.
I sort of threw this all together, and it came out perfectly. Not one measurement was done in the making of this lovely concoction.
But I can make it up for it you if you really want me to.
- A bag of stale bread
- one can condensed milk
- about a cup or so skim or 1% milk
- about 1/3 cup cream
- about 2/3 cup brown sugar
- about 1/4 cup caramel (I used caramel ice cream topping)
Mix everything all together, put it in a 9×12 baking pan, and stick it in the oven for about 40 minutes at 350. You will not regret it.
Moving on. Do you remember the many pounds of strawberries I picked, cleaned, and froze?
Mmmmmmmmmmmm.
Did I ever mention we have a little Cuisinart ice cream maker? It’s pretty sweet. Heh.
We hadn’t used it in awhile, but knowing we had all those strawberries made us pull it out and get it going.
Can you say fresh, homemade, strawberry ice cream?
The recipe is straight from the Cuisinart recipe booklet.
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 pint strawberries (I run them through my food processor - I don’t like huge frozen chunks.)
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
DH wants you to know the pudding and the ice cream were best together, although I preferred mine separate! I’m picky that way. He also thinks the pudding would be even better with chopped apples and some raisins. I hate raisins, but I agree that the apples would be fantastic.
No, we didn’t have a real meal today. Just dessert. And popcorn at the movie theater. Indy’s still hot, baby! I might need to go cool off with some more ice cream.
Filed Under cooking, food, recipes Tagged bread pudding, cooking, food, ice cream, recipes
Mmmmm, Guacamole
Since I’m still slammed with work this week (penguins are cute but they all start to look alike after awhile and I still have a long way to go) and I bet you are too, I thought I would post the absolute easiest recipe in my repertoire. This is the dish I always bring to parties.
Easy Guacamole
- 2 ripe avocados
- 1/4 cup sour cream (light or fat free work fine)
- 1/2 package of taco seasoning (I use Old El Paso 40% less sodium)
- 1/4 cup finely diced tomatoes (can also use equal amount of salsa from a jar)
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion or scallions (skip if using salsa)
- dash of lemon juice
- dash of hot sauce
Mash avocados very smooth. Add all other ingredients and mix well. Cover with saran wrap so it is touching the top of the guacamole (so it will not brown before serving.) Chill until ready to use. Stir again just before serving.
Now I’m craving some guac and chips! I hope you like it as much as I do!
lazy man’s (or busy woman’s) chicken corn chowder
(Yesterday I promised a little something new and fun this week! Well, here it is! My latest recipe is cross-posted over at Chop. Stir. Mix. It’s the cutest foodie site ever, and it’s a great resource for busy women. Go see for yourself!)
Back when dh and I were living in Northern Virginia we would sometimes go to Red Hot and Blue, a bbq restaurant that was just down the street from us. One of the menu items we both loved was their chicken corn chowder, which had just a hint of smoke and heat. Now that we’re back in New England I can’t get no RH&B, so I had to come up with my own version of the chowder.
Now, mine certainly isn’t the same, and it would NEVER be called gourmet, but the flavors are perfect, it’s hearty, and it’s one of the easiest meals I make. I could boil the potatoes myself and I could bake the chicken myself (and sometimes I do.) I could also milk a cow myself (hee hee), and heck I could grow the corn too (well, probably not) but some nights I just don’t have time to do anything but open cans. Do you have those nights too?
The point is, I’m giving you my easiest version of this, and you change it up however you want, k? The only super duper important things here are the roasted corn and the spices.
Lazy Man’s (or Busy Women’s) Spicy Chicken Corn Chowder
2 cans corn, one drained, one not!
2/3 bag frozen roasted corn (I had a 1 lb bag from Trader Joes)
1 package pre cooked diced chicken, or 1 cup diced baked chicken
1 can diced potatoes drained or 2-3 boiled potatoes diced
1 can cream of potato soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 ½ - 2 cups milk
1 cup light cream (if using skim milk use more cream and less milk)
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne pepper
chili powder
optional:
4-5 scallions or 1-2 small onions chopped fine
2 tbsp butter/margarine
(If using onions or scallions, start by lightly sautéing them in butter.)
Get a big pot and dump in all of your ingredients, all the corn, (including the can with the water), cream of potato soup, cream of chicken soup, potatoes, milk, cream. Slowly heat on Medium to a low boil (not roiling), then turn to low to simmer. If soup is too thick add extra milk or a little water, if too thin add extra cream or more corn. Add cayenne, chili powder, salt and pepper to taste, (remember the canned soup has salt already so go easy.)
Simmer for a few minutes to meld the flavors, and enjoy!
ps. Here’s a printable pdf version if you want it! spicy-chicken-corn-chowder
Filed Under recipes Tagged chicken corn chowder, chowder, cooking, food, recipes
not your mama’s vanilla
I have a secret.
Well, it’s not really secret, but I only learned it a few years or so ago, and I’m going to share it with you.
For awhile now, every time I bake something, most notably brownies, I get rave reviews, and requests for more. Frankly, I don’t think I’m that much of a baker. I find a recipe I like and I stick to it. My chocolate chip cookies are always tollhouse. My oatmeal cookies are off the quaker oats container top, my cakes are always box mixes.
My brownie recipe is taken from the back of the box of unsweetened hersey’s baking chocolate. (Which I might add I’m having trouble finding in my local grocery stores lately so I’m glad I photocopied it long ago. Do they not make it anymore?) Anyway, the only difference between mine and the printed recipe are that I underbake them a bit, I sometimes add chocolate chips too, and I use REAL VANILLA.
Real, homemade, vanilla.
Did you know you can make your own vanilla? and if you do it will completely change your baked goods forever. For the better.
Here’s what you do. You go to a health food store and you buy whole vanilla beans (maybe three or so.) Second you go to the liquor store and you buy some vodka. (Maybe a quart? Doesn’t really matter. If I made a whole gallon I’d probably put in 10 beans.) You take them home and swig a shot you take a sharp knife and cut a slit all the way down each vanilla bean. You put your beans in the bottle of vodka. You DATE THE BOTTLE with a marker. Put it in some high cupboard for a few months and forget about it. I like to wait at least six months, but some people say you can start using it within a few weeks. I beg to differ.
When it’s ready you can start using it the exact same way you would store bought vanilla. But I warn you, make enough that you don’t ever have to use the artificial stuff again, because you will disappoint everyone in your life if you give them brownies any other way, ever. When you start getting low, just make another quart gallon. Right now would be a great time to start a batch that you can later re-bottle in something cute and give away as presents for the holidays. Just be sure when you put some in a fresh, smaller bottle, at least one of the beans goes with it.
ps. I learned all this from my mom! I’m pretty sure her first batch was made in a 30 year old bottle of vodka they had hanging around the house. It was awesome.
pps. I’ve started a batch in a small bottle of clear rum instead. I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
stuffed mushrooms
Well, I’ve gardening so much lately that my time for cooking has been very limited and my meal creativity has been sorely lacking. One day last week I was wandering the grocery aisles looking for inspiration and found some very nice large white mushrooms and in the meat department there was some fresh chicken breakfast sausage on sale. Hmmm. Any idea where I’m going with this?
I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to put it all together, but when I got home I remembered I had a package of cream cheese and some garlicy/cheesy dip mix from tastefully simple (but any flavor dip mix would work!) I mixed up the dry dip mix with the cream cheese (room temp for ease in mixing) in a large bowl, and stuck it in the fridge to meld the flavors.
Preheat your oven to about 325.
Next, wash and dry the mushrooms well. I usually fill a bowl with cold water and a good splash of vinegar and let them soak for a minute to get all the dirt off. When they’re dry, you can snap off the stems and set them aside for soup or something. Sometimes, not enough snaps off so I just take a knife or a small spoon and scrape out a little more. You want lots of room for the filling. If any of the mushrooms crack a bit - no worries - use them anyway!
Line a cookie sheet with foil and put your mushrooms on hole side up. Bake for 10-15 minutes. When you pull them out of the oven you will notice they are full of water. You need to get rid of all the liquid. I just use a paper towel and dip them in each individually until the liquid is soaked up. You can do your initial cooking with the mushrooms upside down so they drain better, but then you’ll have to flip them when they’re super hot and delicate (and slippery!) - and that’s not so easy!
While the mushrooms are baking you can start the sausage.
The sausage was the loose kind without the casings, but it you only have the kind with the casings just strip the meat out and throw the casing away before you cook them. I just throw the sausage in a frying pan and drain off the fat when it’s done. Make sure you break up the meat pretty fine while you’re cooking. You don’t want huge chunks.
Take your dip out of the fridge and dump the hot (drained) sausage into it and mix all together. The heat from the sausage will make it really easy to work with.
Now you just need to put a heap of stuffing in the mushrooms! I also put a bit of provolone on the very top of each one for a nice bit of melty goodness.
Stick the pan back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so - use your judgement - if the cheese is nicely melted and maybe even a little browned on top - they’re ready. Honestly, there’s no rules on this one - just whenever it seems hot enough.
These mushrooms were super yummy, made a nice meal, and it gave me lots of ideas on variations:
If I were to use hot italian sausage I would probably use plain cream cheese (no extra seasonings.)
If I used sundried tomato and basil chicken sausage (my favorite!) I would add some italian seasonings to the cream cheese.
Any good melting cheese on the top would work - mozzarella, white american, whatever, I just happened to have provolone on hand. Also, using sliced cheese is easier than shredded on this - it won’t fall off the top.
If I made this for company I might use the smaller button mushrooms for bite size portions, and I would put a bit of parsley, rosemary or basil leaf etc. on top for a pretty effect. By the way, neither dh or the boy would try this one - but that meant more for me!
Ingredient list:
- 2 or 3 packs of fresh large white button mushrooms (depending on the size of the packs err on the side of more mushrooms - you’ll be surprised how far a lb of meat will go)
- 1 lb or so fresh sausage, any flavor, sans casings
- 1 package cream cheese (I’m sure the light kind would work well too)
- 1 package dry dip mix (garlic or ranch or italian, the variations are endless, mmm maybe pesto!)
- a couple slices of cheese (again - whatever you have on hand!)
That’s it! So easy!
Filed Under cooking, food, recipes Tagged food, recipes, sausage stuffed mushrooms
chili, omg chili!
Well, I’ve been working on perfecting my chili recipe for some time now, and we tested the latest incarnation on dinner guests last night. I think it’s okay now!
I doubled this recipe and it made way more than I needed but I was able to send our friends home with some and still have leftovers for us. If you’re going to spend the time on it you might as well make lots right?! Yeah, in order to double the recipe, I did have to finally break down and get myself a large, 6 quart crockpot. And it’s red - oh so cute!
Anyway, it’s long but here is the recipe:
Crockpot Spicy Pork Chili
This chili does take a little time (so worth it), but not a lot of effort. It’s a pretty fluid recipe, meaning it’s never really the same twice if you do it right!
Day one ingredients:
Pork roast, whatever cut you like, I use a boneless loin, about 2 lbs.
1 bottle or can of beer, your choice
Roasting bag or crockpot
Hot sauce
Chili powder
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A day ahead of when you want to serve the chili, put the roast and the beer in the oven bag and follow the directions – usually 325 for 1 and ¼ hour for a 2 lb roast.
If you don’t have or don’t want to use the oven bag, (though I love it for easy cleanup,) you can cook the roast in the beer in your crockpot: chunk it up and cook on high for 2-3 hours, stirring once or twice.
After the roast is cooked and cooled, shred or cube it into tiny pieces and immerse it back into the cooking liquid. Add some hot sauce and some chili powder to your liking and let set overnight in the refrigerator. The meat will soak all the liquid back up. If it needs a little more liquid you can add another half a beer or so.
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Day two, now for the rest of the chili ingredients:
2 cans black beans, one rinsed and drained, one not
1 can small red beans, rinsed and drained
16 oz jar basic salsa, pick your own heat, I use medium. (or 12oz can tomato sauce, or diced tomatoes, plus chop your own green peppers, onions, jalapenos etc. I think it’s easier to use the salsa and no one will ever know.)
1 small onion, minced fine
3-4 cloves garlic, minced fine, or 1 heaping tbsp. pre-minced garlic, (do not use dry garlic powder if you can help it.)
big handful of fresh cilantro, chopped fine
packet of dry chili seasoning, taco seasoning, whatever you have, (or lots of extra chili powder)
at least a couple tbsp of cumin, more if you love it like I do (I use it by the handful!)
Don’t be afraid of the spices: black pepper, cayenne pepper if you like spicy, smoky paprika, sage, ground coriander seed.
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6 hours before serving time, (leave the pork alone!) start with a clean crockpot and throw in the drained and rinsed beans, salsa, extra onion, garlic, cilantro, and all the seasonings and spices. Lots and lots of spices!
Make sure your crockpot is large enough that it is only half – 2/3rds full at this point. You need room for the meat.
Let this cook on high, covered, stirring occasionally for four hours.
2 hours before serving time, add the pork, if there is a lot of liquid left you can dump it or add it depending on how thick you like your chili. Let this get hot again, half and hour or so, and then turn down to low. If it seems too watery you can leave the cover off for the last hour so it can thicken up. Keep stirring occasionally.
Serve with any favorite toppings: shredded cheddar, chopped green onions, sour cream.
If you want to print it, here it is in pdf:
If you try it, let me know what you think!