Category Archives: soup

Weeknight alphabet vegetable soup

April 4, 2017 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

When was the last time you had alphabet soup? Now that I think of it, I can’t remember ever having it, yet I always see the cute bag of dried alphabet pasta at the grocery store and think about making it.

My 5-year-old son has been showing an interest in cooking lately so we went to the library last week to check out kids cookbooks. One of the recipes was a tomato-based alphabet soup. He really wanted me to make it.

Fast forward to 4:30 p.m. today when I was driving home with zero plans for dinner. Thankfully I had already done the shopping for this meal. It came together in a jiffy!

This soup is packed with flavor and nutrition. The reason for the flavor? Pancetta and parmesan rind. Both add wonderful depth to the soup.

I also made chicken meatballs and dropped those in while cooking. I didn’t include the recipe for those, but you could use Italian sausage or any meatball recipe you prefer.

The verdict? My son and husband gobbled up this soup! Plus, we all had fun trying to spell words in our bowls. So much fun.

Alphabet soup with vegetables

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

3-4 oz. pancetta, diced small
1 medium onion, diced
3 carrots, diced small
3 celery stalks, chopped
4-5 leaves of swiss chard, chopped
1, 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes
2 cups beef stock
2 cups chicken stock
1.5 cups frozen green beans
1 chunk of parmesan cheese rind
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoons dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
1 can of canellini beans, liquid reserved
2 tablespoons flour
6 oz. dried alphabet pasta, or small pasta of your choice
1 pound of meatballs or Italian sausage

Directions:

Add a little olive oil to a large dutch oven and turn the heat to medium-high. Add the pancetta and sauté until cooked but not browned. Add the onion, carrots, chard and celery and cook till onions are translucent, about 7 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, beef stock, chicken stock, bay leaf, garlic powder, oregano, basil pepper flakes, parmesan rind and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper. Cover, bring to a simmer and turn heat to medium-low. Add raw sausage or meatballs and simmer, partially uncovered, for about 15 minutes. Add the frozen green beans and return to a simmer for another 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, drain the beans and reserve 1/4 cup of the liquid. Whisk the flour into the bean liquid and add this to the soup to thicken it slightly.

Add the beans and pasta to the soup and simmer for 7 minutes or until pasta is done.

Serve with generous amounts of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

asian, Cooking, recipes, seafood, soup

Thai hot pot soup with shrimp & pork dumplings

June 5, 2016 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

It was blustery out yesterday and after picking rose petals in the afternoon to make rose syrup, we went up to my folks’ place for dinner. My dad had prepared what he calls “hot pot soup” the day before and had it sitting in the fridge overnight. The broth was so rich, it looked like murky Jell-o. That’s how you know it’s good.

My dad was lamenting that he’d put the pork in too early and although the broth was extremely flavorful, the meat itself was rather tasteless. I suggested I make some Chinese-style wontons filled with shrimp and pork. The two dishes combined splendidly and we were left patting our bellies and snacking on mushrooms from the near-empty pot.

Fusion Thai Hot Pot/Chinese Pork Dim Sum Soup

Serves 4

Continue reading Thai hot pot soup with shrimp & pork dumplings →

Cooking, recipes, soup

Easy sweet potato carrot soup

February 21, 2016 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

Today is a soup day. It’s rainy, grey and I just want to stay inside. Plus, after recently having major surgery, I’m on a limited diet of soft foods. When I noticed I had a couple of sweet potatoes in my pantry I decided to use them to make a blended, flavorful soup.

I’m not much of a soup chef. I have my minestrone, but that takes a lot of chopping. When a friend brought me some butternut squash soup last week she said all she did was roast everything and put it in a blender with some stock. Easy peasy.

This soup is sweet, savory and slightly creamy. Perfect for a day like today.

Easy sweet potato carrot soup

Serves 5

Ingredients:

2 sweet potatoes
3 carrots
3 cloves garlic
1/2 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
8 fresh sage leaves
3 cups chicken stock
4 oz. Neufchâtel cheese (or cream cheese)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Peel the carrots. Place the carrots and the whole sweet potatoes on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for one hour. Remove the carrots and place the whole, peeled garlic cloves in the pan. Roast another 15 minutes or until garlic is golden brown.

Meanwhile, heat the oil and butter in a pan and sauté the onions until translucent, about 7 minutes. Roughly tear up the sage and place in the pan. Sauté for another 2 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside.

After the sweet potatoes have cooled slightly it should be easy to remove the skins. Chop them into rough pieces and place in a blender with the carrots, garlic, onions and sage. Add 2 cups of stock and blend for a few minutes, scraping down the sides if necessary.

Put contents in a soup pot and add remaining cup of stock. Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

A few minutes before serving stir in the cream cheese until melted and well combined. Serve with a sprinkling of freshly grated parmesan.

Cooking, mexican, recipes, soup

White Chili – a simple weeknight meal

June 25, 2015 alaskaknitnat 1 Comment

I’ll never stop promoting Costco rotisserie chicken. It’s only $5 and not only is it delicious hot off the shelf (I sometimes don’t even bother with a plate or silverware), but the leftovers can be used for myriad dishes such as pesto lasagna roll ups, quick matzo ball soup and homemade chicken stock.

Tonight on the menu is white chili. My friend Danielle introduced me to the notion of non-tomato chili about eight years ago and when I thought of the dish for tonight I was surprised I hadn’t blogged about it yet.

This one-pot wonder has similar flavors to traditional chili. With the addition of salsa verde and sour cream you give chili night a new twist.

White chili with chicken

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
1 can diced green chiles
leftover rotisserie chicken meat, shredded
1, 16-oz. jar salsa verde
1.5 cups chicken stock
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 bay leaf
2 cans great white northern beans, drained
1 cup sour cream

Directions:

Heat oil in a dutch oven. Sauté the onions and peppers till onions are soft, about 7 minutes. Add the chiles, chicken, salsa, stock and spices. Bring to a simmer, turn to low and simmer one hour.

Add the beans and cook another 10 minutes. Add the sour cream just before serving. Top with cilantro sprigs and shredded cheddar cheese.

Cooking, recipes, soup

Vegetable Soup with Italian Sausage

January 14, 2015 alaskaknitnat 3 Comments

I haven’t ever been much of a soup fan, but tonight I may have changed my mind. I threw together a minestrone-esque stew that was bursting with flavor and vegetables.

This is a flexible recipe. Use whatever veggies you like; you can’t really go wrong.

Vegetable Soup with Italian Sausage

Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 oz. pancetta, or three slices of bacon
1 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 cups chopped red cabbage
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1, 14-oz can Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup chopped cherry tomatoes (optional)
2 bay leaves
2 tsp. herbes de Provence (optional)
3 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb. Italian sausage, casings removed
1 zucchini, diced
1 cup fresh green beans, chopped
1 can of white beans, drained
1 can of cannellini beans, drained
Grated parmesan cheese, for serving

Continue reading Vegetable Soup with Italian Sausage →

Cooking, recipes, soup

Quick Vegetable Soup

March 10, 2014 alaskaknitnat 2 Comments

I’m home sick today. During my two-hour pity party in bed this morning, I lamented over the fact that no one can bring me soup and my cabinets were bereft of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle.

It is a scientific fact that chicken soup is good for colds; but I’m not well enough to drive to the store and buy some, so I rolled my sick self out of bed, I took what I had on hand and made some delicious vegetable bean soup with a chicken broth base. Way better than store bought. And guess what? I’m feeling slightly better. Up from 61% to 68%. Not bad!

Cast of Characters:

1 Tbs. olive oil

3 Tbs. finely chopped onion

1 carrot, chopped

1/2 celery stalk, chopped

3 crimini mushrooms (or one giant baby portobello mushroom) sliced

1 sprig fresh thyme

4 cups chicken stock

1 can white beans, drained

salt and pepper to taste

Serves 2

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, mushroom, salt and pepper and sauté until most of the liquid evaporates, about five minutes. Add the thyme and stock and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, until carrots are tender. Add the beans and bring back to a simmer. Simmer another five minutes or so until beans are heated through.

The fresh veggies add more depth to the chicken stock so it doesn’t taste bland. The mushrooms create a wonderful richness and depth to the broth.

Enjoy!

Cooking, recipes, soup

Creamy Tomato Soup with Tortellini and Sausage

November 2, 2013 alaskaknitnat 1 Comment

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

5 button mushrooms, sliced (optional)

2 tbs. flour

1 bay leaf

2 cups chopped cherry tomatoes

2 Tbs. tomato paste

1.5 cans chicken stock

2 cans condensed tomato soup

1 tsp. dried porcini powder (optional)

2 Tbs. dried basil

2 tsp. dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 package frozen tortellini

1 lb. Italian sausage

3/4 cup whole milk or half and half

grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium high flame. Add the onion, mushrooms and garlic and cook till onions are translucent, about 7 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook another couple of minutes. Add the bay leaf, tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken stock, tomato soup and seasonings and bring to a simmer. Turn heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes to an hour.

Meanwhile, cook your sausages and brown them all over. Slice into rounds and brown those too. Add the sausage and tortellini to the soup. When tortellini is cooked, stir in the milk. Remove bay leaf. Serve with grated parmesan cheese and slices of buttered rustic bread.

Cooking, recipes, soup

Easy Homemade Chicken Stock

October 16, 2013 alaskaknitnat 4 Comments

Making your own chicken stock is actually pretty easy and far more delicious than store bought stock.

I like to make the most of a Costco rotisserie chicken. I can stretch it for three meals.

1. Chicken with stuffing and glazed carrots

2. Chicken pesto lasagna roll-ups

3. Chicken noodle soup

The secret to tasty chicken stock is in the bones. By crushing the chicken bones you release all the marrow and yummy goodness into the stock. You know you have a good stock when it’s like Jell-o in the fridge — that means the bones really got into the stock. I do cheat a little bit by adding a can of store bought stock just to boost the flavor, but it’s not necessary.

Whenever I’m done with a Costco chicken, I’ll take apart the carcass, crush the bones and freeze them until I have enough to make stock with. Then just follow the recipe below, no need to thaw the bones first.

Ingredients:
2-3 leftover rotisserie chickens
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
handful of fresh parsley
2 fresh rosemary sprigs (optional)
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 bay leaf
6+ cups water
1 can chicken stock (optional)
salt and pepper

Directions:
Remove all the edible meat left on the chicken and store in the fridge (in case you’d like to use it for chicken noodle soup later).
Using a mallet or a big pair of pliers, crush that carcass so that all the bones are broken up.

Heat the oil over medium high in a large soup pot. Add the onion, celery and carrots and cook for about five minutes. Add the chicken, parsley, rosemary, thyme and bay leaf and cook till onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add pepper to taste. Fill the pot with water, cover and simmer for three-eight hours. Salt to taste.

Set a fine-mesh strainer over a large liquid measuring cup and carefully strain the stock to remove bones, veggies and other flavor enhancers. You may need to do this in batches. Toss the solid ingredients. Store stock in jars. You can freeze the jars but make sure not to fill them all the way to the top to allow stock to expand when freezing (science!)

If you’re making chicken noodle soup, add the chicken meat back to the stock. Add egg noodles to boiling soup and cook till al dente. Yum!

recipes, soup

Leftover Hambone Soup

January 1, 2013 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

“If you saw two guys named Hambone and Flippy, which one would you think liked dolphins most? I’d say Flippy, wouldn’t you? You’d be wrong though. It’s Hambone.”

-Jack Handey

– November 2024 Update –

I made this recipe back in 2013 and realized I don’t really eat ham that much, so when I insisted my husband bring home a hambone from his work’s Thanksgiving lunch I decided to give this recipe another go. I made a few adjustments.

I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with my leftover Christmas ham. The bone seemed too good to just throw away. I did a few recipe searches and I found this one, and it sounded really good.

I didn’t follow it exactly, so I thought I should write out my version here. If you have the foresight to soak the beans while you’re at work, this soup could be made as a weeknight dinner. You could use canned beans in a pinch, but then the beans might not be as flavorful since the dried beans simmer in the ham-steeped stock till tender. This was the best soup I have made in a long time.

Leftover Hambone Soup

Serves 6-ish
Cook time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

1/2 pound dried beans (navy or pinto work great)
6-8 cups chicken stock
1 onion, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 meaty hambone plus extra ham
1 piece of Parmesan rind (optional)
freshly ground pepper
1 bay leaf
1-2 teaspoons smoked paprika
3 sprigs fresh thyme
4 small Yukon gold potatoes, cubed
Salt, to taste
2 tablespoons butter (optional, read recipe)
2 tablespoons flour (optional, read recipe)
Fresh parsley, to serve
Sour cream, to serve

Directions:

Pour the dried beans into a saucepan and cover with plenty of cold water. Cover and soak beans for six hours.

Drain and rinse the beans and add them to a large dutch oven. Add enough chicken stock to cover the beans by two inches. Add the onions, carrots, garlic, hambone, parmesan rind, pepper, and bay leaf. The hambone will probably stick out a bit. Cover and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low and let simmer for 1.5 hours or until the beans are tender. Add more stock if needed.

Remove the hambone and take off most of the meat. Let the meat cool and break it up into bite-sized pieces or cube up any leftover ham you might have saved so you have about 1.5 cups of ham bits. Place the bone and meat back into the pot along with the paprika, thyme and potatoes. Add more stock if it’s looking like it isn’t soupy enough. Let it simmer partially covered until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove and discard the bone, bay leaf and the parmesan rind (if you can find it – if someone finds it in their soup bowl it’s good luck maybe!) Add salt to taste.

If you’d like your soup to be thicker, create a roux as follows: about 10 minutes before serving, heat the butter in a small sauté pan. Add the flour and stir into a paste. Cook for one minute on medium. Add about 1/2 cup of hot soup to the pan and whisk till thick and smooth. Add this roux to the soup. Cook soup another 5 minutes to thicken. If it’s too thick, add a little water.

Serve in large soup bowls with a dollop of sour cream, fresh parsley and a piece of rustic bread.

Cooking, recipes, soup

Almost Homemade Matzoh Ball Soup

November 3, 2012 alaskaknitnat 3 Comments

After a long week of single mom-dom, my husband returned from his work trip with some sort of bad flu. So now I essentially have two babies to care for. In addition to his wearing a mask around the baby and sanitizing his hands non-stop, I’m making him drink all types of fluids.

Here’s where matzoh ball soup comes into play. Traditionally a soup eaten at Passover in the spring, this chicken broth-based dumpling soup brings me back to my childhood. I never had chicken and dumplings, but I don’t think I could love them more than matzoh balls. Light, moist and flavorful — homemade matzoh balls can’t be beat. But store bought is actually pretty damn good, but I like to dress it up a bit more so that it looks and tastes like mom’s. This soup can be enjoyed year round, since most grocery stores have a kosher section where this soup mix can be found.

Ingredients:

1 box of matzoh ball soup and mix (not just the matzoh meal)

2 eggs

1/4 cup cooking oil

2 Tbs olive oil

1 celery rib, chopped, keeping the leaves

half an onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded

salt and pepper

Directions:

Whisk together the cooking oil and two eggs. Add the matzoh packet and mix well. Place in the fridge while you prepare everything else.

In a large soup pot, heat up the olive oil and add the chicken, onion, celery, carrot and salt and pepper. Cook till onions are soft, about five minutes. Add 2.5 quarts water and bring to a boil. Add the soup mix and turn down the heat.

Wet your hands and form the matzoh into walnut-sized balls and drop into the soup. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Serve to sick husband.