15. Country Vegetable Chowder

This recipe is from Not Your Mother's Weeknight Cooking. I was looking for something quick. I had some fresh spinach in the refrigerator so I thought I'd give this a try.

Country Vegetable Chowder

Prep Time:15 min
Cook time: About 15 min.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium-size leeks, washed, white part only, thinly sliced into rounds, then cut in half
2 tablespoons all purpose flour or whole wheat flour
2 stalks celery, diced
3 new potatoes, diced
1 teaspoon dried crumbled herbs, such as basil, thyme, or Italian blend
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
114.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 16 oz package frozen baby lima beans, thawed
6 oz fresh baby spinach leaves (about 3 large handfuls)
1 ½ cups half and half or plain soy milk

1. melt the butter in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat and sauté the leeks until limp, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle the leeks with flour and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the celery, potatoes, herbs, broth, and tomatoes and their juice. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, partially cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, until the vegetable are tender.


2. Add the lima beans, spinach, and half and half. Season with salt and simmer for 10 minutes, until steaming hot. Serve immediately.


Changes and Shortcuts: We don't like lima beans, so I substituted a can of drained and rinsed white beans. For the items that gave a choice, I used white flour, oregano (couldn't find my basil!, chicken broth, and half and half. I also added pepper and Mrs. Dash.


Results:I felt that this soup need something else. I think carrots would have been better than the beans and spinach. All in all, not bad.


Keeper? I don't think so.

24. Slow Cooked Beef Minestroneo

I made this soup last week. I am a little behind because we just came back from vacation. But now that it’s officially Fall, I hope to get back to my original mission and make a new soup recipe each week. Unfortunately, there were a few weeks that I got off track.
This recipe is from Wegman’s Menu magazine, Fall 2009, W issue.

Slow-Cooked Beef Minestrone

1 pkg (about 1.5 lbs) Boneless Beef Chuck Roast, cut into 1 inch cubes
Wegman’s Pan Searing Flour
2 Tbs Wegman’s Pure Olive Oil
1 pkg (16 oz) Food You Feel Good About Cleaned & Cut Minestrone Soup Vegetables
Salt and Pepper
1 carton (32 oz) Food You Feel Good About Beef Culinary Stock
! can (14.5 oz) Wegman’s Italian Style Diced Tomatoes
1 pkg (24 oz) Italian Classics Seasoned Tomato Sauce (Prepared Foods)
½ cup dry Italian Classics Ditalini Soup Pasta
1 can (15.5 oz ) Italian Classics Garbanzo Beans, drained and rinsed
1 pkg (6oz) Food You Feel Good About Baby Spinach

1. Dust beef with pan-searing flour; pat off excess.
2. Heat oil in large braising pan on Medium-High until oil faintly smokes. Add beef, sear 10 min until all sides are paper-bag brown.
3. Transfer beef to slow cooker; don’t discard pan drippings. Add vegetables to skillet with beef drippings; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring 3 minutes; add to slow cooker.
4. Add stock, tomatoes, and sauce to slow cooker. Cover, cook 4 ½ - 6 hours on High or 8 – 10 on Low.
5. Add dry pasta and beans 30 minutes before end of cooking on High (45 minutes before end of cooking on Low)
6. Add spinach to slow cooker; stir to blen well. Allow spinach to lightly wilt, about 2 minutes.

Changes and Shortcuts: I just couldn’t find the Italian Classics Seasoned Tomato Sauce so I decided to buy a random can of tomato sauce off the shelf. When I assembled all my ingredients the morning I was making this soup I realized that I had picked up crushed tomatoes by mistake. I remembered that I had some home made spaghetti sauce in the freezer so I quickly threw it in the microwave for a little bit to get it started defrosting. Then, after browning the meat and vegetables, I put the sauce in that pan and cooked it on low for a little while to get it pretty much defrosted before I added it to the slow cooker. I had cut up the meat the night before—that seemed like the most time consuming part of the recipe. The only other change is that I didn’t add the spinach to the soup pot. I hate how spinach in left over soup gets sort of slimy so I just added a handful to each bowl as I ladled it out, stirred it around, and voila!—it was perfect. Oh, and I added just a little more of the pasta to the pot. A ½ cup just didn’t seem like much.

Results: Pretty good. This was a nice thick soup that was very easy to make. It makes a lot so I had leftovers for lunch a few times during the week.

Keeper? YES!

30. North Woods Bean Soup

We are still doing our Quantum Wellness Cleanse. I thought I’d try this recipe because it could easily be adapted to the Cleanse. It’s from Cooking Light Soup.

North Woods Bean Soup

Cooking spray
1 cup baby carrots, halved
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
7 ounces turkey kielbasa, halved lengthwise and cut into ½ inch pieces
4 cups fat-free, less sodium chicken broth
½ teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 (15.8 ounce) cans Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 (6 ounce) bag fresh baby spinach

1. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add carrots, onion, garlic, and kielbasa; sauté 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; cook 5 minutes. Add broth, Italian seasoning, pepper and beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.
2. Place 2 cups soup in a food processor or blender, and process until smooth. Return pureed mixture to pot. Simmer 5 minutes. Remove soup from heat. Add spinach, stirring until spinach wilts. Yield:5 servings.

Changes and Shortcuts:
I substituted vegetable broth for the chicken broth and left out the kielbasa. I also thought I had two cans of white beans but one turned out to be black eyed peas. I used it anyway.


Results: Pretty much of a disappointment. I make a good bean soup (with out a recipe, but with a ham bone). This did not even come close. Maybe it’s better when made according to the recipe.

Keeper? Nope

34. Garlicky Tortellini Soup with Tomato and Spinach

I received a new cookbook for Mother’s Day, Not Your Mother’s Weeknight Cooking.(ISBN 978-155832369-1) The first recipe I picked from this book is for soup! Just a few ingredients and only a little bit of time are required. I even had time to make some biscuits from a mix.


Garlicky Tortellini Soup with Tomato and Spinach

Cooking Method: Stovetop
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: About 25 minutes

2 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
5 cups chicken broth or a combination of broth and water
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 package (about 9 ounces) fresh or frozen cheese tortellini
One 14 ½ ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
12 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves (about 6 large handfuls)
Salt
Freshly shaved or grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until just fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minutes; do not brown or it will get bitter. Add the broth and pepper flakes. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Add the tortellini and cook about half as long as the package directs. Add the tomatoes and their juice. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the tortellini is tender. Stir in the spinach and cook until just wilted, about 1 minute. Season with salt and serve, passing the cheese at the table.

Changes and Shortcuts: No shortcuts necessary. The only change I made was to use a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes rather than plan.

Results: Very good soup with very little effort! (best eaten fresh)

Keeper? YES!

36. Tuscan Chicken Stew

I’m not sure a stew is considered a soup, but this recipe was in my Cooking Light Soup cookbook so I decided to give it a whirl.

Tuscan Chicken Stew

½ teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 lb. skinless, boneless, chicken breast, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
½ cup fat-free, less sodium chicken broth
1 16 oz can cannellini beans or other white beans, rinsed and drained
1 7 oz bottle roasted red bell peppers, drained and cut into ½ inch pieces
3 ½ cups torn spinach

Combine first 4 ingredients, and toss well. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken mixture and sauté 3 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add broth, beans, and bell peppers, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until chicken is done. Stir in spinach, and simmer 1 minute. Yield: 4 1 cup servings

Changes and Shortcuts: Yesterday, I cut up the chicken, tossed it with the rosemary, salt, and pepper. I put it in a covered container in the refrigerator so it was all set to go tonight when I got home from work. While that was cooking, I was able to rinse and drain the can of beans and chop the red peppers.

Results: This was very easy to make and very good. It didn’t have much liquid to it, so maybe I would add a little extra broth the next time.

Keeper? YES!