Spinach Soup

"I do not like green eggs and ham. 

I do not like them, Sam I Am"

Most days our tropical Hawaiian weather is a natural deterrent to any desire I might have of enjoying a hot bowl of soup. Yesterday on the other hand the weather was chilly and I realized I really wanted to eat soup for dinner. Unfortunately I didn't know what soup I wanted to eat. I didn't want a tomato-based soup nor did I want chicken noodle. Most of all I didn't want to go to the store at 4PM (rush-hour at any local grocer!) in a heavy downpour of rain (with flash flood warnings to boot!). I also had an abundance of frozen fresh spinach that I've collected over the past month and haven't known what recipe to use it in. That's when I found this lovely soup recipe. My 7 year old had this reaction:

"Mmmmm! Mom, this tastes like broccoli! We should eat this every day."

The best part about this recipe is that it's extremely easy and fast to prepare!

Pioneer Woman's Spinach Soup 
(recipe found here)

• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 10 ounces, weight Spinach
• 2 cloves Garlic, Finely Minced
• 4 Tablespoons Butter
• ½ whole Medium Onion
• ¼ cups Flour
• 5 cups Whole Milk
• 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
• ½ teaspoons Cayenne Pepper (Optional)
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• cheese and bacon for garnishing

Preparation Instructions
In a large skillet heat olive over over medium heat. Add spinach and garlic and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly until wilted. Add spinach to a blender or food processor. Pour in 1/4 cup hot water and pulse until pureed. Set aside.

In a large soup pot, cook onion in butter over medium heat until onions begin to soften. Sprinkle flour over the top and stir to combine. Cook for about 2 minutes, then pour in milk, stirring occasionally. Add salt, pepper, and cayenne and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour in pureed spinach, then cook another 3 to 5 minutes until thickened.

Check seasonings, adding more salt, pepper, or cayenne as needed. Serve in a bowl. Add a little grated cheese and bacon bits on top if you prefer. 

My Notes: 
*I have so much spinach in my house that I've resorted to freezing the fresh leaves. When I removed it from the freezer I put it in a bowl and microwaved it for 1 minute. This can replace the wilting process on the recipe instructions. If you follow this procedure just skip the olive oil process and add the garlic the last 1 minute of cooking the onions in butter.
*I only had stringy mozzarella on hand for garnishing but it tasted wonderful with the spinach/onion flavor. My husband loved the bacon and liberally garnished his bowl with this porky treat. If you decide to add bacon make sure you lightly salt the soup since the bacon adds a good salty flavor.
*I added the milk way to quickly and didn't whisk it like I think I should have. The result was flour clumps in my soup. (I was rushing to get dinner on the table before my three kids completely lost their composure!)
*I did not add cayenne pepper since I have wee-ones in my household.

Carrot and Red Pepper Soup

"Have you eaten your vegetables today?"  I was very skeptical of this recipe when I first saw it. I do enjoy carrot soups but I've only ever tasted a recipe that included cream. I was also very hesitant about the orange juice (the original recipe included orange zest but I didn't want to go that far with the citrus flavor.) The reasons I did make this recipe is because: I had a lot of carrots in the fridge to eat,  Autumn is here and I love making soups in cooler weather,  I'm trying to eat more healthy, and most importantly I read on Just that Good's site that their toddlers at this soup right up!

Well, my husband and I were pleasantly surprised at the yummy taste. My kids' verdict: they ate it in a blink so I guess they enjoyed it as well.

Carrot and Red Pepper Soup
Altered by me from 'Blogging, it's what's for dinner'

2 T. butter or olive oil
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, diced
1 lb. carrots, thinly sliced
1/2 c white rice
Sea salt and freshly milled pepper
2 T. parsley chopped or 1 T dried
3 T. dill chopped or 1 1/2 T. dried dill
Juice of 1 orange
6 cups water, chicken or basic vegetable stock

Melt the butter in a soup pot and add the bell pepper, onion, carrots, rice and 1 teaspoon sea salt. Cook over medium heat, covered until the onion has softened completely, about 10 minutes, stirring several times.*

Add a grind of pepper, the parsley, dill, orange juice and water/broth.*  Bring to a boil, then simmer, partially covered, until the rice is cooked, about 25 minutes. Cool briefly, then puree all but a cup or two of the soup and return it to the pot. Taste for salt, season with pepper, garnish and serve. This soup may be served hot as well as chilled.

*Jayne's Notes:
When sauteing the onion add more oil or butter if it gets too dry. I ended up adding a little of both for added flavor.) 
I used 4 cups broth and 2 cups water because I liked the slight chicken broth flavor in the soup.) 

Vegetable Soup

This is one of our favorite soups. It is packed with flavor but the best part is that it's low calorie! (Zero points in the Weight Watchers program.) So for all of us beginning a new year with resolutions to be healthy this is a soup I highly recommend.

Weight Watchers Garden Vegetable Soup
2/3 cup sliced carrot
1/2 cup diced onion
2 garlic cloves
3 cups broth (beef, chicken, or vegetable)
1 1/2 cup diced green cabbage
1/2 cup green beans
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup diced zucchini

In a large saucepan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray (or use butter if you want to add fat) sauté carrot, onion and garlic over low heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add broth, cabbage, beans, tomato paste, basil, oregano, and salt; bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes or until beans are tender. Stir in zucchini and heat 3-4 minutes. Serve hot.

Jayne's Notes: Feel free to add extras of your favorite veggie. I often add extra carrots since this is the best way to get my kids to eat them. On nights when my husband wants a dinner with meat I have added cooked ground turkey and the flavors really blend well.

Creamy Fire Roasted Tomato and Bacon Soup

This soup was a lovely calorific end to a year. I think my husband especially liked all the bacon flavor (and fat).

Creamy Fire Roasted Tomato and Bacon Soup
(an original by Jenny at Picky Palate...photo included)

12 strips of bacon, cut into ½ inch pieces
1 Cup white onion, finely chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 serrano pepper, seeded and chopped
4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
¼ Cup flour
3 14 oz cans reduced sodium chicken broth
28 oz can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes (Del Monte worked great as well!)
10-12 fresh basil leaves with stem
Few pinches of salt to taste
¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 Cup half and half or heavy cream

1. Place bacon pieces in a large dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Cook until browned and crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate.
2. Add onion, carrots, celery and pepper to hot bacon grease. Cook until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic for 1 minutes then stir in flour for another minute.
3. Slowly stir in chicken broth. Add tomatoes, basil leaves, salt, pepper and half of crumbled crisp bacon.
4. Remove basil leaves from soup and carefully transfer soup, in batches, to a blender and blend
until smooth. Pour back into pot and stir in heavy cream. Simmer on low for 15 minutes. Top each bowl with remaining crumbled bacon pieces. Enjoy!

*Jayne's notes: I don't have fresh basil so instead I used a shake of dried. Also, we didn't include the serrano pepper and it was plenty spicy.

Zuppa Toscana

Photo courtesy of Tuscan Recipes

Zuppa Toscana
Olive Garden's recipe adapted by Lori Hopkin

1 (16 oz) package of mild or spicy sausage
6 slices of bacon
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 qt water
2 T chicken bouillon
2 medium potatoes cut into 1/4 in slices
2 cups of kale
1/8 - 1/4 crushed red pepper (optional)
1/3 cup of heavy cream

1. In a large cooking pot cook sausage over medium high heat until done. Remove from pan. Drain fat.
2. In same cooking pot, fry bacon until crisp; remove, drain; drain on paper towels crumble and set aside. Drain all but 1-tablespoon bacon fat from pot.
3. Add onions to same cooking pot and cook over medium heat until softened. Add garlic and cooked for 1 minute. Add the water, chicken base and potatoes. Bring to boiling, reduce heat and simmer, co0vered, for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
4. Return the cooked sausage and crumbled bacon to the pot. Add the kale and crushed red pepper, if using, and simmer for 4 minutes. Stir in the cream and cook until heated through, without boiling. Serving hot.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

*An easier option would be to substitute with 1-pound bulk Italian sausage; crumble and cook until done; drain fat, set aside and continue with recipe as directed.

Jayne's Notes: I love this soup but as you can see from the ingredients it isn't for the dieting crowd. We used to have a Girls' Night recipe club and Lori shared this yummy favorite with us. It is in fact very similar to Olive Garden's Tuscana. When making this recipe I usually add another quart of broth to thin the soup. Also, kale is chewier than spinach so I try to cut it into smaller pieces for the kids' sake (but not too small because it holds it's shape and looks pretty somewhat larger leafed).

Southwestern Chicken and Barley Soup

Okay, so you all may have your doubts about eating a BARLEY soup as did I. But honestly you don't even know it's in there unless you look carefully at what you're spooning into your mouth. This soup tastes great! I wasn't tempted to make it at first but since I have two pounds of Pearl Barley that have sat in my cupboard for a year I figured I would give it a try. I wasn't disappointed. Taste of Home rates it a 5 star recipe and so do I!



Southwestern Chicken and Barley Soup
(Taste of Home original recipe)

1 c chopped onion
1 minced garlic clove
1 T oil
3 c water
1 15-oz can whole kernel corn, drained
1 15-oz can kidney or black beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-oz can tomato sauce (or two small ones)
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 14.5-oz can chicken broth
1/2 c pearl barley (uncooked)
1 4-oz can chopped green chilies, drained
1 T chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
3 c shredded or cubed cooked chicken
1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro
juice from 1 small lime or 1/2 large lime (about 2-3 T)
sour cream
shredded cheddar cheese

In a large soup pot (4-5 qts) saute onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add the next 10 ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Stir in the chicken and cook for 15 more minutes or until barley is tender. Stir in cilantro and lime just before serving.

To serve, ladle into bowls and top with sour cream and shredded cheese.