Soup Spice Everything Nice

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Bombay Chicken and Rice

I honestly do not remember how I came across this recipe. Over the years I have changed the recipe a bit. The original recipe used all canned ingredients; chicken, English peas and plain diced tomatoes. I wanted more spice and fresh ingredients. So I started using left over chicken or even grilled chicken. I punched up the spice by using Rotel tomatoes. This recipe is spicy! So if you can't handle the heat, use plain tomatoes or mild Rotel. This time I used the rest of the poached chicken from the Curried Chicken Salad I just made. Sometimes I make the rice with out the chicken and grill a chicken breast seasoned with curry powder. Both techniques are delicious. I LOVE the warm and spicy flavors of India in the rice dish. The texture is great too. I like the crunch of the cashews and the fresh pop of the peas. It is another quick meal that is flavorful and colorful to boot.

Bombay Chicken and Rice

Servings: 4

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. butter

6 oz. box curry rice pilaf mix

10 oz. skinned and boned poached chicken, diced

10 oz. can original Rotel tomatoes, drained

1 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup unsalted cashews

Directions

Prepare the rice according to package directions for stovetop or microwave. Stir in the chicken, tomatoes, and peas in the last 15 minutes of cooking time. Cook according to directions until the rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Serve garnished with the cashews.

Note: If you cannot find a curry pilaf mix, add 1 tablespoon of curry powder when you add the seasoning mix.

Linking to:

Dizzy Busy & Hungry: Wine'd Down Wednesday

Buns In My Oven: What's Cookin' Wednesday

Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday

Turnips 2 Tangerines: Four Seasons Blog Hop

Love Bakes Good Cakes: Freedom Fridays with All My Bloggy Friends

Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo

Monday, March 31, 2014

Vegetable Cheese Soup

Here is yet another soup from the WW Recipe Review board. I usually make it with California style veggies and light Velveeta. But for some reason I could not find the California vegetable mix at the store. I selected Italian style as a substitute. As far as the Velveeta goes, I have been hearing lots of hype about a shortage and even more comments about it being fake cheese. So I attempted to use a blend of shredded cheese. I saw a copycat recipe that used a blend of Colby jack, cheddar and Swiss. So I used one cup of Colby jack and three fourths a cup of both cheddar and Swiss. I really liked the flavor more than Velveeta but when it comes to melting you can beat Velveeta. The cheese did melt sort of, but it had some stringy ribbons of cheese that did not. I think Velveeta is the way to go for this soup. I may try one more time in the future. I read that adding a little flour or cornstarch to the cheese will help it melt into soups. We will see? I used the homemade chicken broth from the chicken I poached for the Curried Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps. It was so good! Here the the garlic flavor of the broth added so much to the soup. I will use homemade stock again in the future. This is a great cheesy vegetable soup. I look forward to another cup for lunch tomorrow.

Vegetable Cheese Soup

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

2 lbs. frozen mixed vegetables (California mix, Italian blend, etc.)
4 cups fat-free low sodium chicken broth
1 (10 oz.) can mild Rotel tomatoes
10 oz. light Velveeta cheese or mix of 2% shredded cheese (cheddar, Colby jack and Swiss)

Directions

Put first 3 ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Add the cheese, stirring to melt the cheese. When heated through, serve.

Linking to:
Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo
Call Me PMc: Marvelous Mondays Link Party
Tumbleweed Contessa: What'd You Do This Weekend?
Jam Hands: Recipe Sharing Monday
Memories by the Mile: Treasure Box Tuesday
It's Your Life: Tuesdays with a Twist
Turnips 2 Tangerines: Four Seasons Blog Hop
Love Bakes Good Cakes: The Ultimate Soup Recipe List Linky

Curried Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps

I am really fond of lettuce wraps these days. They are fresh, crisp and low carb. Lettuce wraps are a great way to scoop up both warm and cold fillings. I decided this weekend to update an old Curried Chicken Salad recipe and use it as a filling for a lettuce wrap. The original recipe was from a Weight Watchers cookbook. It was an open faced sandwich we use to make with canned chicken. For this wrap, I wanted to learn how to poach the chicken. I turned to Rachael Ray for a recipe and she did not disappoint. Rachael's Poached Chicken is full of flavor, tender and moist. The secret is she lets the chicken cool in the poaching liquid. Using her recipe I had four perfectly poach chicken breasts for my wraps and two quarts of chicken broth for future soups. This is definitely a method I will use in the future. The chicken was perfect in the Curried Chicken Salad. I love this combination of chicken, apples, grapes and curry. I used a homemade curry powder I saw on the Dr. Oz show. But you can use a store bought curry powder too, I have in the past. It adds a warm spice to the yogurt-mayo dressing that complements the sweet, tart flavors of the grapes and apples. This salad is great as a lettuce wrap. It makes for a nice fresh and filling meal, an update worth making again real soon.

Curried Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps
Servings: 2

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. light mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. plain non fat Greek yogurt
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp curry powder
8 oz. skinned and boned poached chicken, diced
1 small apple, diced
12 large seedless green grapes, cut into quarters
Dash each salt, white pepper and cayenne
4 lettuce leaves

Chopped pecans (optional)

Directions

In medium bowl combine mayonnaise, yogurt, lemon juice, and curry powder. Stir in chicken, apple, and grapes; season with salt, pepper and cayenne. Spoon a fourth of the chicken salad into each lettuce leaf. Garnish with pecans (optional).

Curry Powder

Source: Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary as seen on Dr. Oz

Ingredients

5 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 large bay leaf
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1 small (1.5 inch) piece of a cinnamon stick
5 cloves
2 tsp turmeric powder (reserve for later)

Directions

Grind all of the above ingredients, except for the turmeric powder, in a coffee grinder. Afterward, add 2 tsp of the turmeric powder. Mix all ingredients together.

Linking to:
Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo
Call Me PMc: Marvelous Mondays Link Party
Tumbleweed Contessa: What'd You Do This Weekend?
Jam Hands: Recipe Sharing Monday
Memories by the Mile: Treasure Box Tuesday
It's Your Life: Tuesdays with a Twist
Buns In My Oven: What's Cookin' Wednesday
Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday
Turnips 2 Tangerines: Four Seasons Blog Hop
Love Bakes Good Cakes: Freedom Fridays with All My Bloggy Friends
Carole's Chatter: Food on Friday - Apples

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Barbecue Pork and Vegetable Soup

Burgoo has been on my to do list for quite a while. I just never get around to putting it on the list. Well this week I made my Slow Cooker Roast Pork and had plenty of leftovers. When I thought about what to do with it, Burgoo came to mind. I looked at the recipes I had saved and went looking in the pantry. I couldn't make either recipe. So I improvised. I guess you can say this soup is “Burgoo” inspired. Definitely not authentic, but really delicious. It is sweet, smoky and loaded with veggies. If you don't have leftover pork I am sure leftover chicken, brisket, sausage or any combination would be delicious. I still plan to make an authentic burgoo one day, but I plan to try this again with chicken and sausage too. Yumm! BBQ Soup!

Barbecue Pork and Vegetable Soup

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1/2 bell pepper, chopped

2 stalks celery, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (14.5oz.) can fire roasted tomatoes with seasonings

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups beef broth

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables with lima beans

1 cup frozen O’Brien potatoes

2 cups shredded leftover pork roast

1 cup barbecue sauce

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Kosher salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes, to taste

Hot sauce, optional for serving

Directions

In a soup pot, saute onion, bell pepper, and celery over medium –high heat until onion begins to get translucent. Add garlic and saute one minute. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour. Cook until potatoes and lima beans are tender. Serve with hot sauce if desired.

Linking to:
Love Bakes Good Cakes: The Ultimate Soup Recipe List Linky
Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo
Carole's Chatter: Food on Fridays - Leftovers

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Recipe Review: Creamy Roasted Asparagus Soup

The other day I ran into the grocery store for just one or two things. At the front door was tons of asparagus bunches. They were beautiful! When I look for asparagus they are never this pretty. So I scooped up two bunches and ran to get the things on my list. When I got home I searched Pinterest for a recipe. That is when I found this Creamy Roasted Asparagus Soup on Gimme Some Oven. Ali is such a smart girl. She roasts the asparagus and other veggies before she makes her delicious soup. But what is really amazing about her recipe is she adds thyme and vermouth. The soup was just a green vegetable soup for me until I added the vermouth. It really came alive with that addition. I love this soup with the "herbie" flavor of thyme and vermouth. I will definitely make this recipe again.

P.S. This one is dear sister approved too!

Honey Roasted Garlic Hummus

Remember the great smooth hummus experiment I have embarked on? In the first experiment I peeled the garbanzo beans before making my Traditional Hummus recipe. It really did make a difference in the texture, much more smooth. This weekend in experiment number two, I cooked the canned garbanzo beans. Now, I read that some people cook the beans for 1 to 2 hours. I thought that was a little excessive, besides believe it or not I don't think I have the patience for that. Ask anyone, I have a lot of patience. Maybe just not the patience for hummus? I decided to cook them for the amount of time it would take to roast garlic to add to the hummus. Cooking the beans did soften them quite a bit. I still saw a skin or two floating around looking to make trouble. But the end result is that the hummus is quite smooth. It looks grainy but the texture is really smooth. I would use this method again for hummus flavors that required roasting the other ingredients. For example, this would be great for my Spicy Tomato and Olive Oil Hummus.

Now let's talk about flavor. This hummus recipe is for all of you who love garlic's sweet side. You know how when garlic is perfectly caramelized it is sweet and no longer pungent. You might think that a whole head of garlic is too much. Not when it is roasted. It is just wonderful. In this case, the honey helps to caramelize the garlic. This flavor combo is really well balanced. It does not taste like just honey or just garlic. This hummus has a smooth sweet hint of garlic. I garnished with a drizzle of honey and a roasted garlic clove or two. I loved the carrots with this hummus. For some reason the carrots brought out the sweet garlic flavor the most. I like it when experiments are delicious.

Honey Roasted Garlic Hummus
Makes about 2 cups, Serves 16 (2 Tbsp. serving)

Ingredients

1 head garlic
2 tsp. honey
2 tsp. olive oil
1 can garbanzo beans (drained, reserving liquid)
3 Tbsp. tahini
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
3/4 tsp. kosher salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Drain the garbanzo beans reserving the liquid. Place beans in a pot and cover with water, about an inch more than the surface of the beans. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once beans begin to boil lower the heat to medium low and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cut the top 1/2 inch off the head of garlic, exposing the cloves. Set the garlic in the center of a square of heavy aluminum foil. Pour 1 teaspoon of the honey and 1 teaspoon of the olive oil over the garlic, season with salt, replace the top, and fold up the sides of the foil to make a package, crimping the top tight. Bake until very tender and golden, 45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. When garlic is cool enough to handle, carefully pop out the garlic cloves by pushing up from the bottom. Reserve one clove for a garnish (optional).

Remove beans from the heat and drain. In the bowl of a food processor, add garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, roasted garlic, salt, remaining honey and olive oil. Blend until smooth, drizzling in a 1/3 cup of the liquid from the can. Add more liquid depending on how thick you like it.

To serve: Place 2 Tbsp. on a plate or in a ramekin. Drizzle with honey or olive oil. Garnish with the reserved roasted garlic clove (optional). Serve with veggies or pita for dipping.

Linking to:

Dizzy Busy & Hungry: Wine'd Down Wednesday

Buns In My Oven: What's Cookin' Wednesday

Easy Life Meal and Party Planning: Four Seasons Blog Hop

Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday

Horrific Knits: Inspired Weekends

My Turn for Us: Freedom Fridays with All My Bloggy Friends

Tales of a Pee Dee Mama: Food on Friday

Adventures with Jude: Sunday Sharing Pinterest Party

Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo

Monday, March 17, 2014

Hot and Sour Vegetable Soup

This is another recipe I found on the WW recipe review board. I have been making it for years. It is so fast to prepare, in the time it takes to bring the broth to a boil you are done. It is hot (spicy) and sour (tart). But you can adjust it to your taste. If you want more heat add more garlic chili sauce. If you are not one for the pucker of lemon or vinegar cut back on those ingredients. This is so delicious and very guilt free. It is a wonderful way to stay warm and get in a big serving of vegetables.