Courses: Soups

Mushroom Chicken Miso Ramen

Mushroom Chicken Miso Ramen

My daughter is always asking for ramen or chicken noodle soup especially during these cold Minnesota winter months. She’s my kindred soup spirit as both of us could eat soup for every meal. It’s so flavorful, full of nutrition, warm and comforting. I’ve indulged her 

Chili Verde

Chili Verde

Finally, I’m willing to admit that my garden is done for the season. I’ve harvested all it had to offer and preserved much of it for future meals. One of the vegetables that my garden provided in abundance this year was tomatillos. These plants seem 

Quinoa Chili

Quinoa Chili

Snow falling on my pine trees equates to cravings of all things warm, cozy and filled with goodness. The most recent cozy goodness came in the form of quinoa chili which is packed with a mix of black and pinto beans and veggies which was an ideal pre-game meal before taking my son on his birthday excursion last week. My littlest little turned seven last Wednesday and we treated him to a unique experience on the North Pole Express. His love for trains has been ingrained in his psyche since the day he set eyes upon his grandfather’s masterpiece train table. He would spend all day (and night for that matter) with his grandpa tinkering with the trains if he could. This adventure on the North Pole Express was his very first ride on a real working steam train. What could be better to ring in the season with a train ride similar to the Polar Express movie. We rode for a mile up the track to the “North Pole” and got to visit with Santa himself and a number of his friends. At the end, I had to laugh… my son asked why there wasn’t a hobo on the top of the train like in the Polar Express. I guess that would have been the icing on the cake in his mind! 

In other awesome news, I was just listed as one of the top 150 food blogs by Brand Ballot!  So, after you’ve made up a batch of this warming (and vegan friendly!) quinoa chili, check out this list of other fabulous food blogs while you eat your warm bowl of cozy comforting chili goodness. Cheers!  

Quinoa Veggie Bean Chili
 
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Author:
Recipe type: soups
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients
  • 1 cup quinoa, uncooked
  • 4 cups low sodium vegetable stock or stock of any kind
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 jalepeno or serrano peppers, seeded and diced
  • 1 cup squash or pumpkin puree
  • 1 can black beans
  • 1 can red kidney beans or pinto beans
  • 1 cup tomato sauce
  • 28 oz can diced tomatoes
  • ½ cup swiss chard, finely chopped
  • 2 teaspoons oregano
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon coriander
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 2-3 teaspoons chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons pink himalayan salt or smoked salt
Instructions
  1. In a slow cooker, place all ingredients and stir together.
  2. Cook on low for 4 hours up to 8 hours.
  3. Serve hot with your favorite chili toppings like cheese, guacamole and chips!
Notes
Alternately, combine everything in a large stockpot and simmer until quinoa is cooked through.

Leftovers can be refrigerated and used within a week or freeze for future meals.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 242 Fat: 2g Carbohydrates: 39g Sugar: 7g Sodium: 660mg Fiber: 10g Protein: 11g
Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup {Dairy-Free}

Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup {Dairy-Free}

Sub-zero winter temps never fail to make me crave rich, creamy comforting soups. You know the type… those soups that coat the spoon just right and envelop your whole body in warmth and childhood nostalgia. For me, creamy chicken wild rice soup does just that. 

White Bean Stracciatella Soup

White Bean Stracciatella Soup

After this past weekend’s indulgences, I’m in need of a little detox. This white bean stracciatella soup is the perfect remedy. Stracciatella is a simple vegetarian soup that begins with a broth. With the addition of white beans and kale, this soup is nutritiously hearty and 

Vegetable Beef and Barley Soup

Vegetable Beef and Barley Soup

One of my favorite soups from when I was a kid was a vegetable beef and barley soup… from a can of condensed soup, of course, as that was the trend.  This version is packed full of wholesome ingredients, and none of the bad, making it a hearty healthy meal.

Vegetable beef and barley soup is easy on the budget as you can use the less ideal cuts of beef (like round steak) diced into bite size morsels or stew meat. Since these cuts of meat tend to be more tough, I put them in a slow cooker with the vegetables for a few hours to soften into tender melt-in-your-mouth goodness. Then, I add the remaining ingredients and continue to slow cook another few hours until all the ingredients have melded together and the barley and vegetables are tender. The resulting taste is a perfect blend of earthy and nutty goodness in a comforting bowl of bliss. Barley is a gluten containing grain (less so than wheat) so if you need to stay gluten-free, you can substitute Asian barley (also called Job’s tears) or arborio rice for a similar taste and texture.

Vegetable Beef and Barley Soup
 
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Author:
Recipe type: soups
Serves: 8 servings
Ingredients
  • 1.5-2 pounds stew meat or other beef (or venison) cut into bite size pieces
  • 1 cup turnips, parsnips or potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 2 cups celery, diced
  • 2 carrots, peeled and diced
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon pink himalayan salt (or more to taste if needed)
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen green beans, cut into bite size pieces
  • 1 cup peas
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon basil
  • ½ teaspoon marjoram
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ½-1 cup tomato sauce
  • ½ cup barley, Asian barley or Arborio rice
  • 4 cups low sodium beef or vegetable broth
  • water if needed to achieve desired consistency
Instructions
  1. Place beef, turnips, celery, carrots, onion, garlic and salt in a slow cooker and stir to combine.
  2. Cook on low about 4-5 hours until meat is fully cooked and begins to become tender.
  3. Add remaining ingredients and continue cooking 2-4 hours until barley is tender.
  4. The barley will make the soup much thicker as it cooks so if you need to add water, do so as it's cooking until you reach your desired consistency.
Notes
Any extra soup can easily be frozen for future meals!
Nutrition Information
Calories: 342 Fat: 19g Carbohydrates: 17g Sodium: 744mg Fiber: 4g Protein: 26mg

 

Creamy Broccoli Soup {Dairy- Free}

Creamy Broccoli Soup {Dairy- Free}

  With the temps dipping back into the single digits after three days of snow, a soft sumptuous soup like creamy broccoli soup is just what I need. There’s something uniquely wonderful about a soup that’s creamy, hearty and totally good for you. I can indulge and 

Sweet Potato Miso Soup

Sweet Potato Miso Soup

Guess what?!?!?  I have baby chicks!  Yes, for real. Live, adorable, fluffy baby chicks! These fluffy little ladies are the start of my backyard egg layers that will provide entertainment, enjoyment, and nutritious delicious eggs for my family.  The breeds are a variety of mostly brown egg 

White Bean Chicken Chili

White Bean Chicken Chili

SONY DSC

Oh man, do I have spring FEVER!!!  I’m dying to get my garden planted though I can’t plant anything in ground here until mother’s day. I found a cute little inexpensive five shelf greenhouse last week so I’ll start some seedlings in the next few weeks. With any luck, I’ll have beautiful baby plants in eight weeks that I can successfully transplant into my garden for fresh veggies to be garnished all summer long!  But, before cozy soup season completely leaves us behind for the advent of Spring, I want to give you this white bean chicken chili.

Most chicken chili recipes have shredded chicken but I think that gives it a somewhat odd mushy-stringy consistency at times so I used diced grilled chicken instead.  This isn’t an extraordinary revelation, of course, but this chili is perfectly comforting, creamy without having dairy and spiced just right. Topped with a little corn and cilantro and you’ve got yourself a soulful white bean chicken chili soup fit for a chilly almost spring day.

white bean chicken chili

White Bean Chicken Chili
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Soups
Serves: 6-8 servings
Ingredients
  • 3 cans white beans (I use a combo of northern white and cannellini beans)
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 3-4 cups diced grilled chicken (about 3 grilled chicken breasts)
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 jalapeño or red fresno peppers, seeded and finely diced
  • 1 poblano pepper, seeded and finely diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • 2 teaspoons coriander
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • ½-1 teaspoon pink himalayan salt (to taste - smoked salt is awesome in this if you have it)
  • 1 cup frozen corn kernels
  • ¼ cup fresh chopped cilantro
Instructions
  1. In a blender, puree half of the beans with half of the broth.
  2. Add this puree plus all other ingredients in a crockpot and cook on high 3 (or more) hours to incorporate the flavors.
  3. Alternately, place ingredients in a stockpot and simmer 30 minutes.
  4. Serve hot with additional corn and cilantro as a garnish.
Nutrition Information
Serving size: based on 8 servings Calories: 258 Fat: 2g Carbohydrates: 39g Sodium: 250mg Fiber: 9g Protein: 23g

 

Bacon Borscht

Bacon Borscht

The taste profile was like none other I had tasted. Sour, salty, tangy, earthy and rich with a hidden creaminess that caresses your tongue.  I sat at the dining table across from my husband licking my spoon at Domacin Wine Bar suddenly dreaming of creating