Spicy Autumn Soup

It's that time of year!  Soup!  I love making soups, but I can never create the same one twice, so I've decided to start writing down what I did so I can remember some of these amazing creations.

Of course this time of year is full of pumpkin this, squash that.... it's dizzying.  But Trader Joe's had
a few spectacular things on the shelves that inspired this soup for me.  Photos help, so I'm including those.

I also cooked by candlelight (Brownie thinks I'm insane for doing this) so I didn't have a chance to take many photos during the process, which is why you get to admire this lovely shot of my leftover soup in tupperware.  You're welcome. I promise it's just as scrumptious leftover!  Noodles a little softer, but still good!

This has a kick to it, so be ready to clear those sinuses!  It's also incredibly filling, so small portions go a long way.

Here Goes:

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil
• 1 Cup Chopped Onion
• 1 Cup Chopped Celery
• 1 Cup Chopped Carrot
• 6-10 Garlic Cloves - Minced (however much or little you prefer)
• 1 Stick Salted Butter
• 3 small zucchini, sliced or chopped as you wish
• 1/2 Cup Chopped Bell Pepper
• Truffle Oil (totally optional but they have a tiny bottle of this amazingness at Market of Choice if you want to use it)
• 1 Package Trader Joe's Cheese & Garlic Croutons
  
  
  
• 1 Package Trader Joe's Fall Zucchette Pasta
• 1 Jar Trader Joe's Autumnal Harvest Creamy Pasta Sauce
• 1-2 Cups cooked or leftover meat of any kind that you may have on hand or need to use, chopped
• 1/2 Cup Chopped fresh Sage
• 1 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (The sauce has a bite to it, so if you're sensitive to spicy, leave this out)
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 2 Teaspoons Cumin
• 1-2 Tablespoons fresh Thyme (1/2-1 Tablespoon dried)
• 2 Teaspoons fresh, chopped Oregano (1 Teaspoon dried)
• Dash of Cinnamon
• 1 Teaspoon Paprika

Directions:

• Boil water with 1 Tablespoon olive oil and get noodles cooking in a separate pot for now.  
• Saute garlic, onion, celery and carrot with 1/2 the stick of butter and a few sprinkles of salt in a soup pot until butter is melted and onions are a bit soft
• Add water, about 8-10 cups and turn the heat up to bring to boil
• While the water is heating up for soup, add the cayenne, salt & pepper, cumin, thyme, oregano, cinnamon and paprika.  Stir.
• When water comes to a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer until the pasta is ready.
• Drain pasta, leave in the collander
• In pasta pot, put the remaining 1/2 stick of butter with chopped fresh sage - on medium heat, melt butter and cook sage until it's a bit crispy
• Turn soup back up to a boil, add jar of sauce, zucchini and bell pepper and let boil while you do the final step with the pasta.
• When the sage is ready, put pasta back into the pot and toss it with sage and butter, sprinkling with salt and truffle oil until you like the flavor
• Let Pasta sizzle in pan on medium heat, stirring often for about 5 minutes
• Add chopped meat to the pot, stirring in to let it heat up and flavor the soup a bit - 5 minutes while the pasta sizzles
• Taste the broth, making sure the flavors are where you want them, adjust as you wish.  If you didn't use enough garlic, sprinkle in some garlic powder for a quick fix :-)
• Stir pasta into the soup
• Serve soup with cheesy garlic croutons and enjoy!

This soup is very filling and this recipe will feed 6-8 people.

Jerk Chicken Ramen

Last summer when we were camping, we came up with our Camping Ramen but we've wondered ever since....how would we make it if we were at home?  Not to mention, how could we make it healthier?  I'm the soup lady in our house so last night, I did it!

It turned out great!  Anxious to have it for lunch today and see how those flavors transformed overnight.  My one hiccup was that we were out of Jerk Seasoning for our chicken.  Oops!  So much for relying on memory!  But I powered through and we made our own, just click the link above if you're interested in doing the same or can't find a Jerk seasoning where you shop.  We always use a wet rub when we marinate our jerk meat.

Keep in mind that my spice measurements are just your jumping-off point!  You'll want to add or subtract depending on the flavors you prefer and how you like your soups to taste!

Enough blabbering, here is what I did:

Ingredients:

• 6 packets Ramen Noodles(throw those evil spice packets OUT) or Six bunches of the noodles shown here (found them at Costco)
• Two containers of broth (I use vegetable because ..MSG)
• 2 Zucchini
• 3 Large Carrots
• 4-5 medium Mushrooms (I used Cremini)
• 1 Large Onion (we used a yellow onion)
• Olive Oil (or preferred cooking oil)
• 1 Tablespoon dried basil (dried or fresh - your choice)
• 2 teaspoons Poultry Seasoning
• Salt to taste
• Black Pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon Garlic Powder (use fresh minced if you prefer)
• 1/2 teaspoon Smoked Paprika (if you have it)
• Jerk Chicken, cooked

Directions:

• Chop onion and carrots, put in a soup pot with cooking oil to coat, add basil, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic powder and smoked paprika, stir to combine.  Cook on medium heat until onions are soft.
• Add broth and add about 6-8 cups of water, depending on the size of your pot (if you don't have a soup pot and are making this in a standard 5-quart stock pot that comes with cookware sets - I would suggest cutting this recipe by 1/2)
• Bring to a boil and let simmer for 20 minutes
• While water is simmering, chop your zucchini and mushrooms
• Taste broth and adjust your seasonings so that the flavor is right where you want it (I may have added a pinch of jalepeno salt, a dash of truffle oil, put in more salt, a pinch of cumin for flavor ... just kept going until it was where I liked it.  Keep in mind when you throw in the Jerk Chicken - a lot of flavor will come in at that point, so don't over due the spice factor!)
• Add zucchini and mushrooms to the pot and stir, bringing to a boil again
• When water boils, add your noodles and stir.
• When noodles are nearly finished, turn the heat down to low and chop your jerk chicken, adding to the pot.
• When everything is well combined and hot - scoop and serve!

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Mexican Chicken Soup (with recipe)

Threw this together tonight for my first adventure in canning soup. I actually wrote down a recipe!!! Sort of; soup is about taste and personal preference. I listed my ingredients but no quantities because well...everyone likes different flavors. Soup depends on the size of your pot as well. Always remember that soup grows quickly and you can end up nearly overflowing the pot if you're not careful. I always make too much :

But soup freezes amazingly well and it can be pressure canned if you're so inclined. 

Chicken...I just buy a whole organic cooked chicken and pull the meat, shredding and tearing it into small pieces. It gives me a good balance of light and dark meat and if I don't use the whole chicken, I have plenty for chicken salad later. Ain't nobody got time to cook a whole chicken! If you prefer large chunks of chicken, you can absolutely cook some thighs or breasts and chop them. Totally your call.
I also don't prep for this until I'm cooking. The time it takes to cut and chop and shred chicken gives the soup time to simmer and flavors to make friends. 

Taste your soup after stirring in batches of anything and adjust your spices and salt. Taste constantly. Add small amounts at a time; you can always add more but you can't take it out! You'll know the soup is done when the veggies are soft and you taste it without thinking something is missing. With soups, I follow a rule my friend from India gave me: if it's missing something you can't put your finger on, add cumin. This has NEVER failed me :-)

Ingredients:
Chicken, cooked
Canned black beans, drained and rinsed
Canned tomatoes
Salsa
Canned green chiles
Chopped onion
Chopped celery
Chopped carrots
Raw garlic cloves
Zucchini and yellow squash, sliced and quartered
Cumin, salt, chili powder, cilantro, thyme, garlic powder to taste

Directions:
1. Sauté onions, carrots and celery with olive oil until soft, adding fresh minced garlic halfway through.
2. Fill pot with water until covering vegetables, bring to a boil.
3. Add zucchini and yellow squash, add water to cover vegetables again. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
4. Add salt and spices to taste
5. Add chicken, keep simmering
6. Add beans
7. Add canned tomatoes, juice and all
8. Add green chiles
9. Throw in some salsa for flavor

10. Simmer and adjust spices until the flavor is what you want. If you want spicy, add some cayenne pepper a little at a time.

Superbowl Sunday

Brownie is a huge college football fan, but neither of us are too interested in the NFL.  The kids were playing and running around the house with the game on, but no one was glued to the TV much.  So we decided to do what we do best - cook!

We now have food for the week and the kids were patient with us because we baked cookies :-)  Win/Win!!!!