Mulligatawny Soup

Chicken Rice Curry Soup

Ingredients:
2 TBSP butter
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup peeled, chopped, Granny Smith apple
2 TBSP flour
1 TBSP curry powder
1/2 tsp ground cloves
5 cups chicken broth
1 cup peeled, seeded, chopped tomatoes (or 1 cup drained canned diced tomatoes)
1 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup rice
1 lb chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:
In a large pot melt butter over medium heat.  Add the onions, carrots, celery and apples.  Cook until soft, about 5-8 minutes.  Add the flour, curry and cloves.  Cook 1-2 minutes; stirring constantly.  Add the both, tomatoes, and lemon juice; stir to combine.  Add rice and stir.  Reduce heat and partially cover, simmering for 10 minutes.  Stir occasionally.  Add chicken and simmer 5-10 minutes until chicken and rice are cooked.  Season with salt and pepper.


*My notes: I don't use the cloves because I'm not really a fan of their flavor.  I use canned tomatoes and lemon juice from a lemon juice container.  I also cook my chicken first.  I can't remember if I cook my rice first of not.  And next time I make it, I'm trying it with brown rice.

El Pinto Green Salsa Chicken Enchilada Soup

I started being obsessed with soup last winter. I kept trying to drag soup season out, wanting to convince myself that it was still cold enough to be serving soup to my family. But eventually spring warmed up and summer approached and I had to admit that soup season was over.

But now it's back, almost. I bought all of the stuff to make my favorite soup about a week and a half ago, but then it warmed back up and I couldn't serve it to my husband who just rode a bike home for 30 minutes in 80 degree weather. But today, today I woke up to thunder and lightening. And even though it stopped raining early on, it never got above 60 degrees. A bit of a stretch, but we had soup for dinner, nonetheless. Mmmm... I wonder how many nights in a row I can serve my husband soup for dinner without him complaining. And how many alternate dinners I can create to feed my kids since for the most part, they won't eat soup.

Here's one of my favorite recipes:

El Pinto Green Salsa Chicken Enchilada Soup

Ingredients:
3/4 of a 3 lb. bag of chicken tenderloins
Lawry Seasoning Salt
celery salt
chili powder
garlic salt
pepper
2 jars El Pinto mild green chili salsa
1 bag frozen white corn
3 cans chicken broth (plus all the drippings from the cookie sheet)
2 cans white beans - drained
2 cans black beans - drained
2 - 8 oz. cream cheese - cubed
cheese
sour cream
tortillas or tortilla chips

Directions:
Put chicken on foil covered cookie sheet and season with the five spices. Bake for 1 hour at 350. Save drippings from pan.

In a pot, add 2 jars salsa, corn, chicken broth, chicken drippings, chopped/shredded chicken, white beans, black beans, cream cheese. Warm soup and serve with cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips. (I like to tear of tortillas and add them for the last few minutes of cooking as well.)

My Mom's Autumn Soup

I love Autumn/Fall. Maybe because growing up in California, I never really saw leaves change color, etc. Due to warmer weather, our leaves changing color have been delayed. So sad. But here is one of my favorite Autumn recipes.

Autumn Soup
(My mom made this for Halloween every year when I was a kid. I guess she figured we needed to get some veggies in with all that candy.)

Ingredients:

1 lb. Ground beef

1 cup chopped onions

2 cups hot water

1 lb. 12 oz. Can of chopped, stewed tomatoes

1 cup cut up carrots

1 cup cut up celery

1 cup cut up potatoes

½ tsp. Salt

½ tsp pepper

2 cubes beef bouillon

1 bay leaf

pinch of basil

Directions:

Brown beef and onions, cook 5 minutes. Add water, tomatoes, vegetables, and seasonings. Mix and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 20-30 minutes. Sprinkle cheese on top.

We always serve it with Marie Calendar's cornbread.

Chili with Corn Dumplings

On a cold rainy day like today, I'm wishing I hadn't already made this for dinner this week.

Betty Crocker's Chili with Corn Dumplings

1 1/2	lbs lean ground beef
3/4	cup chopped onion
1	can (15.25 oz) Green Giant® whole kernel corn, undrained
1	can (16 oz) stewed tomatoes, undrained * I also add 1 can of kidney beans
1	can (8 oz) tomato sauce
2	tablespoons chili powder
1	teaspoon red pepper sauce
1 1/3	cups Original Bisquick® mix
2/3	cup cornmeal
2/3	cup milk
2	to 4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or parsley, if desired

1.	Cook beef and onion in Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain. Reserve 1/2 cup of the corn. Stir remaining corn with liquid, tomatoes, tomato sauce, chili powder and pepper sauce into beef mixture. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.
2.	Mix Bisquick mix and cornmeal. Stir in milk, cilantro and reserved 1/2 cup corn just until moistened.
3.	Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto simmering chili. Cook uncovered over low heat 10 minutes. Cover and cook 10 minutes longer or until dumplings are dry.

Baked Potato Soup

image from here

It was 1996. I had just started at BYU and was home to get my wisdom teeth pulled during a break. Jed had a broken ankle. My mom's brother was in town. He took us (my parents, Jed, and I) out to dinner at Tony Roma's. It was the first and only time I've eaten there. Since I'd just had my wisdom teeth pulled, and we were eating at a restaurant famous for its ribs, my choices for a meal were limited. I ended up getting their baked potato soup. It is the yummiest soup I've ever eaten. I saw this recipe* today and decided one of these cold fall days I'm going to have to give it a try.

*I have another Baked Potato Soup Recipe from a Taste of Home recipe winners cookbook that I'll have to post later on... remind me.

Clam Chowder

I don't like fish. As a kid, I would have said I hated it. I still mostly prefer fish sticks over anything else. I've expanded my fish eating tendencies, but just a bit. I would probably die in Poland at Christmas time (not really, but I'd definitely not enjoy the food.) Other than fish sticks, and sometimes certain salmon dishes, I only like clam chowder. My parents would take us to this fancy (not really, but we thought so as kids) restaurant and they'd order fish and us kids would get clam chowder. I loved it. I still love it. I don't really love the chewy rubberness of the clams, but I try not to think about that.

The following is a combo of my mom's Aunt Thurma* and my brother-in-law's yummy clam chowder recipes:


Clam Chowder

Ingredients:

1 cup onion, finely chopped

1 cup celery, finely diced

2 cups potatoes, finely diced

1 cup carrots, finely diced

2 cans (6.5 oz. each) clams, undrained

¾ cup butter

¾ cup flour

1 quart half and half

**1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

Directions:

Combine vegetables in small saucepan. Drain clams; pour juice over veggies; add enough water to barely cover. Cook, covered until tender – about 15 minutes. In meantime, melt butter in large heavy saucepan. Stir in flour until blended and bubbly. Remove from heat; stir in cream until smooth and blended. Return to heat; cook and stir with wire whisk until thick and smooth. Add undrained veggies and clams; heat through. Season with salt and pepper.

*My only memory of my Great Aunt Thurma is when she visited my house when I was 6 or 7, right before my grandma and grandpa died and she would read and read all of my Care Bear books to me.

**Because my mom is pretty sure my great aunt used more heavy whipping cream in her recipe than my brother-in-law does. It was the olden days, people were less health conscious.

Pasta and Vegetable Soup

I got this recipe out of a Kraft Food magazine (I think) several years ago. It's quick, yummy and even my kids (well, one of them) will eat it.


Bread decoration, complete with bites taken out of it courtesy of Jed.

Pasta and Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:
1 9 oz. pkg. Buitoni refrigerated 3 cheese torellini (cook according to package directions)
1 container (15 oz.) Buitoni Refrigerated marinara sauce
1 14.5 oz. can low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup carrot slices*
1/2 cup broccoli florets*
1/2 cup sliced and quartered zucchini*
Grated Mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Combine sauce and broth in large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add vegetables; return to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover. Cook for 10-12 minutes*. Stir in pasta; heat through. Top with Mozzarella Cheese. Makes 4 servings.

*The recipe actually calls for a 16 oz. pkg. of frozen vegetables, but I'm not really a frozen veggie kind of person. I usually steam my fresh veggies before adding them to the marinara/broth mixture so the cooking time there can be reduced.