Sausage, Bean, and Potato Soup

I found this recipe in Joanna Gaines' "Magnolia Journal" magazine, and it was delicious!

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil
1 14oz smoked sausage links cut in bite sized chunks (I used 2 packages of Italian sausage, browned)
2 cups chopped onion (I didn't measure, just chopped one large onion)
1/2 cup chopped celery (I didn't measure, just chopped the entire bunch of celery)
1/2 cup chopped carrot (again, I didn't measure, just chopped a whole bunch!)
3 cloves garlic, minced (this I did measure)
1 lb great Northern beans, soaked overnight, drained and rinsed (through long years of trial and error, I have learned that the only bean my family will willingly eat in soups is light red kidney beans, so I used 2 cans of those instead of great Northern beans.  Also, that meant no soaking overnight!)
2-3 boxes chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dry Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp black pepper
8 cups torn fresh kale, stems removed (the kale in this soup is actually really good, but I found that 8 cups was too much.  Next time I will probably half that)
8 oz tiny new potatoes, quartered (I used more)

To Make:

In large soup pot, heat 1 T olive oil over medium heat and then brown the sausage.  Remove from pan and set aside once browned.  Add remaining oil to pan (another 1 T) and saute the celery, onion, and carrots, and garlic.  Cook and stir until tender, about 8-10 minutes.  Stir in beans, broth, sausage, bay leaf, Italian seasoning, and pepper.  Bring to boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Add kale and potatoes and bring to boil again, cook til potatoes are tender, about 20-30 minutes.  Remove and discard bay leaf.


My family really liked this soup, even with the suspicious greens floating about in it (kale!).  They all declared they would eat it again.  Winner!

Lasagna Soup

This was AMAZING!  Just soooo delicious, and loved by each member of my family, even the one who doesn't like tomatoes.  I saw it floating around facebook and decided to give it a try.  It was a hit!

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds Italian sausage
one large onion, chopped
2T tomato paste
2 bay leaves
3 cloves garlic
2-3 cans diced tomatoes
6 cups chicken broth
1 pound rotini noodles

8 oz ricotta cheese
1 cup parmesan cheese
small amount of mozzarella cheese (just to sprinkle on top of each serving)
fresh basil
pepper

How to Make:

Brown the sausage in the bottom of a stock pot.
Add the chopped onion, tomato paste, bay leaves, and garlic.  Let cook for a few minutes til onion is slightly softened.

Add the diced tomatoes and chicken broth.  Let simmer for 30 minutes.
Pour in the rotini noodles and bring to boil.  Let boil for 8-10 minutes til noodles are cooked.

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, combine the ricotta and parmesan cheeses with a bit of pepper.

To serve:  spoon soup into a bowl.  Top with a spoonful of the ricotta/parmesan cheese mixture, then sprinkle some mozzarella cheese over all, and place bits of fresh basil on the very top.  Voila!

This was scrumptious.  My family (currently 7) scraped the stock pot clean, so when I make this again I will double the recipe.  Definitely a winner!

Tomato Curry Lentil Stew

I was searching for another good recipe that uses lentils, as I have lots of them, and found this one at allrecipes.com. I made a few changes to it and it turned out very well! I served it with applesauce bread topped with honey.


Tomato Curry Lentil Stew

1/2 cup dry lentils (I used one full cup)
1 cup water (I used much more, about 6 cups, and could have added even more)
6 oz stewed tomatoes (I used one regular sized can which was 14.5 oz)
1/8 cup chopped onion
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 tsp curry powder (I used one T)
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

I also added:

2 potatoes, diced
1 T beef soup base
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice

Combine lentils, rice and water. Bring to boil. Lower heat to simmer and add tomatoes, potatoes, onion and celery. Cover and let simmer 45 minutes. Check every 15 minutes to stir and add water if necessary. Add spices and let simmer 15 minutes more for flavors to meld.

Verdict: Very, very good! Hearty AND tasty. Everyone liked it and my husband loved it. Will definitely make again!

Taco Soup

This was super easy to make, and everyone liked it. A winner! It's another one from the Happy Housewife.

Taco Soup

1 lb ground beef (or turkey, or can go meatless for the vegetarian version)
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can diced tomatoes, or about 3 fresh ones chopped up with 1 T Italian seasoning mixed in
1 15 oz can tomato sauce (I used a 32 oz jar)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn or 1 small pkg frozen corn (which is what I used)

shredded cheddar cheese - as much or as little as you like
plain yogurt or sour cream - again, as much or as little as you like
avocado, chopped - optional
Frito Lay corn chips

Brown the meat, drain fat and add taco seasoning. Add all other ingredients and cook til heated through. Let simmer for 15 minutes. You can add water if you want to stretch it a bit further. If you add water, it will look more like soup, without the water it looks like thick stew.



I didn't have any chips so left that ingredient out, but my family would have loved it if I'd put corn chips in! The other 3 of the last 4 ingredients I added directly to the soup, but you can use them as a garnish if you'd prefer, or if anyone in your family has dairy allergies (add to individual bowls instead). This was a winner with everyone - will definitely make again!

Split Pea Soup

Someone graciously gave us a ham this summer, and I dearly love ham! I love it because it's delicious, but also because you can do so much with it. We ate ham meat for two dinners, used it to make several lunch sandwiches, froze two baggies of cut up ham to use in other recipes, and I made soup with the ham bone. It is very easy to make and there are long periods of time when you don't need to be in the kitchen, but it is an all day thing, so plan accordingly.

Split Pea with Ham Soup

In large stock pot, cover ham bone with water and slowly bring to boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and let simmer for 2-3 hours (3 is better if you have the time, but I've done it for only 2 and the soup was still delicious!). Add a bit of water if necessary. The water will become your soup base, so you don't want to let it all boil off. When ham bone has finished simmering, pull out of water with tongs and let cool on cutting board. Strain the water that is left in your stock pot for fatty deposits or bits of gristle.

Cut up:

carrots
onions
celery (optional)

Add these to the water and bring to boil again. Cut any clinging ham meat off the bone after it's cooled, and add this to the soup. Throw bone away. Add in other ham meat if desired. Add 2-3 cups of dried split peas (3 if you want thicker soup). Reduce heat and let the soup mixture simmer again until split peas are soft and mushy (about 1.5 to 2 hours). Salt to taste. Eat and enjoy!

Italian Pinto Bean Soup

This dish needs a fancier name because it was really good. I mean, REALLY good! Italian Pinto Bean Soup just doesn't do it justice. At the very least I think I would call it "Italian Sausage and Bean Soup". The sausage gave it a really yummy flavor and added some "oomph" to the soup. The entire family loved it and I found myself wishing that I'd doubled the recipe. It is another one from Crystal at the Family Homestead.

Italian Pinto Bean Soup

4 cups dry pinto beans (or about 3-4 cans of prepared beans from the store)
water for soaking (if you start with dry beans)
8 cups water for cooking
1 T salt
1/2 to 1 pound sausage (leave out for a vegetarian meal. I used bratwurst from the freezer and just squeezed the sausage out of their little bratwurst casings)
olive oil (if not using sausage)
1 small or medium onion, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic (I used 1 tsp garlic powder instead - I need to buy a new garlic press!)
1 green pepper, chopped (optional)
1 T Italian seasoning
1 can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

If you start with dry beans:

The night before, put the beans in a large pot and cover well with water. Let them soak overnight. In the morning, drain the water that they soaked in and then add the 8 cups of fresh water you will cook them in. Add salt to the beans and cook until soft. Once the beans are cooked you can drain the water, cool and then freeze them for later use, or set them aside still in the water to make the soup that same day.

If you start with canned beans:

Cook sausage along with onion, garlic, and optional green pepper. If you are not using sausage, cook the onion, garlic and green pepper in a bit of olive oil until soft. Then add the sausage/veggie mixture to the cooked beans in a soup pot. Add the remaining ingredients and heat until the cheese is melted and the flavors are blended. In individual bowls, garnish with a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese on top.

Verdict: Absolutely delicious! A couple of the children picked out the green peppers, but that was it. It had my husband and I craving more. Will definitely make again!

Moroccan Lentil Soup

This is a crockpot recipe from Stephanie at crockpot365. I will tell you right up front to click on the link and go to her blog and see the way it is supposed to look, because I had to substitute a few key ingredients and mine looks like some slightly soggy kidney beans and veggies. But I will also tell you right up front that man was this good! It had quite a kick to it, which my husband LOVED. He has lived all our married life with slightly toned down food, bless his heart, and this was a chance for his taste buds to really have a party! I was not aware that Moroccan food, like Thai food, is generally quite spicey hot (as opposed to temperature hot, a distinction our children like to make). The leftovers were even better the next day!

Morrocan Lentil Soup

1 cup dried lentils (I used red)
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed (I didn't have so left this out)
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed (I didn't have pinto so used kidney)
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 chopped carrots
28 oz can of diced tomatoes, with juice
4 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 tsp garam masala (had no idea what this was so left it out)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 inch ginger, peeled and grated (I used 1 tsp ground ginger instead)

Use at least a 5 qt crockpot for this, it makes alot. Chop up all veggies and put them in the crockpot first. Drain and rinse beans, add them to the pot. Add spices and then broth and tomatoes. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours (I cooked on high for 6 hours). Soup tastes best the longer you cook it. Stephanie suggests taking an immersible blender and pulsing to blend the veggies and beans together before serving. I don't have an immersible blender so did not do this, and it was great without it.



Verdict: 4 of the children were forced to eat this under duress because of the spicyness. But because my husband loved it so much, I plan to make it again (with the right beans this time!). I will probably use a tad less cayenne pepper for the children's sake, and let my hubby add more to his bowl.

Italian Vegetable Soup

This is a very filling crockpot soup. We serve it over spaghetti noodles and all the children love it. A winner every time!

Italian Vegetable Soup

Layer in crockpot:
3-4 carrots sliced (or several more if they are baby ones)
2 small potatoes, chopped
3 ribs of celery, sliced
1 small onion, chopped
2 T parsley flakes
3-4 tsp beef soup base or beef bouillon cubes (can use vegetable soup base to make this a vegetarian main dish)
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 can red kidney beans
6-8 cups of water (depending on size of your crockpot!)

Do NOT stir. Cook on high for 4 to 4 1/2 hours, or on low for 8 or 9. Add 1 can of stewed tomatoes and ham (optional) for last half hour of cooking. Meanwhile, cook spaghetti noodles and drain. Place some noodles in bottom of bowl and top with soup. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top if desired. Yum!

Creamy White Bean and Apple Chili

This was delicious! A different take on chili. We ate it without meat, but if you wanted to add chicken or turkey, they would both work well in this recipe. I got it from the crockpot lady over at crockpot365.


2 cans of white beans, drained and rinsed (I cooked a whole crockpot of black eyed peas last weekend and then froze them in ziploc sandwich bags. If you do this, just pull out one bag full. They can be any kind of white bean, I just happened to have black eyed peas so that's what I used.)
1 onion, chopped
2 apples, cut in tiny chunks, no need to peel
3 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
3 T butter (first time I've ever put butter in my crockpot!)
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground thyme
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 cups vegetable or chicken broth, depending on whether or not you want this to be a vegetarian meal (I used vegetable, and I added a bit more because 3 cups didn't look like enough)
1/2 cup plain non fat yogurt
shredded cheese (optional ~ add after cooking, while serving)

The crockpot lady suggests using any crockpot over 4 quarts. I used a 6 quart crockpot and wish that I had doubled this recipe. It made enough to feed our whole family, but just barely. My husband loved this and was disappointed there were no leftovers to eat for lunch this week.

Put the butter in the bottom of your crockpot. Dump in the drained and rinsed beans. Chop up the onion and apple and add to pot. Add the spices and pour in the broth. Stir in the yogurt (be sure to stir this in well! there were little globs of yogurt floating in my broth because I didn't stir this in good enough. it didn't affect the flavor, but they looked strange). Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4-5 (mine was done in 4). This is done when the onion has reached desired tenderness and the flavors have melded. Stir in the cheddar cheese before serving (I sprinkled a little cheese on the tops of the individual bowls). We ate some of my homemade bread with this chili, but any hearty bread or muffin would work great. The spices gave this just enough "kick" to taste really good, but not too spicy that the kids wouldn't eat it. And the cooked apple pieces were a nice texture. No-one knew they were apples until I told them!

Verdict: My husband, myself, and 3 of the children loved this. Two of the children tolerated it. I will definitely make this again!

Chicken Noodle Soup

After serving the garlic roasted chicken, a good way to use up the chicken carcass is to make chicken noodle soup. This costs almost nothing, is very tasty, and makes your kitchen smell soooooo good all day! After boiling the chicken carcass for a few hours, strain out the bones, cut off the leftover bits of chicken, add more chicken bits from the freezer (if you have some ready to go) or leftover chicken from when you served it the first time, chop up carrots, onion and celery, and at the very end add cooked noodles. It feels like you've pulled a meal out of thin air (yay!), and our children have deemed homemade chicken noodle soup "at least as good as Progresso". :-)

Turkey/Barley/Vegetable Soup

1 pound browned ground turkey (can use hamburger instead)
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 stalks of celery, chopped
3 or 4 carrots, cut in medallions (I use half a big bag of baby carrots instead)
can of chunk tomatoes or stewed tomatoes, including juice
enough water to fill your crockpot (or however much soup you want)
3 tsp beef soup base, or 3 beef bouillion cubes

Throw everything into the crockpot and turn on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6 hours. During the last half hour of cooktime, add in 1/2 cup of barley and whatever leftover vegetables you've accumulated from the previous week. Today I'll be adding leftover corn.

I love that you can add just about anything to this soup and it tastes great. Plus the whole grain from the barley makes me feel like a good mom!

We'll add bread or muffins to this menu and be good to go!