Quick and Easy Tomato Basil Soup

I got and tried this delicious recipe from a book I have called, "Healthy Sin Food." I recommend it because it is a super positive health book, unlike some "health" books that like to shame you to bits for a couple of bad habits. Well pshaw I say - what's this one glass of wine once a week crap for instance? I'd like to know what these extreme health experts look like...they're probably cold all the time and do a lot of frowning and worrying. Well, not me. Back to the book. We all need a couple of sinful habits and well, the title and the recipes in this book grabbed me. Enjoy!

1 tbsp. of butter, 1/2 cup of onion, 1/2 cup of diced celery, 1 tbsp. flour, 2 cups of low sodium broth, 2 cans of 28 ounce/796 ml crushed tomatoes, 2 tbsp. of chopped fresh basil, 1/2 tsp. of salt, 1/2 tsp. of pepper.

Melt butter in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat and saute onion and celery until tender (3ish minutes). Add flour and stir for about another minute then slowly pour chicken broth and whisk until blended. Add the crushed tomatoes another pot and add basil and salt and pepper, as well as the chicken broth mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Allow to cool and puree in a blender to create a smooth texture (or commit soup sin and don't blend it). Reheat and serve.

Top with you like with sour cream and chives or creme fraiche (which is even more delightful) and chives.

Hero Rick Hansen's Chili

Hey, here's another recipe I got from another great Canadian, it's called, Rick's Chili and it serves 10-12.

1 lg can kidney beans, 3 lbs. lean ground beef, 1 large onion, chopped, 1 large green pepper, chopped. Cook the above ingredients together until beef is done.

Add:

1 tsp. paprika, 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, 1 tsp. salt, 1 1/2 tbsp. of chili powder (to taste), 1 lg. can stewed tomatoes, 2-3 cans whole mushrooms, 1 can tomato sauce, 1 bay leaf.

Adjust the spices depending on the crowd. Simmer as long as possible before serving, 4-6 hours. Remove bay leaf before serving. This chili freezes well.

Seriously Delicious Indian Cauliflower and Tomato Soup

OK - I hadn't planned on making this today, but instead was going to concoct a cauliflower artichoke soup (which I'll do later), but the store I went to didn't have artichokes.  Alas, a big can of shiny crushed tomatoes smiled at me so I thought, why not! OK.  I am now enjoying the most delicious, the most healthy antioxidant soup you can imagine. And not only that, on a rainy cold Vancouver afternoon such as this, it's exactly what my cold body not to mention soul needed.  Here's what I did:

Boil one head of cauliflower and then once cooked, set aside the flowerettes, reserving about one cup of the water to cook one whole chopped onion and the spices (1 tsp. of Madras curry, 1/2 tsp. of Turmeric, 1 tbsp. of garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. of cilantro leaves, 1/4 tsp. of Cumin and finally 2 tbsp. of Indian Masala spice).  You can use all of these spices, or use what you have in the cupboard.  I do however think that the curry and turmeric, garlic and Masala are key to this soup). 

While the spices and onion are melding, pour 1/2 a large can of crushed tomatoes and the cauliflower into a blender and blend until smooth and nice and pulpy.  Add to the pot of simmering onions and spices, and then add two cartons of chicken stock.  Stir together and taste to add a little more of this and a little more of that!  I found myself adding, a little more garlic, curry, Masala, etc.  Do not be afraid to add what you like.  Additionally I added two little packets of Sugar Twin to bring all the flavors together.  Finally, garnish with cilantro leaves.  Yum Yum Yum!!!!!

Orange Ginger Beef Stew

Quite simply the most spectacular take on stew I've enjoyed in a while:

Olive oil, 3 lbs. stewing beef or more depending on how much meat you want (I personally buy a 2 lb. sirloin tip roast and cube), salt and pepper, 2 medium or 1 large onions peeled and chopped, 1 bag of small nugget potatoes - 2 cups (optional),  1 small stalk of ginger, peeled and can be kept whole, 2-4 cups of beef broth (I use beef broth paste to make broth), 2 cups of orange juice, 2 cups of orange marmalade, 1/8th cup of soy sauce, 1 rounded tbsp. of five spice powder, 1 tbsp. garlic powder, and a handful of cilantro leaves.  For garnish, sliced red pepper, more cilantro leaves to top and red pepper flakes if you like.

Preheat a large pot over a medium high heat and add olive oil so the pot is covered.  Season beef cubes with salt and pepper and sear on all sides.  Remove from the pot and put aside.  Then add onions and ginger and saute until nice and brown, but not too brown. Then add orange juice, soy sauce, marmalade, five spice, onions, cilantro leaves, beef, oh yes, and beef broth, additional salt and pepper, more garlic if you like too, and bring to a boil, and turn down to a simmer.  Finally get 1/2 cup of flour and put into a separate bowl.  Add 1/2 cup of the hot stew broth to the flour and whisk until it is smooth paste.  Then add another 1/4 cup at a time of the broth and continue stirring.  Then stream the flour/broth mixture into the stew and whisk like crazy so no lumps form.  Then add potatoes (optional) and simmer for 1 hour with a tight lid so beef gets nice and tender.  Stir often and take the lid off last 1/2 hour. Heavenly! Taste and season as you like and dunk hunks of bread into it to taste!  Serve over rice or just with the potatoes.

Delicious Clean Simple Vegetable Soup

Yum, yum, yum. I love to eat and sometimes worry about cooking a clear vegetable soup because I think it won't make me happy and satisfy me. Today's soup however was perfect and yes simple and healthy and very delicious. The secret vegetable ingredient are the two leeks I cut up and added because the end result gives the soup a lovely buttery taste. Here's what I did:

Chop up and add to a pot with olive oil on medium heat, 1 whole big white onion, 2 leeks, white parts only, chopped and added to the pot. Saute until nice and soft. Then add 1 red pepper sliced and chopped, 1/2 cup of washed spinach leaves, 1 zucchini chopped, 1 /4 cup of sun dried tomatoes chopped up, add enough water (1 quart) to cover vegetables and chicken instant stock mix (about 6 tbsp). Bring to a boil then simmer until veggies are to your liking. Leeks really make this soup lovely. Enjoy!

French Onion Prime Rib Soup

Oh what to do with the ever best left over Prime Rib Roast. I spent $60 on a Prime Rib the other night fully knowing that it was too big for our family. But what's a girl to do? I couldn't leave it behind! I'd already started dreaming about the possibilities and of course the sheer soulful joy it would bring to a Saturday night dinner. And it did. We've tried other roasts in the past, and nothing compares. Well a sirloin isn't so bad. To date we've turned our Saturday night dinner into a roster of left overs. We've had the carmelized onion prime rib sandwhiches and even tossed it in a salad with blue cheese. Tonight though, on this overwhelmingly chilly evening in Vancouver, soup will do. But my God, French Onion Prime Rib Soup will really do.

Chop up lots of onion - I chopped up, or I should say sliced up 6 medium sized onions. Put about 1/4 cup of butter into a big pot and sauteed until the onion is soft. Then add mushrooms, as many as you like. I opened two cans of mushrooms and threw them in the pot and some red wine about 3/4 a cup. I had left over bottles still here from Christmas so I just poured them all in. Then slice off as much meat as you can from the Prime Rib Beef Bones and toss the bones in the pot and simmer until all the liquid from the wine is thoroughly reduced to just a little liquid. Remove the bones and set aside. Chop up all the left over roast and toss into the pot. Add about 5 tbsp. of beef bouillon to the pot with water (do proper measurements of water to bouillon which is about 1 tbsp. of bouillon to 1 cup of water). So what spices would you like to use? I added some chopped garlic, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg for the spicy warmth, and tarragon for sweetness. Now simmer. And then from time to time, taste your soup art and add a little of this and a little of that. I'm going to serve tonight's soup with some grilled cheese sandwhiches. Happy New Year by the way!

French Onion Soup

I had a lovely busy sort of weekend - surrounded by family and friends in three different homes, and many, many plates of food. This past weekend, I enjoy brioche and brie baked fabulously by an extraordinarily skilled baker who wrapped the brioche around soft succulent clumps of brie. I also enjoyed "Costo" cooked bruchetta on very thin pieces of good baguette, and then of course I happily gulped two sour apple martinis and sushi before a Hallowe'en party for which I pray I can still wash out the blue dye from my over processed blond hair.

Tonight after having so much fun and food, I decided to cook up a simple French Onion Soup with once again, using only the ingredients available to me from my refrigerator. Slice up 2 onions and toss in a few tbsp. of flour. Add the onions to a pot with a few tbsp. of butter and saute on low for about 10 minutes stirring often. Then add three to four cups of Campbell's Soup beef bouillon with 1 1/2 cups of white (I used red) wine. I also added a little thyme, pepper, and a dash of salt. Let is come to a boil first, then let simmer for as long as you like - but no more than an hour. I simply poured my soup into a bowl and added some mozzarella cheese - no baking - but bake with a little piece of garlic bread and cheese if you like.

Back on the Wagon Mediterranean Tomato Soup

Christmas was lovely, the best ever spent surrounded by all of the people I love, including two brand new babies. Our family spent our Christmas dinner at a gorgeous garden centre restaurant this year. My hubby's cousin is the manager there and they booked the restaurant and all of our family, including their own families (mother-in-laws, father-in-laws) brought the food. It was the best Christmas dinner yet! They organizers had a huge room for all of the kids to play in with X-Box, Playstation, and lots of toys for the kids to enjoy. There was also an enormous gift shop we could all browse through on the way to watching the kids play floor hockey amongst a warehouse of Christmas trees. The pine and the flower scents were intoxicatingly festive. Though I will print a couple of Christmas dishes I enjoyed, here is the back on the wagon Mediterranean Tomato Soup to cleanse our bodies of all the chocolates, stuffing, turkey, and pies. I am looking forward to the new year and am currently writing out my dreams and goals. Enjoy the soup. 

Mediterranean Tomato Soup 

1 big onion diced,  1 zucchini sliced,  2 stalks of celery chopped, 1 large can of diced tomatoes,  2 packets of Knorr's Stock Bouillon, 6 cups water, 1 cup of chopped sun dried tomatoes. Optional flavorings chipotle spice,  balsamic vinegar, 4 packets of Splenda to heighten flavor Salt and pepper.

Saute first 3 veggies in a pot with a little olive oil over medium high heat.  Once veggies are soft, add diced tomatoes, add bouillon, water and sun dried tomatoes.  Add spices.  Bring to a boil and let simmer for 30 minutes.  Enjoy!

 

Hot and Sour Soup made from left over Seviche

Last night I served Seviche as an appetizer before our company Christmas party at our house. Since there was some seviche left and because I didn't want to waste it, I turned this Mexican dish into a Mexican/Asian fusion with a very simple recipe for hot and sour soup. I just had a bowl and it is delicious.

Put left over seviche into a pot and add a carton of Chicken broth. Then add about 6 slices of fresh ginger to the pot, and 4 green onions. Then bring the dish to a boil and simmer. I then added two tbsp. of cornstarch to the pot - but you must first mix the two tablespoons of cornstarch with three tablespoons of water and mix until it is a smooth paste. Then add it to the pot and it will add a nice texture to the soup. I then added two tbsp. of Splenda to freshen the taste up together with lots of hot sauce - taste and do it to your own liking. Also add 1 tbsp. of rice vinegar, 1 tbsp. of soy and Worcestershire sauce. I also added a little olive oil to the pot as well because the recipe had called actually for 1 tsp. of sesame oil and I didn't have it. Then mix up one egg and stream it into the hot pot. It looks gorgeous and tastes amazing. If you are starting from scratch and not using leftover seviche, follow all of the above and just add 2 cups of shrimp.