Lentil and Sausage Soup

It has taken me a long time to try lentils and I regret that I've missed out on them for so long!  What a great staple to have in your pantry.  Although they are dried, they don't require the lengthy soak that other dried beans require.  In this recipe you just rinse the lentils (make sure you look for little pebbles!) and then cook them in the soup for 2-3 hrs.  I found this recipe on allrecipes.com which is a great resource for recipes. You can find the original recipe here.  Enjoy!

Lentil and Sausage Soup

1/2 lb italian sausage
1 onion chopped
1T garlic chopped
16oz package of dried lentils, rinsed & checked for pebbles
1c chopped carrots
8c water
two 14.5oz cans of chicken broth
28oz can diced tomatoes
1T garlic powder
1T chopped parsley
2 bay leaves
1/2 t dried oregano
1/4t dried thyme
1/4 dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

Cook sausage in large pot until browned.  Add onion and garlic and saute until tender.  Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until lentils are tender about 2-3 hrs.

Posole

On my current quest of trying unfamiliar but traditional mexican fare, I started researching, that would be googling for me, posole recipes.  If you are not familiar with this, it sounds like you are saying ole with a poso in front of it.  This is a pork and hominy stew that can be red or green depending on whether you use dried chiles or tomatillos.  I decided to try the red version first.  Hominy is a type of corn which is also used to make grits.  I've never used hominy before but fortunately you can get it canned in the Latino food section so it is very accessible and easy to try.  My recipe is my own version of picking the things I liked out of the recipes I reviewed.  Toppings varied as well from sliced radishes, shredded cabbage or lettuce, sour cream, and crunchy tortilla strips.  We tried a little shredded lettuce and crushed tortilla chips.  I think the sour cream and radishes would be nice to try next time.

I used a chipotle pepper in my posole and I have a tip for you about them.  A chipotle pepper is a smoked jalepeno that is canned in a tomato sauce called adobo sauce.  You can buy a small can that has about 6 or 8 peppers in a can.  To cut down on the heat of the pepper, you can cut it open and scrap out the seeds,  which is what I did and the heat was just right for my family.  I then took an ice cube tray and seperated the pepper with a little of the sauce, one in each well, and froze them.  Once they were frozen I popped them into a freezer bag.  Now the next time I cook chili or even taco meat, I can thaw out a pepper to add to it.  Chipotles add a very nice smoky taste and well worth the additon.

Posole
2lb pork roast, cubed in big chunks
1/2 onion diced
1t salt
1/2t pepper
1t garlic powder
1t dried oregano
2t chili powder
1 chipotle pepper (to reduce heat remove seeds)
29oz can hominy corn, drained and rinsed
toppings: sliced radishes, shredded lettuce or cabbage, crispy tortilla strips, sour cream

Add onions,salt, pepper, garlic powder, and oregano to pork in a large pot.  Add water just to cover pork, bring to a boil and simmer for 1 1/2 - 2 hrs until meat is very tender.  With some of the cooking liquid puree the chipotle pepper in a blender and add back to the pot.  Add chili powder and hominy and simmer for 30 mins.  Serve with toppings.

Zatarain's Red Beans and Rice (and soup out of the leftovers!)

My family loves red beans and rice.  I've never made it from scratch with dried beans so I can't really compare this to the real thing.  I'm sure there is a purest out there somewhere that would just gasp at the thought of using packaged red beans and rice but I'm not one of them!  I really like the Zatarain's products and I get the low sodium variety whenever available.  I use one box with 1/2 a package of smoked sausage sliced up and we usually like ours with some sort of greens and garlic bread.

Now for the leftovers.........

If you only use 1/2 your sausage and save about 1/3 of your greens (we had kale this time) you can have a great soup the next night.  When I get my greens I get the Glory brand in the produce section.  They are already cleaned and chopped.  If you haven't tried kale, it's similar to collards but a little curly. 

Sausage and Kale soup

1/2 package of smoked sausage, sliced in bite sized half circles

1 1/2 c kale (collards or turnip greens would work too), sauteed with a little diced onion

1 can cannelinni beans

2 cans chicken broth

Saute your sausage till a little browned.  Add everything else plus about 1 c water.  Simmer for about 30 mins.

Brunswick Stew

The church I grew up in back in Georgia has a big BBQ luncheon every year.  They make some great BBQ pork and I get a few frozen packs of it from my parents.  I pretty much use it just for this recipe now.  The BBQ meat I use is already sauced but it's not necessary.  This is great year around but very nice in the winter for "warm me up" comfort food.

Brunswick Stew

1lb smoked pork, chopped

1lb smoked chicken, chopped

1 small onion chopped

16 oz bag frozen niblet corn

16 oz bag frozen baby limas

28 oz can of diced tomatoes

2 cans of chicken broth

1/2 bottle of ketchup

1/4 c cider vinegar
1/4 c Worcestershire
1/4 c brown sugar
salt/pepper

Saute onions in 1 T oil in large pot.  Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer for about 2 hrs.

Senate Bean Soup

So apparently there is this soup served at the Senate that is very popular.  I don't know, I've never been there but this is a good soup.  And CHEAP!  It cost about $5 for me to make the whole pot and it was a BIG pot!  The only struggle I have with soups like this one is getting the saltiness just right when using ham to season the soup.  I'm not sure if there is a trick to it or just luck.  Well mine turned out OK but I wouldn't have wanted it any saltier.  We'll make this again this winter for sure.

Senate Bean Soup

1 bag dried Great Northern Beans
2 ham hocks (or leftover ham but you'll need some ham base too)
12 c water divided
1/2 c diced onion
1/2 c diced carrots
1T oil
1t garlic powder
salt/pepper

Soak beans overnight according to package directions.  Next day saute onions and carrots in oil.  Simmer ham hocks in 4 c water for 45 min.  If you are using leftover ham skip this step and use the ham base to make 4 c ham stock.  Pull meat off of bones and add back to pot with onions, carrots, drained beans, garlic powder, and 8 c of water.  Bring soup to a boil and then simmer on low for 1 1/2 hrs.  About halfway through cooking taste for salt and pepper.

Ham and Potato Chowder

I'm still on my soup kick.  This is such an easy recipe.  It is actually and adaption from a recipe I saw on the back of my Simply Potatoes, diced potatoes with onion.  Publix frequently puts these on sale BOGO and all of the varieties have recipes on the back.  I have a bag of the southwestern hashbrowns that I'll be doing a Chicken Salsa Verde casserole recipe with and I have the mashed potatoes to do a Shepherd's pie recipe with.  We had grilled cheese with our soup but I would have preferred having the Bisquick garlic cheddar biscuits with it.  Those are awesome just require the packet of mix and water!  PS...I doubled the recipe since I was taking some to a friend so the recipe below can be halved.  As it is written I would say that it serves 10.  Enjoy!

Ham and Potato Chowder

2 T olive oil

2 c chopped ham

1/2 c AP flour

2 packets (20oz) diced potatoes with onion

1 c water

32 oz carton of chicken broth

1 can niblet corn, drained (fresh would be great too)

2 c milk

salt/pepper

Saute the ham in the oil just a few minutes and then add flour.  Stir and flour around to coat the ham and cook some of the raw flour taste out of it.  Add potatoes and water.  Stir until well blended.  Add chicken broth and bring to a boil stirring frequently to keep potatoes from sticking to bottom of pot.  You can add some salt and pepper at this point but don't add much because the ham will add saltiness to the soup.  Once to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook about 20 mins or until potatoes are tender.  Add corn and milk and simmer until warmed through but do not boil.  Add salt and pepper as needed.

Cabbage Beef Soup

I'm posting my first recipe!!

This is a great soup recipe that my coworker Nancy developed. It was a hit with my husband and two boys. It is a great way to use up some extra cabbage and is very filling. We love soups and stews (even in July!) so I'm always eager to try a new one.

Normally cabbage isn't anything that I get very excited about but maybe now I will! It was great with mexican cornbread. Yum! Thanks Nancy!

Cabbage Beef Soup

1/2 head of cabbage, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 lb. ground chuck, browned and drained
1 can kidney beans (I used light red)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can condensed tomato soup
salt and pepper

Saute the cabbage and onion in the pot after browning your ground beef. Add a little water to help steam the cabbage and cook just until the cabbage is tender. Add a little salt and pepper at this step. Add the beef, beans, tomatoes, soup, and 1/2 or 1 can of water to the pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-20 mins. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed.