'Classic' Minestrone Soup

I've been making this recipe  for years now and I'm surprised I've not yet blogged it. I put 'classic' in quotes because while that's technically the name of the online recipe, I don't think that it is actually all that traditional (but what do I know?). I have used this many a time when bringing a meal for new parents, a sick friend, or other meal drop-off situations (often with a loaf of no-knead bread and salad supplies). 

I've made slight variations in the recipe, mostly depending on what I have laying around and/or the audience, but I always use the pesto (mostly/often jarred to make it easy and in the winter I rarely have fresh), and the Parmesan rind is what I think makes the dish. 

Celia and Mike went skiing this morning and she had requested vegetable soup so I made a 1/2 batch of this while they were gone (easy to cut in half, just using a full can of beans). I also added cabbage in lieu of spinach or other greens (what I had readily available), and added some broccoli. Additionally, I cooked up a batch of alphabet pasta on the side and added about a 1/3 cup when serving it up for Celia. 

Note that this full recipe does make a HUGE batch. In fact, when giving to a friend I've often portioned off half of the full batch for my own family and given away the remainder (plenty to feed a family of 4+). The full batch will fill my Le Creuset Dutch oven right to the brim so if I'm not giving it away it is too much for us (even eating leftovers for several days...). 

This one is definitely a tried and true go-to soup for me! 

Broccoli [and Cauliflower] Cheese Soup

My mom gave me leftovers of a broccoli-cauliflower-cheddar soup she made the other day. It was so good I decided to make it myself (within about a week of having her leftovers...). It is really one of the most delicious broccoli/cheese soups I've ever had and quite low fat. 

I based it off of this recipe but with quite a few modifications. 

My modifications included: 

-No cornstarch (it is thick enough as is-- just right, actually) 

-2% milk used in lieu of heavy cream

-I had an old bag of riced cauliflower in the deep freezer so used that for this one (it did have some Italian spices in it, but I can't imagine that changed the flavor of the soup too much). 

-No table salt added when the onions were sautéing (or otherwise) 

-This Greek all-purpose seasoning that an old friend turned me on to years ago instead of the "Spike" seasoning (no clue what that is...). 

-I only used 3.2 oz of extra sharp white cheddar (what I had left of a hunk of cheddar). Honestly I think that I could have skipped the cheese altogether (I tasted it and it was definitely delicious before I added the cheese). 

I *did* use my immersion blender to blend (was considering transferring to the Vitamin, but I'm glad that I stuck with the immersion blender as I actually like the texture in this one). I also attempted to use my InstantPot but I think something was off with the seal so it didn't ever seal properly. That was okay-- I just used sort of a hybrid of the InstantPot and stovetop versions (but didn't have to dirty another pot). 

In any case, this is fantastic. Really, really good. I would serve it to guests and will make it again for sure! Like most Broccoli Cream sort of soups it isn't the most gorgeous soup, but honestly it isn't too ugly either! 

Surprisingly Simple [easy] Lentil Soup

I made a delicious soup that I wasn't expecting to be all that good this past weekend. I found the recipe online on the Weight Watchers site. It was a crockpot soup (which I don't ordinarily love) and involved mostly just dumping cans and a 1/2 cup of dried red lentils into the crockpot, along with a bag of frozen mixed veggies, broth and spices. 

Here are the details: 

-2 1/2 cups of low sodium broth (I am still using exclusively Better Than Bullion Veg)

-2 (15oz) cans of chick peas, drained

-14.5oz can of diced tomatoes 

-1/2 cup dried red lentils

-12 oz  of frozen mixed veggies (I just used the most basic mix I could find- green beans, peas, carrots and maybe there was some corn in there too?)

-1 1/2 tsp Old Bay seasoning 

-5 oz. fresh spinach

-Parm cheese for garnish/topping

Dump the canned chick peas (rinsed/drained), broth, tomatoes (I did not drain these), lentils and Old Bay into the crock pot. Mix together. Dump the bag of frozen veggies on top of the broth mixture and set crockpot to low for 7 hours. Add spinach at the very end or before serving and top with parm cheese (which I didn't even do). 

So simple, right? This was so good that I bought the ingredients (needed more chick peas!) to make again this week. That said, I may force myself to take a bye week and do something else this week before repeating this. 

Oh- I also added some chopped mushrooms to the broth mixture (because I had some that needed to be used up). I also added a bay leaf and some dried basil (but only because I was low on Old Bay so couldn't use the full amount called for in the recipe). I also think it would be good with some cabbage/slaw mix in the pot too- or really any veg you have lying around that you need to use!

Pozole Rojo

Less than a year since my last post... that's a win, right?!!? I was recently gifted a used copy of Thug Kitchen by a neighbor. It is a fun read, lots of vegan angst and language to match – ha! 

I decided to try a Pozole recipe – something that I've never made but the recipe was different enough that I wanted to give it a go. I *think* that pozole counts as a soup/stew so here goes. 

The recipe called for toasting whole dried red peppers (think the type you find near the spice aisle or the Mexican food section), tempeh, and hominy. I don't do a ton with tempeh, am not sure that I've ever cooked with whole dried red peppers (but maybe back in the day?), and know for sure that I have never used (or potentially eaten?) hominy. This recipe also had a mole-like approach with cocoa powder in the mix as well. I blended the toasted-then-soaked peppers with garlic and other spices to make a sauce that served as the base of the pozole. This was some what labor intensive (cleaning the blender always is... gah!) but the pozole was delicious and definitely something that I'd make again. I think the smoky/mole flavor with the different textures of the tempeh and hominy made it work. I found myself excited to go for this and it was a hearty and filling dish. 4/5 stars! 

No recipe link (buy the book!) but worth it. Again, the book is a fun read for a cookbook. 

Lemony Lentils

I purged many of my cookbooks during Covid lock down, but the few that I've kept I'm trying to actually use! Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan is by one of the vegan authors/chefs that I used to follow pretty closely (Dreena Burton) and I'm a big fan of two of her other soups. Katie in my office recently had a lemony soup that piqued my interest in trying her Lemon Chickpea Lentil soup (no link- grab the book). It was good but not great. The lemon flavor did make it more interesting than a standard lentil soup, and since I'm *always* a chick pea fan I had no problem polishing off this pot. That said, I probably won't make it again, as she has other soups that I much prefer (see earlier posts). 

Black Bean Chili with Mushrooms... Meh.

I had high hopes for this chili. I even made a special trip to the spice shop to get the chipotle powder and the mild ground chili. It has dried porcini mushrooms in it! Black beans! All the things that I love... and yet the result was just meh. There was also an excessive amount of chopping- so it didn't feel like a low key chop and pour sort of chili recipe that I like. The resulting chili was oddly watery and the mushroom flavor and texture were both lost in the mix. I finished the pot myself but would not repeat this recipe. Onward! 

Brothy Thai Curry

Another NYT recipe here- and this one also deviates from my norm, and it was a good- though not great- soup. Brothy Thai Curry With Silken Tofu and Herbs combined many of the flavors that I love (coconut, ginger, cilantro, lime, tomato). It called for 3 Tablespoons of curry paste (!) so I was worried it would be too spicy but it was actually fairly mild. I loved the inclusion of silken tofu to bulk it up and also added quartered mushrooms and broccoli florets (not called for in the recipe) to add yet more bulk. I used a pint of regular (fresh) cherry tomatoes vs. a canned variety. I smooshed the tomatoes in the pot a bit to bring about more flavor as they cooked, but I do wonder if this is one of those unique situations in which canned may have actually been more flavorful?  

For lunches at work, I packed up tupperwares of the soup with side dishes of a lime wedge, chopped cilantro and scallion so I could heat up the soup without making my herbs soggy. This was a vibrant and different choice for me and while I didn't love it, I did indeed *like* it.