Addictive Tomato Soup

"My new favorite addictive taste"

That was Dad's response to this easy soup I put together tonight

There's no exact recipe

Here's what I did:

Sauteed in olive oil: half a large onion, a small pepper and three cloves of garlic - all chopped.

While cooking, added hot pepper flakes (generous pinch), dried basil (about 1/2 tsp) and dried oregano (about 1/4 tsp).



Poured in 2 cans chopped tomatoes and 1 can chicken broth





Added pepper to taste plus a couple teaspoons sugar (I used brown)

Simmered 15-20 minutes

Took off heat and stirred in 1/2 cup cream

Simmered 15 to 20 minutes

Ate with crusty fermented european bread (I'll post that recipe someday)

Sunday night soup and bread

Who needs more than this?

Chicken Vegetable Soup




Honey Whole Wheat Bread




And a chunk of Edam cheese



Recipes:

Chicken Vegetable Soup

See this earlier blog post - but I skipped the tomatoes and green beans


Honey Whole Wheat Bread

2 pkg instant yeast
2 tsp salt (or less)
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 to 4 cups white flour
2 cups warm water
1/4 cup soft butter

Put 2 cups ww flour, salt and yeast in mixer bowl (easiest if you have a mixer with a dough hook). Mix dry ingredients. Poor in warm water. Add butter. Mix until smooth. Add remaining cup of ww flour and white flour until dough forms a sticky ball. Either mix with dough hook or turn unto counter and knead until smooth and elastic. Let rise until double. Punch down. Form into two loaves and place in greased bread pans. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes or until golden and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pans and cool on a rack.

Vita-mix Black Bean Soup

A Joelle Staley Recipe!

I was throwing this in the vita-mix this afternoon and the girls came in from school and said, "Yumm! Black bean soup!". That is why this is one of my favorites. How else could I get my family to eat so many raw vegetables? Also, this can be thrown together in about 10 minutes and frozen or put into the fridge until you need it. Great for a busy weeknight!



Just throw all these ingredients into the blender. Chop up the big stuff to make it fit. It will not all work in one batch so I divide it up ... just make sure you have enough liquid in each batch to puree it. It all comes together in the pot so it really doesn't matter how you divide it.

2 carrots

2 celery stalks

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

3 cans black beans (rinsed)

2 cans chicken broth

1 can tomatoes

2 Tbsp tomato paste

handful cilantro

juice from 1 lime

Pour it all into a soup pot and heat.

Garnish with sour cream and cilantro. The kids like it with corn chips broken on top.

Renew Your Body Vegetable Soup

EASY, DELICIOUS, NUTRITIOUS

Plus it's flexible - use whatever vegetables you have on hand

Here's how I made this batch:

Saute onions (2 small or one lg) and pressed garlic (plenty - 3 or 4 cloves) for a few minutes. Add seasonings - a couple of large pinches of dried basil and oregano plus some hot pepper flakes. Saute a little more and throw in cubed pumpkin (or squash), sliced carrots and sliced cabbage. I would add green beans here but I didn't have any - stir fry a minute. Add a can of chopped tomatoes and enough chicken broth to cover the vegetables and give enough liquid. Cook until the veggies are tender then add a can of white beans (drained and rinsed) and a couple handfuls of chopped greens. I also added some leftover cooked chicken breast. Cook until greens wilt. Add more broth as needed.

Perfect sprinkled with Parmesan and served with crusty bread