Hot Soup 4 A Cold Night

• Southwest Chicken Soup
• Sweet Potato Pumpkin Soup
• Vegetable Soup

Angelique

Ahhh.  It's that time of year again.  Leaves are changing.  It's getting dark earlier and there's a nip in the air.  So I want some soup!  Only thing though is I hate the long, tedious process.  Cooking the beans for hours, chopping the veggies, all the multitude of ingredients.  It's like a Broadway production.

Mom

Well I happen to like the theatre and I thought you did too.  But fine, you can always cheat.  Normally, you and I make our soups completely from scratch with fresh products.  But you can always use canned beans and frozen vegetables instead of fresh.   This can cut the preparation time in half.  

Angelique

Yeah, but will it still be healthy?  Because we all know canned beans are filled with salt and Dr. Oz says we should never use canned tomatoes. 

Mom

The quickest way to rid canned beans of salt is to simply rinse them off.  Other than that, I'd say take care when choosing precooked foods because the processing, type of container, additives/preservatives, etc. all have an effect on the product.  And be very, very careful of the salt.  Most precooked foods already have salt added and you'll be adding even more.  

Angelique

I'll let Mom tend to her extravagant soups.  I found a quick and tasty Southwest Chicken soup.  Mom made some changes to keep with the tradition of New Age Soul Food.

Soulful Eating

Angelique & Joyce

 

Southwestern Chicken Soup

8 – 10 Servings

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced 
3 tomatoes, diced 

1 ½ teaspoons salt - divided
2 teaspoons ground cumin - divided 
3 - 15oz cartons of organic chicken stock

2 raw chicken breasts, diced
2 - 15oz cans of black beans, rinsed ­thoroughly, drained
1 ½ cups of frozen corn, rinsed and drained
1 bunch scallions, chopped

1 tablespoon granulated garlic

1 tablespoon granulated onion

1 - 2 teaspoons chili powder

1 bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped, divided

Garnish
2 avocados, sliced
8 ounces low fat sour cream

Cilantro, chopped


Method

In a large stock pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat add the chopped onions and minced garlic and saute until onions are translucent.
Add the diced tomatoes, ½ teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon cumin, continue sauteing until all liquid is dissolved.
Add the chicken stock, diced chicken, black beans, corn, scallions,  granulated garlic, granulated onion, chili powder, remaining salt and cumin  to the pot. Mix thoroughly, bring to a boil and cover. 

Reduce heat to medium low and simmering, covered for 30 minutes.

Remove soup from heat and stir in ½ of the chopped cilantro.

Top each serving with sliced avocado, a dollop of low fat sour cream if desired and cilantro.

 Sweet Potato Pumpkin Soup

6 Servings

Ingredients

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper

½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 medium sugar pumpkin

4 orange-fleshed sweet potatoes

1 large onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, roughly chopped

3 clove garlic, smashed

1 ½ quarts vegetable broth

1 teaspoon salt

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

In a blender or coffee grinder, grind coriander, cumin, oregano, fennel, red pepper and peppercorns into a coarse powder.

Place ½ of the seasoning blend in a small container with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and mix until it’s a paste.

Wash pumpkin, cut it in half and remove the seeds.

Wash sweet potatoes and cut them in half lengthwise.

Smear the inside of pumpkin and potatoes with the spice paste and place them in a baking dish.

Roast pumpkin and potatoes in the preheated oven 40 minutes or until they are tender.   

Meanwhile, in a large pot over medium heat add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, onions, celery and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent.

Add vegetable broth, salt and remaining spices, simmer uncovered on low.

Once pumpkin and potatoes are cool enough to handle, scoop them out of the skin.

Mix pulp in with the vegetable broth and using a food processor or immersion blender, puree soup until it's smooth and creamy. 
Or you can remove pot from the heat mash the pulp with a potato masher and whisk until it's smooth.  
Cook an additional 15 minutes to allow flavors to blend, stirring occasionally.

Vegetable Soup

Yields 1 gallon

Ingredients

3 quarts of vegetable broth

3 medium carrots, sliced

1 large onion, diced

2 tablespoons garlic, minced

3 celery stalks, sliced

1 head of fresh broccoli, florettes, cut into bite size pieces

10 medium potatoes, scrubbed, diced

3 medium tomatoes, diced

2 teaspoon salt - divided

2 tablespoons grapeseed oil

½ teaspoon crushed red chili peppers

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon granulated onion

Method

Note:  After all vegetables are prepped, divide them in half.  Half will be used at the beginning of the recipe and the other half will be sautéed and used towards the end of the cooking period.

Combine vegetable broth and half [½] each of the following:   carrots, onions, garlic, celery, broccoli, potatoes, tomatoes and 1½ teaspoon salt in a large stock pot.

Bring this to a boil and reduce heat to medium low and simmer uncovered.

While this is cooking, in a large sauce pan heat the grapeseed oil and add the crushed red chili peppers and sauté 30 seconds.

Add the remaining vegetables, ¼ teaspoon salt, granulated garlic and onion, sauté over medium heat 6 – 10 minutes.

Transfer sautéed vegetables to soup pot and continue cooking uncovered until potatoes and carrots are tender.

Taste for flavor and adjust seasoning accordingly.