Hearty Egg Drop Soup

I've been wanting to try making an egg drop soup for a while, but never got around to it. I've read a few different recipes, including this one and this one, and figured I would cobble together my own version. 

I knew I wanted to add meatballs to mine the way Brianna did in order to make this soup into a hearty meal, so I defrosted a pound of meatballs I had in the freezer. (Sausage meatballs would be amazing in this soup!) We've been eating as healthfully as possible lately, so I also decided to bulk the soup up with spinach. What I ended up with was a garlicky, flavorful, filling soup that really hit the spot on a cool, rainy night.

Hearty Egg Drop Soup

makes six servings

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. canola oil

4 c. chicken stock

2 c. water

2 tsp. soy sauce

2 large eggs, beaten

2 green onions, sliced

1 lb. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1 lb. meatballs

1-1.5 tsp. sesame oil (optional)

Heat canola oil in a large stockpot. Add garlic to the pot and saute until slightly softened (but not brown!). Add chicken stock, water, and soy sauce, bring to a boil. 

Stir the soup in a circular motion and slowly stream in the scrambled eggs. (I used a pourable measuring cup)

Step away from the pot and let the eggs cook (unstirred) for one to two minutes. 

Add the spinach and meatballs to the pot and simmer until meatballs are heated through. Add sesame oil to taste, if using. Serve with soy sauce and additional sesame oil.

This is a simple and delicious soup that reminds me of a cross between Italian wedding and egg drop - hey, think I can get away with calling this an Italian-Chinese fusion dish?  ;) 

Curried Pumpkin Soup

I'm in love with a new (to me) blog. Ezra Pound Cake. Rebecca is a fantastically funny writer, an occasional boozehound, and she cooks the yummiest things. I mean, the woman made me drool on my keyboard just reading about her Southern Comfort Carmel Apple Pie. One of the recipes I bookmarked (other than the pie and these luscious Kahlua lattes) was for a pumpkin soup. I love pumpkin, I love soup, and I REALLY love autumn dishes, so I was sure it would be a winner.

Last fall I was a victim of the pumpkin shortage and this year I was determined not to let it happen again. So I went to Wal-Mart last week planning to stock up and buy six big cans, only to find that...they were OUT. The two major grocery stores in my town...out. My pumpkin dreams were fading, but I refused to cross the soup off my meal plan for this week.

A mini miracle struck while visiting Andrew's grandparents, who live an hour and a half away.

Andrew and Grandpa hanging out at the marina

Grandma's close friend Amy (who shares both my name and my love of reading) had brought her a big can of pumpkin! I jumped up and down a little and wouldn't you know, Grandma gave it to me! She reassured me that since she knew she could get it in town, I could have this can. Hooray!

Grandma & Grandpa's adorable lab, Bear

Wouldn't you know, after that one act of kindness, it was like the angels started singing or something because while at the discount grocery store the next town over, I came across an entire endcap display of pumpkin! The clouds parted, a beam of radiant light shone down, and I snatched up four more cans.

The moral of the story is, I have tons of pumpkin now. No pumpkin shortage in this household!

This soup is flavorful, nutritious, and low in calories, coming in at just 230 calories per serving. Enjoy it for lunch or dinner totally guilt-free!


Curried Pumpkin Soup
adapted from Ezra Pound Cake
makes 6 servings

1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
8 oz. mushrooms, diced
2 tbsp. AP flour
1 tsp. yellow curry powder
2 c. fat-free low-sodium chicken broth
1 c. water
15 oz. (1 small can) solid-pack pumpkin
12 oz. (1 can) evaporated milk
1 tbsp. honey
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
salt & pepper to taste

 

Once the broth comes to a boil, stir in all this stuff:

 

At this point, the soup looks like this:

You can serve as is and it will be delish. Andrew isn't a huge fan of mushrooms - it's the texture he objects to, not the taste. 

 Heat through, stirring well. Serve immediately or keep warm over the lowest heat setting.

A lovely accompaniment to this soup is a 95 calorie snack that we love - six little bruschetta toasts smeared with one wedge of Laughing Cow Light cheese.

You can top this soup with anything from dried bananas to slivered almonds to pumpernickel croutons. To be honest, you don't really need a topping - this soup is rich, creamy, velvety, and delicious all on its own.

Fish Chowder

It took me a while to find a soup that was "different" enough to get me out of my current soup rut, yet still make both Andrew and I happy.  While I was searching around on the Crockpot Lady's blog, I found what I was looking for.  This fish chowder is easy to put together, cooks in the crockpot, and tastes delicious.  I purchased the "sale fish" that day - tilapia fillets - and used frozen shrimp, so the cost wasn't prohibitive.  Hearty and satisfying without being too bad for you, this would be a great meal for Fridays during Lent or any day of the year.


Fish Chowder
adapted from Crockpot 365

1 lb. white fish, cut into 2" cubes
3 c. chicken broth
3 Idaho potatoes, cubed
1-1/2 c. frozen corn
1 medium onion, chopped
2 large carrots, cut into half moons
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper to taste

2 c. frozen shrimp
1 c. heavy cream

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.  I left the skins on the potatoes, which seemed heartier - exactly what I was going for.  You could easily cut up all the veggies the night before, place in the stoneware insert, cover with the broth, and store in the fridge overnight.  In the morning, add the fish and put the insert into the slow cooker.  Reserve the final two ingredients (shrimp & cream) for later. 

Cook on low for 8-10 hours.  About half an hour before you're ready to serve, stir in the cream and shrimp and turn the slow cooker to high.  Serve garnished with fresh parsley and grated cheese, if you like.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Andouille and Spinach

Pictures don't do this soup justice.  Smoky andouille sausage, crisp cauliflower florets, and vibrant fresh spinach combine in this rich, velvety soup that's easy enough to throw together on a weeknight.  The bonus?  It's not half bad for you!

While I was telling my mom about this soup, we got to talking about the origins of andouille.  The recipe says you can also use chorizo, which has Spanish origins, but I was only able to find the andouille.  My firmest recollection was that andouille was a "New Orleans thing" often used in Cajun cooking - gumbo, jambalaya, etouffee.  As it turns out, I was partially right - andouille has French origins and is now most closely associated with Louisiana and Cajun-style cooking.  It's a spiced, heavily-smoked pork sausage, and you can probably find it in your local grocery store. 

I opted to thinly slice the andouille on a diagonal in order to maximize the surface area.  I like a nice char on sausages, especially when they're only one component of a dish.  It's an easy way to build flavor.  What's nice about this recipe is, you get so much flavor from the sausage, onions, and cauliflower, plus the richness from the pureed potato and cauliflower mixture, that you don't need to add any butter or cream to get a creamy, hearty soup.

If you're going to make this recipe and you want to follow Sara Moulton's original, you can click through to the link.  However, I would still suggest that you read through my recipe - dear Sara leaves a few helpful hints out, and I might be able to save you some time (and dishes to wash).

Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Andouille and Spinach

adapted from Sara Moulton

2 tbsp. olive oil
12 oz. andouille sausage, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
1 medium head cauliflower
1 medium Idaho potato
3 c. chicken broth
3 c. water
1 bunch spinach, rinsed, dried, thinly sliced
salt, pepper, paprika

Peel potato and slice thinly.  Wash cauliflower, then cut off two cups of florets.  Chop the rest of the cauliflower into small pieces.  Set vegetables aside.

In a large stockpot (use a stockpot!  not a "saucepan" as Sara suggests, unless you have one that's at least 3 quarts, in which case, you can use that), so anyway, in the stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat.  Add the sausage and brown, tossing to char it evenly.  Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate.  Add the onions to the oil.  Cook until onions are tender and caramelized.

To the pot, add broth, water, chopped cauliflower (reserve the florets), and potato.  Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium-high heat and simmer for at least five minutes, or until vegetables are extremely tender. 

Transfer to blender in three batches.  I poured one third from the soup pot into the blender, pureed it, then poured into a 4-cup measuring cup.  Then I poured the second third into the blender pureed it, and poured into the measuring cup (which put me way over the 4-cup line but didn't overflow the cup).  I put the last third into the blender, emptied the measuring cup into the pot, then measured the last third and poured that into the pot.  I had about nine cups of pureed soup, due to the extra liquid in my version of the recipe (which, trust me, you'll need).

Stir reserved cauliflower florets into puree and simmer until tender (I did the 4 minutes suggested, which was a bit short, I'd add another couple minutes to that time).  Stir in chorizo and spinach, add salt and pepper to taste.  Garnish bowls of soup with a sprinkling of paprika. 

This is a healthy, hearty soup that will please everyone in your family.  The cauliflower sweetens as it cooks, imparting a mild flavor to the puree.  The color from the ribbons of spinach, the smoky andouille, and the bright paprika make this soup pleasing to the eye as well as the palate.  Add this to next week's meal plan - you won't be disappointed!

Tortellini Soup with Sausage & Escarole

This soup has so many delicious Italian ingredients - cheese tortellini, spicy sausage, escarole - that you know it's going to be fantastic!  What I like best about this is that it comes together in half an hour and it doesn't require any long simmering times.  This comforting soup is something different from your old standards, but after one bowlful, you'll want to add it to your regular winter meal rotation.

If you can't find fresh escarole, you could substitute fresh spinach in this recipe.  The original recipe doesn't contain sausage, so if you were to omit that and swap in vegetable broth for the chicken broth, you could make this a vegetarian meal.  If I only have half the liquid as chicken stock, I supplement with water.  No matter what small changes you make, Tortellini Soup with Sausage & Escarole is a hearty, savory soup that will please your whole family.


Tortellini Soup with Sausage & Escarole
adapted from examiner.com 


1 lb. bulk ground spicy Italian sausage
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 c. white wine
8 c. chicken stock
2 lb. cheese tortellini
1 head escarole, washed and chopped
pecorino romano cheese (optional)

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until translucent.  Add the Italian sausage and cook over medium high heat, breaking up large clumps, until sausage is cooked through.

Deglaze the pan with the white wine - the liquid will steam a bit and pull up all the brown bits stuck to the pan (ie. the flavor!) - and allow to simmer and reduce for about 2 minutes.  Add the chicken stock, cover, and bring to a boil.

Once stock is boiling, add tortellini and escarole.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Cook for five minutes, or until tortellini is heated through.  If you like, serve with a sprinkling of pecorino romano cheese.

Split Pea Soup

Watching Food Network with Andrew's stepmom Ann is always fun - we get ideas, chat about recipes we've made lately, and plan meals for the following week.  Recently we saw an episode of Sunny Anderson's show, Cooking For Real.  I had never seen it, but in this episode, Sunny made an "Easy Peasy Split Pea Soup" that looked absolutely delicious.

I went home and immediately bookmarked the recipe, but it's taken me several weeks to make the soup.  I'm so glad I got this soup onto my menu plan, because it was a rich, velvety, comforting dinner that was easy to put together on a cold weeknight.

You can click the link above for the full recipe, but I wanted to point out the differences in my version.  Instead of slab bacon, I used six slices of peppered bacon that I had leftover in the fridge.  I skipped the celery (we don't like it) and the cumin (I couldn't find it), and didn't garnish with tomato or lime as Sunny suggested (it sounded gross).  I also used my own homemade chicken stock rather than the boxed or canned variety.

This split pea soup truly was "easy peasy" - Andrew and I both enjoyed it's thick consistency and the nutritional value of the soup is sky high, a major plus for the healthy lifestyle we're trying to maintain through the holiday season.  The best part?  I had everything I needed on hand except the dried peas.  Now that I bought them for the soup, I'll have them on hand, and next time, this will truly be a meal straight out of my pantry.

Speaking of Food Network, Ann attended the Cleveland Fabulous Food Show and she got to meet our FN crush, Tyler Florence!!!  Aren't they so cute?!?

Chicken Noodle Soup with Garlic Rolls

Recently I talked about comfort foods - how they make us feel warm and happy, safe and loved.  Pretty much all soups fall under comfort food for me.  The king of the comfort soups though, has got to be Chicken Noodle.

When I roast a chicken, I almost always use the leftovers to make a big pot of chicken stock.  I freeze the stock in ice cube trays, then store the cubes in a zip-top bag, so that anytime I need a little chicken stock, I have it at hand.  Each ice cube is equivalent to two tablespoons of stock when thawed.  I also freeze it in gallon size zip-top bags.  I write the item's name and the date on a bag, ladle about 8 cups of stock in the bag, then compress to remove all excess air.  I lay the bag flat in my freezer so it will freeze into a thin "brick".  Then I "file" the bricks in the chest freezer in our garage.  Everything from butternut squash bisque to tomato sauce gets frozen this way.

Since the weather has been colder for a while now, I've roasted several chickens and made stock a few times.  I had plenty of frozen stock, so instead of freezing the latest batch, I stored it in the fridge in an old milk carton.

I don't really use a recipe when I make Chicken Noodle Soup, so each batch is a bit different from the last.  The recipe below is my best approximation of my most recent creation, which was extremely flavorful and packed with delicious herbs and vegetables.

Chicken Noodle Soup

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1/2 c. carrots, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

6 slices bacon, chopped

1 tbsp. dried parsley

1 tsp. dried tarragon

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 c. cooked chicken, shredded

8 c. chicken stock

egg noodles

Start by cooking the bacon in a large soup pot.  If it is extremely fatty, pour out some of the grease - you just want one or two tablespoons to remain.

Add onion and carrots to the pot.  Feel free to add the traditional celery as well - Andrew and I don't care for celery, so I usually skip it.  Allow them to caramelize in the bacon fat for a few minutes, then add the dried herbs.  Salt and pepper generously. Add the garlic to the pan and stir to incorporate it.

 

Add the chicken and the stock to the pot.  Use a long handled wooden spoon to scrape all the brown bits up off the bottom of the pot (this is called "deglazing" the pan).

Cover and simmer at least an hour, longer if you like.  About fifteen minutes prior to serving, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the egg noodles.  Drain and set aside.

DO NOT add them to the soup pot.  If you do, your leftover soup will be full of bloated, soggy noodle bits.  Store soup and noodles separately until you are ready to eat them.

When you're ready to serve, have each person put the cooked egg noodles in their bowl.

 

You may prefer to use rice, dumplings, cheese tortellini, or, you may wish to copy Andrew's brilliant idea - stuffing!

 

Ladle hot soup over the starch of choice and serve with warm garlic toast.

Chicken Soup with Stuffing

Chicken Soup with Noodles

What goes better with soup than a delicious piece of bread?  I found these beautiful crusty rolls at the store, and imagine my surprise when I read the package - these are "Calabria Breads".  How fantastic!  My Nonnie's family is Calabrese, and I have never seen a bread named for that region, so I was a little geeked to see that.

Warm Garlic Toasts

2 crusty rolls
olive oil
one clove garlic, peeled

Slice the rolls in half and drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Broil the rolls until they are toasted to your liking.  Remove from the oven and immediately rub with your raw garlic clove.

The garlic will melt into the breads, imparting deliciously subtle garlic flavor.  These rolls are the perfect accompaniment to soups, stews, and pasta dishes.

I have been making lots of soups this fall, and I will try to share more of them with you as soon as I can.  In the meantime, make yourself a big bowl of Chicken Noodle and cuddle up on the couch!

Butternut Squash Bisque

Sometimes when I want to make something I've never made before (or just haven't made in a while), I look up a recipe online, then loosely follow the ingredients and directions.  I knew I wanted to make a butternut squash soup, I just wasn't sure exactly how I wanted to do it.  I made one last year, but it was extremely thick and tasted like mashed butternut squash that had been thinned out a little.  I wanted something a little more sophisticated this time.

Butternut Squash Bisque

adapted from About.com "French Food"

2 medium butternut squash

1 medium onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, minced

2 tbl. extra-virgin olive oil

1 c. chicken stock

1 c. fat free half-and-half

1 c. water

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 tsp. ground sage

salt & pepper

In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add onion and celery, then thyme, sage, salt, and pepper.  Stir to coat vegetables in oil; saute until translucent and soft. 

While the veggies saute, prick butternut squash in several places with a knife or fork.  Microwave on high for 5-7 minutes or until soft.  Remove from microwave, allow to cool.  Slice squash in half and scoop out the seeds.  Use a large spoon to remove all squash from skin. 

Add chicken broth and water to the stock pot.  Bring to a simmer over high heat, and add squash to liquid.  Simmer as long as desired - at least 15 minutes. 

Using an immersion blender, puree soup until smooth.  If you don't have one, transfer soup to a regular blender and puree.  Be careful not to fill the blender too full, and hold the top on, as the heat of the soup can force the top off if you don't!  Return soup to pot.

Stir in the half-and-half, bring soup back to a low simmer.  Remove from heat and serve immediately.  The original recipe garnishes with croutons, but I opted to serve my soup with a beautiful loaf of Italian bread, so we skipped them.

This soup is a comforting, rich dish that will warm you up and put you in the spirit of fall.  This would be a great meal for Halloween night, as it is quick and easy to prepare.  Using fat free half-and-half keeps the calorie count down, and you could use vegetable stock if you wanted to make this a vegetarian meal. 

Andrew and I both enjoyed the velvety texture and delicious flavor of this soup.  It's definitely one I will make again.

Crockpot Chicken & Chicken Broth

Crockpot Roasted Chicken

I have roasted a chicken in my Crock-Pot before, but this time I wanted to make a few changes.

First, I wanted it to be less fatty, so that stick of butter had to go. And after reading one of the Crockpot Lady's chicken recipes, so did the skin. Oh, the skin. By the time I was done removing it, I was a) horrified by how much fat must have been in the chicken I made last time, and b) completely grossed out by raw chickens in general. There is a lot of skin. And it feels gross. And it's yucky to touch it and cut it. But here's the thing: it's yuckier to leave it on. Agreed? So off it came. It didn't take me quite as long as it took Stephanie (the Crockpot Lady) but then, I'm not as zealous about raw meat and fat as she is. I will say this: if you don't own a pair of kitchen shears, buy them if you are going to skin something. You won't be sorry. This job would be much more disgusting with a knife. Just trust me.

Now, what else did I want to change? Right, I wanted a non-garlicky recipe. Certainly not because my adoration of garlic has diminished...simply because I am out and not going to the store until tonight.

Lastly, I wanted a milder chicken recipe so that I could make a more simplistic chicken broth without the complication or other flavors.

So, I followed Stephanie's recipe. She's right, it's really bland, and not necessarily something you'd want to eat by itself. I served the chicken with white rice and roasted broccoli. It was a nice meal, but nothing to write home about.

What I was most excited about was the leftover meat and the bones. That may sound silly, but I was looking forward to making chicken broth. The three cups of cooked chicken I had leftover, I saved and used for the Crock Pot Lady's Buffalo Chicken Lasagne.

Chicken Broth

All of the bones and gross pieces of carcass (gross word!) that were left over, I put into a big stock pot with three broccoli stalks (from the roasted broccoli I made), a big handful of baby carrots that I halved, and two quartered onions that were about to spoil.

I added water to within a few inches of the top of the pot. Cover, bring to a low boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer. I also added salt, pepper, bay leaves, and oregano. I simmered the broth for a total of five hours or so over two days, and this is what it looked like:

When I was done with the broth, I strained it into a smaller pot and let it cool.

I then funneled it into a clean milk jug. I'll store it in the fridge until I use it to make chicken noodle soup this weekend.

The small chicken I bought was on sale for $0.79/lb. I think the grand total was around $3. So for that, plus the cost of the bottom of the salad dressing bottle, the handful of carrots, old onions, and broccoli stalks I would have thrown away, I made: the whole roasted chicken, 10 cups of chicken broth, and all the chicken I needed to make a Buffalo Chicken Lasagne. Frugal and delicious!

Corn Chowder with Kielbasa

This is Andrew's favorite soup in my arsenal. His family loves it too, which always makes me feel so flattered. I make it often, just so I can get the compliments! The corn and kielbasa may seem like an odd combination, but the sweet crunch of the corn and the tangy spice of the kielbasa meld beautifully.

A lot of this recipe is based on what I have on hand, how many people I need to feed, and how hungry those people will be. If I am making dinner for Andrew, I bulk up the amount of kielbasa, because I know he likes it and appreciates the protein. If I want some of the bacon for breakfast the next morning, I use half of it. If I don't have any on hand, I skip it. This is a forgiving recipe, so feel free to substitute, add, subtract, mess around with the herbs, and make it your own.

Corn Chowder with Kielbasa

1 medium onion, diced

2 large potatoes, peeled and diced

2-4 cloves garlic, minced2 tbsp. butter

1 lb. bacon

2 bags frozen corn

4 c. chicken broth

3 c. milk/cream (your choice - I usually do a mix)

1-2 pkg. kielbasa

Salt

Pepper

Ground Sage

Additional Herbs/Spices (I suggest red pepper flakes, tarragon, and fresh parsley)

Cut the bacon into chunks - I like to take half a pound at a time and cut it crosswise into pieces about an inch long.

In a large stockpot, cook the bacon until it is crispy. Use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon pieces. If you do the whole pound, you may want to do two batches. Drain the bacon on a plate lined with paper towels. Discard the all or at least the majority of the bacon grease.

Add butter, potatoes, and onions to the stockpot. Salt and pepper liberally. Sauté until onions are translucent. Add chicken broth to pot. If you feel this will not be enough soup (make sure to account for the milk you'll be adding), add 1-2 cups of water. Add the frozen corn, ground sage, and any other dried herbs you wish and bring to a simmer. Allow soup to simmer for 10-15 minutes, then drop the heat back to low.

While the soup is simmering, cut the kielbasa into bite-size chunks. I like to cut it on an angle so I have funny little pieces instead of perfect coins, but I'll leave that up to you. Toss all the kielbasa into a pan over medium-high heat and cook as desired. I like my kielbasa to have a nice char to it, so I cook it until the edges are blackened and it's crispy. Drain the grease and set aside.

Use an immersion blender to puree about half the soup. If you don't have one, you can dump half the pot into your regular blender. Just be careful to cool it a bit before blending so you don't end up with a boiling hot mess.

Stir in milk/cream (fat free half and half works too) and add the bacon back into the pot. If you're going to eat the soup right away, heat to desired temperature over medium-low heat.

To serve, ladle out bowls of corn chowder and have everyone top their soup with chunks of kielbasa. To store, I like to keep the soup and meat separate unless I'm going to put them in small containers for lunches, in which case I combine them.

This chowder is easy to make, hearty, and delicious. It's a great meal to eat while you're cuddled up on the couch watching TV!

What I like best about it is that it's tough to mess it up. My measurements are all based on what we like. If I have onions I need to use, I'll chop up a second one. If I have a couple ears of leftover corn on the cob (which I did this time), I cut the corn off and toss that in. Sometimes I want it to be spicy, so I'll add some red pepper flakes to the onion/potato sauté and then hot sauce to the finished soup. It's all about what makes you happy. And I promise, this soup will definitely do the trick.

Buffalo Chicken Soup

I have been wanting to try something "Buffalo" for a while now, because Andrew loves spicy food, especially wings. My Crock Pot experimentation has gone well so far, so when I read about a Buffalo Chicken Soup recipe for a slow cooker, I was pretty stoked.

If you click the title of this post, it will take you to the recipe on "A Year of CrockPotting" - a great blog dedicated to using this handy appliance every day for a year.

I found this soup really good. I like a little kick, but I don't like food that hurts, and this soup was satisfying and spicy without being painful.

My modifications:

-The recipe calls for Velveeta, which Andrew is not a fan of. I swapped it out for shredded cheddar, and it was fantastic. I'm sure all the yummy chemicals in Velveeta would have made this soup super smooth, but hubby nixed the idea, and I couldn't see buying all that fake orange cheese for this one recipe.

- I thought the 3/4 cup of chicken broth wasn't quite enough, so once the soup was done cooking, I added another 3/4 cup. It lightened the soup up a bit and thinned it out enough to make it more soup-y and less stew-y. I guess that's all about how you like your soup!

All in all, we thought this recipe was a success. It was filling and hearty, yet not super rich or fatty. Packed with veggies and white meat chicken, with a broth of skim milk and chicken stock, this soup isn't bad for you either! I will definitely make this again.

Sausage and Spinach Soup

With fall around the corner, I'm definitely in the mood for soups! I just made the clam chowder last week, so I was hoping for something totally different. My mom actually gave me the idea to put together a sausage and potato soup. She likes to add whatever veggies she has on hand, so that's what I did.

2 small yellow onions, chopped

3 spicy Italian sausages, casings removed

7 small red potatoes, chopped

chicken broth

1 bag fresh pre-washed spinach

I used the scraps left over from a rotisserie chicken to make my own chicken broth. Place everything that's left of your rotisserie chicken into a soup pot, cover with water, and simmer. Mine simmered for maybe five hours over the course of two days, but I'm sure you could do less.

In a soup pot, saute the onions in a small amount of olive oil. Salt them right away so that they release their juices and soften, rather than browning. Move the onions off to the sides of the pot and add the sausage to the pot. Cook it through.

I found that my sausage was a little more fatty than I planned on. I dealt with it by continuing on making the soup the way I planned - when it was simmering later, I simply skimmed the fat off the top. Next time, I might have cooked the sausage first, drained it, and added it back to the pan at this step.

Add the potatoes to the pot. Stir to coat the potatoes in the oil, onions, etc. Pour the chicken broth into the pot and bring contents to a boil.

Simmer on your stove until the potatoes are fork tender. I garnished mine with green onions and fresh basil. Simple and delicious!

New Englad Clam Chowder

I am a soup lover, and clam chowder is probably one of my top 5 favorite soups. I love all cream-based soups, but I feel guilty about how bad they are for me. So, I was thrilled when I got the October 2008 issue of Eating Well in the mail today. This month, the mag published an easy clam chowder recipe that subs out most of the cream, as a 'makeover' for the traditional fat-laden chowder.

I made this delicious clam chowder tonight, and it did not disappoint. See my pictures and comments in the recipe below.

Makes 6 servings, generous 1 cup each
2 teaspoons canola oil
4 slices bacon, chopped (I used six slices!)
1 medium onion, chopped (I had two small on hand, so that’s what I used)
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried (I went with dried)
1 medium red potato, diced (I used 4 small)
1 8-ounce bottle clam juice
1 bay leaf (I omitted this)
3 cups low-fat milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 ounces fresh clam strips chopped, or 3 6-ounce cans chopped baby clams, rinsed (I used canned clams)
2 scallions, thinly sliced (I subbed fresh parsley)

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until crispy, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer half of the cooked bacon to a paper towel-lined plate with a slotted spoon. Add onion, celery and thyme to the pan; cook, stirring, until beginning to soften, about 2 minutes.



Add potato, clam juice and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the vegetables are just tender, 8 to 10 minutes.



2. Whisk milk, cream, flour and salt in a medium bowl. Add to the pan and return to a simmer, stirring, over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Add clams and cook, stirring occasionally, until the clams are just cooked through, about 3 minutes more.
3. To serve, discard bay leaf. Ladle into bowls and top each serving with some of the reserved bacon and scallions.

As you can see, I made plenty of substitutions based on what I had on hand and what I like best. I used the salt called for in the recipe but found that my bowl needed more. Just do what works for you - use the recipe as a guide and add or subtract ingredients based on what makes you happy.

You can view the recipe on Eating Well's website here.