Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup

ok, so this soup is inspired by my cold....i love soup when I am sick and I am hoping the extra spice will clear me up. I looked at a bunch of recipes to come up with this one...and the best is if you are sick it can cook all day while you lay around on the couch. I am posting now bc people indicated interest, I have not made this yet and will add pictures later. ***USE CROCKPOT LINERS...U WILL THANK ME LATER...ALMOST NO CLEAN UP!*
 Karen's Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup
 1 Tbsp olive oil
 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Jalepeno, chopped (optional, but highly recommended)
 1 (14.5 oz can) black beans, rinsed and drained
 1 (14.5 oz can) small white beans, rinsed and drained
1 C of frozen white corn kernels
 2 cans (14.5 oz) Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilis
 1 packet mild taco seasoning mixabout a tsp of Adobo
2 cans low sodium chicken broth (there is a lot of sodium in the taco seasoning)
3 boneless, skinless thin cut chicken breasts
 juice of a lime
 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro (optional)
 cornstarch slurry (1 tsp cornstarch and 1 Tbsp dry sherry, chicken broth or white wine, mix and add at the end)
1/2 C sour cream (optional)
 Garnishes: Tortilla strips (can find in salad dressing aisle near croutons), shredded cheese, avocado

Saute garlic and jalepeno over medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Place crockpot liner in crock, and put in beans, corn, jalepeno/garlic mixture, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, taco seasoning and adobo. Mix well and add chicken breasts. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours (6 hours if you use regular skinless, boneless chicken breasts instead of thin cut) or high for 3-4 hours. When chicken is cooked through, remove and shred with two forks. Put chicken back in soup, squeeze lime juice in and add cilantro and mix. **I thought the soup was a little thin so I mixed 1 tsp cornstarch and 1 Tbsp dry sherry and put the crock on the keep warm setting for an hour to thicken...can use chicken broth or white wine instead of dry sherry, but the liquid has to be cold when you mix or it wont work). *****today I used a roux (equal parts flour and butter and then add some chicken broth and add and whisk into soup) Shut off crockpot and stir in sour cream. Serve with optional tortilla strips, shredded cheese, avocado.

Mom's Famous Black Bean Soup

My mom has perfected this recipe over the years, and because I always monkey with perfection, I made a couple of minor changes. This recipe has ruined me for Black Bean Soup at restaurants, its that good.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 med. sweet onion, chopped fine
1 shallot, chopped fine
2 stalks of celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried cumin
1 tsp dreid oregano
4 (15.5 oz) cans of black beans (I like Goya exclusively), rinsed and drained
3 C water and 2 vegetable boullion cubes
1/4 C dry sherry (NOT cooking sherry)
cooked brown rice for serving.
optional for garnish:
chopped shallots
chopped hard boiled eggs
shredded cheddar
sliced jalepeno
sour cream

Saute onions, celery, cumin and oregano in olive oil for 8 min, until translucent. Add garlic, saute another 1-2 min. Add black beans, water and boullion, and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer uncovered for 30 min. Add dry sherry and simmer 5 minutes. Garnish with desired items and a small bit more of dry sherry. Serve over brown rice or quinoa.

Sweet Potato Bisque

Sweet Potato Bisque

2 T unsalted butter
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground thyme
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
6 C chicken stock (or veg stock)
2 dried bay leaves
4 large sweet potatoes (about 1 and 1/2 lbs), peeled and cubed
1 Tbsp light brown sugar
1/2 C heavy cream
1/2 C fat free half and half
1 Tbsp dry sherry

red pepper flakes to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter over med heat and add garlic. Saute 1 minute (do not brown). Add thyme, cinnamon, nutmeg and stir another minute. Add stock, sweet potatoes, bay leaves, brown sugar. Stir and bring to a boil over high heat. Simmer over med to med high heat for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are very tender. Take out Bay Leaves and puree with Immersion Blender. Add cream and half and half. Add sherry and adjust seasonings if necessary. I toasted some pumpkin seeds and garnished with them.

Cremini Mushroom Lentil Soup

Sooo...it is getting to be soup weather, and I had a bag of dried lentils in my cabinet...so what is a girl to do?! Make up a soup recipe! it was really good, sorry the pictures look like puke!

Cremini Mushroom Lentil Soup

1 T Evoo

small vidalia onion, chopped fine

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

1 (6oz) pkg cremini mushrooms (also baby bellas), roughly chopped

1/2 C dry sherry, divided (NOT cooking sherry)

5 C Chicken or Vegetable stock (not broth)

1 and 1/2 cups dried brown lentils, rinsed and drained

salt and pepper

3 bay leaves

1/4 tsp curry powder

crushed red pepper to taste (optional)

1 med red potato (peeled and cut into small cubes)

1/4 C half and half

1 Tbsp Butter and 1 Tbsp flour for roux (optional thickener)

Immersion Blender

Heat oil in over med heat. Saute onion about 7 minutes, until translucent. Add garlic and saute another minute. Add mushrooms, and sherry, salt and pepper and 1/4 c dry sherry and raise to med high heat. Saute 6 minutes and add carrots, stir and cook another 1-2 minutes. Add lentils and stir and add chicken stock, bay leaves, curry powder. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat to med and simmer about 10 minutes. Add potatoes and simmer another 20 minutes, until potatoes and lentils are tender. Remove bay leaves and puree some of soup with immersion blender (this will thicken it slightly). Taste and add seasonings if needed. Add half and half and stir. I love thick soups, so I melted some butter in a small pot over med and add flour and whisk to make a roux. Cook a few minutes until golden and no longer smelling like flour. Add ladle of soup to roux and whisk. Turn off heat, add roux mixture back to soup and whisk. Adjust seasonings and add crushed red pepper if you like. Let sit to thicken about 10 min on low heat. Serve with sour cream or greek yogurt dolloped on top.

Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup

This was such a great soup, roasting the tomatoes gives the soup an intense tomato flavor, red pepper flakes give it a bit of a kick! I got the idea from a Bobby Flay recipe, but changed it completely to make it my own. Here is original recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_10158,00.html

and here is mine:

Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup

10 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise, seeds removed

4 T olive oil, divided

garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

5 cloves of garlic, minced

tsp sugar

3 C vegetable stock

2 T basil, chiffonade, plus extra for garnish

1/2 C heavy cream

1/2 C fat free half and half

Red pepper flakes to taste (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place tomatoes in large baking dish and drizzle with 2 T olive oil. Shake garlic powder--one shake over the whole thing. Season with sea salt and pepper. Roast for 25-30 min (I did 30 min). until the tomatoes are soft.

Heat remaining olive oil over med and saute garlic for 1-2 minutes. Add tomatoes and their juices, stock, basil and sugar. Cook for 20 minutes. Using an immersion blender blend the soup until pureed (takes a while with the tomatoes), or put the soup in the blender in batches and once smooth, add cream and 1/2 and 1/2 and cook another minute or two. I added red pepper flakes for a kick and some more salt to taste. I ladled them into bowls and topped them with a bit of shredded cheddar and fresh basil, chopped.

Warms the Cockles

MMMMM....Chili! I love it, this was my first time ever making it, and I am so pleased with the result. I literally poured over chili recipes for the last week, and came up with one that I really love. Hubby loved it too, I made it for the MU/KU game and MU won!!!! Good luck charm! we like it spicy, so adjust seasonings to suit your taste.
Enjoy!

Karen's soon to be famous Spicy Two Bean Chili

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 med. Mayan Sweet Onion, chopped (use any sweet onion)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 lbs 95% lean ground beef
1tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 Tbsp Chili Powder
1/2 tsp ground oregano
2 tsp Cayenne

sprinkle of cinnamon
2 bay leaves
3 Jalepenos, sliced (not seeded)
1 (29 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (29 oz) can tomato sauce
2 tsp tomato paste
pinch of sugar
1 can Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 bottle dark beer (i used Sam Adams Boston Ale) minus 2 swigs ( ;
salt and pepper to taste
Red Pepper Flakes and Cholula hot sauce to taste (any hot sauce will do, I like this one)

Saute onions over med heat in olive oil until translucent (about 8 min). Add garlic and saute another minute. Add beef and brown the meat over med high. (about 10 or so minutes). Add all spices except bay leaves and stir. Add bay leaves, sugar, Jalepenos, tomatoes, tomato sauce and beans and bring to simmer. Add beer. Remember to take two swigs---you earned it! Allow to simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour covered. Discard bay leaves. Taste and add salt and pepper, hot sauce and other seasonings to suit your taste. I put it in a crock pot and kept it on warm for about 2 hours. Serve with shredded colby jack cheese, sour cream and sliced jalepenos. I served it over a little bit of macaroni elbows. It is even better the second day.

Three Mushroom Soup

This soup is so great!!! I got the original recipe from Wegmans which I will post here, and I will post any changes I made (in orange). I cannot believe that this soup is only 180 calories per cup!!!! So healthy. It calls for heavy cream, but it is very little compared to how many cups it makes. The original recipe makes 12 1/2 cups, so I halved it best I could. We had it with a nice salad....

Three-Mushroom Soup

yield 12 1/2 cups

2tsp and 6 Tbsp butter, divided ( I subbed 1 Tbsp butter with 1 Tbsp canola oil)

2 pkgs (8oz) baby portabella mushrooms (baby bella), reserve 1 Cup

1 med sweet onion, chopped, I used Mayan Sweet (it called for 8oz of prechopped onion that they sell)

3 Shallots, Chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced (I would use more next time, was not enough)

2 pkg (5 oz) shitake mushrooms

1 pkg (3.5 oz) oyster mushrooms

1/2 C dry sherry (my addition)

6 Tbsp. flour

1 Carton (32 oz) Vegetable Stock (I would reserve 2 cups and add if too thick later)

1 Bay leaf

2 sprigs fresh thyme ( I used about a tsp dried)

salt and pepper to taste (I needed a lot of salt)

1/2 pint (8oz) heavy cream

Black Truffle Oil (for drizzling)**dont omit this, it is very necessary, I added a teeny bit to the soup too

1. Add 2 tsp butter to saute pan on MEDIUM. Add reserved cup of mushrooms. Cook, stirring, 3-5 minutes until browned and tender. Set aside for garnish.

2. Melt remaining 6 Tbsp butter in stockpot on MEDIUM. Add onions, shallots and cook, stirring 4 minutes until soft. Add garlic and cook another minute or so (do not brown).

3. Add remaining mushrooms. Cook, stirring, about 5 minutes, until softened (I add dry sherry with the mushrooms). Add flour. Cook, stirring 2-3 minutes until thickened.

4. Add stock, bay leaf and fresh thyme. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer on MEDIUM about 20 minutes uncovered. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I needed a lot of both). Remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs.

5. Lower heat and puree soup with immersion blender (love mine!). Stir in heavy cream. Adjust seasonings if necessary. ***I added some truffle oil here, maybe a tsp.

6. Ladle into soup bowls. Top each with a drizzle of black truffle oil and reserved mushrooms.

180 calories per cup!!!!

Zuppanitz (soup of nothing)

This is a polish soup that my grandmother used to make and we have always made. Great to use up extra veggies you have on hand--it is also called garbage soup, because you can use all the veggies that are kind of old that you would otherwise throw away. It is a great soup for a cold night with a grilled cheese! The picture has a dumpling in it.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 stalks celery, chopped finely
3 large new potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
7 cups water
5 vegetable bouillon cubes
5 whole allspice
2 pinches thyme
3 bay leaves
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour

add oil to stock pot over medium heat.
add chopped onion and celery.
heat over medium heat for about 5 mins (or until tender).
add water and bouillion cubes.
add all veggies and spices.
cook about 20-30 mins until all veggies are very soft.
in small pan, melt butter and slowly add flour and stir until golden brown. Slowly add some of the broth from your soup and stir to make a rew. Add this mixture to the soup and either mash with a potato masher OR for a smoother, creamier soup use an immersion blender.
Yum!