Roasted Tomato Soup

Roasted Tomato Soup

 If your garden is full of big, red, ripe & juicy tomatoes this recipe is for you! I had a cup of this yummy soup for lunch at my desk this afternoon and it reminded me of why I love fall. So I snapped a picture and I am sharing the recipe with you.

Roasted Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

5-6  large ripe garden tomatoes, cored and sliced into three slices
1 large sweet onion, cut into 1/2" slices
1 large  jalapeno, cut in half lengthwise, seeded
2  medium bell peppers, seeded, cut into 4 pieces
olive oil
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
freshly ground black pepper
2 cups vegetable  or chicken broth
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (plus additional cheese for garnishing)
½ cup of heavy cream 

Directions:

1.      Preheat oven to 375F. Arrange the tomatoes on a  baking sheet with sides. Place peppers and onions on a separate sheet.  Drizzle olive oil all over. Roast tomatoes  for 20 minutes and veggies for 30.

2.      Take out of oven and let cool. Depending on the size of your blender, combine 1/2 of the tomatoes and juice with veggies in blender and blend till smooth.  Do the same with the second half. Put in a large pot and add the broth and spices.

3.      Heat all together over medium high  heat and add ½ cup of heavy cream

4.       Garnish with Parmesan cheese and croutons. Enjoy

Stephanie's Split Pea & Ham Soup

Looking for something to do with the left over Easter ham shank you put in the freezer ?

 My college friend made this for my daughter and I  recently when we were up visiting her in northern Idaho. Lots of cold winter days there, which I am pretty sure  means good soup recipes.

 Her family tradition is to serve this  hot, delicious soup with saltine crackers and mayonnaise.  Sounds weird doesn't it?  That's what I thought too, but  I wanted to be a good sport  and gave them a try. And  I have to say... as interesting as they were, they were pretty tasty too. 

Stephanie's Split Pea and Ham Soup

 
 So if you're looking for a good soup recipe while your waiting for spring to show up, give this a try.  Once again I ate half the soup before I realized I should take a picture.



Smoky Split Pea & Ham  Soup

2 quarts water or stock
1 pound dried split peas, cleaned and checked for debris
1 large ham shank
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 large carrots, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried sage
salt and pepper to taste
1 shot of dry sherry (optional)

Place water in large soup pot. Add all ingredients except sherry. Stir and turn heat to high. When soup begins to boil, turn heat down to medium low so soup gently boils. Cook 1 hour (add sherry at this point, if adding). Cook another 30 minutes until peas are soft. Stir often during cooking process. Add more water if soup is too thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper, if necessary.

Tomato, Kale and Turkey Soup in March

This is Hot Lips (notice the green chili for a mouth) and my daughter. We  quickly made Hot Lips just before the sun went down, which meant we didn't have much time to find him decent facial features. Poor guy,  he got what I could in the fridge veggie drawer. And unfortunately he has just one arm to wave with, but it's a nice arm.
Here in Oregon, in the Willamette Valley  we don't usually get snow  in March - so we had to have a little fun!  The cold weather inspired this next recipe for a bowl of  hot homemade soup.

Home Canned Tomatoes

Home canned tomatoes can't be beat! The flavor alone is worth the time, not to mention the health benefits.
I work full time so I am picky about what I do on the weekends, but I consider home canned tomatoes definitely worth the time.
My other inspiration for this soup was garbanzo beans. I read they are great as a thickener for soups when pureed and wanted to give it a try.
 I am sure they're better if  not from a can....but sometime you just use what you have.  That seems to be a theme in this post.


Tomato, Kale and Turkey Soup
Ingredients:
32 ounces tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock or broth ( I like Costco's organic chicken stock)
1 can garbanzo  beans (chickpeas) pureed in a food processor
1 bunch of Kale
1 tsp Salt
1/2-1 tsp Rosemary
1 -2 Tsp crushed fennel seeds (helps the turkey to taste like sausage)
1 pound ground turkey
* Fiesta fajitas seasoning   http://www.fiestaspices.com/index.asp?page=fajita

Directions:

• Place in a large pot over med. high heat; tomatoes, chicken stock, slowly pour in pureed garbanzo beans, add seasonings.

•  Sprinkle ground turkey  with a moderate amount of  fajita seasoning  and cook till done and crumbled. 

•  Cut kale into bit size pieces.

•  Add turkey and kale to soup. Simmer 10 more minutes.

* This is my favorite brand and I like the fajita combo of spices.  You could sub a multi purpose seasoning that has garlic. I just like the smell of meat cooking when it has been seasoned.
* The seasonings are estimates, start with the smaller amount and add more if you like. 

Kale,Tomato and Turkey soup.  Warm deliciousness!

Marley & Hot Lips enjoying a little sunshine the next day. (At least Marley is...)

Creamy Cauliflower Bisque

Had an awesome soup for dinner tonight that I am sure you'll want to try. My daughter had a friend drop by for dinner and she fell in love with the Mmmmm good flavor and  the fact  it is was so simple and healthy.  After several compliments to the chef  she wanted the recipe.
So here is the link to the original recipe.  The only adaption I made was using chicken stock instead of vegetable broth. And a food processor in place of a Vita Mix. (Maybe some day I 'll have a Vita Mix)

What I really enjoyed about this soup was the feeling I was eating something  creamy  and indulgent....but it was just cauliflower.

http://www.hellifignaw.com/2012/02/things-that-make-you-go-mmmmmmm.html


ENJOY!

ZUPPA TOSCANA BUTTERNUT SOUP

Zuppa Toscana Butternut Soup

I thought I had everything one evening to make my favorite version of Olive Gardens  Zuppa Toscana soup and realized I didn't have potatoes. So I substituted butternut squash and the results were YUMMY. A new favorite! And even lighter in calories when cooked with Italian chicken sausage.

Ingredients

1 LB ground hot Italian sausage
1 Medium butternut squash
1 Medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup bacon bits ( optional)
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups kale chopped into small pieces (no stems)
32 oz good quality chicken broth plus 2 cans
1 cup cream (or fat free half and half for less calories)

Directions

1. Cook sausage into small bits
2. Add chopped onions and saute till translucent
3. Drain fat
4. Add chicken broth, stir
5. peel squash and chop into largish bite size peieces
6. Add squash and garlic to pot
7. cook on medium heat till squash is tender
8. Simmer another 10 minutes
9. Salt and pepper to taste
10. Turn heat to low
11. Add kale and cream
12.  Heat through and serve. mmmmmmmmmmmmmm