Soupped Up!!

After a hard day, this is one of the simplest, yet most satisfying, meals to prepare. I like to serve the soup with bread or crackers (sometimes both), some good cheese, fruit slices (we use apple most often), and that Southern favorite, iced tea. If the soup has no meat in it, then I’ll put out some smoked turkey or ham slices or some slices of wurst to go with the bread. This is the time for a good, hearty slice of multi-grain bread or something similar.

Part 1

Canned Soups

You know best what you like so I’m not going to say much here. I do, however, have a few tricks that improve some of the tinned fare. Here’s a list of some extra ingredients that you can add to your soup to jazz it up a bit or give it more body:
 

#1. Celery – I add a few, very thin slices of celery to chicken with rice or clam chowder; goes well with potato soup, also.
 

#2. Basil or Italian seasoning – Both make tomato soup taste better.
 

#3. Leftover rice – Put a spoonful or two with that chicken ‘n’ rice soup for more eatin’!

#4. Bacon bits – A spoonful or two adds a nice touch to tomato or potato soup

#5. Milk – Instead of filling the can with water like some instructions say, put in some milk (¼ or so of the can) and then fill the rest with water. Stir into the soup mix until it’s blended. I’ve mostly done this with tomato soup and occasionally with chicken noodle soup. Clam chowder cans say not to add extra water, but I find it doesn’t hurt to add that little extra bit of milk

#6. Minced clams – Why, with clam chowder, of course! It makes it a lot heartier. A dash of ground black pepper adds the right amount of zing in my opinion.

Part 2

Homemade Soups.

Everyone has a favorite recipe or two for homemade soup. It’s a lot of work, cutting and chopping (usually a weekend venture), but it makes enough for several servings and stores easily. Just put the extra into one or more conveniently sized containers and freeze until needed. Here are my favorites:
 

#1) 9-bean or 15-bean soup.

Ingredients: one package of 15-bean soup, preferable Cajun-flavored; one potato, 4-6 mini carrots; one onion (yellow or white); one 15-oz can vegetable or chicken broth; two packages of Li’l Smokies; a small can of tomato sauce; a small can of whole kernel corn (optional).
 

Seasonings: salt, pepper, garlic and a wee bit of sugar, plus the Cajun spices that come with the package.
 

Preparation & Cooking: Wash and rinse beans, then put them in a large bowl and cover completely with water. Let them sit overnight. After breakfast the next morning, pour off the water and rinse the beans one more time. Place the beans in a large cooking pot. If you use it crock pot, it’s going to be fairly full and you may have to leave off some of the extra veggies.

Peel and dice the potato, then add to the pot. Slice the mini-carrots into fairly thin slices - all in the pot. Cut & chop the onion – all into the pot. Add the broth and tomato sauce. I usually put water into each can and get the last bits stuck in there and then pour those into the pot. Put in enough water so that everything has at least an inch of water over it. Add some salt and stir the mixture up.

Turn the heat on medium high and cover pot. If your pot is thick like ours, then it’ll take a bit longer to come to a boil. When the mixture comes to a boil, bring the heat down to medium low; be sure the pot remains covered. Let it simmer for about 90 minutes to two hours. Take a small test bite to see if it’s done. If not, cook an additional 30-60 minutes.

During the last 20-30 minutes of cooking, open the Li’l Smokies packages and cut each one into 3 or 4 smaller pieces. Load them onto a paper plate as you get several cut. Uncover the pot and put in all the meat plus the remaining spices (pepper, garlic, sugar, and Cajun spices). Stir into mixture and re-cover the pot. Turn heat to lowest setting and let it simmer 15-30 minutes longer. Let it set covered until lunch. It should still be plenty warm.

After lunch, ladle out the extra soup into containers for storage. A coffee cup makes a very handy scoop and usually holds more than a soup ladle. Each container should hold enough for 2 or 3 hearty bowlfuls for later consumption.

#2) Jake’s Minestrone Soup.

Ingredients: one can diced tomatoes; one can vegetable broth; one can garbanzo beans (or chick peas); one potato, peeled and diced; 3-4 mini carrots, sliced; one onion, sliced and chopped; one stalk of celery, sliced (optional); and, 20—30 egg noodles (optional).
 

Seasoning: salt, pepper, garlic, wee bit of sugar, Italian seasoning; optional – tarragon, thyme, basil.
 

Preparation & Cooking: Place all the ingredients (except seasoning) into a medium sized pot (2 quarts) and add 1-2 cans of water. Let it come to a boil and then simmer for about an hour. Add seasoning and then let it simmer about 15 more minutes. Voila! It’s ready. Should be enough for about 6-8 servings depending on how much water you add and how big the bowls are when you serve it. As always, put extra into appropriate containers for later.

#3) EZ Chicken & Dumplings.

Okay….it’s not really homemade, it’ll disturb the purists, but it’s easy and tastes good. You just need a can of chicken noodle soup and a small can of biscuit dough. After pouring the soup into the pot, add the usual can of water plus about ¼ can more water. Toss in some black pepper and let soup come to a good, low, and steady boil when uncovered.

Open the biscuit dough and tear each raw biscuit into smaller, bite-sized pieces and all these to the pot as you tear them off. When all the dough pieces are in, stir the mix well for a few seconds. Wait a minute or so to let it get back to a low boil. Reduce heat to low and then cover pot. Let it cook for about 7-8 minutes more, then turn heat off and let it remain covered for 5 or more minutes. It’s ready!!

Note: As mentioned before, soups go great with fruit slices. Don’t forget!!

Monica's Tortilla soup(Willie's step -daughter)
 

1 t oil
2 cans chicken broth
1 can tomato soup
1 lg can chopped tomatoes
1 can rotel
1 can black beans
1 onion chopped
jalepeno chopped and seeded (3 or more to taste)
2-3 chicken breasts cubed

1 pkg corn tortillas or tortilla chips

1 pkg montery jack/cheddar cheese

Saute onion, chicken and jalepenos in oil

Place remaining into crock pot and cook on low all day.

Just before serving warm tortillas and as garnish use chips ,cheese and a dollop of sour cream, and some avocado if you wish.