Soup, Stew, and Chili

Zuppa Soup Recipe

December 28, 2012 by Betty

If you have an Olive Garden Restaurant nearby, the chances are you’ve probably tried this soup. The first time I had Zuppa Toscana, or simply Zuppa soup was a few years ago at my local Olive Garden and since then, I’ve tried a few versions of Zuppa recipes. Recently, I found one that my family loves. This defiitely satisfied our cravings for Zuppa soup; hopefully you and your family will enjoy this too!

Ingredients:

2 bunches kale

12 small red potatoes, sliced thin

1 whole onion, chopped

1-1/2 pound Italian sausage

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more To Taste)

4 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth

2 cups whole milk

2 cups half-and-half

4 cups water

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Tear kale into bite-sized pieces and set it aside. (chop up kale ribs for soup or reserve for juicing)

In a medium pot, boil sliced potatoes until tender. Drain and set aside.

In a large pot, crumble and brown the Italian sausage. Drain as much fat as you can using a spoon or paper towels. Stir in the red pepper flakes, chicken broth, milk, half-and-half and water. Bring soup to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Add the potatoes, then stir in the kale. Simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Kale that’s been torn into bite-sized pieces.

Sliced red potatoes in strainer.

Zuppa soup cooking in a big pot.

Delicious Zuppa soup served with your favorite bread and salad or enjoy a simple meal of soup and crackers!

Makes 12 servings.

Recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks.

Easy Peruvian Quinoa Chowder

November 14, 2012 by Betty

During the crisp, cold days of fall, one of our favorite meals is soup. We love a variety of soups like Brown Rice Porridge in a Crockpot, and here’s another one that we recently came across and have fallen in love with. My friend Donna introduced me to this Peruvian Quinoa Soup. Did you know that quinoa is a great source of protein? To learn more about quinoa, read How to Cook Quinoa, whfoods.com.

Ingredients

1 pound peeled and deveined raw shrimp, roughly chopped
2 teaspoons sea salt (divided)
2 tablespoons coconut oil or oil of your choice
1 bunch scallions (about 6), whites and green tops thinly sliced
3 cloves minced garlic
1 to 2 jalapeño chiles, seeded and minced
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano (not powdered)
2/3 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
6 cups homemade or purchased gluten-free chicken broth or water
1 cup corn kernels (defrosted if frozen)
¼ cup coconut milk creamer or half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Lime wedges, for serving

Instructions

Put the shrimp in a colander over the sink and toss them with 1 teaspoon of the salt. Let stand until ready to use. (Use within about 30 minutes or refrigerate.)

In a large pot, heat the oil over moderate heat. Add the scallions and cook until starting to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and jalapeños and cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the tomato paste, cumin and oregano and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes more.

Add the quinoa and chicken broth to the pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the quinoa is cooked, about 12 minutes. Stir in the corn, half-and-half and the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt. Simmer gently until the corn is cooked, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the shrimp and the black pepper. Cook until the shrimp just turns pink, about 3 minutes. Stir in the cilantro. Serve the soup with a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Served alone or with your favorite fall salad.

Makes 6 servings.

Note: you can substitute chicken for shrimp. To make it spicier, add extra jalapeno at the end.

Adapted from the Oregonian Food Day.

For porridge recipe, click Brow Rice Chicken Porridge in a Crock Pot. For a kale soup recipe, click Zuppa Soup.

Filed Under: Soup, Stew, and Chili Tagged With: quinoa chowder, quinoa soup

Brown Rice Chicken Porridge in a Crockpot

October 1, 2012 by Betty

Do you have a favorite dish when you’re sick or have a cold? Growing up, chicken porridge or congee was my comfort food. In Chinese, it’s called Jook. Whenever I had the sniffles or any sign of a sore throat, I could be sure that my grandmother would lovingly serve me a bowl of porridge. Just thinking about it brings back fond memories of my grandmother’s cooking. Mmmm… I could remember the fragrant smell of ginger as the porridge simmers in the pot. To this day, I could eat rice porridge any day, and when I do make it, I usually ended up eating too big of a bowl. And thus my comfort food!

I have to warn you that this is not a low-carb food if you’re on a low-carb or the Paleo diet.

This comfort food of mine is starting to be our family favorites. Last weekend, when we came back from our church retreat, we were all exhausted and some of us were under the weather. So, I turned to my kitchen and lovingly prepared one big crockpot full of brown rice chicken porridge. Boy, did it hit the spot! Manners aside, my little girl picked up her bowl with her two hands, and poured the last drops of the porridge into her mouth. Then when dinnertime came, my big boy asked if I were serving porridge. My brown rice chicken porridge was a hit! Here are the easy and quick steps:

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice
8 quarts of homemade chicken broth or cans
shredded chicken
cilantro chopped
green onion chopped
dash of sea salt
ginger (peeled and cut into thin slivers)
ground white pepper (optional)

Instructions:

Wash brown rice and put it in an 8-quart crockpot and add chicken broth to about 1 ½ inch from the rim of the pot.
Turn crockpot on to low setting and let it cook for about 6 hours. I usually turn it on before I head to bed and when I wake up, my porridge’s ready for me.
We like our porridge thin, so I usually have to add a little more hot broth or hot water before we serve it.
While the porridge is hot, add chicken, cilantro, green onion and slivers of ginger to taste. Over here, we love cilantro and green onion so we put those in our soups generously. All my three kids also liked having the ginger in their porridge.
Lastly, add a little white pepper (optional)

Note: We like our green onion softened by the hot porridge, so I usually put the green onion in the bowl first before I add the porridge.

If you were to order porridge at a Chinese restaurant, it usually comes with Chinese deep fried bread sticks, also known as Youtiao. They are also available at your local Asian supermarkets.

pictures credit

DIY chicken broth:

I generally use one to two chicken carcass and add enough water to cover it, about 8 quarts of water. Any kind of chicken bones would be okay. Add one small onion and five medium slices of ginger. Bring the liquid to a boil and reduce to a very slow simmer for about 3 hours or longer. I’ve simmered chicken for 6 hours and what I got is darker, thicker, reduced chicken broth. When chicken broth is done, use a fine metal sieve and drain the liquid into a big bowl or another pot. Toss bones and whatever’s left in the sieve. This reduced stock is perfect for freezing when you’re not using right away. When you’re ready to use this broth, thaw and add more water to dilute.

For quinoa soup, read Easy Peruvian Quinoa Chowder. For a kale soup recipe, click Zuppa Soup.