Soups
What's on the menu?
Butternut Squash Bisque
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ cup diced onion
¾ cup diced carrots
4 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
3 cups vegetable broth
Salt and pepper to taste
Ground nutmeg to taste
¼ cup heavy cream (optional)
Stove Top
Heat oil and butter in a large stockpot. Saute onions until tender. Add carrots, squash, broth, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender. Puree mixture in a blender in batches until smooth. Return to pot and stir in cream. Heat thoroughly but do not boil. Serve warm with a dash of nutmeg.
Yield: 4 servings
Snow Day Shrimp Gumbo
1 stick butter
1 pound frozen okra
2/3 cup vegetable oil
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 (12-oz) package frozen chopped onions, thawed
½ (10-oz) package frozen chopped bell peppers, thawed
2 ½ quarts water, divided
1 (28-oz) can tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon ground bay leaves
½ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
3-4 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined
Hot cooked rice
Stove Top
Melt butter in a large stockpot. Add okra. Cook and stir 15 to 20 minutes. In a large skillet, cook oil and flour, stirring constantly, 30 minutes until a dark brown roux is formed. Stir in onions and peppers. Slowly add 1 cup of water, stirring until smooth. Add to okra in stockpot. Stir in tomatoes, garlic, remaining water, salt, bay leaves, pepper, Tabasco and red pepper. Bring to boil. Add shrimp and return to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Serve over rice.
Yield: 12 to 15 servings
Cassie's Winter Vegetable Soup
2x 14-oz cans vegetable broth
3 red potatoes, peeled and diced into 3/4 inch pieces
1x 12-oz can diced tomatoes
1x 8-oz package frozen lima beans
2 tbsp finely chopped onion
1x 12-oz can cream-style corn
Salt and pepper to taste
Stove Top
In a medium saucepan, combine broth, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, and onion. Bring to boil, then reduce and simmer for 20 to 25 mins, or until potatoes are tender. Remove from heat and stir in the corn. Salt and pepper to taste.
Try this with Barb's skillet cornbread.
Yield: 6 servings
Baked Potato Soup
4 large baking potatoes
6 bacon slices
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups milk
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 green onions, finely chopped
5 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
8 oz sour cream
400 F, Stove Top
Wash and prick potatoes, wrap in foil. Bake for 1 hour at 400 F, or until soft when squeezed. Let cool slightly.
Cook bacon, set on paper towel to cool. Crumble and set aside.
In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add flour, stirring constantly until smooth. Slowly whisk in the milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 5 to 10 minutes until thick and bubbling.
Cut potatoes lengthwise and scoop flesh into milk mixture. Add salt, pepper, green onions, bacon, and cheddar. Cook over low until heated through. Stir in sour cream and serve.
Lentil Soup
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion
4 cloves garlic
4 carrots
4 stalks celery
2 lbs potatoes
1 cup brown lentils
1 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1.5 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
6 cups vegetable broth
1 cup frozen peas
Stove Top
Begin by dicing one yellow onion and mincing four cloves of garlic. Add the onion, garlic, and 2 Tbsp olive oil to a large soup pot. Sauté over medium heat. While the onion and garlic are sautéing, dice or slice 4 stalks celery (depending on how chunky you want your stew). Add the celery to the pot and continue to sauté. Peel and chop four carrots into half-rounds, add them to the pot, and continue to sauté.
While the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic are sautéing, peel and cube 2 lbs. potatoes into 3/4 to 1-inch cubes. Add the potatoes to the pot along with 1 cup brown lentils (I use a whole bag of lentils.), 1 tsp dried rosemary, 1/2 tsp dried thyme, 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard, 1.5 Tbsp soy sauce, and 1 Tbsp brown sugar. (I often leave out the rosemary and thyme and use pepper or the lentil bag of seasoning packet. I've used dried mustard upon occasion.)
Finally, add 6 cups vegetable broth to the pot and give everything a brief stir. Place a lid on top, turn the heat up to high, and bring it up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low, and let it simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Toward the end of the simmer time, when the potatoes are very soft, begin to mash them a bit against the side of the pot as you stir. This will thicken the stew. After 30 minutes, add 1 cup frozen peas, and allow them to heat through. Finally, taste the stew and add salt if needed (I did not add any salt because the broth I used had enough). I will use the whole bag of lentils and skip the green peas. I have also subbed a can of diced tomatoes with juice to the pot. If the soup gets too thick, add more broth or some water. Serve with crusty bread.
Granny Mary’s Sweep the Kitchen Veggie Soup
Stove Top
Mom’s veggie soup was never the same twice, but always delicious. This was because she froze leftover vegetables and dumped them into the soup. She didn’t waste food. Sometimes it might have leftover roast beef, sometimes ground beef. But this is the “core” recipe. Feel free to add or subtract. She always did. A pot of this soup was great on a cold day and it didn’t last long.
1 big can of tomato juice
2 beef bouillon cubes in 2 cups water or a can of beef stock
1 pound of ground beef, cooked, drained (or pot roast, cooked, chopped) or no meat at all! The soup will still be great.
1 package of onion soup mix (optional)
1 onion chopped
5-6 potatoes cubed, depending on size of potato
bag of baby carrots sliced or canned or frozen
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon oregano (seasoning is always optional and to your taste)
½ teaspoon thyme
1 can of green beans (I drain the canned veggies because of the extra salt)
1 can of corn
1 can light red kidney beans or your favorite, undrained
1 can diced tomatoes
In the largest pot you have add the tomato juice, stock, beef and onion soup mix and put on medium high heat. Cut up your onions, carrots and potatoes.
Add potatoes, carrots, green beans, corn, beans, and diced tomatoes.
Add seasonings. Add more stock or veggies as desired.
Cover and turn on low and let simmer, stirring occasionally. Adjust seasonings.
Beef Ravioli Soup
Stove Top
I made so little teaching my first couple of years that I took a summer job in St. Louis as a bar maid in Yacovelli's Side Door Lounge just off I44 and Lindbergh Avenue. I worked the lunch service. I made great tips because so many Chrysler and Catapillar business men took expense account lunches at the popular restaurant. Besides making drinks, I could serve customers soup and sandwiches from a buffet. The beef ravioli soup was very popular. And very easy to make. A package of frozen beef ravioli makes it possible to get this satisfying soup on the table in just 20 minutes.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
2 miniature red sweet peppers, stemmed and sliced (about 1/2 cup)
1 32 oz container beef broth
1 20 oz package frozen beef ravioli
Ground black pepper and salt, to taste
In a 4-quart Dutch oven heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion slices, mushrooms, and sweet peppers; cook and stir 4 minutes or until tender. Stir in broth; bring to boiling. Stir in ravioli; return to boiling. Reduce heat. Cook, uncovered, 5 to 8 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with salt and pepper before serving.
Barb’s Crockpot Vegetable Lentil Soup Recipe
4 cups lentils, rinsed and picked through
32 oz beef broth (or veggie broth to make vegetarian)
2 cups water
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cups carrots, sliced
1/2 cup celery, sliced
28 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 large russet potatoes, diced
4-6 cloves garlic, minced or a tablespoon of jar minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
Crock Pot
Place all ingredients in a 5-6 quart crock pot. Cook on LOW for 7-8 hours or until vegetables are tender.
Slow Cooker Ham & White Beans
Crock Pot
Our pantry always had cans of white beans known as “Northern Beans”. I always thought that was pretty funny since we lived in Louisiana. A bag of beans was even cheaper than the cans, but you had to clean and soak them the night before. For those end of the month meals, we would have beans, cornbread, slices of tomato, and if we were lucky, a side of crispy bacon. For dessert, Dad would crumble some leftover cornbread into buttermilk. Many Southerners prefer pinto beans, but we liked white. When I worked at Dixon High School in Dixon, Missouri, the school cooks were the grandmothers of several of the students. Ham and white beans were on the menu once a week. They offered steak, yes steak, once a week, and the most wonderful, huge, fluffy, melt in your mouth cinnamon rolls once a week, too. They would bring a huge pan of rolls into the teacher's lounge for us to eat on during our break. It was the only school where I taught that the food was always wonderful. Even though I was carrying Sammie that year at Dixon, I gained 70 pounds. I thought it was because of the toxemia and a 10 and a half pound baby. But it wasn't helped by the good meals and the doting lunch ladies.
1 lb package dried northern beans
ham bone, hocks, shanks or diced ham (about 1 pound)
2 teaspoons onion powder (I prefer a diced white onion.)
6 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
Rinse and sort the beans for any pebbles. Add the rinsed beans, onion powder, salt, pepper, and ham to the crock-pot. Add water. Cover and cook on low about 8 hours, until beans are tender. Remove ham bone, shanks or hocks and pull off the meat. Add meat to the crock-pot and mix. Serve with cornbread.
Variation for a quick meal:
2 cans of northern beans
cooked ham (optional) no ham at the end of the pay period for us, beans were plain
salt, pepper, garlic powder or onion powder to taste
Heat all of the ingredients. I like the beans and “pot likker” served over a split piece of cornbread.
7-Day Diet Weight Loss Soup (Wonder Soup)
Stove Top
I've done this diet many times. It's a lot of soup. You may want to halve it. If you do this diet for 7 days, you really really tire of it. Google the diet for instruction on how and when to eat it.
1/2 head of cabbage chopped
1 cup celery diced
1 cup white or yellow onion diced
1 cup carrots diced
1 green bell pepper diced
2-3 cloves garlic minced
4 cups chicken broth
14 oz can basil oregano, garlic diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
few shakes of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt optional
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add celery, onions, bell peppers, and carrots. Saute until slightly tender. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant. Pour in chicken broth. Stir in tomatoes and cabbage. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until cabbage is tender. Stir in oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, black pepper and salt (if using). Taste broth and adjust seasoning if needed.
Granny Mary's "German Penicillin" Potato Soup
Stove Top
I can't remember Mom not making this soup. If you got sick, she made this soup. If you had an upset stomach, fever, sore throat, the soup was the cure. This is intentionally a very brothy soup. Potatoes, water, a small amount of butter and milk, salt and pepper, the only spices. Soda crackers to break into the bowl or nibble on. Cheap, always available, and, frankly, delicious. After I moved to St. Louis, this was standard Thursday night fare. When I had my children, I made this for them when they were sick. Haden was seldom ill. Sammie was often sick. I made this after every sinus operation. About a month after Logan was born, Haden and I flew to DC in order to see the baby. When we got there, Sammie was in the hospital recovering from an emergency appendectomy. Haden and I got to take care of Logan. He loved sleeping on Grandma's chest for four hours. Why put him in the bassinet when I could just hold him the entire time. After Sammie got back home, she wanted her comfort food, potato pie and a pot of soup. Haden offered to prepare under my instruction. I sat in a chair and was his sous-chef. Haden doesn't always take instruction gracefully. Sam said we sounded like the mother and son on the television sitcom "Schitt's Creek". "Fold it in. Just fold it in!"
4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
water to cover (can use chicken broth for richness)
1-2 cups milk (more or less to taste)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste
a handful of frozen chopped onions, if you are feeling frisky
saltine or oyster crackers
Place the potatoes in a large pot over high heat. Add water to cover, about 1 inch over the potatoes. Boil for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender. Add more water or broth if it cooks down too much. Do not drain. Reduce heat to low and add the milk and butter. Mash the potatoes in the pot with a potato masher leaving some larger chunks. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
St. Louis Art Museum's Wild Rice Soup
Stove Top
When we first moved to St. Louis, Haden was around a year old and Sam was nearly 3. I found a job teaching at the St. Louis Art Museum. I tried to put the two in daycare, but Haden cried at the window or door for the entire time I was gone, nearly 8 hours, and wouldn't be touched or fed. I took him to 2 daycares. They both told me to never bring him back. I hired an in house sitter for minimum wage. $4.50 an hour. I loved being one of the "basket ladies" at the museum. A class would schedule a tour, let's say in the Pre-Columbian gallery. I would show them the art and talk about it and we would do a project in the gallery using my basket supplies. We might also go back to the classroom for something more intensive. The next week, I would visit their classroom and we would spend 3 hours doing an extensive project. I absolutely loved teaching in that museum. It's huge and fabulous. We teachers had lunch every day in The Cafe. It looked onto a patio with a beautiful nude by Aristide Maillol. The bowl of soup was a dollar for employees and was so delicious. I bought a bowl every day. It was never quite the same each day. Sometimes there might be more carrots or more mushrooms. But it was also superb.
oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 large carrots, finely chopped
3 large celery stalks, diced
2 large potatoes, diced small
2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 cups wild rice
9 cups water, vegetable, or chicken broth
1/2 tsp thyme, dried
1 tbsp prepared mustard, optional
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
Ground black pepper to taste
2 cups whole milk, optional for richness
Small bunch parsley, finely chopped
1 tablespoon dry sherry, optional
Stovetop: In a large heavy bottom pot or Dutch oven, swirl a bit of oil to coat; add onion, garlic, carrots, celery and fresh mushrooms, and saute for 5 minutes. Add potatoes, wild rice, water or broth, thyme, salt, and pepper; bring to a boil, cover and cook on low heat with lid a bit open for about 45 minutes.
To the pot, add milk, mustard and garlic powder; don’t forget to stir and feel free to adjust thickness with extra water and spices. add parsley, Stir in sherry and heat through. Test for seasonings. Add a little more sherry if desired.
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