Lasagna Soup (vegetarian)

This seemed easier to make than lasagna, and maybe tastier too.

1 yellow onion, diced
1/4 tsp salt
4 garlic cloves, diced
1 tbsp oregano
1 zucchini, cubed
5-10 mushrooms, sliced
28 oz of diced tomatoes and/or pasta sauce (I used 1 can of tomatoes and about 1/2 jar of pasta sauce)
5 c. chicken broth
 4 lasagna noodles, broken into 2 inch pieces
2 c.  shredded mozzarella cheese
 ground turkey or beef (optional)

Spray the bottom of a soup pot with cooking oil. Saute onion and salt in pan until soft. Add garlic and cook another 1-2 minutes. Add zucchini and mushrooms and drizzle with 2 T of olive oil. Add oregano and cook on medium heat until vegetables are soft. Add tomato products and broth, bring to a simmer. Add pieces of pasta, cook 10 minutes until soft. Mix in cheese until melted. Serve.

If you want to add meat, I'd add it with the garlic and cook until browned, before you add the vegetables.

Fast Sunday Soup

This is mostly a record for my own benefit, because I made up this soup, and it ended up being delicious. But it's similar enough to Beth's Harvest Soup recipe, that I imagine most people will use that one. But this one happens to be vegetarian, and it includes what I had in the kitchen on a Sunday.

7 cups vegetable broth
1 can tomato soup
1 can water
1 can tomatoes, with liquid

Get boiling in a large pot, then add:

1 package pasta

While that's cooking, heat some olive oil in a large frying pan, and saute (adding in order, so you don't overcook):

1 large onion, chopped
1-2 cups mushrooms, roughly chopped
fresh kernels cut off of 2 ears of corn
4 Morningstar breakfast sausage patties, chopped up

Then season the vegetables with:

Salt, pepper, garlic, italian seasoning, dash of nutmeg, (and a little milk if you want) to taste.

Combine the vegetables into the soup base, then throw a can of drained potatoes (use fresh if you have them) into the emptied frying pan, to brown them up a bit, before you toss them in the soup as well.

Enjoy with breadsticks, or garlic bread.

Farmer's Market Chowder

This soup was a little more work than I wanted it to be. But, it was also way more delicious than I wanted it to be. Unfortunately, that means we are definitely going to have to make it again. I've tried to simplify it a little here.

4 ears of corn
2.5 cups milk
2 cloves of garlic, crushed (more later)

2 T. butter
1.5 T. olive oil (more later)
3 cups leeks, sliced
1/2 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp. paprika
4 cups water

1 T. olive oil
1 med-large sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1-2 cups mushrooms, sliced
1 can green beans, drained (the recipe called for fresh, chopped, but we just used canned, and it made the recipe easier. if you use fresh, they may need to just cook a little longer in the soup)

1.5 T fresh, chopped basil
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut kernels off corn cobs into a large saucepan with the milk and garlic. Run the back of the knife down the cobs to squeeze extra corn-milk and pulp off cobs. Don't throw away the cobs, yet. Bring milk/corn to a slight boil and remove from heat. Add cobs, cover, and let steep for a while.

2. Heat butter and oil in another large saucepan or dutch oven (you could probably use the same one, if you want to move the corn to steep in a different container). Add leeks and onions, cover, and cook 15 minutes over medium or medium-low heat. Add garlic and paprika and cook 30 seconds. Add 4 cups of water. Remove from heat.

3. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add sweet potatoes and saute 8 minutes, or until browned. Add this to the leek/onion mixture.

4. Add remaining oil to the skillet and saute mushrooms and green beans. (If using fresh green beans, add at the same time. If using canned, saute the mushrooms alone for a bit, first) Remove from heat.

5. Bring onion/leek/sweet potato mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add mushroom/green bean mixture (cook a few minutes more here, if using fresh beans).

6. Remove the cobs from the milk/corn pot (getting as much milk and pulp off them as you can). Combine the milk/corn with the vegetable mixture. Add basil, and salt and pepper.

7. Enjoy. Seriously.

Ok, now- this recipe, while complicated, is fairly versatile. I added mushrooms and onions, just because I felt like it, and it was delicious. It also suggests that you could use carrots, potatoes (although I do not advocate giving up sweet potatoes for this), wax beans, etc.

sorta homemade tomato soup

you know how i am on the search for perfect soup? well, i have always had a soft spot in my heart for tomato soup. i have also harbored a sneaking suspicion that i could do better than the stuff that comes out of a can. so i needed a dish to go along with chicken rollups (chicken, green onions, cream cheese- rolled up in a cresant roll), and i had two homemade tomato soup recipes that i had some of each... so i combined them and added what sounded good, and viola! sSSSSSoooo good. the cream takes the bite off the tomato acid and it is wonderful.

1can itallian tomatoes, diced

1can tomato soup

1/4 soup can of water + 3/4 soup can of cream. these amounts are debatable.

3T butter (told ya it was good)

1cup water + 1 cube ck bullion or 1 can of ck broth

1/2 tsp basil (or fresh stuff if you are cool like that)

1tsp sugar

pinch of pepper

i put it all together and let it simmer for a while (this is because jack needed help in the bathroom and i forgot about it), but too hot, and the cream will go weird.

and DONE! great for what ails new hampshire!

by the way, cream is my new ingredient that i have around all the time, just to add to stuff: soup, mac n' cheese, even eggs. it makes lots of stuff really good.

Curried Pumpkin Mushroom Soup

This soup is easy but tastes fancy.

1 package mushrooms, sliced
1/2 c. chopped onions
2 T butter
2 T flour
1 T curry powder
2 small cans chicken broth
1 15 oz can pumpkin
1 T honey
1 c milk or cream
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Cook onions and mushrooms in butter until soft. Add flour and curry. Cook over low heat for 5 min, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add broth, stirring to mix. Stir in pumpkin, honey, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 min. Add milk/cream.

Avoid boiling when reheating.

a new, easy soup

6-8cups ck broth

bag of California blend frozen vegetables

can of Italian diced tomatoes, with juice

bag of cheese tortellini (frozen or fresh- follow the directions for cooking time)

heat the first three ingredients, than add the tortellini to simmering soup 3-4 min. before serving.

EASY!

the only catch: this soup will stand on it's own, without doctoring with spices, IF you buy quality ingredients. NOT generic. each ingredient needs to be really good (duh), then it is just plain yummy. if the vegetables have been around a while, or are mostly broccoli stalks, or the canned tomatoes are too green or boring, the soup will need some garlic, basil, or a little extra help.

Harvest Soup

i have had a lot of requests, so here it is:

1 lb ground sausage (jimmy dean or breakfast, not just ground pork)
3/4 c chopped onion
2 + chopped garlic cloves
(cook together till done and onions soft)
3 1/2 c water
(the amounts of the cubed potatoes and squashes are debatable and up to you, but this is the ratio i use...)
2 c sweet potatoes
1 c red potatoes
1 c acorn squash
2 + (i always add more) tsp beef boulion granules (sp?)
1/4 tsp chili powder
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 ground cloves (this is what makes the soup what it is..)
(boil 20 min? or in a crock pot apperently, for a few hours till squash and friends are done. then add:)
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 c tomato catsup
(let heat for a bit, then taste and mess with the spices. i usually end up adding boulion and more catsup to beef up the broth.)

Crab Chowder

½ lb. bacon

1 can of crab (slightly bigger than a tuna can- maybe 6 oz?)

½ onion, chopped

Potatoes, cooked and chopped (I used one can of potatoes, cause that’s what I had. So, if you use fresh, maybe 1-2 medium to large potatoes?)

A few dashes of cayenne pepper, or other powdered red pepper (or chop up some fresh if you have it)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of celery soup

2 cans of milk

1 can corn, drained

Good pinch of thyme

Salt

Pepper

Cook up bacon in large soup pan. Near the end, add the crab (I had the pan at an angle at this point to avoid saturating the crab in bacon grease, but that was pointless, since it all ends up in the same place).

Remove bacon and crab, leaving grease in pan. Place mixture on paper towel.

Add onion to grease, and cook until onion is tender (add red pepper here if you use fresh, to allow it time to cook). Add potatoes and red pepper. Stir and let simmer for a couple minutes.

Mix in soups, milk, corn and thyme.

Stir thoroughly.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add back in the bacon/crab mixture.

Let soup warm through, and enjoy.

Chicken Noodle Soup

3 cans of chicken soup stock
1 cup of water (could have used more)
1 boullion cube
1 big chicken breast
celery
carrots
1 lb pasta
1 bay leaf
salt/pepper
any other seasonings you wish- some recipes call for basil or oregano

Throw everything in the pot and bring up to pressure. Cook for 4 minutes. Serve with biscuits on a rainy day.
Note: I don't really like the soup part of soup, so I went a little too light on the liquids department. Mine ended up more like chicken soup flavored pasta, which was alright too.

Cheese Soup

Serves ~6

1.5-2 cups chopped onions
2 tomatoes, diced
2 cups chopped mushrooms (I've used about 4 different varieties- all are good, although Shitake is NOT my favorite.)
2 cups chicken broth/stock
3-4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. salt
pepper to taste

Simmer until onions are tender.

Slowly add 1.5 cups milk, 1/2 lbs. jack cheese (I've also used mozzarella) and White Sauce (see below). Stir together until warmed through, and serve.

White Sauce:
Melt 6 T. butter, blend in 6 T. flour and 1/2 tsp. salt. Add 3 cups of milk slowly, and stir constantly over medium high heat until mixture thickens.

Taco Soup

2 cans of beans (any kind you like-pinto, black, kidney)
1 can corn
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes w/green chilies
1 can chicken (or other meat)
1 chopped bell pepper
1/2 chopped onion
1 cup water

1 package ranch dressing mix
1 package taco seasoning

Put everything together and let it simmer for as long as you can. Serve with shredded cheese and chips.