Category: Soups and Stews

Spicy Carrot and Pumpkin Soup

This week has been a bit “wintery” and no winter week is complete without using the crockpot.  I was inspired by this recipe for Slow Cooker Spicy Carrot and Pumpkin Soup, published by Healthy Food Guide in New Zealand.  Normally I don’t like crockpot recipes that require you to saute ingredients beforehand, but I made an exception here.   I am glad I did, because this was a very rich and flavorful soup.

Normally I also make soups that are one-pot meals, but I made another exception.  I paired this soup with a container of Greek yogurt to add some protein and make it a meal, but it would also be a nice first course for any dinner.

 

 

Spicy Carrot and Pumpkin Soup

1 T canola oil
1 Vidalia onion, diced
1 t minced garlic
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin
1 large potato, peeled and cut in 1″ chunks
5 carrots, peeled and cut in 1″ slices
3 c. vegetable broth
3 T flour
2 t paprika
1 t curry

Heat canola oil in a large frying pan.  Saute onion and garlic until lightly brown, and place the cooked onions in the crockpot.  Add pumpkin, potato, and carrots to the crockpot.  In a small bowl, whisk together broth, flour, paprika, and curry.  Pour liquid over vegetables in the crockpot.  Cook on High for 6 hours.  Mash carrots and potatoes with a potato masher.  Stir well and serve.

-Adapted from Healthy Food Guide

Ginger Lentil Soup

I started reading Joy the Baker last year, and found myself drooling over her recipes.  She is well known for her sweet treats, but I was looking for something a little lighter.  So instead of baking, she inspired me to make this Ginger and Lentil Soup.  There is nothing like the smell of freshly cut ginger.

I cut the recipe in half, and then made a few changes.  First, while I do love the French green lentils in the original recipe, I can only find them at Whole Foods, so I went with the standard brown ones which happened to be right in my cupboard. I also added some green to the pot in the form of Chinese broccoli, but either bok choy or Swiss chard would probably work as well.  After a month filled with heavy foods, this soup was light and refreshing, but still a satisfying meal.

 

 

Ginger and Lentil Soup

1 T canola oil
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 T minced garlic
3 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
2 T minced fresh ginger
1 t cumin
Dash cayenne pepper
2 c. vegetable broth
2-3 c. water
1 1/2 c. lentils
1 large bunch Chinese broccoli, large stems removed and coarsely chopped (appx 3 cups)

Heat oil in a large pot.  Add onion, and saute for 5-10 minutes until onion is soft and starting to brown.  Add garlic, carrots, and ginger, and saute for 2-3 minutes.  Add cumin and cayenne pepper and stir well.  Add vegetable broth, 2 c. water, lentils, and Chinese broccoli or other greens, and simmer covered for 1 hour.  Add more water if soup is too thick.

-Adapted from Joy the Baker

Crockpot Tomato Soup

There is nothing like hot tomato soup on a really cold day.  It’s pretty easy to make tomato soup on the stovetop, but the crockpot seems to intensify the rich tomato flavor.  In any case, you won’t go back to eating Campbell’s.

I wanted to keep things simple, so I modified this recipe.  Just four hours later, I had a pot of gorgeous tomato soup.  Serving the soup over barley makes it a bit more like a meal, but I won’t stop you if you’d rather make a grilled cheese sandwich.

 

Crockpot Tomato Soup

1 T olive oil
1 t minced garlic
1 Vidalia onion, peeled and chopped
1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
3 c. vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
1 – 1 1/2 c. cooked barley

Heat olive oil in a frying pan.  Add garlic and onion, and saute for 10-15 minutes.  Place in crockpot, along with tomatoes, broth, and bay leaves.  Cook on high for 4 hours.  Remove bay leaves, and serve over cooked barley.

 

Southwestern Turkey Soup

Like many other families, we had turkey leftover after Thanksgiving.  And really, you can only eat so many turkey sandwiches.  I’ve made soup using leftover turkey before, but this one is just a little different.  It was inspired by this Creamy Mexican Turkey Soup from RecipeGirl which uses both milk and cheddar cheese for a creamy texture.

My first piece of advice is to start with a big pot.  My second piece of advice is to find someone else to chop all the vegetables and keep an eye on the pot.  (Thanks, Dad!)  We just kept throwing things in, and then suddenly the pot was almost full.  But that’s OK, there was plenty of soup for everyone to have a bowl or two, and then I took the rest home.  Soup is a lot more appealing than a dry turkey sandwich for lunch any day!

 

 

Southwestern Turkey Soup

2 T olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 shallot, peeled and diced
1 onion, peeled and diced
6-7 c. broth
1/4 c. flour
2 c. milk
1 T chili powder
1 t cumin
1/4 t black pepper
1-2 dashes cayenne pepper
1 (16 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach
1 (15 oz.) can corn, drained
4 c. chopped turkey
4 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded

Heat oil in a large stockpot.  Saute carrots, celery, shallot, and onion for 10 minutes.  Add 6-7 c. broth, cover pot,  and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  In the meantime, mix flour, milk, and spices in a small bowl and whisk well.  Stir mixture into soup, and cook for 5-10 minutes until thickened.  Reduce heat to low, and add spinach, corn, turkey, and cheese.  Cook until cheese is melted and soup is heated through.

-Adapted from RecipeGirl

Crockpot White Bean Pumpkin Chili

My cooking club theme this month was “Soup’s On!” and we all made soup, stew, or chili.  I brought this White Bean Pumpkin Chili, and we also enjoyed Broccoli Cheddar Soup, Butternut Squash Apple Soup, Beef Stew, and Blueberry Soup served over vanilla ice cream for dessert.  Many spoons were used and a good time was had by all.

I saw this Crockpot Turkey White Bean Pumpkin Chili on Skinny Taste, and wanted to make a vegetarian version.  I also swapped a jalapeno pepper for the canned chilis.  The chili came out great, and the beans were nice and soft and made the chili thick.  The recipe is easy, and remember that the crockpot can cook while you sleep!

 

 

Crockpot White Bean Pumpkin Chili

1 T canola oil
1 large onion, diced
2 t minced garlic
1 jalapeno, deseeded and diced
1 T cumin
2 (15 oz.) cans white beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin
3 c. vegetable broth
1 T chili powder

Heat oil in a large frying pan, and saute onion, garlic, and pepper for 10-15 minutes, until lightly browned.  Stir in cumin.  Place mixture in a crockpot, and add beans, pumpkin, broth, and chili powder.  Cook on low for 8 hours.

-Adapted from Skinny Taste

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Soup season is just about over, but I wanted to squeeze in just one more. I tried Hungarian Mushroom Soup from Eating Well, with plenty of mushrooms and potatoes in a vegetable broth thickened with milk and flour. The combination of dill and paprika worked well both for flavor and color, but I still think the soup was missing something. Some rye croutons might have been nice? I’ll figure it out in the fall, but for now we’ll move on from hearty winter soups!

Ethiopian Chickpea Stew

It’s still very much winter-like outside, and therefore still the season for soups and stews. This week I made Ethiopian Chickpea Stew, which happens to be both vegan and gluten-free, originally posted by Gluten Free Gina. But what drew me to this recipe was the promise of a rich and spicy tomato base, filled with roasted chickpeas, carrots, and potatoes.

And this dish truly delivered on that promise, emphasis on the spicy! Yes, I used the entire 1/4 t of cayenne pepper in the original recipe, and didn’t cut it back. The stew just about reached my spice limit, but was so good that I kept going back for more. I brought a dish to my friend Karla, who also really enjoyed it and said the spiciness cleared her head. With (snow? rain? sleet?) on the way, maybe you should pick up the ingredients for this stew now!

Corn and Spinach Chowder

I am sure you’ve caught on to the fact that I usually make at least one pot of soup each weekend during the winter. Soup is usually very easy to make, with most of the effort going towards chopping vegetables. And when you use the crockpot, it’s even easier. I spent less than 15 minutes total on this dish.

I adapted this corn chowder recipe, adding another vegetable (spinach) and one of my favorite spices (smoked paprika). I also made it vegetarian and a little healthier. It isn’t the prettiest soup, but it tastes great without any additional seasoning. And that’s not bad for 15 minutes worth of work.

1 10oz. package frozen spinach
1 16oz. package frozen corn
1 onion, peeled and chopped
3 potatoes, chopped
2 c. vegetable broth
1/2 t salt
1 t smoked paprika
2 c. skim milk
1/4 c. Smart Balance or Earth Balance margarine

Add spinach through paprika to crockpot, and cook on high for 4 hours. Using a potato masher, press potatoes against the sides of the crockpot to thicken soup. Add milk and margarine, and cook on high for 1 additional hour.