Pasta Fagioli

I saw this recipe when digging around the A Year of Slow Cooking blog.  I love soup.  I love using my Crockpot.  I love Italian food.  When I saw this, I knew this is something that would be healthy, easy, and delicious.  It makes a lot of food, so either make it for a crowd, plan on having a good bit of leftovers, or make it and freeze half.  It supposedly tastes like the Pasta Fagioli soup at Olive Garden, but I've not ever had that so I can't say.

Pasta Fagioli

1 pound lean ground beef, browned and drained (you could also use ground turkey) 

1/2 large red onion, chopped  (I only had a white onion)
1 cup carrots, chopped 

2 celery stalks, sliced 

2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes (and juice)  

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed 

1 can white beans, drained and rinsed 

4 cups beef broth  

1 jar (16.5 oz) pasta sauce  

2 tsp oregano 

1 T Tabasco sauce  (I forgot to add this)

1/2 tsp salt  

1/4 tsp black pepper 

1/2 cup dry pasta, to add at end of cooking time   (I used fusilli/corkscrew-shaped pasta)
Parmesan cheese, for topping at end

Directions:

Use a 6 quart or larger crockpot, or cut the recipe in half.
In a large skillet, brown the meat on the stovetop and drain well. Let it cool a bit.  Finely chop carrots, onion, and celery and add to the empty crockpot  (I used a food processor to cut down on the amount of time to prep). Drain and rinse the beans, and add them. Add the whole cans of tomatoes, and the pasta sauce. Add the beef broth. Add the salt, pepper, oregano, and Tobasco sauce. Finally, stir in browned and cooled ground meat.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4. 

When the vegetables are tender, stir in the 1/2 cup of dry pasta.
Cover and cook for another hour on low, or until the pasta is tender. It will swell quite a bit.
Serve with a bit of parmesan cheese.
Total Cooking Time: approx 9 hours on low, 4.5 on high

*** I did not put in the Tabasco sauce initially because I was unsure of how HOT it would be and if my kids would be able to tolerate the heat.  I intended to put it on the table to allow us to add it as desired while eating.  BUT, I FORGOT!  I will try the Tabasco next time.
***I cooked my soup on low for 8 hours.  I put the pasta in after the 8 hours, and it took the noodles only about 30 minutes to get soft enough.  
***Freezing suggestion:  If you plan on cooking a whole batch and freezing half of it, I would remove the half that you want to freeze BEFORE adding the pasta.  If you do this, cut your pasta portion in half when adding it to the hot soup you are planning to serve that night or you will have too much pasta.  My reasoning for this is that I think freezing the soup with the pasta, then defrosting it and cooking it at a later time may make the pasta too tender and soggy.  I would defrost the frozen soup at a later time, bring to boil or hot simmer, and then add the additional 1/4 cup of dry pasta so it is a fresh as possible.

Chicken Taco Soup (Crockpot Recipe)

Here's what's for dinner at the Bradshaw house tonight!  It's cold.  It's damp.  It's "supposed" to snow.  Sounds like soup is in order to me!

Picture courtesy of Allrecipes.com

Chicken Taco Soup
Adapted from AllRecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (16 ounce) can chili beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained (forgot)
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer (I used a Corona)
• 2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained  (I used mild)
• 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning (Again, I went with mild for the sake of the children)
• 3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)
• sour cream (optional)
• crushed tortilla chips (optional)

Directions:

Place onion, beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer and tomatoes in crockpot.  Add taco seasoning mix and stir to combine.  Add chicken breasts to crockpot, being sure to submerge them in the soup ingredients.  Bake on low for 5 hours.  After five hours, remove three chicken breasts onto a plate.  Shred with two forks, then place the shredded chicken back into slow cooker.  Continue cooking on low for an additional two hours.

Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips if desired.


Couldn't.Be.Easier.

Taco Soup

Many of you may have this in your cooking arsenal already, but just in case you don't, you MUST try this recipe! I promise you it will quickly become a favorite, not only because it is delicious, but even more so because it is the EASIEST supper. Ever. I'm not kidding.

My 2.5 year old absolutely LOVES taco soup and actually requests it. I am more than happy to oblige most times because we love it as well, and because it is extremely healthy and packed with protein. This soup has many variations that I have seen from various websites, etc., but this is my take on it. I hope you enjoy it sometime soon.

TACO SOUP

1 lb. of ground meat (or ground turkey for an even healthier and just as tasty version)
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 can Rotel tomatoes, undrained (I use the mild for Nora's benefit)
1 14.5 ounce petite diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can corn, undrained
1 can pinto beans, undrained
1 can black beans, undrained
1 can kidney beans, undrained
1 package of taco seasoning mix (I use the low sodium version)
1 package of dry Ranch salad dressing mix (This is the secret ingredient and shouldn't be left out!)

Directions:

Simply brown your ground meat of choice with the onion until meat is no longer pink and onions are soft. Drain meat and return to soup pot. Add (DUMP) your cans of vegetables and tomatoes. Add the packets of taco seasoning mix and Ranch dressing. Stir and let simmer for 30 minutes to an hour.

Serve with sour cream, avocado, shredded cheese, and tortilla chips. Feel free to top with other favorite toppings like green onion, jalapeno, etc.

A few other things worth mentioning:

***If you like your soup spicier, you can choose a spicier version of Rotel tomatoes and/or add some jalapeno to the soup pot.

***Even though this is a mild-ish soup, I usually add a dollop of sour cream to Nora's bowl to make it more creamy and a bit less fiery. Actually, I do this with many foods that I think may be too spicy for Nora....I just love sour cream!
***You can simmer this soup for as long as you like, but make sure it is at least 30 minutes. As with many soups, stews, etc., the longer they simmer, the more the flavors meld together. This soup is even tastier for leftovers.
***If you prefer your soups to be a bit more brothy, add a can of low-sodium beef broth. Sometimes I do this, sometimes I don't. It just depends if I have beef broth on hand and whether or not I am in the mood for a chunkier soup. Both ways are delicious, and the broth has a meaty flavor that doesn't water-down the great flavor of the original recipe!

Chicken Corn Chowder

I saw this recipe on a friend's cooking blog called This Mommy Cooks. When I say "friend," I guess I should clarify a bit. Amber and I have actually only met in person one time. However, before we met face to face, we got to know each other through this great world wide web as we had some mutual friends. Some of the friends are from our church because Amber and her husband used to live here in Knoxville, but she also knows some of my friends from college. I think she used to live in Memphis? (Correct me if I am wrong, Amber). Anyway, regardless of how we met, I just know that if Amber and I ever happen to live in the same city again, we would be fast friends! She seems like such a sweet person, she loves to cook, and she is a great momma to her two beautiful boys. Seriously, I still ideas from her blog all the time.

Amber posted this recipe for Chicken Corn Chowder a week or so ago, and as soon as I saw it I started drooling. Something about it...the name, the picture of her bowl of soup, the list of ingredients. I don't know. I just had to have it.

I finally got around to making it last night. It was so delicious, so warming, so comfy. Ugh. I loved it! Apparently, Amber adapted the recipe from one of Paula Deen's recipes, and I am so glad she did! (There was an absurd amount of butter in Paula's *gasp* ). This was wonderful without the additional butter, and I will definitely be making it again in the near future.

Chicken Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons butter (unsalted)
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 small carrot, finely chopped (I only have baby carrots in my fridge, and I chopped up about 10 of them for my pot of soup.)
1 small celery stalk, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 can corn, drained (Amber recommends 1.5 cans, but I thought one was sufficient.)
3 cups chicken broth (I used two cans)
1.5-2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
1 can evaporated milk
pinch of Nutmeg
salt and pepper

Directions:
Melt butter in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic, and saute for 2 minutes. Add the flour and stir to make a roux. Cook until the roux is lightly browned. Remove roux from pan and set aside to cool.

While roux is cooling, combine the corn, chicken, and chicken broth in pot, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Pour roux into the corn and chicken mixture(a little at a time), whisking briskly so it doesn't lump. Return the pot to medium heat and bring to a boil. The mixture should become very thick. (You can continue on to adding the evaporated milk at this point and continue with the rest of the recipe, but I let my soup simmer for about 20 minutes more to let my flavors meld and my vegetables cook a little longer).

Stir evaporated milk into the thick corn mixture. Add the nutmeg and salt and pepper, to taste. Return to boil and simmer for 5 more minutes.


MMMMMmmmmm. I am having the leftovers for dinner TONIGHT! The whole time I was eating my bowl(s) of soup last night, I kept thinking to myself, "This tastes familiar." I think I figured it out. This Chicken Corn Chowder tastes like a chicken pot pie in soup form to me. Serve it up with some scrumptious crescent rolls or homemade bread, and there you go! Comfort food, to the max!

Harvest Creamy Corn Chowder

Harvest Creamy Corn Soup
I came across this wonderful, wintery recipe last year while watching Rachael Ray or the Food Network. This soup is so simple and so delicious! I made it last night and it was so perfect with all of this cold weather we are having! Please give it a try and let me know what you think.

Harvest Creamy Corn Soup


Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 slices bacon, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 to 5 large ears corn, scraped from cob or 1 box frozen corn (I use frozen...so much easier)
1 medium or 2 small zucchini, chopped
1 pound small potatoes, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 bay leaf (if you have one...I rarely do)
5 to 6 sprigs fresh thyme (I've never had this on hand)
1 teaspoon paprika
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 quart chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, a couple of generous handfuls,
A few dashes hot sauce, to taste (if desired)

Directions

1. Heat a medium soup pot over medium-high heat with extra-virgin olive oil.
2. Add bacon to hot oil and cook until crisp at edges.
3. Add onions and corn, zucchini and potatoes and bell pepper as you get them chopped. Also add to the soup pot the bay leaf, thyme sprigs, paprika, and salt and pepper, to taste. Cook for about 7 to 8 minutes to begin to soften the vegetables.
4. Sprinkle flour into the pot, stir and cook 1 minute.
5. Stir in the stock and let it come up to a bubble and thicken up a bit.
6. Then stir in cream, parsley and hot sauce, to taste, and simmer 5 minutes.
7. Season the soup with salt and pepper and serve! I served warm French bread toasted with butter.

I love the parsley in this soup that is added at the end! It just makes it so fresh. Please don't leave that part out. Also, because this recipe makes a ton, you will have plenty of leftovers and it's even better the second day.