Creamy Potato and Kale Soup

This semester has been incredibly busy for me. One full-time job, one part-time job, and finishing my degree. Cooking (and even more so, blogging) food has, unfortunately, been low on my priority list. I have been eating old favorites, quick meals, and going out to eat more than I would prefer. So, last night, I had two hours between jobs and decided to toss together this soup to eat when I finished my second shift. It was the greatest idea. I have made & blogged a lot of soups before, but I will say, not-so-humbly, that this is the more delicious one yet. This recipe makes many servings, which is great because it heats up so well. Enjoy!

Red Potato and Roasted Summer Corn Chowder

I love when the weather gets a little crisp and I can huddle around a bowl of soup. I've been dying to make some soup this week, but kept forgetting to buy ingredients, so I went with what I had in my pantry: summer corn and red potatoes. This recipe makes about four servings (about 1 1/2 cups each) and is adapted from Damn Delicious' recipe. So, fire up your slow cooker and get to it!

Kale, Barley & Chickpea Soup

It's that time of year: kale season. If you're a CSA member, that's all that you've been getting in your share. It's all over the stores, the farmers markets, and now, in your slow cooker. This recipe is easy and makes about four servings. Enjoy!

Black Bean Vegetable Soup

Break out your slow cooker for this one. Low & slow is how I chose to make this black bean soup, for a few reasons, but the biggest being that I didn't want to have to watch the soup while I was watching Battlestar Galactica. I know, I know. This recipe makes about four servings & is perfect for the cooler temps that we've been experiencing lately. Enjoy!

St. Paddy's Day: Cheddar Ale Potato Soup

To follow up the delicious Irish soda bread recipe I posted earlier today, here is an amazing cheddar ale potato soup to pair along with it (and trust me, I did). I hope that you all had a happy St. Paddy's Day & enjoy the soup! This recipe is an altered version of this one and makes about six servings.

Cauliflower Cheddar Soup

I have been sick all week and this soup has proved itself as a perfect comfort food. It has a deep savory flavor and will warm up your whole body. Making it did feel a bit time consuming, but I threw it in my slow cooker so I didn't have to actively watch it. I do wish the photos would have turned out a bit better, but let's blame it on my being sick at the time! This recipe makes about three cups and is based off of this Closet Cooking recipe.

Guest Post: Veggie Cheddar Soup

Welcome the wonderful Candace as my newest guest blogger! Check out her delicious and cozy veggie cheddar soup recipe, below.
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The huge amount of dairy in this soup makes it deliciously good, if not exactly good for you. The recipe has been developed off of the inspiration of a pureed soup recipe card that my partner and I picked up at our local grocery store. What I like best about it is how customizable it is. For instance, we usually make it with chopped celery but since we went shopping on Super Bowl Sunday, there was nary a stick of celery to be found, so I just added extra potatoes and carrots to this batch. This recipe makes 8-10 servings.

Guest Post: Corn & Potato Chowder

MV Banks made us an amazing Kale, Mushroom & Sage Risotto a couple months ago and now she's back with delicious Corn & Potato Chowder!
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The Ravens won, and life is grand.  However, I'm not sure I could eat one more bite of anything spiced with Old Bay, one more seven-layer-dip, or guacamole.  I love avocados more than life itself, but after a prolonged football season, I need a break.  With the cold weather that's swung back in town, what you need is a good, hearty soup that'll stick to your ribs and take extra miles on the treadmill to burn off.  Enjoy the warmth of standing over a toasty stove while there's more snow forecast for the week.

Sometimes my recipe inspiration comes from Tastespotting, a dangerous but wonderful food porn site.  Other days, I turn to Google and just type in what's going bad soon in my kitchen, allowing the handy "recipe" search to find my dinner for me.  Today, it brought me here, and I edited it ever-so-slightly.  I love soup, because it really can so easily become a haven for all things looking questionable.

 

Vegetarian Chili

Tonight was one of those nights where I have a lot of food in the house, but nothing to really make. So, I took a bunch of leftovers and things in my pantry and decided to make a chili. This is really easy (especially because I used a slow cooker), and because I used a meat substitute, your carnivorous friends will enjoy it as well. I made a small volume of chili, but you can multiply the recipe as much as you want! This recipe makes three to four servings.

Homemade "Cream of" Soup

There are a lot of great recipes out there that call for "cream of" soups. Unfortunately, the canned "cream of" soups (usually Campbell's, or something comparable) are not so healthy, have a lot of preservatives & sodium and don't have an authentic taste. I always thought it'd be really difficult to create homemade "cream of" soup, but it's actually not at all. There this really awesome website that helps you make "cream of" soups in any way that you'd like (vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, organic, low-fat, and traditional). I made a vegetarian cream of potato for my hash brown casserole and it was great. This recipe makes about 1 1/2 cups. You can use it right away, freeze it, or keep in the fridge for up to four days.

White Bean Soup

Another soup to add to the Autumn Soup Exchange list! This one was really quick to make; about 20 minutes. It's a nice, light recipe and was perfect for lunch. This recipe makes three to four cups. The recipe's original source is here.

Miso Soup with Udon Noodles

This is a brothy, vegan soup to keep you warm and full in the colder months. This recipe creates six to seven cups of soup. Here's the recipe's original source.

Tomato Chickpea Pesto Soup

This soup is hearty, flavorful, and perfect for my Autumn Soup Exchange. You can add your own spices to personalize the taste. The garlic, salt & pepper, and pesto really added enough flavor for me. This recipe makes 6-7 cups of soup.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients
One (1) medium onion, chopped
Two (2) cloves of garlic, minced
One (1) 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes -- You can make this at home, but canned works well too.
One (1) 15.5 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
One (1) tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
One (1) cup of water
Five (5) tablespoons of basil pesto
One (1) teaspoon of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Pepper to taste

Directions
In a saucepan, use the oil to saute the onions first, and then add the garlic. Cook until onions are soft.
Add the water and the crushed tomatoes. Heat until lightly boiling.
Stir in sugar, salt, and pepper. Reduce the heat.
Add the chickpeas and let simmer for ten minutes.
Finally, add the pesto. You can either dollop pesto on each serving or stir in if the soup will be refrigerated.

Enjoy!

Vermont Cheddar Apple Soup

A good friend of mine and I are doing an Autumn Soup Exchange and I couldn't be more excited. She is also vegetarian, which works out really well. This recipe is my first of the exchange. I will be posting all of my soups on here (and she might guest blog too!), so you'll see one or two soup recipes every two weeks.

This recipe makes about six cups of soup. When I made this recipe last week, I didn't have a food processor (but that has all changed now!), so it was more of a boil down and strain thing, but you can process all of the veggies to make a thicker broth (the original recipe using the food processor is here). I hope you enjoy!

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients
One (1) stick of unsalted butter
One (1) large leek, chopped finely -- use the white part only
One (1) medium carrot, peeled and finely chopped
Two (2) medium celery stalks, finely chopped
1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
Four (4) cups of veggie stock -- Whole Foods also sells a "Chik'n" stock, which is vegetarian chicken-flavored, and that works well too.
One (1) cup of soy half-and-half creamer 
1/2 pound of Vermont white sharp cheddar, shredded
One (1) teaspoon of dry mustard
One (1) teaspoon of vegan Worcestershire sauce
One (1) apple, peeled, cored and finely diced -- I used a Honeycrisp apple because they're in season and delicious!
Pepper to taste

Directions
Melt three-fourths of the butter in a pot over medium heat.
Add the leeks, carrot and celery and sauté for about 3 minutes.
Add the flour into the mixture and stir for 3 minutes. Cook evenly.
Whisk in the vegetable stock, and bring to a boil.
Once you've reached a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes.
Strain the vegetables out of the soup and keep the broth in the pot. Simmer.
Add the cream, cheddar, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Stir until the cheese is melted.
Season with pepper. Set aside.
Melt the leftover butter in a separate pan and sauté the apple pieces. Make sure that they are slightly crisped on each side.
Add the apples to the soup. Enjoy!

Taco Soup

Two things simultaneously happened in my life a week or so ago. A wonderful reader of this blog (Hi, Whittany!) requested that I post a soup/stew recipe at the same time that I discovered Juliet of The Broken Plate posted a Taco Soup recipe on her blog. My making of taco soup was meant to be.

This recipe is completely vegetarian, but if you'd like a meaty version, check out Juliet's recipe here. It is delicious and can be served with tortilla chips for an amazing meal.

Prep Time: 5-10 minutes
Cook Time: 1-4 hours

Ingredients

One (1) package of "veggie crumbles" -- this is the vegetarian version of ground beef. I used the Morningstar brand.
One (1) package of Hidden Valley Ranch mix -- this is the only part of the recipe that is not vegan, but there are vegan versions of this out there, if you'd like to make a vegan-friendly taco soup.
One (1) package of taco seasoning
One (1) box of vegetable stock -- you can also use that fake chik'n stock for more flavor, but I didn't this time
One (1) can of black beans
One (1) can of sweet whole kernel corn
One (1) can of tomatoes with chile -- think Rotel or a comparable brand
One (1) red onion, chopped -- someone please tell me a way to chop onions without it looking like I'm watching the saddest part of a Lifetime movie!
Three (3) tablespoons of salsa -- feel free to add more, depending on how much space you have left in the CrockPot.

Directions

Like soup? This is your new best friend.

Toss the veggie crumbles and the onion into the CrockPot with a little bit of vegetable stock.
Turn the CrockPot to "high."
Once it thaws out and starts smelling good, pour the rest of the vegetable stock in.


Pour the contents of the ranch mix and the taco seasoning into the CrockPot. Mix well.
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix as you go.
Put the lid on the CrockPot and let cook. After about 10 minutes, turn to "low."
Let cook at least one hour, but up to four hours or so. You know how CrockPots are; the longer it's cooked, the more flavorful it usually is.
Spoon into a bowl and enjoy!

Tip
Feel free to garnish with cheese, sour cream, or anything else you'd like!