By Request...Chicken Fajita Soup

It is a snowy, snowy, snowy, snowy, COLD, cold day. And it's certainly not our first snowy day of the year ...no no no! Not by FAR. We've been watching the white stuff fall since EARLY OCTOBER. And I'm sick of it. Sick and tired. Sick and tired and CRAAAAANKY about it. Something had to be done. So, what could heal a grumpy soul better than a deep bowl of hot chicken soup (besides a large chocolate cake, obviously), right?

The thing is, I'm also pretty worn out and weary of my usual roasted chicken soup recipe (which I have yet to post here...but it's yummy). And I'm tired of trying and failing at multiple "Chicken Tortilla Soup" recipes (especially those with condensed soup listed as primary ingredents...BLECH). So tonight I gave up trying to make chicken tortilla soup and decided, instead, to tackle a soup with the flavors of one of my favorite dishes of childhood...FAJITAS!

Please forgive the lack of photos. I wasn't planning on adding this tonight but since some of my buddies have requested the recipe I figured WTH? Also, you'll have to forgive the somewhat poorly organized list of ingredients and directions. I'm not even entirely sure that all of the measurements listed below are completely accurate. I tend to get a little lazy about writing things down while I cook, especially if I'm feeling grumpy about the weather.

The good news is that this warming stew, along with a big bowl of fresh guacamole and chips (shall I post my guac recipe too?) really DID lift my spirits. It eased the crankiness right out of me. (My family is so grateful.) However, I might have to eat it for breakfast in order to force myself out of the house and into the frigid air tomorow morning...to clean off my car...oh dear...
:::::SHIVER::::::

INGREDIENTS
2 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 medium yellow onion, small dice
1 green pepper, small dice
1/2 red pepper, small dice
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp chili powder
juice from 1 small lime
5-6 cups chicken stock
Meat from 1 rotisserie chicken, chopped or shredded
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes, pureed (with my stick blender)
2 small cans chopped green chilies
3 T grits (or cornmeal)
Salt & pepper to taste.

Shredded cheese, sour cream and cilantro for garnish

DIRECTIONS
Heat large soup pot or dutch oven over med-high heat. Add butter and oil. Saute onion and pepper until onion is translucent. Stir in seasonings and garlic; cook for 1 min. Add in lime juice, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan as you stir it in. Stir in chicken stock, chicken, beans, tomato puree, chilies, salt&pepper and grits. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for at least an hour or up to 3 hours, stirring occasionally and adding more stock/water if necessary if it reduces too much. Taste after about 45 min to see if it needs more seasoning. Alternatively, you can throw all of the above into your crock pot and cook it all day long. :)

Serve in deep bowls, generously topped with cheese, sour cream and a little cilantro.

Confession: Because I happened to have some leftover heavy cream in my refrigerator, I *may* have thrown in a tablespoon (or so) of that as well. :) Just saying...

Spiced Winter Squash Soup

The original recipe for this warming winter soup from a delicious one made in the small, inviting kitchen of my Aunt Lis. She needed something to stave off a hungry lunch crowd while preparing Thanksgiving dinner for 22 (!!!). Enter a super easy squash soup that could be made ahead and kept warm in a crock pot, which freed up precious stove and counter space for the bigger feast that was to come.
A week later, I was looking for the perfect vegetarian soup to serve next to my favorite black bean and kielbasa soup at my sweet baby's 1st birthday party. A few cloves of roasted garlic and a dash of garam masala later I had the perfect recipe for a warm vegetarian soup on a cold December day.
Serve in deep bowls with warm, crusty bread spread with roasted garlic and butter.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 T olive oil, divided
• 2 medium acorn squashes, halved
• 2 medium-large butternut squashes, halved
• 4-5 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 2 T unsalted butter
• 2 medium leeks, cleaned and sliced (white/light green parts only)
• 5 cups water or chicken stock
• 1 1/2 tsp garam masala
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup cream
• 1/2 tsp sugar

DIRECTIONS:
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2) Cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds and place flesh side down on oiled baking sheet.
3) Place garlic on a small sheet of foil, cover with olive oil and wrap tightly.
4) Roast squash and garlic for 30-40 minutes or until squash is tender throughout and garlic is golden brown and fragrant.
5) In a deep sided pot, saute leeks in butter until translucent. Stir in water or stock, squash and garlic. Puree soup directly in the pot using a stick blender or blend in batches in a food processor/blender. Return soup to pot, stir in garam masala, sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Add more water/stock if necessary. Simmer over low heat until heated through and thick. Just before serving, stir in cream.

Minestrone with Italian Sausage

I made this soup for a friend who had just had her second baby. She asked for a healthy alternative to the usual "pasta bake/enchilada" meals normally brought to new mothers.

Yield: 8-10 servings

2 T olive oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 med. leek, thinly sliced
1 cup diced carrot
3/4 cup diced celery
2 cups diced zucchini
1 med. fennel bulb, quartered and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups low-sodium chicken stock (or water)
2 15 oz. cans navy beans (or sub 1 can of chickpeas for 1 can of navy beans)
1 cup packed, chopped kale
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained (I used Muir Glen fire-roasted)
1 15 oz. can crushed tomatoes or tomato puree
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
4 links Italian sausage (I used Italian chicken sausage)
1/2 cup dry red wine.
Shredded Parmesan cheese
Chiffonade of fresh basil

Preparation
Heat 1 T oil in a large stockpot or dutch oven over medium-high heat.
Add onion; sauté 4 minutes or until translucent. Add celery, carrots,
zucchini and fennel. Saute 5-6 minutes more to soften vegetables.
Stir in garlic; saute 1-2 min. more. Add stock and next 7 ingredients
beans (through red pepper flakes); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat
to a low simmer.
In a separate saute pan, heat remaining oil over high heat. Brown
sausages well on all sides. Carefully remove sausages and thinly
slice. (Return slices to pan to finish cooking, if necessary.) When
sausage is cooked through, remove from pan and add to soup pot, reserving
accumulated juices in saute pan. Return pan to medium-high heat and
deglaze with red wine, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom.
Simmer 1 minute to reduce wine and accumulated juices. Stir mixture
into the stockpot.

Bring soup back to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer on low for at least one hour. Salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, ladle into individual bowls and sprinkle with Parmeson and a little fresh basil.

Black Bean & Sausage Soup

After our baby shower last weekend Jeff and I took Mom and Dad to one of our closest and tastiest local restaurants, Cafe Brazil. It's an amazing little restaurant that serves authentic Brazilian (surprise!) food like prawns in a coconut, lime, and ginger sauce; or our favorite, "grilled Manchego cheese with garlic pesto"! Usually their black bean soup is quite tasty but this time it seemed watery and less flavorful...a big disappointment. The next day I was really craving a good, rich black bean soup for dinner, much like the one we always used to get at "The Grill" in Peoria.
After researching a bunch of different basic recipes that either seemed to unhealthy or too boring, I decided to just create my own!

Black Bean & Sausage Soup
(w/ Kale and Sweet Potato)

2 T olive oil
1 lb. turkey kielbasa, sliced
1 large (or 2 med.) leek, thinly sliced
2 large carrots, diced
3 stalks celery (with leaves), diced
3 cloves minced garlic
1 sweet potato, medium dice
2 large handfuls chopped kale
32. oz low sodium beef stock
4 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup dry sherry
Pinch of cayenne pepper (or more, to taste)
1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
2 T minced fresh parsley
1 T fresh thyme leaves

Heat 1 T olive oil in a large dutch oven over med high heat. Add
sliced kielbasa and brown evenly. Remove kielbasa from pan and set
aside. Add 1 T olive to pan and saute leek, carrot and celery until
translucent. Stir in minced garlic and saute 1-2 minutes longer to
release fragrance. Deglaze pan with wine and sherry. Stir in stock,
kielbasa, beans, sweet potatoes, chopped kale, cayenne, dried thyme,
bay leaf, fresh thyme and parsley. Stir in 1-2 cups water, if
necessary, to entirely cover beans and sausage. Bring to a boil and
immediately reduce heat to a simmer. Let simmer on low for at least
one hour or more if possible to develop flavor to to thicken soup. Salt and pepper to
taste, if necessary.
Serve with sour cream and Tabasco OR a splash of sherry and a sprinkle
of fresh thyme if desired.

TIP: Kielbasa has quite a bit of salt already. It's a good idea to wait until the soup has cooked for at least 30 min. before you taste it and add more salt!