recipe of the week: spinach tortellini soup (slow cooker!)

spinach tortellini soup (in the crockpot!)

2 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon butter

2 cups vegetable broth

3 cups water

6 oz raw mushrooms, washed and sliced (i use the wild mushroom blend from whole foods)

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon basil

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon cayenne peper

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

freshly ground black pepper

2 cups cheese tortellini

4 cups fresh spinach leaves, torn

1 cup skim milk

1 cup whipping cream

fresh parmesan cheese to top

begin by stirring together in a crock pot the vegetable broth, butter, water, flour, mushroom, onion, garlic and spices.

 cover and cook on low from 6-8 hours

 add torn spinach leaves

 and tortellini.  stir together and cook for another 30 minutes or so

 add milk and whipping cream

 cook on low for another 20-30 minutes

 and enjoy!

 top with parmesan cheese if you wish. (we wish :-)

*adapted to eliminate pre-packaged mixes and to fit our tastes from this recipe

recipe of the week: chicken ranch tortilla soup (slow cooker recipe)f

as much as i love pinterest, there have been a few ideas that i have tried and been disappointed by.


one was the sausage egg breakfast casserole. ick.
another was the chicken ranch tacos. cooked in the crock pot. they SOUNDED right up my alley. and so i followed the instructions


put chicken (2 pounds--i used a pound of breasts and a pound of thighs) in crock pot

 add taco and ranch seasonings (of course, it called for the prepackaged stuff...no thanks from me, but you can do what you like)

 (i used two tablespoons of each)

 a cup of chicken stock

 and cook for awhile

 shred cooked chicken

...


and then i tasted it.
and it.was.bland.
(to me)


i could NOT get excited about this at all.  so i froze half of the mixture (the recipe for what i did with that will come later) and with the other half, i decided to try my hand at chicken tortilla soup.  only, since there was the ranch element in the chicken i decided to make it a chicken ranch tortilla soup.


so. here's the (much tastier) outcome. turning a pinterest fail into a recipe that my husband immediately said to "keep in the rotation" isn't a bad deal at all :-)
(i still haven't salvaged that breakfast casserole. some things are lost causes.)


chicken ranch tortilla soup

1/2 chicken cooked as above (or similarly), reserved in crockpot (the other half you can save for a second batch, another recipe, or just double the following ingredients)
theoretically, i cook the chicken overnight on low, then start the soup before i head out the door for work.
olive oil
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 can black beans
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 pound shredded chicken (preferably cooked as above, or similarly)
2 cups corn (i used trader joe's fire-roasted)
1 1/2 tablespoons ranch seasoning (separated)
1 1/2 tablespoons taco seasoning (separated)
avocado (1 for every 2 adults eating)
cilantro
tortillas


in a saucepan on the stove, heat olive oil and saute the onion in the 1 tablespoon each of the ranch and taco seasonings for 5-10 minutes

 add the crushed tomatoes and chicken broth and simmer while you assemble the other ingredients in the crock pot.

 to the chicken in the crock pot, add the corn, beans and cilantro

 pour the tomato mixture over

 warm through. i cooked for probably 4 hours on low, but you can simply set your crock pot to "warm" if that's an available option.  about 10-20 minutes before serving, "wake" the spices by adding the additional 1/2 tablespoons of the ranch and taco seasonings.

 ladle into bowls and top with fresh avocado slices, cilantro and strips of tortillas (or tortilla chips if you prefer)

the caloric damage on this isn't too bad either.  the avocados add the most in terms of fat and calories, but since it's a good fat i don't get too worried.  here's the nutrition facts based on 6 servings and 1/2 avocado in each serving.

if you make it without avocado, here's your nutrition info.

recipe of the week: asian chicken noodle soup

i stumbled across this recipe a few weeks ago and knew that i wanted to make it. i love asian soups (or food) in general, and a twist on chicken noodle soup sounded fantastic!  i changed a couple of things, but most is fairly close to the original.


asian chicken noodle soup
(serves 5ish; takes 30 minutes)


2 tablespoons sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons ginger, peeled & grated
2.5 cups pre-cooked, shredded chicken breast*
1 teaspoon chili sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
3 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
2 tablespoons of lime juice
scallions and cilantro to taste
55 g rice noodles**


*when i have a recipe that calls for shredded chicken, i cook it with olive oil in my grill pan and then shred it with my stand mixer (dough blade).  most pre-packaged chicken is full of added sugar and chemicals and i find that it's cheaper and healthier to just buy chicken breasts and go through the extra step.  seriously, it takes 10 minutes.  :-) i cook it while i'm gathering the rest of the ingredients.
**my husband didn't like the texture of the rice noodles, and i could take or leave it.  next time i'll be trying it with udon or lo mein noodles for a thicker noodle texture.


heat oil in pan over high heat
add garlic and ginger and saute for 2 minutes
add chicken, chili sauce, fish sauce and soy sauce.  

cook for 2 minutes and then add the chicken stock and water.

bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  while this is happening, place the noodles in a bowl and pour boiling water over them until they are covered.  let them sit the 10 minutes or so you are simmering the soup.
remove soup from heat and add lime juice, scallions and cilantro.

divide the noodles evenly into bowls and ladle soup over them.

according to the original recipe, this serves 4 people.  however, those portions seem huge to me.  we easily got 5 servings of soup out of this.  however, based on the serving size the original recipe called for, this soup contains 246 calories per serving.

 (screen shot from my fitness pal app, where i loaded every ingredient i used into the recipe.)


clearly this isn't a stand-alone dinner, but we added edamame and asian dumplings from trader joe's into the mix, so we were good.


i will also add that if you're expecting a soup that is full of flavor-punch, this isn't the one. :-)  i did add some sriracha to mine and that made it perfection for me, but if you don't like added heat you may want to bump up the ginger and garlic and even add an onion or two.

recipe of the week: gnocchi w/wild mushroom soup

otherwise known as "the ragu that turned into a soup"


perhaps because i put in the whole can of tomatoes instead of the cup asked for?
who knows.  i do know that i liked it as a soup, so chances are that's what it will be in my house from now on.


here's the recipe as i made it :-)  (the original is here if you want to try it as a regular old ragu)


Gnocchi w/Wild Mushroom Soup


olive oil
1/2 large onion, diced
2 carrots, diced,
1 stalk of celery, diced
2 pounds mushrooms, stemmed and diced
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 pound cremini mushrooms, stemmed and diced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup white wine
1 can whole peeled tomatoes (i used the 365 organic brand from whole foods)
2 cups water
1/2 tsp of ground coriander (or 1/2 tsp of coriander that you grind yourself in a mortar and pestle because you refuse to go buy one.more.spice)
1/2 tsp ground fennel seeds (see above)
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon fresh thyme (or 1/2 tablespoon dried)
2 packages of good-quality gnocchi (i've had great luck at trader joe's and whole foods)




heat olive oil in a large pot over med-high heat
add onion, carrot and celery and cook until soft (about 5 minutes)

add 1 pound of the mushrooms and cook 3-5 minutes

season with salt and pepper, then push to the edges of the pot

add more olive oil and the additional pound of mushrooms and cook another 3-5 minutes

add the cremini mushrooms and cook 1 additional minute then season with salt and pepper

add the tomato paste and cook while stirring for about 2 minutes.

add the wine and cook down for about 2 minutes.

add the tomatoes, water and spices and simmer over medium heat for about 30 minutes.  meanwhile, cook the gnocchi according to package directions.  

serve by putting gnocchi in a bowl and ladling the soup over it. fresh parmesan on it won't hurt anything.

verdict?
i loved it.
anthony, who is not much of a tomato OR mushroom person finished a bowl.


so, this is going down as a girls night or "i'm on my own" type recipe.  
(he did mention he would probably like it better with sausage...but we have my tortellini minestrone soup for that...)

(today i'm joining in this link-up since friday is generally when i post my recipe of the week...so visit this blog and link to one of your own if you like!)

recipe of the week: creamy broccoli soup

this recipe has been in my "to try" file for awhile, but since the absolute main ingredient is broccoli (a favorite of mine...and one of anthony's worst enemies...) i had to wait for a night that we weren't going to be eating together.  and then came a snowstorm...and we were stranded in our homes on two opposite sides of town.

so i made soup.

creamy broccoli soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
1 bunch broccoli florets, roughly chopped and stems peeled and sliced (about 7 cups)
*you'll see 2 packages from trader joe's in the picture.  i underestimated joe apparently, and only needed one package.
1 large russet potato (about 8 ounces) peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces
kosher salt and black pepper
2 ounces sharp white cheddar grated (about ½ cup)
*i bought english cheddar with caramelized onion.  YUM*
bagel chips, for serving


heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. add the onion and red pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft (4-6 minutes).  *as you can see from the picture, i was quite liberal with my red pepper flakes.  the recipe calls for 1/8 a teaspoon.  there's at minimum a tablespoon in there...probably more.

add the broth, broccoli, potato, 2 cups water, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper to the saucepan and bring to a boil.

reduce heat and simmer, covered, until the vegetables are very tender (18-20 min)

in a blender, working in batches, puree the soup until smooth, adjusting the consistency with water if necessary (alternately use a handheld immersion blender in the saucepan.)

top with the cheddar and bagel chips if desired before serving

did i like this soup?  absolutely.  i liked the unexpected spiciness of the crushed red pepper flakes.  they added an element to the mix that i adored.  the cheese was just enough, and the bagel chips...they were a nice addition.

it's not my favorite.  but i'd make it again, in addition to an entree most likely.  it's not a stand-alone meal in my opinion like some other soups i make.  but it's a really yummy broccoli soup.  :)