Cinnamon Lime Soup

It all started with rhubarb. My roommate and I decided to order a box of local produce to support local farmers. We received a mystery bag of vegetables. The strangest vegetable was rhubarb. I've heard of rhubarb pie, but was never sure what rhubarb was. After much research I found that rhubarb is mostly used in baked goods i.e. food with gluten in it. I began to obsess over the possibilities of rhubarb. I thought it must be sweet and a little tangy, and found that it should NEVER be eaten raw. The solution? Rhubarb soup. 

You're probably wondering why I called the soup "Cinnamon Lime Soup" as the blog title. Well, I got scared. I thought the rhubarb flavor might taste like toilet cleaner. So I only used two stalks of rhubarb--not worthy of being in the soup title. 

Here's a picture of rhubarb:

There was little planning with this soup. It ended up being mostly broth, with assorted vegetables. The general goal was to make a sweet, tangy soup with a little spice. 

Here's the ingredients and recipe:

2 medium onions

4 medium carrots

2 stalks rhubarb

1/2 of a cauliflower

1 can black beans

1 cup white wine

1 32 oz chicken broth

2 tbsp cinnamon

3 tbsp lime juice

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp salt

1tbsp pepper

Recipe:

1. Coarsely chop onions and add to soup pot on medium heat. 

2. Chop up carrots, rhubarb and cauliflower into small pieces and add to soup pot.

3. Chop up thawed chicken and add to pot. Turn up heat to medium high. 

4. Add black beans, white wine and chicken stock. Turn up heat until boiling for 30 minutes. 

5. Flavor time! Add in the cinnamon, lime, cayenne, salt and pepper until it satisfies your taste buds. Let simmer for 20 minutes. 

It's kind of a weird color soup. I think the rhubarb + black beans = ugly soup hue. However, if you can see past it's physical appearance, the flavor is amazing! I could make love to the broth. It has just the right amounts of heat, sweet and tang. ;)

Enjoy!

Italian Chicken Sausage Tomato Soup

"Italian Chicken Sausage Tomato Soup" Also known as, "It's Sunday. I'm Bored. Let's Make Some Soup. What's In My Fridge?" Soup.

I love tomatoes. Biggest tragedy of my life was the day I discovered that Campbell's tomato soup had gluten in it. I used to add all sorts of vegetables and meats to Campbell's tomato soup. It was quick and hassle-free. Now I have to work a little harder and wait a little more time for my tomato soup. This Sunday mystery soup (ooh, that's what I'll call it!) is worth the wait.
















Here is the ingredients and recipe for Sunday Mystery Soup:

Ingredients:
1 very large yellow onion (2 medium onions)
1 bulb of garlic (according to Wikipedia the entire garlic thing is called a "bulb")
5 frozen chicken tenderloins (skinless & boneless for convenience)
6 Jimmy Dean turkey sausages
1 bag frozen vegetables--Tuscan style
1 bag frozen vegetables--Fiesta style
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 24 oz can diced tomatoes
2 12 oz cans tomato sauce
1 32 oz container fat free chicken stock
1/2 bag of brown rice rotini pasta
1 tbsp salt
1tbsp pepper
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp red wine vinegar

(These are all the ingredients I found in my cupboards/fridge! Amazing! It's like I have Narnia closets.)

Recipe:

*Make sure chicken is defrosted before you start this recipe.

Step 1: Place soup pot on stove over medium heat. Add 2 tbsp vegetable oil. Coarsely chop onion and add to pot.

Steroid onion!


















Step 2: Mince garlic while onions simmer, then add to pot.

Step 3: Chop up chicken into bite-size pieces and add to pot. Chop up sausages into quarters and add to pot.

Step 4: Add sprig of fresh rosemary and frozen vegetables. 

Rosemary reminds me of Christmas tree branches. Do not be fooled! It is delicious. 

 

Flavor orgy below!

Step 5: Turn up heat to high. Add in diced tomatoes, cans of tomato sauce and chicken stock. When soup starts to boil, add the brown rice pasta. Let boil for 20 minutes. 

They're calling the pasta "spirals," but it's totally rotini. 

Step 6: Flavor time!!! Add in the salt, pepper, sugar and red wine vinegar. Again, flavor to your personal taste. 

(Artsy photo attempt)

While I was writing this blog, I had three bowls of this soup. The flavor of the tomato broth alone is so delicious. Each bite is different--one you really taste the garlic, another you taste the red wine vinegar, the onions, and especially the rosemary. I love Sunday Mystery Soup!

Potato Leek White Wine Soup

This soup looks pathetic, but it's flavor makes up for the ugliness.

On my way to San Jose, I was watching the "canadian lobster" challenge on Iron Chef. It was a Jet Blue flight so we all got our own individual baby screens. Neat! One of the ingredients that the rookie chef used was leeks. I thought, "what the hell are leeks?" This shows my lack of culinary knowledge. Since rookie chef seemed to think that leeks are a sensational ingredient, I looked up common leek-recipe pairings. I kept coming across potato leek soup. One of the sites, I can't remember which, said that the soup only requires those two ingredients. The simple combination of leeks and potatoes is so powerful, that no other ingredients are necessary (well, maybe a little salt and pepper).

I don't do simple. Thus, I decided to roundhouse kick the flavor with some white wine and turkey sausage!


Here are the ingredients and recipe:

6 yellow potatoes
4 leeks
1 32 oz chicken broth
1-2 cups wine
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp pepper


1. Clean the leeks by chopping them in half (lengthwise) and then turn the faucet on full blast. Make sure you're cleaning out all the thin layers. These suckers are dirty. It looks like someone dragged them through mud. (I made the mistake of peeling the potatoes first before I cleaned the leeks. I had to stop the whole cooking process.)

1a. Quarter the leeks, and then chop up into the thin slices. Just chop them up super tiny. Place them in a soup pot over medium high heat.

2. Peel and chop the potatoes into quartered slices, then add them to the pot.

Here is a random picture of the potatoes, in case you didn't know what potatoes looked like.
















3. Add the chicken stock and white wine so that it covers the potatoes and leeks. I like a lot of wine, in my soup and in my life, so feel free to reduce the amount you add to the soup.

This picture makes much more sense than the potatoes. Except that it's off-center. I noticed most of my pictures are askew--do not confuse this with artistic creativity. I'm simply a frazzled cook who is terrible at multitasking.














4. Let simmer for 20 minutes. While simmering, cook the turkey sausage over medium high heat in a sauté pan  for 10-12 minutes. I added about a teaspoon of olive oil. I bought Jimmy Dean sausage because there wasn't much selection at the ghetto grocery store I went to. I bet you could find fun sausage flavors elsewhere.

5.  Once the soup has simmered for 20 minutes, remove the pot from the burner and then take out your aggression on the potatoes and leeks--preferably with a handheld potato masher. Add the turkey sausage to the potato leek mix, along with the salt and pepper. Put the pot back on the burner, and simmer for 10 more minutes.

Voila! Soup!

This soup is hearty, delicious, gluten free and lactose free! Love it. Although, I have to brush my teeth 3 times after I eat it.

Southwestern Tilapia Soup

Second blizzard in New England + Winter Vacation = Soup Day!

At Planet Hollywood in NYC I had a Southwestern style salad. The salad could have filled a basketball. I ate the entire thing. It was full of sweet corn, black beans, chicken, green onions, cilantro, tomatoes, and a sweet and salty vinaigrette.  I have been dreaming of that salad.

When my dad was at the grocery store I called to tell him he would have to bring home a few extra items. My forehead pressed into the refrigerator, I tried to conjure up all the flavors of that salad to create this soup.

My mom tried it, and she said it was the first soup with fish that she loved! Just to let you know, my mom is known for her soup, and her cooking in general. I think that's where I get my soup instincts.

Also, I'm no chemist. I'm a terrible baker because I don't believe in exacts or perfection. Soup is not made from perfect measurements, it's made from creativity. It's built up and formed into something that can be easily tweaked and transformed to your taste. So if you feel that there should more or less of something, feel free to tweak out your soup!

I'll stop boring you with this random information. Here's the ingredients and recipe:

4 tbsp canola oil
2 medium onions
1/2 clove garlic
1 green pepper
1/2 bag frozen okra
1/3 bag frozen corn
1 bushel green onions
1/4 cup chopped parsley
4 frozen tilapia
1 small can black beans
1 big can diced tomatoes
24 oz chicken stock
1-2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin seeds

1. Over medium heat, add canola oil and roughly chopped onions to a large soup pot (official term?). While simmering, mince garlic and add to the pot. Then combine chopped green pepper, okra and corn.

2. Defrost tilapia. While defrosting, chop up green onions. Add both tilapia and green onions. Let flavors combine for 5 minutes, then add black beans and tomatoes. After a couple minutes, add chicken stock. Turn up heat to boiling for 10 minutes.

3. Turn down heat. Flavor boost time! Best part of soup making. Add in sugar, salt, pepper, cayenne and cumin. Adjust to your personal tastes. Turn up heat and let simmer for another hour.

Soup's on!

P.S. Next time I'll be better about taking pictures of the entire process. I'm a blog virgin.