soups

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

April 23, 2014 by Edie Wadsworth 48 Comments

Dear kind and spicy friends, I took 817 pictures of this soup and I COULD NOT capture the deliciousness of this creamy chicken tortilla soup. Whatsoever. Please believe me when I say that this soup is the mother of all tor-tilla soups. (We say tortilla like gorilla, for special effects.) This is but a warm up post for puffy tacos, but it’s a gem in its own right. Like I’ve said before #foodieismyname #texmexismygame. This is THE perfect recipe for when you need to phone dinner in but still want it to taste liked you’ve slaved all day. Also? If you use my easy crock pot method for cooking turkey breast (cook a turkey breast overnight in the crock pot on low and it will be ready by noon), you could eat the turkey breast one day with sides and then use the leftovers for the soup. If beef stew is flirting with your husband 101 then this is the short summer version of that course, except with chicken. Flirt away my flavorful friends!

What you’ll need:

1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 green pepper, chopped
3 cups cooked chicken (I actually used leftover turkey from Easter)
6 cups chicken stock
1 can black beans
1 can of corn
1 can fire-roasted tomatoes
1 can of green chiles
2 T. cumin powder
2 T. honey
1/2 cup cream
1 8oz package of Mexican melting cheese (queso or queso with jalapeño for the spicy lovers among us).
jalapeños, chopped (as much as you like, we use about 2 T.)
fresh cilantro for garnish
grated cheddar cheese for garnish
fried corn tortillas for garnish and general deliciousness

What you’ll do:

Saute the onion and green pepper in 2-3 T olive oil.
Add the minced garlic and cook for a couple minutes and then add the cumin.
Add the rest of the ingredients except the cream and cook for 15-20 over medium heat until the cheese is mostly melted.
Add the cream, turn off the heat and cover and the rest of the cheese should melt.
Be careful not to let the soup come to a boil after the cream is added.
Serve with avocado, cheese, cilantro, and tortillas!
Now we’ll be jolly friends forever more, more more more.

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

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Ingredients

1 large onion chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
1 green pepper chopped
3 cups cooked chicken I actually used leftover turkey from Easter
6 cups chicken stock
1 can black beans
1 can of corn
1 can fire-roasted tomatoes
1 can of green chiles
2 T. cumin powder
2 T. honey
1/2 cup cream
1 8 oz package of Mexican melting cheese queso or queso with jalapeño for the spicy lovers among us.
jalapeños chopped (as much as you like, we use about 2 T.)
fresh cilantro for garnish

Instructions

Saute the onion and green pepper in 2-3 T olive oil.
Add the minced garlic and cook for a couple minutes and then add the cumin.
Add the rest of the ingredients except the cream and cook for 15-20 over medium heat until the
cheese is mostly melted.
Add the cream, turn off the heat and cover and the rest of the cheese should melt.
Be careful not to let the soup come to a boil after the cream is added.
Serve with avocado, cheese, cilantro, and tortillas!

Now, do tell. Do you make a version of this already? Would you be willing to add a hint of cream? Because my current philosophy is this: Life is short. Add cream. Amen.

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Italian Wedding Soup

February 12, 2014 by Edie Wadsworth 24 Comments

Well. First of all, let me say that I love weddings. EVERY last thing about them. I get all teary eyed for the bride and groom. I always imagine that I’m the photographer, looking for those candid moments that can’t be missed. I love the wedding liturgy, the familiar words, the dancing, all of it. I love shopping for wedding gifts and remembering what’s it’s like to be newly married. I want to remind the bride and groom (they all look 12 to me now) not to take themselves too seriously and that marriage is hard. But, mostly, I want to eat cake. I’ve got no lies to tell. I’m a wedding crasher in search of cake.

And wedding soup was one of the first foods Stevie and I learned to love together. There was a fly by night hole in the wall italian restaurant near the hospital where we worked and we’d meet there for lunch and eat wedding soup. I’ve had a soft spot for it ever since. If you’ve never tried it, you’re in for a treat!

I’m sure you thought that surely there had to be an end to the soups I make and love. But then you would be forgetting that I call myself the Soup Whisperer. I have a whole board on Pinterest dedicated to soups. And speaking of Pinterest, I confess to having a wedding board. FOR A FRIEND, y’all. I’m kinda relieved I had my wedding before Pinterest because OH THE PRESSURE. I created the board way before Adriane ever found her husband. They recently married and are the most adorable two people on the planet. She’s a writer/editor (with a book coming out soon) and he’s a dairy farmer. I DIE!

(via Ashley Lowry Photography)

I know I keep digressing, but I love soups and I love people in love. This one is a keeper. It marries the worlds of men (beef) and women (vegetables) and uses the flavor and stability of parmesan cheese to bind all hearts together. But, I digress.

Make it this weekend for you sweetie pie. And? Invite me to all your weddings. Amen.

What You’ll Need:

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup Breadcrumbs
1 egg
4 cloves minced garlic (Add half of it to the meatballs and half to the soup)
1 large onion (half of it grated into the meatballs, the other half chopped and sauteed in the soup.)
1 tsp salt and pepper
1 cup small pasta (stellate or acini de pepe is what I normally use but basically find the smallest pasta you can)
3 boxes of good chicken stock (I use Kitchen Basics in the yellow box, which CANNOT be beat. Each box is 32 oz)
1 bag of fresh spinach (Or as much as you like. I use alot, maybe 3 big handfuls, but it will wilt down and you’ll wish you had added more)
2 egg yolks
Good freshly grated parmesan cheese for garnish (the green can stuff is okay in a pinch, but freshly grated parmesan is almost as good as wedding cake. I said almost.)

What You’ll Do:

For the meatballs—

Mix the raw beef, cheese, breadcrumbs, egg, garlic, onion, and salt and pepper.
Combine until mixed well and form into small (about 1 inch) meatballs that you will drop into the hot broth.

For the soup—

Chop and saute the leftover half of the onion in 2 T. olive oil over medium high heat for 3-4 min
Add salt and pepper to the onion at this stage so you don’t have to correct the seasoning so much at the end (maybe a teaspoon of salt)
Add chopped garlic and saute another minute or two.
Add the chicken stock and let the mixture come to a near boil
Begin to drop the meatballs into the hot broth
After all the meatballs are added, let them cook for a few minutes until the meatballs begin to rise to the surface
Turn the heat down to low and add the pasta and the spinach
Cover and let it cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the pasta from sticking
Uncover and check the flavor. It will likely need more salt and pepper and I often add a teaspoon or two of honey
Beat the two egg yolks well and ladle a little of the soup into the eggs and mix well
Add the egg/soup mixture back to the soup and stir.
Serve with crusty bread, grated parmesan cheese and smooches!

Italian Wedding Soup

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Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup Breadcrumbs
1 egg
4 cloves minced garlic Add half of it to the meatballs and half to the soup
1 large onion half of it grated into the meatballs, the other half chopped and sauteed in the soup.
1 tsp salt and pepper
1 cup small pasta stellate or acini de pepe is what I normally use but basically find the smallest pasta you can
3 boxes of good chicken stock I use Kitchen Basics in the yellow box, which CANNOT be beat. Each box is 32 oz
1 bag of fresh spinach Or as much as you like. I use alot, maybe 3 big handfuls, but it will wilt down and you'll wish you had added more
2 egg yolks
Good freshly grated parmesan cheese for garnish the green can stuff is okay in a pinch, but freshly grated parmesan is almost as good as wedding cake. I said almost.

Instructions

Chop and saute the leftover half of the onion in 2 T. olive oil over medium high heat for 3-4 min
Add salt and pepper to the onion at this stage so you don't have to correct the seasoning so much at the end (maybe a teaspoon of salt)
Add chopped garlic and saute another minute or two.
Add the chicken stock and let the mixture come to a near boil
Begin to drop the meatballs into the hot broth
After all the meatballs are added, let them cook for a few minutes until the meatballs begin to rise to the surface
Turn the heat down to low and add the pasta and the spinach
Cover and let it cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the pasta from sticking
Uncover and check the flavor. It will likely need more salt and pepper and I often add a teaspoon or two of honey
Beat the two egg yolks well and ladle a little of the soup into the eggs and mix well
Add the egg/soup mixture back to the soup and stir.
Serve with crusty bread, grated parmesan cheese and smooches!

Greek Lemon Chicken Soup

January 31, 2014 by Edie Wadsworth 33 Comments

This Greek Lemon Chicken Soup via lifeingrace

The snow storm of 2014 that consisted of 2 inches of snow and chilled us Southerners to the bone has turned into sunshine and 50 degrees and distant memories of perfect snow days. I love January to pieces and snow days that slide right up to a hint of Spring make me love my Southern homeland even more. As soon as the thaw began, I started craving lemon and hunting my flip flops.

Then, I remembered how much I love this recipe. Let me just say that this soup tastes like late winter meets early spring more than anything else I know. It’s like winter meets spring and takes her to a square dance with daisies in her hair. Or something just as precious. Put it on your weekend menu! You won’t be sorry.

Instead of using cream as a thickening agent, this one uses egg yolks. Don’t let that scare you. It’s easy to do and has the best silky texture ever!! The girls LOVE it almost as much as we do! Stevie likes this soup almost as much as he likes beef stew. Okay, maybe the lemon has gone to my head, but he thinks it’s pretty dandy.

greeklemon

What you’ll need:

2 T butter & 3 T olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2-3 stalks of celery, diced
10 baby carrots, diced
2 T butter
1/4 cup flour
1 cup jasmine rice
2-3 cups cooked chicken (I usually use one rotisserie chicken and cut the white meat into bite sized chunks)
2 boxes chicken stock (32 oz per box, may also need to add a 1/2 to a cup of water, if it gets too thick at the end)
1/2 cup lemon juice, fresh squeezed (2-3 lemons, depending on the size and juiciness!)
2 T. honey
1/2 white pepper
2 handfuls of fresh spinach
salt and black pepper to taste
6 egg yolks, beaten to a light yellow color

What you’ll do:

Saute the chopped onion, celery and carrots in the butter and oil, until the onions are translucent.
Add the flour, with salt and pepper and cook the flour for about a minute.
Add the chicken stock and fresh lemon juice and stir to loosen the flour and all the bits of caramelized onion from the bottom.
Add rice, bring to boil, stirring frequent enough to keep the rice from sticking, and then turn the heat down to low.
Cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the rice is tender.
Add the chicken, spinach, honey, salt, and pepper
Beat the egg yolks until light in color. Gradually add some of the hot soup to the egg yolks, stirring constantly. Return the egg mixture to the soup pot and heat through.
DO NOT boil the soup once you add the egg yolks.

This Greek Lemon Chicken Soup via lifeingrace

ENJOY!!! This is your Feb 1st recipe for the new menu plan! See you on Monday for the full February Meal Plan. I’ll be sharing our Super Bowl food on Facebook soon, but you might consider making some homemade brownies or my favorite crowd pleaser chocolate chip cookie recipe. What are your Super Bowl Food plans?! I’m linking with Ruth’s Thrifty Thursday, so check out all the other recipes/projects/etc!

P.S. I’m listening to all your wonderful suggestions and trying to implement as many as possible. Here’s your easy-to-print recipe!

Lemon smooches,

edie

Greek Lemon Chicken Soup

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Ingredients

2 T butter & 3 T olive oil
1 large onion diced
2-3 stalks of celery diced
10 baby carrots diced
2 T butter
1/4 cup flour
1 cup jasmine rice
2-3 cups cooked chicken I usually use one rotisserie chicken and cut the white meat into bite sized chunks
2 boxes chicken stock 32 oz per box, may also need to add a 1/2 to a cup of water, if it gets too thick at the end
1/2 cup lemon juice fresh squeezed
2 T. honey
1/2 white pepper
2 handfuls of fresh spinach
salt and black pepper to taste
6 egg yolks beaten to a light yellow color

Instructions

Saute the chopped onion, celery and carrots in the butter and oil, until the onions are translucent.
Add the flour, with salt and pepper and cook the flour for about a minute.
Add the chicken stock and fresh lemon juice and stir to loosen the flour and all the bits of caramelized onion from the bottom.
Add rice, bring to boil, stirring frequent enough to keep the rice from sticking, and then turn the heat down to low.
Cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the rice is tender.
Add the chicken, spinach, honey, salt, and pepper.
Beat the egg yolks until light in color. Gradually add some of the hot soup to the egg yolks, stirring constantly.
Return the egg mixture to the soup pot and heat through.
DO NOT boil the soup once you add the egg yolks.

Potato Corn Chowder {and my love affair with bacon fat}

January 16, 2014 by Edie Wadsworth 87 Comments

Potato Corn Chowder via lifeingrace

A dear reader, Robin, did us all a favor today. She reminded me of the deliciousness of Potato Corn Chowder (the recipe of which was first posted in my Hospitality ebook, but never on here) and so I thought I’d share the recipe with you, since my originally planned post went haywire and will have to wait until Monday. Also, the first 10 people to comment on the following statement will get a free copy of the ebook. “Bacon Fat: How It Changed My Life.” After those ten comments, (and surely you dear lovelies have lots to say about bacon fat?), I’ll pick of few more at my discretion. Don’t forget to read my Ode to Bacon Fat, at the bottom of this post.

On to the recipe.

I’m a huge fan of one pot meals. One pot meals are a beacon of light in a dark, dark world. One pot meals make life worth living. Okay, maybe that’s overstating it but still.

One pot to clean=one happy momma.

Potato corn chowder= one happy family.

This corn chowder is so easy, so delicious, and is even a crowd pleaser among the youngsters.

Here’s what you need:

1 onion
1 32 oz bag frozen corn (could certainly use fresh corn when it’s in season but the frozen works great too)
1/2 to 1 red pepper, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
3 yukon potatoes, peeled and diced 3-4 springs of thyme
salt and pepper
cayenne pepper
2 boxes of chicken stock
2 T. flour
1 T. bacon fat
1 T. butter
1 T. olive oil
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 T. honey

What you’ll do:

Melt the butter and bacon fat in a large stock pot and then add the olive oil.
Add the chopped onion, red pepper and celery, a pinch of cayenne pepper and then salt and pepper. (You’ll reseason at the end but make sure you start the process now for depth of flavor.)
Cook these on med high so that the onions will brown a little.
When those have sautéed for 4-5 min, add the flour and cook it about a minute.
Add all the chicken stock, along with the frozen corn.
Add the thyme (you can either put the whole stems with the leaves on them and then remove the stems at the end or pull the leaves off the stems and just add the leaves) and potatoes and cook for 30 min on med heat until the potatoes are tender.
When they are tender, add the honey and cream and then reseason as needed. Since there aren’t many seasonings in this soup, I add lots of pepper.
Enjoy the some crusty bread!

Ode to bacon fat

Every good Southern woman I know has a jar of bacon fat somewhere in her kitchen.

It’s just as natural as having butter or bread. Usually it’s stored in a mason jar, but I’ve seen other lovely methods.

Do not ever underestimate the power of bacon fat, and by all means never throw it away.

It adds so much to your cooking and to your personality. I know my Southern friends won’t leave out this precious step of adding bacon fat to this recipe, but if you’re from Connecticut, you’ll be tempted.

Don’t do it.

Bacon fat rules the world. Corn chowder just isn’t corn chowder without bacon fat.

I am not me without bacon fat.

Love your family well.

Use bacon fat. Amen.

potato corn chowder3

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

November 5, 2013 by Edie Wadsworth 11 Comments

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup via lifeingrace

Okay, I’m just gonna give it to you straight. This Roasted Butternut Squash soup did not change my life like the Pumpkin Chipotle Barley one. But you can’t eat that every week, can you? And fall needs you to embrace butternut squash. It’s like sweet potatoes, minus the sweet and the potatoes. So, I did what any self-respecting Southern woman would do—I added roasted sweet potatoes, too. Sweet potatoes are like the mascot vegetable of the South, so if you’re gonna live here, you’re gonna need to embrace them.

I really, really like this soup and in a funny turn of events, I ended up eating it one day for lunch with leftover homemade pizza and BAM! I am a woman who loves butternut squash soup. So, I’ve carefully lined it up in the November menu plan so that you’ll have leftover pizza. Just heat the pizza up in the oven (of course, right? you would never do it in the microwave. NEVER do it in the microwave. crust is the essence of life and shall never under any circumstance be soggy!), and then dip the pizza in the soup. I don’t know what to tell except that it’s good, alright.

Without further nonsense:

You’ll need:

1 butternut squash, halved lengthwise, then chopped into smallish pieces, (seeds removed, of course!) and roasted
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped and roasted (you could just do one more butternut squash and forego the sweet potatoes if you like)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/4 stick)
1 medium apple, peeled, cored and chopped, then roasted
1 large onion roasted
2 cloves garlic, chopped
8 fresh sage leaves or a 1 t. of dried sage
1 T. dried thyme
1 box of chicken broth (Kitchen Basics, for the love of all things delicious and hearty)
1 T. honey
1 t. nutmeg, freshly ground, if possible
salt and pepper, to taste (salt along the way and then re-season at the end)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 t. cumin

Make the magic happen by:

Heat the oven to 400 and roast the squash, sweet potatoes, and onions, and apple, after drizzling them with plenty of olive oil, and springing with salt and pepper. I also use 21 Seasoning Salute from Trader Joe’s, which I highly recommend for EVERYTHING you make, but it isn’t crucial here. Roast for ~40 minutes until veggies are tender
Heat 2 T butter in dutch oven and sauté the chopped garlic and sage for a couple minutes, until their flavors release. (Don’t burn the garlic!)
Once the veggies are all done roasting, toss them all into the garlic butter.
Add chicken stock, all the seasonings, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cream.
Using an immersion blender, purée the soup and then add in the cream and give it one last puree.
Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Serve with leftover pizza or your favorite bread!

For more lifeingrace meal ideas, visit my Recipes page!

Visit Ruth’s Thrifty Thursday for more thrifty recipes ideas.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

August 21, 2013 by Edie Wadsworth 100 Comments

So, in case you didn’t know, I call myself the soup whisperer. I even bought the web domain so that someday when I launch my Soup Whisperer book, I’ll already own the web page. That might be what you call putting the cart before the horse. If soup’s not my specialty, then putting the cart before the horse certainly is.

But I basically take dishes, which would normally be main dishes, and make a soup of them. I’d rather make a big pot of soup than do almost anything in the world. It’s big fun. I hope you’ll try it!

I finally did chicken pot pie soup and it was a hit, so I thought I’d share. And I served it up on the chalk board placemats!

Here’s what you need:

3 T. butter and a few swirls of olive oil (about 2 T.)
1 medium onion, diced
15 baby carrots, diced
1/3 cup flour
salt, pepper to taste
1 t. nutmeg
6 cups good chicken stock (I always use Kitchen Basics, it’s rich and hearty and tasty)
1/2 box mushrooms (optional, I add them when I have them on hand!)
1/2 bag of frozen peas (add as many as you like but I usually use half of a regular bag, thawed for about a min in the microwave)
3 Yukon gold potatoes, diced
3 cups cooked chicken (I usually cook 3-4 breasts in the crock pot all day with a little broth but you could use rotisserie chicken, too!)
1 cup heavy cream
2 bay leaves
A few springs of thyme (could use dry a teaspoon of dry poultry seasoning instead)
1 T. honey

Here’s how I do it:

Melt 3 T. of butter in a big soup pot, along with a few swirls of olive oil.
Saute the onions and carrots and add salt and pepper to taste (you will adjust the salt/pepper at the end but add some now!)
Add the flour and let it cook for about a minute, as you stir it around the pan
Add the chicken stock and stir well, to deglaze the flour bits from the bottom of the pan
Add the potatoes, chicken and mushrooms and cook for 10-15 on medium heat, until the potatoes start to soften
When the potatoes are slightly soft, add the rest of the ingredients and cook on low for 15 min or so and then it can sit with the lid on until you’re ready to serve.

I always make my soups in the morning and then they sit all day, which deepens the flavor. You could serve this with biscuits, rolls, or any kind of bread really. I love Rhodes frozen dough balls for this. You just spray a muffin pan with Pam, add two dough balls to each muffin tin and let them rise for 4-5 hours. It’s an easy shortcut to homemade rolls (or faux-made rolls, if you will) and my kids go crazy over them.

Let me know if you try it. And since we’re gearing up for fall, try some of my other soups!

Late Summer Vegetable Soup

Chicken and Dumplings

Cheese Tortellini Soup

Chipotle Pumpkin Barley Soup

Rocky Top Chili

Italian Sub Soup

Cheeseburger {in paradise} Soup

In geekier news, I’m working on a master schedule to make the most of my time at home. It’s a color coded spread sheet, dear friends. And I only allowed myself until 8:30 to finish this post and it’s 8:33. You may need to intervene. But from 9-12 today, I’m working on blog projects, so maybe you’ll benefit from my tendency to overdo things in the beginning.

Okay, I’m five minutes late for my date with the laundry.

For other thrifty ideas and recipes, head over to Ruth’s blog for Thrifty Thursday!

Have a great one!

xoxo,

edie