Perfect Pea Soup

This soup is so delicious and surpasses any canned pea soup I've tried. Very easy to make with well priced ingredients if you are on a budget!

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups yellow split peas
  • 1 box chicken stock and 1 full refill with water (approx. 8 cups liquid or 2 L)
  • 1 medium onion, finely diced
  • 1 grated carrot
  • 2 tbsp canola oil
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • diced ham if you have it

Instructions:
In a large pot, pour canola oil and sauté onion for about 5 minutes. Add the peas and toast a few minutes. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for approximately 2 hours. Towards the end of cooking time, stir frequently as soup thickens since it has a tendency to stick to the pot.

Kale, Tomato and Bean Soup

Ingredients:        
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 4 cups chopped kale with stems removed
  • 6 medium tomatoes, diced
  • 4 cups vegetable of chicken stock, divided (3 cups and 1 cup)
  • 2 cans navy or white kidney beans, drained and divided
  • 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
  • Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions:
In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add garlic and onion and sauté until soft. Add the kale and let it wilt. Add 3 cups stock, tomatoes, 1 can of drained beans, Italian seasoning and salt & pepper to the pot. Stir thoroughly and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

In a blender, combine remaining stock with 1 can of drained beans and blend until smooth. Add the bean mixture to the pot and let the soup simmer for 20-30 minutes.
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I know what you're thinking - this soup title leaves something to be desired. But this delicious soup is great when you need to warm up and let your sinuses breathe free! Also great when you have a cold.

Ingredients:
  • 1 tsp vegetable oil
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 3-4 small hot chili peppers (ideally fresh, but dried and reconstituted in hot water works too)
  • 1 -28oz jar or whole tomatoes, with juice
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup shredded red cabbage
  • 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
  • 1-2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded (optional)
  • 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
  • fresh limes, juice of 1/2 lime per serving
Instructions:
In a large soup pot, over medium heat, fry onion and garlic in vegetable oil for 5 minutes until onions are soft. Add in chili peppers and fry for a few minutes longer. Add in tomatoes, water, cabbage, mushrooms and chicken and bring to a boil. Once boiling, bring down to a simmer and cook until all vegetables are tender, around 30 minutes. Serve with cilantro and fresh lime juice. Advisable to have Kleenex handy as your sinuses begin to clear ;)



Spicy Sinus Soup

"Orange" Ginger Soup

Butternut squash and other orange vegetables make up this soup. Warms you up on a cold Fall day!

Ingredients:
  • 1 tsp vegetable oil
  • 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 inches ginger, finely chopped
  • 1 butternut squash, peeled and seeded, cubed into small pieces
  • 3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
  • 5 cups veggie or chicken broth
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • salt and pepper

Instructions:
In a large soup pot, over medium heat, fry onion and fresh ginger in vegetable oil for 5 minutes, until onions are soft. Add in squash, carrots, sweet potato and broth. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, add in cumin, ginger, salt and pepper and bring down the heat to a simmer. Cook until all the vegetables are tender. With an immersion blender, puree the soup. If desired, you can strain the soup in a wire mesh strainer to make sure there are no lumps. That's it! I served it here with a bit of plain yogurt on top, or sour cream would work nicely too.

Homemade Chicken Soup (with bone broth) - Picture to come soon!

Because everyone needs a staple chicken soup recipe. The next time you cook a whole chicken for a Sunday meal*(instructions below), keep the bones and broth. What you do with it next will knock your soup socks off!

Ingredients:
  • the bones of your cooked whole chicken
  • the leftover 3-4 cups of broth of your cooked whole chicken
  • 1 cup or so of your cooked whole chicken, cubed
  • 1/2 cup of chopped celery
  • 1/2 cup chopped carrot
  • 1/4-1/3 cup brown rice
  • an additional 3-4 cups chicken stock
  • salt, pepper, onion powder to taste

Instructions:
In a large pot, add the chicken bones, the chicken broth at the bottom of the roasting pan (discard the veggies), 3-4 cups of chicken stock (to bulk up your soup) and boil/simmer for 30-45 minutes. This creates your bone broth! Strain out the bones and place your broth back into the large pot. Add carrots, celery, cubed chicken and rice. Simmer until the carrots and celery are soft and the rice is fully cooked. Season with salt, pepper and onion powder to taste. Now it's time to enjoy your very own homemade chicken soup! I love this process and soup so much, that it makes me sad to discard the bones from a cooked chicken. I even freeze bones to have them on hand to make soup when I have a spare moment. It's the little things in life :)

*Prepare your cooked whole chicken as described above. Place a bed of 1 carrot, 1 rib of celery and 1/2 onion and 3-4 cups of water on the bottom of your roasting pan and cook the chicken at 350 degrees until fully cooked through (takes between 1-1.5 hours depending on the size,  use meat thermometer for perfectly cooked chicken!) Once the chicken is cooked, cool until you are able to handle it with your hands. Take most of the meat off the bones and set aside.