Giada de Laurentiis had a recipe for a Lemon Chicken Soup with Spaghetti but since I’m not much of a spaghetti fan (don’t ask – it’s a childhood thing), I looked in the pantry and substituted egg noodles.  I also added the zest of one lemon and some garlic and celery and I found a new spin on an old favorite. 

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Lemon Chicken Noodle Soup

Recipe adapted Giada de Laurentiis, Food Network

Ingredients

• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 1-2 lemons) [I used one lemon and the zest]
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1 (2-inch) piece Parmesan cheese rind, optional  [I just added some extra parmesan]
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1 rib of celery, sliced into moons
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• 1 cup (about 2 1/2 ounces) spaghetti, broken into 2-inch pieces, *see Cook’s Note [I used 2 cups of egg noodles]
• 2 cups diced cooked rotisserie chicken, preferably breast meat
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• Kosher salt

Directions

In a large stockpot, bring the chicken broth, lemon juice, lemon zest, bay leaf, and Parmesan rind, if using, to a boil over medium-high heat.

Add the carrots and celery and simmer until tender, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Add the pasta and cook until the pasta is tender, for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken and heat through, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and the Parmesan rind and discard. Stir in 1/2 of the cheese and the parsley. Season with salt, to taste. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

*Cook’s Note: You can use any short pasta from your pantry as a substitute for spaghetti.

Gather the ingredients

That bay leaf looks lonely among the chicken broth, garlic and lemon zest/juice, no?

No thumbs were butchered when slicing the veggies *phew*

Warm Comfort At Last – SO Good!

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It was quick to assemble and, with minimal effort, warmth was mine again.  You might want to try this on a cold winter’s night.

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GARLICKY TORTELLINI SPINACH AND TOMATO SOUP

Recipe adapted from Fine Cooking

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 6 – 8 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 quart chicken broth, preferably lower salt
• 6 oz. fresh or frozen tortellini
• 14 oz. canned diced fire roasted tomatoes with their liquid
• 10 oz. spinach, washed and stemmed; coarsely chopped
• 8 – 10 leaves of basil, coarsely chopped
• Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. 
2. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
3. Add the broth and bring to a boil.
4. Add the tortellini and cook halfway, about 5 minutes for frozen pasta, less if using fresh.
5. Add the tomatoes and their liquid, reduce the heat to simmer and cook just until the pasta is tender.
6. Stir in the spinach and basil and cook until wilted, 1 to 2 minutes.
7. Serve sprinkled with the grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Assemble The Ingredients

Garlic Sautéing In Butter – How Great Does That Smell

Time To Simmer

Chop Up The Spinach and Basil

Serve and Enjoy

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Chipotle Southwestern Corn Chicken Soup

Adapted from Real Simple Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 cups chicken broth
• 3 cups shredded chicken (from a small rotisserie chicken or leftovers)
• 1 small onion
• 1 15 oz can of cannellini beans
• 1 15 oz jar of chipotle salsa
• 1 11 oz can of southwestern corn medley (Green Giant is my recommendation)
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp. mexican oregano
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• Juice of 1 lime
• Salt
• Pepper
• Sour Cream or Creme Fraiche
• Flat Leaf  Italian Parsley

Directions

1. Dice the onion and saute in a bit of olive oil until soft.  Add the minced garlic.
2. Add the cumin and stir for a second.
3. Deglaze the pan with a bit of the chicken stock.  Add the chipotle salsa, cannellini beans, southwestern corn, paprika, mexican oregano and the remainder of the chicken stock.  Stir and bring to a slight simmer.
4. Add in the chicken and the lime juice.
5. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
6. Garnish with the sour cream or creme fraiche and parsley.

The Ingredients….

The Final Product…

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I digress, I know.  Beef Stew just calls for chilly weather and I have to say over the past month, Philly has apparently angered Mother Nature so much that she has blanketed the city in waves of white snow a couple of times along with the northeast including New Jersey (perhaps she is also annoyed by the MTV show “Jersey Shore” and Philly got hit by default? – just a thought.)   What it has done is sent this gal to the kitchen to try and make her own “Tried and True” version of Beef Stew.  I found a recipe for “Slow Cooker Beef Stew” but I have to warn you, I changed it up quite a bit.  The end result was a beef stew that has a bit of bite and warms you to the core on a cold winter’s day. 

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BEEF STEW

Recipe adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. of beef stew meat cut into 1” cubes
• 1/3 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp. paprika (I used smoked paprika)
• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cups beef broth
• 3 potatoes diced
• 4 carrots, sliced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 cup of whole button or baby bella mushrooms
• 2 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 sprig of Rosemary
• 1/4 tsp. of allspice
• Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, salt and pepper; dredge the beef in the flour mixture and brown the beef cubes.  Put remaining flour to the side.
2. After the beef is brown, put into slow cooker (or in my case, leave in the pot as I browned it on the stovetop).  Stir in garlic, remaining flour mixture, bay leaf, paprika, tomato paste, allspice, red pepper flakes, Worcestershire sauce, onion, mushrooms, beef broth, potatoes, carrots and celery.
3. Cover and cook on Low setting for 10-12 hours or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours.

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A Secret Summer Romance

by SSG

I have a secret … I love soup.

I wish it was more scandalous, really.  Like I love soup AND I slept with a celebrity.  But the secret really is that I just love soup. 

A hearty lentil and sausage stew in the fall, slow cooked onions simmered in beef broth and topped with melted Gruyere on toast in the winter.  A bowl of homemade chicken noodle to combat the sniffles or a simple tomato soup to combat a rainy afternoon.  Surely "hearty" stems from its root word, heart.  And I can’t think of another place that warms mine more than being wrapped up in a soft blanket on the couch, Pride & Prejudice queued up on the DVD player, spoon poised, ready to make the first plunge into warmth and comfort.

That is, until summer.

Soup and I have to go on the equivalent of a "Ross and Rachel" break.  Where instead of scraping the last bit of soup from the bowl, I scrape whatever vegetables I can pull together without having to turn on the stove.  I dabble with strolling through the farmers market in flip flops, warmed instead by the early morning sun.

But deep down, I miss soup.

There are cold soups, sure.  But gazpacho can get old after a while.  And while the cantaloupe soup I had at New York City’s Home one hot summer evening was delicious, it was too light to make a full meal.

I would just have to wait.

Or would I?

Enter the June 2009 issue of Martha Stewart Living where "Soups on Ice" caught my eye.  While the title of the article initially had me envisioning Disney sized bowls of soup on ice skates, coming soon to a rink near you!  I quickly forgave her after seeing page after page of Spicy Tomato, Fresh Pea and Buttermilk, and Cucumber Basil & Mint.  And then my heart stopped when I saw "Corn & Coconut."   Described as "farm fresh familiar and surprising all at once" it had a humble list of ingredients.  Jalapeno, corn and coconut milk are boiled together with water, pureed, chilled and strained before getting to know each other a bit better in the fridge.  On some warm Portland days I’d like to climb right in there with them. 

The soup, when finished with a squeeze of fresh lime juice and a few turns of the pepper mill, was the perfect accompaniment to a crisp Pinot Gris and salad.  Hearty?  Yes.  But cool and refreshing with a hint of complexity … though all really quite simple in the end.  Just like a summer romance should be.

Corn & Coconut Soup
Serves 4

Bring 1 jalapeno chile, seeded and chopped, 3 cups fresh corn kernels, 1 can (14 oz) light coconut milk, and 2 1/2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan.  Reduce heat, and simmer until corn is tender, about 20 minutes.  Filling a blender halfway and covering with a kitchen towel, puree soup in batches (I used my immersion blender).  Strain through a coarse sieve into a large bowl; discard solids.  Season with salt and pepper.  Chill soup at least 3 hours or up to overnight.  Stir in 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice.  Garnish each serving with fresh corn kernels if desired and season with pepper. 

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Recipe courtesy of Giada de Laurentiis and FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large Vidalia onions, sliced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
4 cups beef broth
4 slices ciabatta bread, cubed
4 ounces sliced fontina cheese
Special equipment: 4 (1 1/2-cup) ovenproof ramekins

Directions

In a medium, heavy saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the thyme and broth. Simmer, uncovered, until the onions are soft, about 15 minutes.

Divide the soup between the 4 ovenproof ramekins. Divide the cubed bread among the ramekins. Top each with slices of fontina cheese. Place under the broiler, until the cheese is golden and bubbly, about 4 minutes. Serve immediately.

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Now that I reside in Central Florida – that’s not an option. The only other *gasp* is Friendlys and that’s only because it’s from my childhood – not necessarily an accurate reflection of true home goodness that is Legal Seafoods.

You can imagine my surprise when I found Legal Seafoods Clam Chowder in the refrigerated section of Costco. Yeah, I know – warehouse super club but still – LEGAL SEAFOODS.

So tonight, I grabbed some freshly baked ciabatta and a bowl of Clam Chowdah with a bit of added touches i.e. freshly cracked black pepper, a bit of sea salt and Italian flat leaf parsley.

Now that, my friends is a bowl of comfort.

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I first got wind of the Southwestern Chicken Soup recipe courtesy of Grown Up Girlie and when I make a batch, I always make sure that there will be extra for lunch or dinner during the week. I adapted the recipe from Real Simple (where the photo is from because I was too hungry to take pictures) and this recipe kicks butt time and time again…

Southwestern Chicken Soup (adapted from Real Simple)

1 12-ounce jar salsa verde
3 cups cooked chicken pieces (1 small deli-counter rotisserie chicken or leftovers)
1 15-ounce can cannellini or black beans, drained
3 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
Pinch of Cayenne (optional)
1 small yellow onion, sauteed
1/2 cup sour cream
Tortilla chips (optional)
Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
Spritz of lime juice (optional)

• Dice the onion and saute in olive oil
• Empty the salsa into a large saucepan.
• Cook 2 minutes over medium-high heat, then add the chicken, beans, broth, and, if desired, lime juice, cayenne and cumin.
• Bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Top each bowl with a sprinkling of cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and some tortilla chips (if desired). For a soupier dish, use 4 cups of broth.

Can’t go wrong with Chicken soup when you are looking for a bit of comfort-y goodness. Buon apetito!

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