Warm Up with Soup

7 delicious soups to keep you warm inside and out.

Soup is a great way to clean out your refrigerator.  You can make soup with all kinds of meat, vegetables, legumes, grains, and/or pasta.  Here are 7 of my soup recipes that are simple and delicious.  Many are meatless, vegetarian, or vegan and all will help keep you warm.

A #roundup of 7 delicious soup #recipes. Warm Up w/ Soup  [Tweet this]

Black Bean Soup

A creamy, flavorful, and meatless soup made with black beans and spices.  Filling enough for an entree.

Warm up w/ #meatless Black Bean Soup  [Tweet this]

Cauliflower and Chickpea Soup

A creamy soup made with chickpeas, cauliflower, coconut milk and warm spices.  Cauliflower and chickpea soup is a delicious and vegan meal.

Warm up w/ #vegan Cauliflower & Chickpea #Soup  [Tweet this]

Green Pea Soup

Healthy and easy frozen green peas pureed in a flavorful broth for a creamy and delicious, vibrant green, soup.

Warm up w/ #frozenpeas in Green Pea #Soup  [Tweet this]

Lentil Soup

A bold and spicy soup with hot Portuguese sausage and healthy lentils.

Warm up w/ #healthy #lentils in Lentil Soup  [Tweet this]

Minestrone Soup

A simple, vegetarian, Italian style soup made with vegetables, beans, pasta, tomatoes, and spices.

Warm up w/ #vegetarian Minestrone #Soup  [Tweet this]

Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

A creamy, meatless, soup with mushrooms and wild rice.  It's warm comfort food for a cold night.

Warm up with #comfortfood Mushroom and #WildRiceSoup  [Tweet this]

Pureed Carrot Soup

A creamy, vegan, soup made with pureed carrots, onions, and beans in a vegetable broth with a hint of dill.  It's filling enough for a meal but also great with a small sandwich.

Warm up w/ #vegan Pureed Carrot #Soup  [Tweet this]

Enjoy.

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Lamb & Guinness Shepherd's Pie

Minced lamb and vegetables cooked in a Guinness sauce and topped with mashed potatoes.  Perfect for a St. Patrick's Day dinner.

This is yet another dish I made from leftover Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb.  That lamb roast served me very well.  You could easily substitute ground lamb in this recipe too.  I blitzed my leftover, roughly chopped, lamb in the food processor to give me minced lamb, added vegetables and Guinness for this incredibly flavorful and hardy meat pie.  It's not totally traditional shepherd's pie because I have it in a pie shell, but I had one in the freezer and didn't feel like dirtying a dish so I used it.  Traditional or not it was delicious.  I loved the crispy pie crust bottom with the creamy potato top.  And the filling.  Did I mention there's Guinness in it?  The stout gives it this a deep, rich, meatier flavor that is unparalleled.

Did I mention there's #Guinness in it? [Tweet this]

Lamb & Guinness Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp butter
1 onion, diced
2 red potatoes, blanched and diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 small carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
2/3 cup frozen peas
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup Guinness
2 cups minced lamb (I just minced leftover Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb, but you could use cooked ground lamb as well)
Few dashed rosemary
5-6 dashes Worcestershire sauce
Frozen pie crust (9 inch deep dish), optional
2-3 cups mashed potatoes

Preheat oven to 425F

In a large stockpot, melt butter over medium heat.  Add onions, potatoes, celery, and carrots.  Season with salt and pepper then cook, until everything is softened.

Add the garlic and cook for just a few seconds until fragrant.

Add the frozen peas and allow to warm for about a minute.  Then add the flour.

Stir and mix well with the vegetables and melted butter making a roux.

Stir and cook until flour mixture starts to brown then add the Guinness, lamb, and rosemary.

Continue stirring until mixture comes to low boil, lower the heat and simmer until the Guinness has thickened (this isn't a very saucy mixture it's pretty thick but if you would like it thinner add more Guinness or water).

Stir in the Worcestershire sauce.  Taste for seasoning and add whatever you think it needs.

Fill a pie crust (follow pie crust directions) or casserole dish with the meat mixture, top with mashed potatoes (that are seasoned to your preference) and bake.

Bake in a preheated oven at 425F for about 25 minutes or until potatoes start to brown.

Let cool for about 15 minutes before serving.  Serve with sides of your choice.  I served it with Sweet Dill Glazed Carrots and Sauteed Kale (I'll post these recipes soon). Oh, and don't forget a Guinness to wash it down.

Makes 6 servings.

Enjoy.

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Tater Tot Hotdish

Ground beef and veggies in a creamy sauce topped with tater tots.

For those of you not from Minnesota (or like me and married to a Minnesotan), a hotdish is basically a casserole.  Generally, they are made up of four simple ingredients; meat, veggies, cream of mushroom soup, and a starch. I think of casseroles/hotdishes as being wintertime food.  They are simple, warm, and hardy.  A great dinner for a cold, dark day.

#Hotdish is a Minnesotan casserole | #TaterTotHotdish  [Tweet this]

It doesn't feel like a Minnesota winter ever in Hawaii but it gets a little chilly.  I've been here for 4 years and I've become acclimated to Hawaiian living.  It's great to live somewhere where the temperature highs are usually 80s during the summer and 60s for lows in the winter.  This winter has felt colder than the previous ones even though it's really still not winter-like when compared to Minnesota (I know I lived in Minnesota for 2 winters).  So, roll your eyes if you live somewhere really cold but I've been cold this winter and a hotdish sounded perfect (this is my husband's favorite).

Tater Tot #Hotdish is perfect #coldweatherfood  [Tweet this]

Tater Tot Hotdish

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 pound frozen mixed vegetables
1 10.5 oz can cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can full of milk
frozen tater tots

Brown ground beef in a frying pan until fully cooked.  Remove meat from pan into a large bowl.

Pour off most of the grease from the frying pan, leaving about 1 tsp, and saute the onion over medium heat until translucent.  Add the cooked onion to the meat in the large bowl.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the vegetables, soup, and milk to the meat and onions.  Stir and mix well.

Pour into an 8x8 inch baking pan and top with a single layer of tater tots (pack them in there tightly you want "full tot coverage"--says my husband).

Bake at 350F for about 45 minutes.  Then broil it for a few minutes to make the tots crispier if you like.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Enjoy.

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For more cold weather food check out:

Bean and Barley Stew

Chicken & Wild Rice Hotdish

Lamb & Guinness Shepherd's Pie

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Patta Gobhi Mattar (Cabbage and Peas)

A spicy, vegetarian, Indian dish of cabbage, peas (I added some carrots to the mix), and warm spices.

I love Indian food and Indian flavors.  The complexity of the flavors is something indescribable.  Not only does this dish (and most Indian dishes) taste great, it is also very nutritious.  I like to have vegetarian meals regularly, and vegetables are usually much less expensive than meat.  This meal has no cholesterol (when you use oil instead of ghee) and lots of nutritious vegetables.  All of the spices are healthy too, I'm no expert but, I have read great things about chillies, garlic, ginger, and turmeric.  Even if they happen to not be as great for you as some websites say, they don't hurt and they taste great.

Patta Gobhi Mattar (Cabbage and Peas)

Ingredients:
Modified slightly from IndianFoodForever.com

1-2 Tbsp cooking oil or ghee
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 Tbsp ginger, minced
1-2 jalapeno minced
1 small onion, sliced
1/2 large head cabbage, chopped
2 carrots, jullened
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp red chili
Salt to taste

Heat a large skillet with oil over medium high heat.  Add cumin seeds and let them sputter.

Then, add the ginger, garlic, and jalapeno (or chilli of choice you can remove the seeds or leave them in depending on how much heat you can handle.  I usually remove the seeds and control the heat with the chili powder because sometimes raw peppers can have different heat intensity).

Stir and cook until fragrant, about a minute.  Add the cabbage and carrots and spices (I used a lesser amount of ghost pepper masala instead of the red chili powder because I have a lot of it on hand--a friend brought some back from India for me and it is VERY spicy).

Stir and mix until just tender, then add peas.  Cover and reduce heat to low until peas are heated through.

Serve with rice and flat bread (cilantro and raita are nice too).  Makes about 3-4 servings.

Enjoy.

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Original post 2/20/2013 (50 views, 6 pins) re-posted with updated pictures and minor editing.

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Green Pea Soup

Healthy and easy frozen green peas pureed in a flavorful broth for a creamy and delicious, vibrant green, soup.

(Updated 2/21/16:  New pictures, pin-ables, Tweet-ables, similar posts, and minor editing)

Green peas are very nutritious.  They are high in fiber and protein while being low in fat and contain many antioxidants.  My husband loves peas and we always have a huge bag of them in the freezer.  You will notice two different looking soups in this post because they are from different batches (same basic recipe with just minor alterations).  I was pleasantly surprised when my husband started requesting this soup regularly.  I've made it often since the first post.  I love the flavor and nutritional benefits of this soup and am happy my husband does too.  It's a quick and delicious way to prepare frozen peas.

#Spouseapproved #vegetarian Green Pea Soup  [Tweet this]

I have a kind of love-hate relationship with peas.  I know that they are healthy and try to use them regularly but they aren't my favorite vegetable.  It's not even the taste.  I don't mind the flavor but it's the work it takes to eat them that makes me less of a fan.  This may seem like a silly reason to avoid a food but I can't help it.  I'll have peas on my plate and try to take a scoop of them only to have them roll away or fall off my fork or spoon.  It should not be so difficult to get your food into your mouth!

Get your peas the easy way in #GreenPea #Soup  [Tweet this]

That is why this soup is so great.  It's simple and delicious and stays on your spoon.  It also contains a lot of peas.  1 1/2 cups per serving to be exact and that is a lot of fiber and protein.  I don't think even my husband (the pea lover) would put that many peas on his plate.

Get lots of #fiber and #protein from GreenPeaSoup  [Tweet this]

Green Pea Soup

Cook time:  45 minutes
Servings:  2

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp butter or oil
1 cup onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, smashed
3 cups green peas, frozen
2 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
2 tsp dried basil
2 Tbsp guacamole/avocado puree (or cream)
salt and pepper to taste

In a large sauce pan, saute the onions in butter or oil until tender.  Add the garlic, peas, broth, and basil and bring to a boil.

Lower heat and let simmer for about 30 minutes.

Remove from heat and puree the soup with the guacamole until creamy.  (Most of the recipes I looked at used cream to make the soup creamier.  That would be great but I didn't have cream on hand and did have some guac.  Avocados are creamy so that's what I used and it was delicious.  It also makes this soup vegan, if your guac is vegan, and if you use oil and vegetable broth too.  I've also used sour cream in this soup with great results.)

Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 2 servings.  It's great on its own or paired with crackers or a sandwich.  (my husband added some Habanero Hot Sauce to his and said it was delicious)

Enjoy.

Check out my Habanero Hot Sauce mentioned in this post:

For more recipes using peas check out:

Lamb & Guinness Shepherds Pie

Ginger Chicken Stir Fry

Patta Gobhi Mattar (Cabbage & Peas)

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Pork and Peas Stir Fry

A sweet and spicy stir fry made with leftover Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin and a variety of peas.

This is my third and final new meal from the same pork tenderloin.  Stir fries are a staple in my house because they cook up quick and are relatively inexpensive.  I wanted to do something a little different from my usual stir fry so when I saw beautiful sugar snap peas and snow peas, at my local market, I knew I had to use them.  I also like the sound of pork and peas and the color is great.  The peas make this dish super simple too.  No need to chop just wash and add them to the stir fry.  Young sugar snap and snow peas do not even need to be trimmed and stringed; but if they are a little older just snap off the ends and pull off the strings along the seams because they can be a little tough.

Pork and Peas Stir Fry

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp garlic, minced
2 Tbsp ginger, minced
1 onion, sliced
1/2 pound sugar snap peas
1/2 pound snow peas
Leftover Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin, cut into bite sized pieces

Sauce:

1 Tbsp Hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp Sriracha
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
Honey to taste

Mix together the sauce ingredients and set aside.

Meanwhile wash and string the peas (if necessary) and prepare the other ingredients.

Heat a large saute pan (or wok) over medium high heat.  Add about 1 Tbsp vegetable, peanut, or canola oil to the pan and swish around.

Add the ginger and garlic, stirring constantly, until fragrant.  Then add the onion and peas cooking until tender crisp.  Add the pork and sauce and stir until everything is coated and pork is reheated.

Remove from heat and serve with rice.

Makes 2 servings.

Enjoy.

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