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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Mushroom and Swiss Patty Melt

A burger patty, Swiss cheese, and sauteed mushrooms and onions, sandwiched between 2 slices of bread then grilled until hot and melty.

Grilled cheese sandwiches are a favorite of mine.  I love melted cheese and buttery crisp grilled bread.  I was planning to make a grilled cheese with some Swiss cheese I had when I thought I'd add a burger patty to make it more filling for dinner.  Once I decided to add the burger, mushrooms and onions were an obvious addition.  I love Mushroom and Swiss burgers too. This patty melt is a combination of two favorites.  A mushroom and Swiss burger and a grilled cheese sandwich.  I had a package of precooked frozen burger patties in my freezer so I just heated them in the microwave to make this super simple.  It made a delicious and easy dinner.

A combination of two favorites.  A Mushroom and Swiss burger and a grilled cheese sandwich [Tweet this]

Mushroom and Swiss Patty Melt

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp butter
5 large mushrooms, sliced
1/2 onion, chopped
few dashes Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
4 slices of bread
Butter (at room temperature or spreadable margarine)
4 slices Swiss cheese
2 burger patties

Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat.  Add the mushrooms and onions.  Saute until tender.

Add a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, and a little salt and pepper to taste.  Stir and keep warm.

Meanwhile, thaw and heat the burger patties if frozen or use just cooked patties.

Butter all four slices of bread on one side only.

Place 2 slices of buttered bread, butter side down, on a warm griddle (or frying pan).

Add a slice of cheese to each.  Then a burger patty, half of the mushroom mixture, another slice of cheese, and finish with a slice of bread butter side up.

Turn heat to medium-low to medium, cover with a lid (covering the sandwiches helps the top slice of cheese melt too so the bread won't slide off when you flip them), and heat until the bottom slice of bread is dark-golden brown and the cheese has started to melt.

Very carefully flip the sandwiches and cook the other side until brown.  This would be much quicker and simpler with a panini press so use it if you got it.  I don't :(

Cut diagonally (don't ask me why, but I can't eat a grilled cheese sandwich, or patty melt, unless it's cut diagonally) and serve warm.

Makes 2 sandwiches.

Don't ask me why but I can't eat a grilled cheese sandwich unless it's cut diagonally [Tweet this]

Enjoy.

For more sandwich ideas check out:

Mayonnaise-less Egg Salad Sandwich

Spiced Eggplant & Mushrooms Sandwich

Cucumber Finger Sandwiches

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Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

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

Wild rice soup is a dish I learned about in Minnesota.  It's perfect for wintertime because it's warm, creamy, hardy, and comforting.  This is comfort food at it's best.  Usually it's made with chicken but I used inexpensive mushrooms.  Not only were the mushrooms less expensive than meat but I hoped they would help lower the calorie count of this creamy soup.  I used real cream but you could lighten it more by using half and half or milk but I love the comfort and creaminess of the real stuff (and so does my husband the Minnesotan).  This soup has great fiber from the wild rice which gives the soup a wonderful chewy component that makes it very satisfying.  It's a meal of a soup.  Add some crackers if you like and this soup will make you feel warm, full, and satisfied.

Warmup w/ Minnesotan #comfortfood Mushroom & #WildRiceSoup  [Tweet this]

Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
4 cups sliced mushrooms (about 20-30 mushrooms)
1/2 tsp Thyme
1/4 cup flour
4-6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup dry wild rice, cooked until soft (about 3-4 cups cooked)
4 oz cream

Saute the vegetables in butter, in a large stock pot, until tender.  Add the mushrooms and thyme and cook until the mushrooms soften.  Sprinkle on some salt and pepper.

Stir in the flour and cook for a minute or two more to cook out the raw taste of the flour but not darken it at all.  Then pour in 4 cups broth.  Let the soup just come to a boil and reduce heat to simmer.

Add the cooked rice and allow the soup to simmer until thickened (add more broth if it looks too thick) then add cream.  Heat through, taste for seasoning (add more salt, pepper, and/or thyme as needed), and remove from heat.

Serve immediately with crackers.  Makes about 6 servings.

Enjoy.

For more wild rice recipes check out:

Chicken & Wild Rice Hotdish

Spiced Eggplant & Mushrooms

Wild Rice Cherry Pecan Salad

For more comfort food check out:

Chili con Carne

Loco Moco

Tater Tot Hotdish

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Pork Scallopini

Thinly sliced pork served with a white wine mushroom sauce.

When planning dinner I had only one pork chop that needed to feed two.  Luckily the pork chop was thick (at least 1 inch).  What I decided to do was cut this pork chop into 4 thin slices and make scallopini.  It turned out great.  I sauteed the pork then reheated it in a white wine mushroom sauce.  To make sure we had plenty I served this with Wild Rice Cherry Pecan Salad, mashed sweet potatoes (they are under the pork in the center of the plate), and steamed broccoli.  It turned out to be quite a large meal.  My husband and I enjoyed it and stuffed ourselves on only one pork chop.

Pork Scallopini

Ingredients:

4 thin slices of pork (about 1/4 inch thick)
flour for dredging
1-2 Tbsp canola oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
20 mushrooms, sliced (about 2 cups)
1 cup white wine
1 lemon, juice
salt and pepper to taste

Season both sides of the pork slices with salt and pepper and dredge in flour.  Shake off excess flour and fry the pork in oil, over medium high heat, in a large saute pan.  Since the pork is thin it only takes a couple of minutes per side.

Remove the pork from the pan, set aside, and keep warm.  Pour out excess oil from saute pan.

Saute onions, in butter, in the same pan.  When onions start to soften add mushrooms and garlic.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Cook until the mushrooms have softened then pour in the wine.

Let wine reduce by about half and then add in the fresh lemon juice.  Return the pork to the pan until just reheated and serve immediately.

Makes 2 servings.

Enjoy.

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Mushroom Spinach Tomato Pasta

Linguine noodles in a light white wine and garlic sauce tossed with mushrooms, spinach and grape tomatoes.

Pasta is an easy go to recipe when I don't really feel like spending too much time or thought on dinner.  I always have some kind of pasta in my pantry and if I don't it's sold at the corner store (that is only 1 block away). White wine sauce is a very simple sauce for pasta that tastes great and doesn't require much time and few ingredients.  Yes, opening a jar/can of pasta sauce is probably easier but I don't like to use store bought pasta sauce and I don't can my own...and sometimes I don't want a tomato based sauce.  I love white wine sauce because it is flavorful and light (it doesn't sit heavy in your stomach it may or may not be any lighter in calories than other sauces but I like to think it is).  My basic white wine sauce is made of olive oil, shallots, garlic, and dry white wine (my favorite is Pinot Grigio) then I just toss in whatever I happen to have on hand.  In this case it was mushrooms, spinach, and tomatoes.  This dinner takes less than 30 minutes (the longest part for me is waiting for my ancient electric stove to boil water...I rent so I can't just get my dream stove).

Mushroom Spinach Tomato Pasta

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp minced shallots
2 Tbsp minced garlic
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup vegetable broth or water, optional
1/2 cup halved grape tomatoes
1 large handful baby spinach
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 pack linguine, cooked al dente
Parmesan
salt
pepper

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet.  Add shallots, garlic and mushrooms.

Cook until fragrant add the broth/water if the pan gets to dry then add the tomatoes.  Let the tomatoes begin to blister and soften slightly then add the spinach, wine and salt to taste.

Continue cooking until the wine reduces by about half and add the cooked pasta.  Turn off the heat, cover the pan, and let sit for 5-10 minutes.

Toss and serve with parmesan and fresh cracked pepper.

Makes 2-3 servings.

Enjoy.

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Mushroom and Chicken Barley Pilaf

A delicious and nutritious pilaf made with onions, mushrooms, mizuna, chicken, and barley.  A great dinner on a cool rainy night.

All week the weather here in Honolulu has been rainy, dark, and chilly (I would say cold, but it's only in the 60s--Fahrenheit which in reality is not cold but when you are used to sunny 80 degree days if feels cold).  While I prefer warm sunny days, this weather has its uses mainly being I feel inspired to make winter time recipes.

I have been thinking I should incorporate more whole grains into my diet and I came across a recipe for Mushroom and Caramelized Onion Barley.  This recipe was used as a side dish so I made my own tweaks to make it a full meal.  I also recently found another mushroom recipe that I had to try  called Bourbon Mushrooms.  My recipe mixes these two recipes and adds some new items to make a filling and nutritious one pot meal.

Ingredients:

• 1 large red onion, chopped
• 5 cups sliced mushrooms (I used a combination of crimini, button, king trumpet, and shiitake)
• 4 cups mizuna, chopped (or any slightly peppery green)
• 1/4 cup bourbon (I used Jim Beam, but any would be fine or use a few dashes of worchestire sauce instead)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 cup dried barley
• 1 1/4-2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup chopped (precooked) chicken
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil

In a large pot heat about 1-2 tsp olive oil over medium heat then add onion,  cook uncovered for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally until onions caramelize.

Then, add the mushrooms and stir.  Cook for about 15 minutes more and add garlic and thyme cooking for about 1 minute until fragrant.

Add the mizuna (or other green of your choice.  I just learned what mizuna was the other day.  I kept seeing it at the market and it was inexpensive and neat looking so I asked around until someone was able to tell me what it was, then I googled it) and bourbon.  Cover the pot and let the mizuna cook down until wilted it should only be a minute or two.

Add salt and pepper (I read some where that you should only add salt at the end when cooking mushrooms)  then add the barley and chicken broth.  Bring to boil and reduce temperature to simmer and let cook for 30-45 minutes until barley softens and the liquid is absorbed (if you soak the barley overnight the cooking time is shorter).  

Add the chicken and pecans last and turn off the heat and cover for a few minutes for the chicken to heat. (This is a great use for leftover chicken of any sort.  I used leg and thigh meat, but breast meat would be fine too.  For a vegetarian meal omit the chicken completely and use a mushroom broth instead of chicken broth.)

Makes 4 servings.

I served this pilaf with a side of cauliflower.  It made a very filling and satisfying meal.  It was great.  If you like mushrooms this is the recipe for you and it's nutritious.  Enjoy.

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