There's something really comforting about chicken soups. I was really excited to try this one, since it seemed to have the right level of difficulty to make it tasty, but not take up an entire day making it. This recipe just sounded good - when reading through the ingredients I thought to myself, "well those sound like they'd be good together." Such a simple concept. Does anyone else think the word "chowder" sounds gross? Maybe it's just me. I'll keep you in suspense on this one- keep reading to find out what I ultimately thought of the recipe and this soup!
CliffNotes Version1.) Melt butter in pot 2.) Add onion, carrots, and celery 3.) Cook until tender (3-4 minutes) 4.) Add flour, then gradually add chicken broth, milk, and cook 1-2 minutes 5.) Stir in potatoes 6.) Bring to boil, reduce to simmer for 12-15 minutes 7.) Add chicken and cheese Final Review: Loving this recipe! This soup is the perfect balance of good,, flavorful ingredients, while still being easy to make! It even passed the "leftovers in my lunch test," which means that it tasted great (maybe even better) the next day. I really enjoyed the thick, creaminess of the soup without being too rich and heavy. The chicken, potato, and vegetables make such a great combination, and the cheese in there...wow. Yes, I suppose "chowder" is the correct word to use, because this does come out pretty thick.
My husband is the first person to "taste test' my soup after it's finished. He's so sincere, I can always tell when he likes the soup vs. when he LIKES the soup (because he always "likes" it). This one was definitely a winner- I could see it in his eyes :) I would definitely make this one again.
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Soup Sunday has become my new favorite thing! Check out this roundup of some of my faves :) Click on any to be directed to the post!
Hello! Nothing says "love" like making homemade soup for someone- and this roasted red pepper soup certainly does the trick. This one was a little out on a limb for me, since I don't think I've ever even eaten a red pepper soup. The flavor is delicious, and it has the smokiness of the red pepper and the paprika that makes this soup a great and healthy recipe. Is it easy? Well, that is, of course, relative. Compared to the other recipes I've tried, this one was one of the more difficult (at least for me). Typically the level of difficulty is closely correlated to the number of bowls and utensils I have to use, which is also correlated with how messy my kitchen is after making it. My kitchen was a disaster, and my plate count was up to 5 or 6 when all was said and done. There was also an aerobic component to this recipe, given (see previous posts) my broiler is on the bottom of my oven. Therefore, every time I needed to broil something (which happens quite frequently in this recipe), I literally had to get down on floor level to make sure I wasn't burning anything. It felt like one of those exercise bootcamps- up to stir, down to check red pepper in broiler, up to stir, down to check broiler. Other than the small challenges of peeling a softened red pepper (I probably should've googled this), and all the chopping involved, it was a great recipe and perfect if you have a little more time on your hands. Ingredients
CliffNotes Version of Recipe1. Cut bell peppers and lay on pan. Broil until "skin has become black" 2. Broil cauliflower florets 3. While broiling cauliflower, head oil in a pot 4. Add garlic and onions 5. Add chicken stock, thyme, and paprika 6. Add chopped peppers and cauliflower 7. Blend Final look before plating I do think this soup turned out well, especially with the crostinis on top that I made for the "french onion soup recipe" on top. french-onion-soup.html For me, a few things made this recipe more difficult than others. First of all, broiling the peppers until the skin was "black" was a little scary for me. Does that mean all black? Black spots? Peering into the broiler and watching the color change on the peppers proved a little too adventurous for me, so I ultimately didn't broil them as long as probably was necessary. I waited until I saw black spots forming, and that was enough for me. The next challenge was peeling these peppers....Is there some secret, easy way to peel half a broiled pepper? The peppers become soft after broiling, even after cooling. There's also not much "meat" or "flesh" on half a pepper, so to separate the skin is extremely difficult. I ended up just giving up and chopping the peppers fine enough that the skin didn't really matter. If the skin was all black I probably couldn't have done this, but maybe if it was all black it would've peeled more easily. Finally, just the amount of chopping was quite a task. Chopping 4 bell peppers into tiny pieces, chopping onion, chopping cauliflower....tends to leave a mess! I even have a special tool that helps with the chopping process, and it still was a major task. If you have the time (and are better at chopping than I am)- definitely a tasty recipe. I have to admit that it was difficult to decide what to make this week. I was feeling rather uninspired when I scrolled through my saved recipes, but that could've been becaues I wasn't hungry when I was deciding what to make. This can make a big difference- when I'm hungry every recipe looks amazing. When I'm not, well, it makes things more difficult. I decided on a tomato and tortellini soup that I had been eyeing. This may be a good time to tell you that I don't like tomatoes. I LOVE tomato soup, ketchup, yada yada. I have just NEVER liked tomatoes- and this is not for lack of trying. I have tried tomatoes on numerous occasions, including while making this soup. Nope! Not for me! So be forewarned that if you don't like tomatoes, this recipe (as it is written) may not for you. That's because, unlike other tomato soups, this one has halved cherry tomatoes in it. Of course it would be VERY easy to just not put the cherry tomatoes in it. That's probably what I should've done. The shopping list for this was easy and difficult. Easy because it had very few ingredients. It was difficult because there was one ingredient, tomato pesto, that was difficult to find. I personally had never heard of it before. Here I am by the "tomato truck" at one of our local grocery stores. Tomatoes and I have never really got along.....but I'm trying to put our differences behind us. Unfortunately you can only buy this "bouquet" of parsley, even when you only need a sprig. Oh well, at least it looks pretty. Not pictured: Sprinklers started two seconds after this picture was taken. Ingredients
Not pictured: Chicken Broth! (I had already put it in the pot) CliffNotes Version of Recipe1.) Heat chicken stock until boiling 2.) Add tortellini and wait 7 minutes 3.) Add halved cherry tomatoes and wait 1 minute until tender 4.) Stir in pesto and cream 5.) Add red pepper flakes (optional) I was a little scared at first because it didn't look ANYTHING like tomato soup and I wasn't sure just adding the 1/3 c tomato pesto would do the trick - but it shaped up quite nicely! Looking pretty good! Here is the finished product- it looks very pretty!
My final comments: I thought this recipe was extremely easy. Was it my favorite soup recipe I have tried? Definitely not. For some reason this soup requires a lot of stirring, and if you let it sit, the cream and tomato will separate making it look extremely unappetizing. The taste is fine, and I (personally)would probably like the soup a lot better, overall, if the halved tomatoes weren't in it. There's also something about the tortellini being in there that makes you feel like you're eating pasta with watery tomato sauce. But maybe that's just me. This is a great recipe if you have ZERO time at all to make a soup. It took literally 10 minutes to make, including "prep time" since there's very little chopping involved. However, if you have more than 10 minutes to spare, I'm sure there are other tomato soups out there that may be even tastier. Definitely a personal quest to find my next tomato soup recipe :) Hello everyone! This week I made one of my winter favorites: Beef Barley Soup. I came across the recipe and it just sounded so delicious, I had to give it a try. I would say this one was the second easiest recipe I have made so far (after last week's "wonton" soup," and for such a simple recipe, it is so incredibly tasty. You would never guess how easy it is by the taste of it. I had a "cringe-worthy" moment while making this recipe. I went a little crazy with the barley. When I put in the listed 1/2 cup of barley in the soup, it looked like so little. So I added a little more. Little did I know (which seems various obvious) that the barley would completely absorb the liquid. I was getting way too over-confident with the soup recipes, and that set me back a couple notches. Luckily the soup was salvaged. All was well, in the end. I'm sure none of you will make the mistake I did, but just in case, I had to be fully up front about this little snafu. Clearly a rookie mistake. Browning the meat worked well in the pot! Love this blend of vegetables. So many pretty colors! Ingredients1 tsp oil
Cliff Notes Version of Recipe1.) Brown meat in pot 2.) Add carrots, onion, celery, and garlic 3.) Add water 4.) Bring to boil 5.) Reduce to simmer for 1-1/2 hours 6.) Add barley 7.) Simmer for additional 30-35 minutes This recipe made a good amount of soup- and I think it would be great to freeze for eating later!
Enjoy! |
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March 2017
CategoriesAbout This BlogI don't have time to cook. Follow my journey as I try to make a different, easy recipe every Sunday. You know if I can make it and it tastes good, you can. |