Easy Butternut Squash Soup

While at Trader Joe's the other week, I saw that the squashes were $1.79 each.  So I'm looking to find the biggest squash since it's not by the pound.  A nice employee helped me.  She exclaimed, "I think I FOUND IT!!"

Most good-sized butternut squashes are about 2.5 lbs.  Well, mine was 7 lbs!!!  WOW..

People would see the squash in my cart and comment on how huge it was. (I actually didn't take a photo of it before chopping it up.)

Now, cutting off the ends/skin, scooping out the seeds, and chopping it into smaller pieces was such a chore.  It took 45+ min just to do that.  The gigantic butternut squash produced tons of flesh to the point where I had to change pots because it was overflowing.

Easy Butternut Squash
Prep Time: 30 min      Cook Time: 35 min
(But obviously my prep time was doubled due to the 7 lb squash)

Ingredients:
3 lbs butternut squash, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves of garlic
2 cups chicken broth (1 can)
water, enough to cover veggies (about 6 cups)
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream

Combine all ingredients except for the heavy cream.  Cook covered on medium heat for 35 minutes.  You may need to cook it longer if the veggies are not tender by then.

Pour the soup mixture into a food processor or blender.  Mine didn't fit so I had to do it in batches.  I poured the soup mixture in with a little heavy cream at a time.  Then blended it.  Once I finished my puree, I would dump it into a pot.  When you have a whole pot of pureed soup, heat it through on medium heat.

This soup is tasty, packed with vitamins; it'll warm you up on a cold, winter day.

Enjoy!!

Hearty Shredded Cabbage, Potato, Celery Soup

In Southern California, we are blessed with sunshine year round. This week, we experienced the beginning of fall nights. (We still have beautiful sunshine in the daytime.) Perfect weather for hearty soups! Originally when I bought the cabbage, I had planned on putting it in my carnitas tacos but on the days I made them, I was too hungry, and a bit lazy. There was no cabbage in my carnitas tacos.

With the real beginning of fall made me think of making warm soup for the nights. Usually my recipes come about with the ingredients I have at hand. You can add your own veggies and modify the soup. You will need a big pot. 

Hearty Shredded Cabbage Soup

Prep Time: 30 minutes      Cook Time: 1-2 hours

Ingredients:

2-3 tbsp butter

1 onion, chopped

1 can beef broth (You can use chicken or vegetable if you like.)

8 cups water

1 small head of cabbage

3 potatoes, diced

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 tsp dillweed

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic salt

fresh ground black pepper to taste

bacon (optional)

Directions:

Place the butter in the pot to melt. Add the onions. Caramelize for about eight minutes.

Add the broth and water. Then all of your chopped veggies go in the pot also with the rest of the ingredients. The soup should cook for at least an hour.

Meanwhile, I decided to add meat. But my pot was very full. The only option at that point was to grilled some bacon. In a pan, I grilled my bacon on medium heat. Cut the bacon in smaller pieces before you add it to the soup. Place it in the pot with the soup and stir. Continue cooking the soup.

Warm and hearty soup.. It will leave you wanting to grab another bowl. No worries; there is plenty in the pot!! 

Chinese Lion's Head Meatball

Chinese Lion's Head Meatball is one of my favorite dishes. My grandma would make this for me every time she saw me since she knew that I loved it that much. Funny that I've made Italian meatballs but not the Chinese kind until now. It is just making meatballs with asian seasonings.

Traditionally, these meatballs are supposed to be as big as possible like a lion's head; however, I like to make them smaller since cooking time is shorter for browning them.

Chinese Lion's Head Meatball (Soup)

Prep Time: 20 min     Cook Time: 

Ingredients: 

1 lb ground pork

1/4 tsp white pepper

1 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

2 green onions

2 tsp ginger (minced)

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp cooking wine

1 egg

sesame oil (or peanut oil)

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, put the ground meat in. Add salt, white pepper, sugar, cornstarch, cooking wine, soy sauce, green onions, ginger, and 1 beaten egg. Mix in a circular motion until all of the ingredients are incorporated. Wet your hands, then form the meatballs into the desired size. Traditionally, the lion's heads are to be as big as you can get it. However, it will take more time to cook if your meatballs are too big. I like to keep it to roughly 1.5 - 2 inches in diameter. 

In a pan, pour a couple teaspoons of sesame oil (usually it's peanut oil, but I don't have it on hand). Place the meatballs in the pan after you heat the oil. Brown the meatballs on all sides which takes about 10 minutes. You do not have to fully cook the meatballs since you will be braising it with the napa cabbage later.

To make the soup:

Put two cans of chicken broth in a big pot. Add as much napa cabbage as you like. I put in a whole small head of napa cabbage. Place the meatballs on top of the napa cabbage. If you would like, you can add other things. I cut some bamboo shoot to throw in along with some ginger to for the soup also. You can put mushrooms, etc. Braise on medium heat for about half an hour.

If you would like glass noodles, soak the clear noodles in a bowl with water for half an hour. Drain the noodles. Add them last when you are about done cooking.

 

I used lean ground pork. For a more authentic Chinese Lion's Head Meatball, use fattier meat. 

Enjoy!!

Creamy Soup

Most everyone loves a creamy soup. But usually when it's creamy, that translates to extra calories. I set out to make a creamy soup with the "cream". The reason it's called Creamy Soup is that you can do Creamy Potato Soup, Creamy Mushroom Soup, Creamy Broccoli Soup, or all of the above. I prefer recipes where I can add my own ingredients.

Creamy Soup = 2 cups chicken (or other) broth + 2 cups milk (I prefer Vitamin D milk)

Now that you have the base for the soup, you can jazz it up!!

Creamy Potato Mushroom Soup
Ingredients:
2 cups milk
2 cups chicken broth (or broth of your choice)
1 onion chopped
2 slices of bacon
3 potatoes (diced)
3 shittake mushrooms chopped (or mushrooms of your choice)
1/2 tsp pepper
some broccoli (optional)

Directions: 
Grab a medium sized pot. Cook two slices of bacon (I used lean Turkey Bacon). Remove from heat. Cut the cooked bacon into small pieces and throw it back into the pot. With the bacon drippings, add the chopped onions to sautee to soften. Add chicken broth and milk.

Add all the vegetables you desire. In my case, it was potatoes, mushrooms, and broccoli (since I had leftovers). Add some pepper. Cook on low heat for 15 minutes. You can whip up this soup in less than half an hour.

Creamy soup without the cream...err...fat. The bacon made the soup so much more fragrant.

Enjoy!!

Lentil Bean Vegetable Soup

So you want a meal that is filling, flavorful, and nutritious?

Lentil Bean Vegetable 'Soup'
Prep Time: 20 min        Cook Time: 50 min
Ingredients:
dried lentils + beans (I buy a mix of many different kinds)
1 diced onion
1-2 Tbsp minced garlic
3 small red potatoes (but use how many you want of whatever variety you choose)
8 mushrooms
1 large bell pepper
2 cups (1 can) chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
3 cups water

1 Tbsp italian seasoning
cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions:
Soak the dried lentils and beans in water for an hour. Rinse them in a colander.

Chop all your vegetables and set aside. If you can't do it all at the same time, I recommend dicing the onion first. In a medium sauce pan, heat oil, onion, garlic like in the last post. After you have created your onion-garlic mixture, you may all the rest of the chopped vegetables.  Continue to stir with a wooden spoon on medium heat. Set aside when cooked (about 5 minutes).

Pour the chicken broth and water into a huge pot. Add the lentils, beans, onion-garlic-veggie mixture, and seasonings (italian and cayenne pepper) also. Give it a stir or two. Cook on medium heat with the lid for about half an hour.

This recipe can be modified depending on what you have on hand. If you do not have bell peppers or mushrooms, don't worry about it. Chop some celery and carrots in. If you don't want to use italian seasoning, you can add cumin or basil/parsley. You can experiment to taste. Let me know which seasonings and veggies you prefer in the 'soup'. I have soup in quotation marks since mine turned out to be quite hearty and chunky, not so soupy. You may add another 2 cups of chicken broth and 3 cups of water if you like, but I try my best to cut as much sodium as possible (which is why I only use 2 cups of chicken broth). You can add more or less soup but I just scooped out the veggies.

Enjoy!!!

Curried Cauliflower Broth

If you want a light, nutritious soup, try this one. I made it up as I was cooking. ;)

Curried Vegetable Broth (with Fish)
Prep Time: 10 min      Cook Time: 30 min
Ingredients:
2 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)
1 head cauliflower (about 2 lbs, chopped)
2 tsp curry powder
pepper to taste
4 cups water
1 lb fish (cut to small pieces)
1 onion (chopped...I used leeks this time)

Directions:
Pour broth and water into a huge pot. Add cauliflower and any other veggies you wish. After the vegetables soften for about 10 minutes, you may put pieces of fish in also.

I sauteed leeks cooked in a little oil with salt/pepper to taste but I recommend chopping and caramelizing an onion.  After they soften (about 5 minutes), add it into the huge pot.

Enjoy!!!