Thrifty Thursday: Soup for Supper

There is nothing like a hearty soup and a salad for a super-easy, super-delicious meal. Here’s a savory soup that you can make in less than an hour. While I typically avoid soups with cream - this curried seafood chowder is worth the splurge. Don’t save this recipe for a fall evening, it is equally tasty on a spring or summer evening.

Curried Fish Chowder

Serves 4 – 6

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 cup half-and-half (light cream or 2% milk)
• 1 can creamed corn
• 3 red potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 1 pound white fish (cod, halibut, grouper, etc), cut into pieces

Preparation

1. In a large pot over medium-high heat melt butter. Add curry powder; cook stirring constantly for 1 minute. Slowly add broth, milk, corn, potatoes, celery and carrots. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
2. Add fish; cook for 5 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
3. Serve immediately.

Serving suggestion: Mixed green salad and bread.

Brought to us today by Gail Greenblatt, a new friend and food writer/editor - a quick, yummy, healthy soup for these never ending winter days. Enjoy!!

CURRIED CAULIFLOWER APPLE SOUP

Ingredients
A 16 ounce package of frozen cauliflower flowerets
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon of curry powder, or to taste
2 only 4-ounce cups of apple sauce
1 15 ounce can chicken or vegetable broth, plus 1 cup water

Directions
Cook cauliflower as directed on package in a large microwaveable bowl.
In a smaller bowl heat olive oil, curry, onion and garlic until softened, about
3 minutes on high. Watch carefully so it doesn’t burn.
Add apple sauce, broth and water to cauliflower, along with onion mixture. Stir.
Microwave on high 5 minutes, stir.
Microwave on power 8 for another 5 minutes.
Let cool.
Puree with immersion blender.
Adjust seasoning

On my continuing quest to have low fat but really yummy food in the fridge, I decided to make some soups today. Usually I just buy vegetable stock, but I had the time and all of the veggies already in the fridge, so I thought I’d give it a try.

Veggies ready for the pot

Here’s what you need:  1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, 1 leek, 1/2 turnip, 1 tomato, 1 onion, 1 bay leaf, some parsley.

Here’s how you do it: heat 2 T of oil in  a pot and add the vegetables.  Put the heat on low, cover the pot, and let the veggies sweat for 5 minutes.  Add 1 gallon of cold water, bring the water to a boil, then cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

The stock is fabulous, and can be used as a base for just about any soup you can think of.  I think I’m going to continue cleaning out the fridge and put all the veggies I’ve got in there into this stock.  Maybe some pasta, too.  Yum, can’t wait for lunch.

Nothing is less appealing to me than biting into a winter tomato.  The color is right, the texture is right, but the taste is….well, the taste is just wrong.    But still, I buy them.  There they sit, forlorn on my window sill.  Yesterday, I got tired of looking at them, and decided to make a Mexican flavored soup where the tomatoes could cook down and blend with some other flavors.  The soup was fabulous.  I used homemade turkey stock (from leftover Thanksgiving bones) but you can use any kind of vegetable or chicken stock as well.

1 cup chopped onions

4 large garlic cloves, minced

3 T vegetable oil

1 t ground cumin seeds

1/2 t ground oregano

3 1/2 cups fresh chopped tomatoes (I used 4 tomatoes)

3 cups stock (vegetable, chicken, turkey)

1/3 cup fresh lime juice

1. In a soup pot, saute the onions and garlic in oil about 5 minutes.  Add the cumin and oregano and saute for a few more minutes.

2. Add the chopped tomatoes and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.  Cover the pot and cook gently for about 15 minutes.

3. Add the stock and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.

4. Add the lime juice.

Serve with shredded cheese (I like Monterey Jack) and crumbled tortilla chips.

Portuguese Watercress Soup Recipe

Here’s a great old Portuguese recipe that will keep you warm through even the coldest of Atlanta’s snowy days.  Better yet, it freezes well and is really versatile, served over rice or even soft buttered rolls!  This spicy Watercress Soup gets its heat from the peppery bite of the watercress and the delicious old world spices in the sausage.  This could feed 6 very hungry Portuguese fisherman, or maybe even your teenagers!

What you need:

1 VERY large bunch of watercress, preferably an older plant with tougher, woodier stems.  If you can’t get that, a package of fresh young watercress works great!

1/2 lb.  of Portuguese Sausage, you can probably find Silva brand at your local specialty grocer’s.  If you can’t find that, look for linguica or a spicy andouille.

2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (is there any other kind?)

1 large onion

3 cloves of garlic

2 Tablespoons tomato paste

1 large can whole peeled tomatoes

1 large russet potato

2 cans dark kidney beans

red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper to taste

1.  Cut the watercress into 2 1/2 inch pieces across the stem from bottom to top, separating them into 3 groups based on stem thickness

2. Cut the Portuguese sausage on a slight diagonal to make little ovals

3. Heat half the Olive Oil over medium/medium-high heat in a large stockpot and start chopping the onion, but not too fine

4. Add Portuguese Sausage in 1 layer and let it crisp on bottom before turning it over, again allowing for the sausage to crisp.  Once crispy, push the sausage to the edges of the pot, making a ring.  Add onion in a nice thin layer and let it cook gently.  Once it gets translucent, stir the sausage back in.  While your waiting for the onion to cook, mince the garlic, and add on top of the onion once it starts getting fragrant.

5. When you can smell the garlic, stir it all together.

6. Cut up your tomatoes still in the can with a pair of kitchen scissors until in small chunks, then add tomatoes and their juice to the pot.  Scrape the bottom while stirring them in, thats where your flavor comes from!  Add your first (thickest stem) bunch of watercress slices.

7. Turn your heat down to medium-low and let everything simmer.  While simmering, peel and chop the potato into 3/4 inch squares (it doesnt have to be perfect, this is a soup, after all).  Add your potato to the pot and let it come back to a simmer.

8. Drain and rinse the beans.  Add them to the simmering pot, along with two bean-cans full of water.  Add tomato paste and stir.  Throw in the medium stem batch of watercress and mix it in.

9. Bring the heat up to medium and cover the pot until its at a low boil.  Uncover and let simmer until potatoes are soft, about 10 minutes.

10. Remove from heat and add the last (smallest stem) batch of watercress.  Stir it in.  Let sit for about 5 minutes and add seasonings to taste.  Serve hot, and enjoy!

Note: If youre using younger watercress, don’t add it in stages.  The young leaves are very delicate and should just go in at the very end where the recipe calls for the last batch.  It still tastes great!