White Chicken Chili with Great Northern Beans - Hearty Soups

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

5 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups chopped onions

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced (fresh or canned)

2 cups canned chicken broth

1 24-ounce jar Randall Great Northern Beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups shredded white cheddar cheese

Wash and trim the chicken breasts. Cut, crosswise into small strips. Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a heavy pot. Sauté the chicken, stirring over high heat just until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a side dish.

Add the remaining oil to the pot and sauté the onions, garlic, cumin, and cayenne, stirring for 5 minutes. Stir in the oregano, salt, jalapeno peppers, chicken broth, and Randall Beans. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes. Stir in the cheese, stirring until melted. Return chicken to the pot and cook for 5 minutes. Serve topped with a dollop each of sour cream and salsa and a sprinkling of chopped cilantro. Serves 8 to 10.

Vegetable Beef Soup - Hearty Soups

½ pound ground beef, cut into 1 inch cubes

4 large carrots, pared and sliced diagonally ¼ inch thick

2 medium onions, chopped (about 1 ½ cups)

1 medium clove garlic, crushed

2 medium leeks, white part only, chopped

1 bay leaf

¼ teaspoon pepper

3 (14 ounces) cans beef broth OR 6 ½ cups water and 6 ½ bouillon cubes

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 ½ cups water

2 cans (14-16 ounces each) diced tomatoes in juice

2 medium zucchini – cut into ¼ inch slices

2 medium potatoes, pared and cut into ½ inch cubes

1 (19 ounce) can cannelloni OR red kidney beans, drained

In large kettle, over low heat, sauté beef in small amount of vegetable oil.  With slotted spoon, remove beef and set aside. Sauté onions and leeks until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove excess oil. Add beef broth, water tomatoes in juice, potatoes, carrots, garlic, bay leaf, basil, and pepper to onion mixture. Bring to boiling, and then reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaf. Add zucchini and cannellini or kidney beans. Continue to simmer covered for 15 minutes.

Optional changes

Omit leeks or seasonings

Use beef broth instead of water and bouillon

Use fresh tomatoes in lieu of canned

Substitute any vegetable, celery for example, for potatoes, carrots or zucchini

Zucchini slices should be halved or quartered, depending upon size.

Turkey Carcass Soup - Hearty Soups

I froze the turkey carcass in a ziplock bag then made my soup when I was ready.

This is a great way to not waste a single bite of turkey.

1 turkey carcass

4 quarts water

4 small potatoes, diced

2 large carrots, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 cup uncooked barley

1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)

1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1 pinch dried thyme

Place the turkey carcass, celery, carrot and onion into a large soup pot or stock pot and pour in the water; bring to a boil, reduce heat to a slow simmer, and cook the turkey frame until the remaining meat falls off the bones, about 1 hour. Remove the turkey carcass and vegetables. Remove and chop any remaining turkey meat.

Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer into a clean soup pot. Add the chopped turkey to the strained broth; bring to a boil, reduce heat, and stir in the potatoes, barley, Worcestershire sauce, salt, basil, black pepper, paprika, poultry seasoning, and thyme. Simmer until the potatoes are almost tender, add frozen vegetables.  Simmer for 15 minutes more.

Taco Soup - Hearty Soups

2 cans chicken broth
2 cans black beans – drained and rinsed
2 cans (or 1 large can) re fried beans
2 cans corn
2 cans chicken
1 cup salsa

Combine all ingredients in large saucepan and heat over medium until well combined and heated through. This can also be done with crock pot on low.

Optional Ingredients
jalapeno peppers
Sour cream
Cheese
Tortilla chips

Friendship Soup or Amish Weekday Soup - Hearty Soups

½ cup dry split peas

1/3 cup beef bouillon granules

¼ cup pearl barley

½ cup dry red lentils

¼ cup dried onion flakes

2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning

¼ cup dried parsley

½ cup uncooked long-grain white rice

1 bay leaf

½ cup uncooked small pasta, such as ditalini

In 1 quart jar, layer the split peas, bouillon, barley, lentils, onion flakes, Italian seasoning and rice. Put the pasta in small sandwich bag or plastic wrap, and place in the jar. Seal tightly. Attach label to the jar with the following instructions…

Remove pasta from top of jar and set aside. In large pot over medium heat, brown beef with pepper and garlic; drain excess fat. Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, water and soup mix. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for about an hour, until peas and lentils are soft. Stir in the pasta, cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes, or until the pasta, peas, lentils and barley are tender. Add spinach, cook briefly until spinach wilts. Remove bay leaf before serving. Makes 12 generous servings.

Additional Ingredients

1 pound ground beef, browned and drained

Black pepper to taste

Garlic powder to taste

1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

3 quarts water

2 cups fresh spinach, optional

Chicken Pot Pie Soup - Hearty Soups

2 cup cooked chicken
2 Tablespoon Oil
1/3 cup Butter
1/4 cup Flour
1 quart (4 cup) heavy cream
4 teaspoons Chicken base
1 cup Water to dissolve chicken base
1 Tablespoon Minced garlic 
1/2 small onion chopped 
2 cup Frozen peas and carrots 
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 

You can use leftover chicken or saute chicken in oil. Cut into chunks. Dissolve chicken base in 1 cup water. In large skillet, melt butter and saute onions 3 minutes. Slowly add flour and stir till thickens; don’t brown, it should keep a golden color. Slowly add cream and keep stirring. Add chicken base, nutmeg, and garlic. Add peas and carrots. Simmer until heated through.

Cauliflower Cheese Soup - Hearty Soups

2 tablespoons chopped onion

¼ cup butter

2 tablespoons flour

4 cups milk

1 teaspoon salt

1 medium head cauliflower, cooked and chopped

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Dash of pepper

In large pot, cook onion and butter until the onion is tender. Blend in flour. Add milk, seasonings, and cauliflower. Cook until smooth and slightly thickened, stirring frequently. Add cheese and stir until melted. Serve immediately.

Best Chili - Hearty Soups

1 lb ground beef, browned

1 can tomato soup

1 can water

1 can kidney beans (with liquid)

¼ cup chopped onion (or 2 Tablespoons dry onion)

Dash of garlic powder

1 Tablespoon chili powder

Combine all ingredients and simmer for 90 minutes. This recipe can also be made in a slow cooker set to low for 7-9 hours. Enjoy!

Beef Barley Soup - Hearty Soups

Canola oil

3/4 pound boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 1/2 cups thinly sliced carrot

1 1/2 cups thinly sliced celery

2/3 cup chopped onion

1 potato diced

4 cups fat-free, less-sodium beef broth

1 bay leaf

2/3 cup uncooked pearl barley

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with canola oil. Add beef to pan; cook 4 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently. Remove beef from pan. Add carrot, celery, and onion, to pan; cook 6 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Add beef; fat-free, less-sodium beef broth; and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in pearl barley and diced potato; cover and simmer 30 minutes or until pearl barley and potato is tender. Stir in salt and pepper. Discard bay leaf.

6 Can Chili - Hearty Soups

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 an onion (I use a whole one) 

 2 cans chili beans

2 cans diced tomatoes (undrained)

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed

1 can mushroom soup

1 teaspoon Chili-O

Brown ground beef with onion (I use the entire onion). Drain and transfer to saucepan. Add remaining ingredients, bring to boil, then simmer over medium heat for 30 min.

Overnight Strata

I thoroughly enjoy cooking. It calms me, brings me joy and allows me to experiment with new foods. This holiday season, I have been blessed to spend some time cooking with my mom. My parents do not live locally and when I go to visit them, it is usually a few times a year and around a special occasion. I have the pleasure of visiting this weekend and one of the recipes we have created is an Overnight Strata with Mushroom & Asparagus. The idea, of course, being that tomorrow morning on Christmas, we will not have to spend any time at all on breakfast because it will already be made and ready to go. Below is the recipe and the link to the original version.

First, take 5 English muffins, split them in half and toast them. Layer them (inside face up) in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan and sprinkle them with about 1 cup Colby Jack cheese. I was placed on this task while my mom prepped the many vegetables...

Meanwhile, clean 1-2 cups of cremini mushrooms and slice them. Saute the mushrooms with 2 Tablespoons butter. We chose to also slice up the small onion and cook it with the mushrooms until the mushrooms are browned and onion is translucent. While I did this, my mom chopped the asparagus and red pepper.

Layer the vegetables (you can mix them all together or develop separate layers like we did) on top of the English Muffins and shredded cheese.

While my mom finished chopping the vegetables, I mixed 8 eggs, 2 cups milk, 1 teaspoon each of salt and dry mustard, and a few dashes of ground black pepper. Whisk the mixture until thoroughly blended.

Pour egg mixture over the rest of the ingredients in pan. Cover and let sit overnight.

On Christmas morning, preheat oven to 375 degrees F and remove casserole from the refrigerator; let casserole stand for 30 minutes. Spread 1 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese over casserole and bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes. Remove when knife inserted near edge comes out clean. Let stand for a few minutes and cut into squares. Voila! Breakfast is served!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/213651/overnight-asparagus-mushroom-strata/?internalSource=hub%20recipe&referringContentType=search%20results&clickId=cardslot%202