Soup

I LOVE soup. I always have. Pretty much any kind too. And hot soup season is upon us!!!

So, I am going to try to post some of my fav soup recipes. I make most of them up, or take inspiration from recipes, I rarely follow a soup recipe.

I got this one from my friend H. I LOVE it, it is so simple and I have made it at least a dozen times. Here's my modified version.

1/2 cup brown rice (uncooked, or 1 cup cooked)
4 cups non-fat no sodium chicken broth
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 (15 oz.) can hominy (drained) (I have used a larger can as well, just depends on how much you like hominy)
1 (14 1/2 oz.) can diced tomatoes with jalepenos (this is KEY)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place chicken breasts in a large pot filled with water. Bring to a boil and boil until chicken is cooked through.
2. When chicken has completed cooking, drain and wipe out pot. Cut chicken into small cubes. Return to large pot. (or, you could dice chicken and cook in olive oil in the pot)
3. Add drained hominy, tomatoes, chicken broth, and rice. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer for 15 minutes or until rice is ready

SUGGESTED TOPPINGS:
*sliced, baked, corn tortillas (or tortilla chips), shredded cheese, cilantro ( A MUST), sour cream, lime juice (A MUST), guacamole.

I have also added corn and beans to this to make it thicker and heartier.

Spicy Winter Veggie Stoup (it's thick! my own creation!)

8 cups chicken broth (I use fat free low sodium)
1 can tomatoes with green peppers
½ bag spinach
1 yellow onion
1/2 can corn
2 green squash
2 yellow squash
1 red bell pepper
½ cup brown rice
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic
Salt and pepper
In a soup pot heat olive oil. Add in chopped onions and cook 5 minutes. Add in garlic, squash (green and yellow), bell pepper, salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes.
Add in chicken broth, rice, corn and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes (until rice is done and thickened the soup). Add in spinach and stir until cooked (2 minutes). Serve topped with fresh parmesan cheese.

And today's experiment...

Spicy Spinach Soup


3-4 cups chicken broth
1 carrot, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 yellow onion chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 box frozen chopped spinach
1 can tomatoes with green peppers

In a pot cook down onions until beginning to caramelize. Add to pot broth, garlic, carrots, celery, spinach and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then simmer until carrots are tender.

Use immersion blender to blend soup into smoother texture (not pureed but much much smaller chunks).

Add salt and pepper to taste.