Soup Season!

Winter is back, so that means it's soup season once again!! Soup is cheap, easy (relatively) and very good for you. Especially if you make your own broth.



Here are my go-to soups:

from myrecipes.com

White Bean Chili
This is the basic recipe I follow, but I just use whatever canned white beans I can find, and I don't use cayenne pepper or fresh cilantro. We like to eat this with cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips. I also don't own an indoor dutch oven. I cook the chicken in a cast iron skillet, then put it all into a pot.

from dadlogic.net

Fully Loaded Cheesy Potato Soup
This is one of my most favorite dinners. I don't use beer, and I seldom have whole milk, but this soup is perfectly fine with 2% and a little added stock (to make up for lost liquid without the beer). Make sure you have bacon cooked and chopped, ready to sprinkle. Fabulous! Yukon Gold potatoes are excellent, or Russets are good too.

from kathdedon.wordpress.com

Chicken Noodle Soup 
I despise canned soup. I find canned chicken noodle soup especially disgusting, so I've been surprised at how much I love this soup! Last time I made this wtih homemade chicken broth (I don't use veg. broth in this soup) and green onions and it was awesome. I also add garlic every time I make it. This is also VERY good with homemade turkey broth. Yummy!

from budgetbytes.com

Tortellini Soup
This is a good soup that is easy and delicious. Add carrots, celery, spices, and use chicken broth instead of vegetable for a yummy variation.

from ourbestbites.com

Creamy Tomato Soup
This is one of my favorite soups. It is a little labor-intensive (grating carrots, chopping onions, pureeing the soup in the blender) but it is worth every minute. Served with grilled cheese sandwiches, this is a perfect winter food.









Then, of course there are these:
Scrumptious Veggie Soup
and
Two Rivers Beef Stew

And I like to buy soup packets and enhance them for a super-quick dinner, on those nights when I just don't have a lot of time. For example:
Potato Soup (start with a packet, then jazz it up- add carrots, corn, onion, bacon, and, of course, cheese!)

Broccoli Cheese Soup (again, packet, jazzed up with veggies, including fresh broccoli chunks and onion)

Soup is so easy to experiment with, just throw some good stuff in a pot! And the best part is that you can throw everything in the pot or slow cooker earlier in the afternoon and let it simmer for a while, then toss in pasta (if needed), slice some bread or open some crackers and voila! Dinner. 

Happy, hearty eating!