Low Carb Sausage and Spinach Soup

It doesn't seem possible that over two years have passed since the last time I posted on this blog. Anyhow, today I did an experiment that came out good so I thought I would share.

1 lb of pork sausage
10 oz frozen chopped spinach
1/2 cup chopped onion or fennel
1 tbsp olive oil
2 quarts turkey or chicken broth
1/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup Greek yogurt

Warm a dutch oven and add the olive oil Cook the sausage and onion or fennel until the sausage is brown.

Sprinkle the almond flour over the sausage and stir for a minute or two.

Add the broth and the spinach and bring to a simmer.

Stir in the Greek yogurt.

Simmer on low for 30 minutes.

The almond flour doesn't thicken like regular flour does, but it does add a little body to the broth. I happened to have some turkey bone broth in the fridge so I used that, diluted with water. The sausage was seasoned and I didn't think that any additional salt, pepper or herbs were needed.

Perfect for a cold, windy November day! Enjoy!

Boxing Day Soup

We had Christmas at our house twice this year, so had lots of food to deal with after the last get-together. (I'm not complaininag!) I don't have a picture of the soup I made, but here are the appetizer trays that provided most of the soup ingredients. 

Brocolli
Cauliflower
Cherry Tomatoes
Bell Pepper
Onion
Baby Carrots
Mushrooms
Olive oil
Carbquik (low carb baking mix) (could use any type of flour or thickener)
Heavy Cream
Chicken Soup base
Turkey Broth
Water
Salt & Pepper
Summer Sausage
Cheese

Roast all your raw veggies by tossing them in olive oil and putting them in a 425 oven for 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, make a roux by heating 3 tablespoons of olive oil with 3 tablespoons of carbquik or other thickener.

Stir in several quarts of chicken broth. (I made mine with boiling water and chicken soup base. Also added some turkey broth I had in the freezer.)

Add the roasted veggies. Use a stick blender to puree. I left it chunky.

I had cooked mushrooms and onions that I added after pureeing. I also had a Hickory Farms summer sausage that I diced and added.

I also had a lot of cheese cubes of various flavors, so I cut them into tiny pieces and melted them into the soup.

The final touch was some heavy cream and salt & pepper. At that point I left it on simmer for around an hour to allow all the flavors to blend.

YUM!

"I Bought Too Much at the Farmer's Market Vegetable Soup"

Last week I was trying to bring order out of chaos in the fridge. I dragged out all the produce and it was immediately obvious that there was no way two people could eat all that veg before it went bad. So, out came the cutting board, the knife, and the 16 quart pot. Here's what went in:

brussel sprouts
bok choy
savoy cabbage (1/2 a head)
red cabbage (1/2 a head)
baby carrots
celery
cauliflower (1/2 a head)
shallot
(I can't remember - but maybe an onion and some garlic)

All veg was chopped into bite sized pieces and sauteed in some olive oil. After things started to soften up, I added 2 quarts of frozen turkey broth (recipe posted on the blog as "Blue's Soup". Then I added another 2 quarts of water that I had boiled in the tea kettle.

After the pot got close to a boil I added 1 cup of quinoa, put on the lid and simmered it for 30 minutes.

At the very end I added some kosher salt and some black pepper until it passed the taste test with Little Man's father.

I was afraid it might smell cabbage-y, but the end result smelled and tasted wonderful! I put a lot of it into the freezer right away, but what I kept in the fridge thickened up nicely and tasted even better on day 2 and 3.

Kickin' Split Pea Soup

Here is the recipe for today's experiment in Split Pea Soup (which was my attempt to copy the seasoning package that comes with Healthy Sisters "June's Split Pea Soup". (Healthy Sisters is a great local organization that helps women in recovery. Their soups are wonderful and you can read about them here.)

1 package split peas
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
1.5 cups roughly chopped celery
1.5 cups roughly diced carrots
1 small onion chopped
1 tsp. thyme
2 bay leaves
1-2 tblsps. southwest sizzle seasoning
1-2 drops hot sauce ( I used Kick Yo Ass' "Ass-Kickin' Roasted Garlic Hot Sauce")
1 tsp. kosher salt
6 grinds black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp. celery seed
10 oz. Hickory Farms summer sausage - diced

Rinse the split peas with cold water. Warm the chicken stock and water in the microwave. Place all the ingredients except the sausage into a dutch oven and cover. Place into a 350 degree oven for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, add the sausage and cook for another 30 minutes.

Little Man's Father asked for seconds, so I guess it was a success!

Vegetable Broth

Last night we made vegetable broth using the recipe from Brother Victor-Antoine's book "Twelve Months of Monastery Soups". Yum!

Blue's Soup (akaTurkey Broth Recipe)

Way back in the dark ages (probably late 1980's) before the internet, we bought our first computer, a Zenith with an amber screen. (It's still in the attic!) I had a trial membership with Prodigy, an early on-line group, and I had met some nice pen pals there. At one time I wrote that I was trying to make soup and it was boring and tasteless. I received the following recipe from someone who's screen name was Blue, and I have used it successfully for years. Usually I use it with a turkey carcass.

Blue's Soup

Put whatever (turkey, chicken, ham bone) into the soup pot and cover with water. Add salt (1/2 tbsp), 5 grinds pepper, 1/4 cup onions (dried, minced, ground to powder), garlic (enough to fit in center of hand), same amounts of parsley, sage, ground rosemary (poultry only), thyme, hyssop (note - I've never had any of this) and marjoram. Add 3 stalks celery minced, or 1/2 tbsp celery salt, 1 grated carrot.

Cook until meat falls off bones. Strain.

Usually I end there and freeze the results for future use. The recipe goes on to say: re-season again using the same amounts of everything except salts. Add veggies, simmer 1 hour.

Spring Ahead Soup

Yesterday's kitchen mission was to cook or compost all the vegetables in the kitchen. The end result was "Spring Ahead Soup".

First, I lined a large roasting pan with foil and put in baby carrots and cut up turnips, green pepper, cauliflower and onion. I coated it all with some olive oil and roasted it at 425 degrees for 40 minutes, tossing it after 20 minutes.

In another lined roasting pan, I put in cut up broccoli and leeks. I roasted them for 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

I dumped in all the roasted vegetables into a large pot and added water to cover. I also added a frozen batch of turkey broth and a fork-full of chicken soup base. I heated it all and then pureed it with an immersion blender.

Because the turkey broth has seasonings and the chicken soup base has salt, it did not need any other seasoning. The end result tasted good and yielded about 7 quarts of soup.

Lettuce & Leek Soup

I've been on a Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette kick lately. We have his "Twelve Months of Monastery Soups" cookbook. He's been busy since then and our library system has quite a few books by him. His latest is called "Sacred Feasts from a Monastery Kitchen". He's been practicing and promoting "eat local and seasonal" for years, long before it became the trendy thing to do. I enjoy reading the explanations that go along with his recipes describing life in a monastery and how it revolves around the liturgical year.

His green soups particularly caught my eye and I've been thinking about them lately. The recipe below is based very loosely on a couple of his recipes. It is also based on a google of lettuce soup this AM before I got busy trying to use up what I had purchased at the public market last Saturday. In addition to this soup, this AM I made beef vegetable soup and a low carb picadillo from Dana Carpender. Both the ground beef and the beef soup bone came from a local farm that sells grass-fed beef. Yummy!

Leek & Lettuce Soup

3 leeks - chopped
3 cloves garlic - smashed

Cook in olive oil until limp.

Add - 1 cup turkey broth and about a quart of water with a tablespoon of chicken soup base.

Then add the lettuces - chopped. Today I had arugula, watercress and mixed greens. I also added some chopped fresh basil leaves. Cook until limp.

Add fresh chopped parsley and cook for about 5 more minutes.

Whiz all of the above in the blender along with about 1/2 cup of plain yogurt. (Today's yogurt also came from the public market - Jersey cow yogurt - YUM!)

Add salt to taste. I used about a tablespoon of kosher salt.

Chicken and Leek Soup

I made this soup this week in an effort to use up some leftover chicken and some very tired leeks and it came out better than I ever expected.

Chicken broth - I used chicken soup base from Sam's Club, using about half the recommended amount. (ex. if it calls for 1 tsp per cup of water, I use 1/2 tsp., etc.)

Chicken - I had a cooked boneless chicken breast and a little bit of rotisserie chicken, so I cut it all up into bite-sized pieces.

Leeks - I cut these into bite-sized pieces, tossed them in some olive oil and roasted them at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes until they were tender.

I combined all of the above and heated it to "eatin' temperature". Little Man's Father raved about it. Mission accomplished!!!

Chicken Rice Soup

I made this soup for this year's hypertufa party and was very pleased with the end result.

Chicken broth - I used chicken soup base from Sam's Club, using half the recommended amount. (ex.-if it calls for 1 tsp per cup of water, I use 1/2 tsp.) I think any chicken broth or stock would be fine.

Rice - I cooked a batch of basmati rice in the microwave per the directions on the package.

Chicken - I bought a rotisserie chicken from Sam's Club and pulled all the meat off it.

Vegetables - I chopped up carrots, celery and onions and roasted them in the oven in some olive oil - 400 degrees for about 20-30 minutes until they were tender.

I combined all of the above together in a large pot, brought it to a simmer, then left it on the burner on low for 3-4 hours until lunch time. A crockpot would also work well.

Prime Rib Soup

I made this recipe based on a soup that used to show up in our local diner on a Monday, presumable to use up the beef that didn't sell on Saturday night.

Beef broth. I use beef soup base, the paste type that comes in a jar from Sam's Club. My secret is to use about half of what they call for in the directions. Otherwise, in my opinion, it is too salty. I also chucked in a can or two of beef consomme, which adds nice flavor.

Beef - I used what was left of a rib roast. I think steak or London broil would work also. Just cut it into bite-sized pieces.

Vegetable: I roasted mushrooms and onions tossed in olive oil at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes and then added them to the mixture.

That's it! Mix it all together and let it simmer on low or sit overnight in the fridge to blend the flavors. Enjoy!

Soup!!!

We were supposed to have our monthly fellowship dinner at church last week, but ended up not going because of the weather. It was going to be soup and salad, so I did make a batch of soup Saturday, which has since been eaten, frozen, and shared. The original recipe appeared in "Cooking with Paula Deen" magazine, the January/February 2008 edition, on page 54.

Jane's Potato Soup (6-8 servings)

30 oz bag of frozen hash brown potatoes
3 each 42 oz cans of chicken broth
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
8 oz package of cream cheese
garnish: minced green onion

In a 6 qt. slow cooker, combine potatoes, broth, soup, onions, and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours. Stir in cream cheese: cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until combined. Garnish with green onions if desired.

Mom cooked the above version and it was very good.

My "souped up" version: (using ingredients I had on hand)

bag (28 oz?) frozen Ore-Ida potatoes O'Brien (already has chopped onions & peppers)
42 oz boiling water with a tbsp or so of chicken soup base
1 can cream of celery soup
chopped cooked turkey (2-4 handfuls)
1 bag frozen soup vegetables
cream cheese

Same cooking method as above.

This version was pronounced delicious by Little Man's Father and his aunt & uncle.

My lower carb version: (made last night to use up the rest of the turkey)

Cauli-rice*
42 oz boiling water with a tbsp or so of chicken soup base
chopped cooked turkey
1 bag frozen soup vegetables
cream cheese

Same slow cooker cooking method.

*I had a 1 qt container of uncooked cauli-rice in my freezer. You make cauli-rice by putting fresh, raw cauliflower through the grating blade of a food processor. It's great to do when your kitchen needs cleaning because it shoots cauliflower everywhere, and by the time you've cleaned up the mess, your kitchen has been totally wiped down! If I'm going to bother making it, I do a whole head and freeze some of the results for future use.

I looked around for a low carb, gluten free substitute for canned cream soup, but they all looked way too labor intensive, so I just left it out. The end result was still creamy and tasty. The frozen vegetables included corn and carrots, so for an even lower carb version, I think I'll try broccoli or green beans next time. When the soup is cooking you can smell the cauliflower, but you really can't taste it in the end result. It just adds body to the soup.