Spicy Lentil & Sausage Soup

Ode to a Lentil

Lentil, your wholesome.
Lentil, you're tasty.
Lentil, you make my
Dinnertime hasty.

Okay, so I'm no Robert Frost. But I do love me some lentils! And what's not to love? They're nutritional powerhouses. They're just about as cheap as food comes these days. They're versatile. They're quick. And they're delicious. This soup has just three main ingredients, yet the flavors that come out of it suggest a much more complex recipe. Warm your belly and your taste buds this winter. Belly up to a bowl of lentil soup. Here's a great way to make it.

Spicy Lentil & Sausage Soup
Serves 4 or 6 (8 Points Plus value at 4 servings; 5 Points Plus Value at 6 servings)

What You Need:

• 1 lb turkey sausage (hot is what I used)
• 1 cup dry lentils
• 6 cups chicken stock (homemade is best by far)
• salt & pepper to taste

How it's Done:

1. Brown the turkey sausage, but do not drain when you're done.

2. Add the chicken stock.

3. Add the lentils.
4. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes, or until lentils are tender but not mushy.

5. If the soup is too thick, add more stock. I like mine thick. Salt and pepper to taste before serving.

One year ago: Buttermilk Bread

Boiled Water

For my birthday, my mother bought me the Bittman book collection, How to Cook Everything and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. I'm so excited because I love Bittman, his food philosophy and cooking style.

Today, I made the most interesting soup. It's really just bread and water. And Bittman calls it Boiled Water.

And you know what? It's simple. And fast.

And delicious.

It tastes like grilled cheese. Grilled Cheese Soup.

Boiled Water
from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

What You Need:

• 4 cups of water
• 6 to 10 cloves of garlic, crushed (I used minced garlic instead and used 2 Tbsp)
• 1 bay leaf (didn't have, so I added some oregano instead)
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 thick slices of French or Italian bread, stale (I used a baguette and did three small slices per bowl)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• fresh parsley for garnish (I skipped it)

How it's Done:

1. Bring to a boil the water with the garlic, salt, pepper, and bay leaf (or oregano). Reduce heat, cover partially and simmer 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Toast bread in it. It's quick, maybe a minute total cooking time.
3. Put the bread in each of four bowls. Sprinkle with the cheese.
4. Bittman says to strain your broth here. I didn't strain mine. It's up to you.
5. Ladle one cup of broth over each bowl.  Serve immediately.

Wallet Padding: Split Peas

Did you hear? We're moving to Germany! It looks like September will be our reporting month. So, I want to save up around $3,000 between now and August 1st, so that we can have a little padding in the wallet when we arrive. We'll want to take some vacation time and tour a bit of Europe, plus we need to set money aside for out-of-pocket expenses as they arise.

One of the easiest ways to cut household costs and save money is in the grocery store. Going vegetarian is almost always a surefire way to slash the cost of a meal. Take today's soup, for example: It's split pea. By leaving out the traditional ham, I'm saving at least $3.00. That's $3.00 toward my trip to Italy/France/Spain/Portugal/wherever my heart desires. ;)

I mean, really. Which would you rather have: ham in your soup, or a pair of Italian shoes...bought in Italy?

Vegetarian Split Pea Soup
in the slow cooker

What You Need:

• 1 lb dried split peas, sorted through to remove debris
• 4 cups water or vegetable broth
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4" thick coins
• 1 cup sliced celery
• 2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tsp minced basil
• optional: 1/2 tsp curry powder
• salt & pepper to taste

How it's Done:

1. Add everything but salt and pepper to a large slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, then reduce heat to low and continue cooking until ready to serve.
2. Consider taking your potato masher and mashing up the veggies a little bit at the end of the cooking time. I like for my split pea soup to have an even texture. Doing this gives me the mouth-feel I like from split pea soup.
3. Before serving, taste and season with salt and pepper as desired.
4. I like to serve this soup topped with garlic-cheese croutons and a dollop of sour cream.

Vegetable Peek-a-Boo

Day 76.

Do you know a naughty little girl or boy who won't eat vegetables? I know one. He's turning thirty-two years old next month and still has an aversion to things that are good for him. It's hard to set an example for your children when their father turns up his nose at most orange, green, purple, and yellow vegetables. To his credit, he does enjoy peas: the ones that come in a can, anyway.

For Christmas one year, I was given a copy of Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook. You know the one. She hides pureed fruits and vegetables in her recipes. I didn't really like the idea of all that extra work of cooking and pureeing foods ahead of time. And I didn't like the recipes. They weren't my style. So the book went unused.

I took one thing from her, however, and that is that it's good to incorporate "invisible" veggies when possible. This recipe does that with carrots and sweet potatoes.

Hidden Vegetable Beer-Cheese Soup

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup salted butter
• 1 large onion
• 4 carrots
• 1 large sweet potato
• 2 cups broth
• 1 bottle of beer (don't use light beer. An amber brew is good for this, or even a stout)
• 1 tsp each  freshly cracked black pepper and sea salt
• 3 cups of milk, divided
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella (optional but nice)

How it's Done:

1. Melt butter in a large stock pot.
2. Dice onion. Peel carrots and sweet potato and cut into small chunks. Processcarrots and sweet potato in food processor until they are minced very finely.
3. Add all vegetables to melted butter and saute five minutes.
4. Pour in 2 cups broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes to cook the vegetables.
5. Pour in a bottle of beer. Add the salt and pepper. Pour in two cups of milk. Bring to a simmer again.
6. Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together 1 cup of milk and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk until smooth. Slowly pour into the heated soup. Cook and stir until slightly thickened, about two minutes.
7. Stir in cheese. Remove from heat. Let the soup sit until the cheese is melted. Stir before serving. Really great when served with Garlic-Parmesan Focaccia!

Making Your Own Chicken Stock

Making your own chicken stock takes some time, but it's very easy to do. Set aside a few hours on a Saturday to get this done. There is no comparison between homemade stock and store-bought varieties. If you have a leftover chicken carcass anyway, why not put it to good use and make some rich, flavorful stock for another meal? Your homemade stock can be refrigerated for a few days, or frozen for a few months. If you plan to freeze it, it's a good idea to do so in one or two cup portions. That way, you can thaw only what you need.

The first step in making homemade stock is to roast the vegetables. This exaggerates their flavors and gives the stock its rich, golden color and flavor.

Use whatever vegetables you need to use up. Today, I used 3 carrots, a large onion, a head of garlic, four shitake mushrooms, and a handful of green onions. Don't peel the veggies. Leave everything on, even the skin of the onion and garlic.

Dump them all in a 9x11" baking pan lined with aluminum foil. Drizzle with a few tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and cracked black pepper.

Roast at 425 degrees for about an hour.

Next, cut up your chicken carcass. Don't be bad like me and leave all this meat on the bones! Use the meat in other recipes. Cut up the chicken. Separate it at the joints. Dump the chicken into a large stock pot.

When the vegetables are done roasting, dump them into the pot with the chicken.

Add a whole bunch of fresh parsley. Don't bother taking the stems off or chopping it. Just dump it in. Throw in some salt and pepper and a crumbled dried bay leaf. Fill it to within 3" of the top of the pot with water. Bring to a boil.

Skim the foam off the top as the soup starts to boil. Then, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for about two hours.

Remove from heat and pour the soup through a colander. Discard the chicken and veggies.

Then, line the colander with cheesecloth and strain the broth. You'll collect some funky-looking gunk on the cloth, and your broth will be golden and pristine.

Now, let it cool, then package it and store it in the fridge or freezer.

Potato Broccoli Soup with Parmesan Cheese

Day 26.

Use-it-up week continues. I've said it before: soup is such a frugal thing to eat. It's also a fantastic way to use up (and mask) leftovers at the end of a grocery week. Here's a recipe that helps use up bits of things. I considered adding sour cream or cream cheese at the end. I didn't...but if you do, please write and tell me how it turns out.

Potato Broccoli Soup with Parmesan Cheese

serves 8

Ingredients:

• 1 shallot, chopped



• 1 onion, roughly chopped



• 1 Tbsp olive oil



• 2 cloves garlic, minced



• 4 cups water



• 12 oz frozen broccoli



• 2 cups leftover mashed potatoes



• 1 tsp ground nutmeg



• 2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper



• 2 tsp sea salt



• 5 dashes of hot sauce



• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese



• 1 1/2 cups milk

How it's Done:

1. Heat oil in a soup pot. Saute shallot and onion until the onion is clear. Add water and broccoli. Bring to a boil. Add mashed potatoes, stirring to combine. Stir in salt, pepper, nutmeg, and hot sauce.



2. In small batches, puree the soup in your blender or food processor. Return to pot.



3. Add Parmesan cheese and milk. Stir to blend. Heat gently. Serve.
   

The Ultimate Budget Stretcher

Day 20.

Want an easy way to

a.) stretch your food dollar

and

b.) knock out a few days' worth of dinners

in one fell swoop? Make soup! Soup can be as thick, hearty, and filling, or thin and belly-warming as you'd like. You control the ingredients, so you can accommodate any budget with your recipe. Here is a simple recipe for making soup, followed by my Hamburger Soup recipe.

Simple Recipe for Make-Your-Own Soup

8 cups broth

1 lb protein (meat, beans, tofu)

2 lb vegetables

2 cups of starch (cooked rice, cooked pasta, or diced raw potatoes)

an onion and a clove of garlic

spices to taste

fat of some sort (oil, butter)

Simply saute the meat, onion and garlic in your oil or butter. Add the broth and vegetables and starch (pasta should not be added until the last few minutes of cooking time), as well as seasonings to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer at least 30 minutes.

*****

Easy Budget-Friendly Hamburger Soup

makes a big pot of soup

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 8 cups beef broth
• 2 potatoes, peeled and diced
• 4 carrots, bias cut
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 can tomato soup
• 1 cup each frozen peas and frozen corn
• handful fresh parsley, chopped

How it's Done:

1. Brown the ground beef in a large soup pot with the onion and garlic. Drain and return to pot.
2. Add broth, soup, and vegetables. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add parsley. Serve.

Tortilla Soup

Here's a hearty soup that's not too spicy, but it's plenty flavorful. If you need more kick, a tablespoon of hot sauce in your bowl will heat things up nicely.

Tortilla Soup

makes a huge pot of soup

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef (totally optional -- can omit for vegetarian, or use shredded chicken instead)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion (cut in half -- dice one-half and put the other half in your blender bowl)
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic (half goes in your blender bowl)
• 1 cup fresh cilantro (shove a bunch in the measuring cup until it's full, then dump it in your blender bowl, saving a tiny bit for garnish)
• 2 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 green bell pepper (cut in half -- dice one-half and put the other half in your blender bowl)
• 8 cups broth (beef, chicken, or vegetable)
• 2 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
• 6 corn tortillas, cut into rough 1" cubes
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 2 Tbsp cumin
• 3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 cups frozen sweet corn
• salt to taste (I felt like it needed quite a bit and ended up using 1 full tablespoon -- perfect -- but I used sodium-free bouillon to make the broth)
• tortilla chips, cheddar cheese, and sour cream for serving

How it's Done:

1. Start out by blending the ingredients you were to put in your blender bowl and set this mixture aside. It will thicken the soup a little bit later.
2. Brown your ground beef in a large stock pot if you're using it. Add the diced onion and the other half of your garlic and cook a couple minutes.
3. Add the cut tortillas, bell pepper, cumin, and chili powder. Mix well.
4. Immediately add the broth and blender ingredients to your pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes to an hour. The longer you simmer, the more the flavors will meld.
5. In the last five minutes of cooking, add the beans, corn, and lime juice.
6. Serve over tortilla chips and cheese, with more on top for garnish. A dollop of sour cream is nice, too.
   

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

It's snowing. Everywhere but here.

I sorely miss the snow. Here in my neck of the woods, it's not snowing. But it may be snowing where you live. In that case, here's a soup recipe (as requested by reader Kathy) to warm the cockles of your hearts and the inside of your tummies.

Creamy Onion-Cheddar Bisque

serves 6

Ingredients:

• 1 large Spanish onion, diced (yields about 3 cups of diced onion)
• 4 Tbsp butter
  4 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp crushed sage
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg (not pictured)
• 4 cups milk (not pictured)
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• liberal dash Worcestershire sauce (Annie's Naturals brand is vegetarian)

How it's Done:

Cook onion in butter until softened. Add flour, stirring until the flour is caramel colored and no more white flour remains. Slowly incorporate milk, stirring the whole time. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook and stir an additional minute.

Remove from heat. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and sage. Add cheese and stir until melted.

BLEND the soup in small batches.

Return to stove and heat gently.

Garnish with shredded cheese and parsley. Serve. Cheddar-garlic biscuits make a great accompaniment for this soup.