Chicken Tortilla Soup

I’d been thinking of making a tortilla soup for a long time when I saw it on Jen’s Journey, the blog I was assigned to this month for the Secret Recipe Club.  Jennifer claimed it was the best soup she had ever eaten so I knew it was going to pretty good.  I had to make one or two changes.  It’s not possible to buy cans of Rotel tomatoes and chillies here, or at least not where I shop, and so I just used a tin of tomatoes and some fresh chillies instead.  I hope that achieved a similar result.   Even if it didn’t, it was very very tasty and a soup that I can easily make again.

Ingredients – serves 2-3

2 chicken breasts

1.5 tsp cumin

1 tsp chilli powder

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

A little salt

400g tin chopped tomatoes

2 chilli peppers, sliced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 red onion, diced

Handful of coriander leaf (cilantro)

A little grated cheese (I used cheddar)

500ml water

950ml chicken stock

2 tortillas (I used flour ones), cut into strips or triangles with a pair of scissors

How to Make Chicken Tortilla Soup

1. Mix the chilli powder, cumin, 1 clove of crushed garlic and a  little salt together.    Coat the chicken in a little oil and then sprinkle some of the spice mix onto the chicken.   Rub it in.

2. Put the chicken breasts on a baking tray and cook in the oven for 20 minutes or until done. At the same time, bake the tortilla pieces for just a short time each so they go crispy.  Shred the chicken using 2 forks.

3. Heat a little oil in a pan and add the onion, chilli pepper and bell pepper.   Cook for a couple of minutes and then add the crushed garlic and rest of the spice mix that did not go on the chicken.  Cook for another couple of minutes.

4. To the pan add the chicken, tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, stock and water. Simmer for 45 minutes.

5. At the end add some of the tortilla pieces/strips and the chopped coriander.

6. Serve topped with the grated cheese, chopped coriander and more of the tortilla pieces.  You could also garnish with avocado or sour cream.

 

Mulligatawny Soup

Firstly I have to apologise to Sarah.   My photo of this soup is not a pretty picture.   The picture on her blog, Sarah’s Kitchen looks much more appealing, and before you turn away in horror, it did taste a lot better than it looks.

Although I had heard of mulligatawny before making it, I had never actually had it before and didn’t really know what it was like.  All I knew was that it was a curried soup that dated back to the time of the British Empire in India. The style of the soup is therefore quite traditionally British but with some Indian flavours from the curry powder, ginger and coconut milk.  It makes a very thick warming soup that is hearty enough to be eaten as a main meal, especially if you serve it with some bread on the side too.   We chose to have garlic and coriander naan but any bread would be nice.  A crusty English roll would also go nicely.

I was paired with Sarah’s Kitchen for the Secret Recipe Club.  Sarah is a British girl living in the US and has a lovely mixture of British, American and international recipes on her blog.

Ingredients – serves 3-4

1 onion, chopped

1 carrot, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

3 tbsp tomato puree

1 tbsp curry powder

2 tbsp flour

1 apple, peeled, cored and grated

1 thumb-sized knob of ginger, grated

1/2 can coconut milk

600ml chicken stock

2 tbsp cooked rice

1-2 chicken breasts, sliced into bite-sized strips or leftover cooked chicken

How to Make Mulligatawny Soup

1. Heat a little oil in a saucepan.  If using raw chicken, add the chicken.  When cooked remove and set aside. If using cooked chicken start at step 2.

2. If necesary add a little more oil and add the onion, carrot and celery.  Cook for about 5 minutes until soft.

3. Add the tomato puree, flour and curry powder.  Stir in well and continue to cook for a couple of minutes.  Add a dash of water if it is too dry.

4. Add the ginger and apple and cook for another couple of minutes.

5. Add the chicken, rice, coconut milk and stock.  Bring to the boil stirring then lower to a simmer.  Keep stirring every so often so it doesn’t stick on the bottom.  It should soon thicken and then it’s ready to serve.

To see what other participants in the Secret Recipe Club have made, click on the link below:

 

Green Lentil and Coriander Soup

A new year, a new healthy diet.   That’s the plan for most of the time anyway.  Apart from that I have made no new year food plans and have written no review of the past year.   I would like to blog more frequently and I would like to be more active in commenting on the blogs I follow, but if I set that as a resolution, I feel I would just be setting myself up for failure.  After all, I am running the London Marathon on 21 April so will need to find time to fit all the training for that into my schedule!   So, I am just going to try to keep on blogging as often as I can, when I can.    I know it’s quite late to be saying this on 8th January already so that is all I am going to say on the subject.  Moving on to this green lentil and coriander soup….

I love making soups like this as they are warm, filling and are useful for using up any leftover vegetables.  Although the lentils are very dark,  I love the colours of all the vegetables showing up in the soup and I especially love the fresh coriander stirred in at the end.  It makes the soup taste very fresh.

I am linking this soup to Pantry Party, Food of the Month Club and Souper Sundays.

Ingredients – serves 2 (as a main meal)

3 tbsp dried green lentils

2 carrots, sliced

1 onion, diced

2 tbsp chopped red cabbage

2 tbsp sweetcorn

Small knob of ginger, finely diced

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 chilli pepper, sliced

Handful of coriander (cilantro), chopped

2 cardamom pods, crushed slightly

2 cloves

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp garam masala

How to Make Lentil and Coriander Soup

1. Put a little oil in a saucepan.   Add the cloves and cardamom pods.   Cook for 30 seconds then add the chopped onion, chilli pepper and ginger.  Fry gently until soft.

2. Add the turmeric,cumin, garam masala, carrot and lentils.   Stir in and add boiling water from the kettle.

3. Simmer for 30 minutes then add the cabbage.   Continue to simmer for another 20 minutes.

4. Add the frozen sweetcorn.   As soon as the water reaches the boil again, take out two ladles of the soup.   Blend in a food processor or with a stick blender and then return the pureed soup to the pan.   Stir in the coriander and serve immediately

 

Fasolakia

I would normally avoid making a green bean stew as I’d think that green beans are not really interesting enough to be the main ingredient. However, when I saw the chilli, ginger and garlic on the ingredients list as well, I decided it was worth trying. I also liked how easy it was to prepare. Fasolakia is a Greek green bean stew and can actually be served cold as well as hot. I did plan to leave some for the next day to have for lunch with yoghurt but unfortunately there was none left. I was really surprised by how delicious it actually was.

The recipe is slightly adapted from Sarah Raven’s Food for Friends & Family. I borrowed this book from the library and I love it so much I’ll be disappointed when I have to take it back. It is divided into 4 sections for each of the seasons and a lot of the recipes remind me of Ottolenghi’s Plenty in that they really celebrate the vegetables. I think this is what has made me really love the book and I can’t wait to try a few more of the recipes.

Ingredients – serves 2

220g green beans, sliced into 3cm pieces

1 large carrot, grated

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 small knob root ginger, finely diced

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 small red chilli pepper, chopped

1 tsp ground coriander

Handful of fresh herbs ( I used coriander but the original recipe said parsley)

150ml vegetable stock

Olive oil

How to Make Fasolakia

1.Chop the onion and put it in the saucepan with a little olive oil.  Cook for about 5 minutes until soft.

2. Add all the other ingredients to the pan, reserving some of the herbs to garnish with.  Simmer over a low heat for about 45 minutes.

3.Serve with crusty bread.

 

Sweet Potato, Lentil and Tahini Soup

Well, it’s still soup weather out there and after my success with carrot and tahini soup,  I was eager to experiment more with tahini in soups.  The vegetables were basically what I had left in the fridge so could easily be changed for whatever you have.   It’s amazing that just a little bit of tahini makes the lentils taste really creamy.  I know it doesn’t look that pretty or appetizing in the picture, but if you like lentils and tahini then I’m sure you would love this.   For a slight variation peanut butter would work really well too.

I’m linking this to Souper Sundays hosted by Deb at Kahakai Kitchen.

Ingredients – serves 1

1 tbsp red lentils, rinsed

1 sweet potato, peeled and diced

1/2 tbsp tahini

1/2 green pepper, diced

1 onion, finely diced

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 chilli pepper, thinly sliced

1 tsp curry powder

How to make Sweet Potato, Lentil and Tahini Soup

1. Put a little oil in a sauce pan and fry the onion until soft.

2. Add the green pepper, chilli, garlic and curry powder.   Stir and cook for a minute and then add the lentils and sweet potato.   Cover with water, bring to the boil and then lower to a simmer.   Cover the pan and leave for 20 minutes.

3. Check the lentils and sweet potato are cooked.   Leave for a bit longer if necessary.   Stir in the tahini until it dissolves and then serve.

 

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Soup

I wasn’t sure whether to take part in the Secret Recipe Club this month or not.   What if the baby arrived early and I didn’t have time to make anything?   In the end, I decided to risk it, but to make my recipe as soon as I received my assignment.   This means I’m writing this in March and have no idea whether I’ll be a mother or not by the time this post goes live.   It is also the reason why I chose a fairly simple recipe.  I sometimes try to make something adventurous or new, but this month my priority was just to be organised and get my post ready in plenty of time.   Last month I made a black bean soup using dried beans for the first time and this month I am also making a black bean soup – both in the slow cooker.   But, that is where the similarities end.   Apart from the beans, the flavours and textures are completely different, and of course I wanted another opportunity to use dried black beans again.   The recipe comes from Julie at A Little Bit of Everything and she does indeed have a wide range of recipes on her blog, both sweet and savoury.   After the success of my microwave cake a few weeks ago I was tempted to try her crock pot chocolate cake but for me, the savoury dish won this time.   It made a perfect lunch two days in a row and was very healthy too.

Like Julie,  I also found that the beans lost some of their colour in the water due to the slow cooking and also dyed the sweet potato and pepper a little too.  All in all this didn’t bother me and I found it a lovely lunchtime soup which felt very healthy as I was eating it, as well as being pretty tasty and filling too.

Ingredients – serves 2

3 tbsp dried black beans

1 sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, finely diced

1 yellow pepper, roughly chopped

1 green chilli pepper, sliced

Vegetable stock – enough to cover the vegetables

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp cinnamon

How to Make Black Bean and Sweet Potato Soup

1. If beginning with dried beans, soak in water overnight.   In the morning rinse the beans well.

2. Put all the ingredients in the slow cooker and cook for 8 hours.

To see what other Secret Recipe Club Members have made, click on the link below:

 

Carrot and Tahini Soup

Summer was here for a week or two back in March but now it’s cold and chilly again and summer feels a long time away.   I’ve been eating quite a few salads but it’s not really the right time for them yet, but what this type of weather is perfect for, is soups.    I had a lot of carrots in the fridge and wanted to use them up.   They weren’t the best carrots.   A bit watery and without much flavour.   Not so good for dipping in houmous, perfect for blending up and putting in a soup.   Usually when I put carrot in a soup I add it along with a lot of other vegetables.   It’s not a carrot a soup, it just contains some carrot.   Yes, I have made carrot soup, about five years ago but I found it very sweet.   Too sweet and so carrot soup has been one to avoid since then.    Then, a few months ago I came across this recipe for Carrot and Tahini Soup on Eats Well with Others.  It got me thinking.   The sweetness of the carrots would be balanced out by the bitterness of the tahini.   Hmmm.   Maybe carrot soup could be delicious after all, just like carrots dipped in houmous.  So, I bookmarked it and there it lingered for a few months, until this week when all those carrots in the fridge began asking to be used up.   I adapted the recipe slightly.   I didn’t have any leeks so I used onions.   I made a much small quantity and so used fewer carrots but used a larger proportion of spices and added cumin too, as I feel it goes so well with coriander and carrots.    I love lemon juice in soups so added the juice of half a lemon but again, you might want to add less of this.  What’s really important is not to add too much stock.  This should be thick and delicious, not a watery soup.

I am linking this to Bookmarked Recipes, hosted by Tinned Tomatoes and also to Kahakai Kitchen for Souper Sundays.

Ingredients – 1 large portion (could serve 2)

2 small onions, finely diced

230g peeled carrots, chopped

1 large clove of garlic, crushed

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp dried thyme

Vegetable stock – just enough to cover the vegetables

1/2 tbsp tahini

Juice of 1/2 lemon

How to Make Carrot and Tahini Soup

1. Put a little oil in the bottom of a saucepan and cook the onion for about 3 minutes until softened.    Add the crushed garlic and spices.    Stir then add the carrots.    Add the vegetable stock.   Bring to the boil then lower to a simmer for about 20 minutes.

2. Stir in the tahini then use a stick blender or transfer to a blender and blitz until you get a thick soup.

3. Stir in the lemon juice to taste and serve with bread.

 

Finnish Salmon Soup

I have never been to Finland and don’t know much about Finnish food, except that it is probably quite similar to other Scandinavian food, which I also know very little about.    Actually, when I think about it, the first thing that springs to mind is Jacques Chirac’s 2005 comment about British food, “After Finland, it is the country with the worst food.”  Understandably, this comment did not go down well in the UK, but at least we are aware of the stereotype of plain British food, whereas it was probably more of a shock to the Finns.   So, I set about researching Finnish food, and came across some wonderful ideas for cooking with reindeer and elk – but possibly not so easy to get hold of here.  Luckily, salmon is very popular in Finland and I soon decided to make a salmon soup which I found on Scandi Foodie.

I changed the recipe only slightly.   I couldn’t find any celeriac so had to miss it out.    I had ground all spice berries, not whole berries.   I used vegetable stock instead of water.   I could possibly have used fish stock but I didn’t want it to be too fishy, I just wanted to add a little extra flavour.  I also used milk instead of cream as I was making this for lunch and tend to avoid cream except for desserts or sauces that really need it.   I am ashamed to admit that I did worry slightly that it might be a little plain, with just the all spice berries really for flavouring.    In fact, the potato, parsnip and salmon soaked up the flavour of the all spice and were delicious.   I don’t often use all spice but it was a flavour I could happily enjoy without needing other herbs or spices.   So, it was definitely a success, and a recipe I wouldn’t hesitate to make again.   Unlike some soups which are not filling enough for a whole meal, it makes a great one-pot meal, not needing any bread to go with it, although of course you could have some if you wanted.

I am linking this to My Kitchen My World.   The March destination is of course Finland.   I am also sending it to Kahakai Kitchen for Souper Sundays.

Ingredients – serves 2

About 5 new potatoes, diced

1/2 tsp ground all spice berries

1/2 onion, finely diced

1/2 a parsnip, diced

300g piece of salmon

Vegetable stock or water

200ml Milk (or a little cream and a bit more stock)

How to Make Finnish Salmon Soup

1. Add the potatoes, parsnip, onion and all spice to enough hot stock to just cover the vegetables.   Simmer for about 10 minutes.

2. Add the milk or cream along with the salmon.    Simmer for another 5 minutes.   Taste and add salt and black pepper to taste.

 

 

Asparagus and Sugar Snap Pea Soup

With the weather now getting warmer it won’t be soup time for much longer.   I’m enjoying making it for my lunch at home these days though, and often it is just for one, or I make double and have the rest the next day, or plan to have the rest the next day and end up eating it anyway.   After all, soup is healthy or at least this one is and virtually fat-free.

I found this over at Always Eat on the Good China, who I was paired with for Taste and Create.   Tamy has a huge range of recipes and out of the ones I browsed through I couldn’t decide whether to make the pea and asparagus soup or Moroccan Beef and Noodles.    In the end, the soup won.   I made a smaller quantity and simplified the method slightly but the only change in the ingredients was to use stock instead of water and yoghurt instead of sour cream to serve.   I always have yoghurt in the fridge but wasn’t quite organised enough to get any sour cream.   I loved the fresh end result.   It tastes of exactly what it is – pea and asparagus, and is a lovely colour too!

I am also linking this to Souper Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and to Gimme Green, hosted by Chef Al Dente.

Ingredients – Serves 1

Handful of asparagus spears

Handful of sugar snap peas

2 spring onions

1 clove garlic, crushed

Black pepper

Vegetable stock

Yoghurt

How to make Asparagus and Sugar Snap Pea Soup

1. Remove the woody ends of the asparagus.   Dice the asparagus, one of the onions and the sugar snap peas and put in a small saucepan.   Add the crushed garlic.

2. Cover the vegetables with hot vegetable stock and simmer for 5 minutes or until tender.

3. Transfer to a blender or use a hand-held blender to blend till smooth.  Season to taste.

4. Put in a bowl.   Add a drizzle of yoghurt and the other chopped spring onion to garnish.

 

Secret Recipe Club: Black Bean Soup

I am so lazy I almost never use dried beans.   The reason is that I tend to use beans to make quick meals when I haven’t planned anything else.   I throw them together with tins of tomatoes, spices and whatever vegetables I have left to make quick, easy and filling soups, and as black beans are not very common in the UK,  they don’t very often tend to be the ones I use.  However, for a long time I have been meaning to change that, intending to buy more dried beans and make a wider variety of bean dishes. So, I bought a bag of dried black beans and as this recipe has used just a fifth, there is no excuse now for me not to make at least four more black bean dishes at some point in the future.

This desire of mine to use black beans has been around for a while, but it may not have happened just yet, were it not for the Secret Recipe Club.   This month I was paired with Kristi from Veggie Converter. Kristi is a vegetarian but her husband and children are not so she uses a lot of meat substitutes to try to convert traditional meat dishes into vegetarian dishes.   As I am not a vegetarian, and would rather eat meat than a meat substitute, I focused on those recipes of hers which were not conversions, which was why I ended up searching through various bean recipes.   I came across this post for vegan black bean soup and also this helpful post about soaking dried beans, and of course then I had no excuse not to use dried beans.

Making this soup is  incredibly easy, it does just take a bit of advance planning if you are using dried beans.    Everything can be thrown in the slow cooker in the morning and then in the evening you just need to blend it and add seasonings or accompaniments.  I loved the flavours and textures and found it quite filling.    I did make a few changes from the original.  The additional vegetables are different,  I didn’t have any salsa so added a chilli instead, and I also added lime juice.   To see the original recipe, go to Kristi’s blog.

Ingredients – Serves 2

100g dried black beans

1 tomato, diced

1 carrot, diced

1 tbsp sweetcorn

1 chilli, sliced

1/2 tsp vegetable stock powder

Black pepper

Fresh coriander to serve (optional)

Lime juice (optional)

How to make Black Bean Soup

1. Soak the dried black beans overnight.    If you use tinned you can skip this step.

2. Put the beans and chopped vegetables in the slow cooker.    Sprinkle with the stock powder and cover with boiling water so the vegetables are just covered.   Alternatively you can use real stock. Set to cook for 8 hours.

3. Blend the stock till it is relatively smooth but a few bits are ok.   Season and add the fresh coriander and lime juice if using.

To see what other Secret Recipe Club members have made, click on the link below: