The weather has yet to turn cold (in fact, we just had a week-long heatwave!) but I’m already thinking about colder weather foods. One of my favorite comfort foods is traditional Irish Vegetable Soup.
Unlike a chunky vegetable soup commonly found in the US, Irish Vegetable Soup is a blended soup made of potatoes, leeks, carrots, and onions that feels creamy and comforting without any cream!
The absolute best way to enjoy an Irish Vegetable Soup is with some Irish Brown Bread, but because that’s somewhat difficult to come across in the US, I substituted in a loaf of Italian bread to sop up all that vegetable goodness.
I know it is quite late in the season for a soup recipe, but I made this Leek and Potato Soup recently and just had to share it. This is a fairly traditional Irish Leek and Potato Soup, but the simplicity means you can really make it your own with some tweaks if you wanted.
Leeks are in season late winter to early summer, so this soup is great for those slightly cooler days, or when you’re looking for something simple to make that is ultimate comfort food.
This recipe uses under 10 ingredients and can be made in under 30 minutes!
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons salted butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
3-4 leeks (depending on their size), sliced
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
Some traditional dishes eaten on New Year’s Day have less to do with the new year and more to do with a country’s history. So this year, I’m sharing my adaptation of an Independence Stew from Haiti. Celebrated every January 1, Haiti proclaimed independence from French colonials on New Year’s Day 1804 following a 13 year revolution. Soup Joumou, a comforting stew traditionally made with beef, pumpkin, pasta, and a bunch of veggies and spices, has become a New Year’s Day dish to commemorate Haiti’s independence.
I adapted this recipe from Epicurious, scaling it down quite a bit and swapping butternut squash for the pumpkin because I couldn’t find any pumpkin that wasn’t already pureed.
Ingredients:
Marinade:
1/2 small onion, coarsely chopped
1 bell pepper (any color), coarsely chopped
1 scallion, coarsely chopped
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup parsley leaves
1 basil leaf
the juice of 1 lime
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
Remaining Ingredients:
1/2 cup plus 1/2 tablespoon distilled white vinegar, divided
1 pound stew beef cubes
7 cups chicken or beef broth, divided
2 beef bones
1 pound butternut squash, cut into cubes
2 medium russet potatoes (about 1 pound), finely chopped
1 large carrot, sliced
1/4 small green cabbage (about 1/2 pound), very thinly sliced
1/2 small onion, sliced
1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
1 leek, white and pale-green parts only, finely chopped
1 small turnip, finely chopped
1 teaspoon habanero chile hot sauce, or to taste
1 cup uncooked rigatoni
3 whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 parsley sprig (optional)
1 thyme sprig (optional)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (omit to make dairy free)
Harira is a wonderfully filling and hearty soup originally from Morocco. It can be made with many different ingredients (and can be made vegetarian), but it’s typically made with lamb, chicken, or beef, lentils, and chickpeas in a lightly spicy tomato broth.
This dish is a staple during Ramadan to break the daily fast, and also makes for an awesome dinner on chilly nights!
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 lb lamb chunks
1 large onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced (or if you’re like me and don’t like the texture of celery, keep large so you can remove later)
3 carrots, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ to 1 teaspoon harissa paste, depending on your heat tolerance
1 (28oz can) crushed tomatoes
½ cup parsley, chopped, plus more for garnish
¼ cup cilantro, chopped, plus more for garnish
1 cup brown lentils, rinsed
1 cup red lentils, rinsed
1 (15 oz can) chickpeas, drained
6 cups chicken broth
4 oz vermicelli, broken into smaller, 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (or 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch to make gluten free)
This recipe actually builds from the two previous, with some minor changes. For simplicity, the entire recipe from start to finish is below so you don’t have to go to multiple posts to make it. The multi-pot shortens the time of making a solid chicken soup, but it is still a labor of love. Total time to cook is roughly 3 hours.
It freezes well, so it’s a great recipe to make now to have on hand for sick days!
Ingredients: (serves 8)
Chicken:
1(3 to 4 pound)whole chicken – I used a 3 pound chicken
I don’t know if it’s just me, but I go through a ton of chicken broth and stock — I never seem to be able to keep enough on hand!
So when I was making my Pressure Cooker Whole Chicken, I knew homemade Pressure Cooker Chicken Broth would be the natural next step.
Making your own broth or stock is a super easy (and affordable) way to get the most out of your whole chicken!
Just a quick summary on the difference between stock and broth: both simmer bones and/or meat in water with onions, carrots, celery, and aromatics but stock is left unseasoned (no salt) while broth is seasoned.
Ingredients:
1medium sized onion, quartered
2carrots, cut into large chunks
2stalks celery
6 clovesgarlic
2bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh thyme
10 whole peppercorns, omit for stock
1/2 teaspoon salt, omit for stock
the bones of 1 chicken carcass
8cupswater, or as needed
Note: If you’re making this immediately following making a chicken in your Pressure Cooker, you won’t need as much water.
My husband says he doesn’t like soup, but he honestly just doesn’t like thin broth soups, like traditional chicken noodle soup. So I’m always in search of soup recipes that are thicker based — not necessarily from cream. Pureed vegetable soups have become a favorite in my house!
This recipe from Saveur for Red Lentil and Butternut Squash Soup mentions that it originates from Palestine, but I haven’t been able to find a similar butternut squash and red lentil soup to confirm that. No matter where this recipe originally comes from, the result is a perfect colder weather soup- creamy, filling, with a little bit of heat!
Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 medium carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon crushed red chile flakes
1 pound peeled, seeded, and chopped butternut squash
salt and pepper, to taste
6 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock to make vegetarian/vegan)
Note: I was sent a box of Vidalia onions to make this post. Opinions are mine alone.
When I first received a box of Vidalia onions, I knew I had to make French Onion Soup. The sweetness of the onions, especially after caramelizing, is perfect for this recipe.
French Onion Soup is a favorite of mine. Who doesn’t love comforting soup with a bunch of bread and cheese goodness on top?
My version below is adapted from a recipe I found on Food Network.
My husband and I have had some fairly heavy (but delicious) food recently. So this weekend, I was in search of something a bit lighter for lunch that would still fill us up, like this creamy avocado soup.
I love how comforting a good bowl of soup can be in cold weather, plus soup recipes, including this recipe for Curried Butternut Squash and Apple Soup, are typically super easy to make!
I try to keep my freezer stocked with a bunch of different soups to enjoy on nights that I just don’t feel like cooking.
The use of curry in this Cooking Light recipe for Curried Butternut Squash and Apple Soup makes for a nice warm tasting soup.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (or margarine to make dairy free)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium leek, chopped
1 granny smith apple, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon Madras curry powder
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 lbs pre peeled, pre cut butternut squash
4 cups unsalted chicken stock (or vegetable stock to make vegetarian)
As the weather turns cooler, it seems like everyone around me is fighting a cold. My husband is currently feeling a bit under the weather, so I wanted to make him a nice comforting soup. Cooking Light had this recipe for Turmeric Chicken and Chickpea Soup in their November magazine and their timing is impeccable!
This soup is packed with antioxidant-rich ingredients including turmeric, ginger, and garlic. It also substitutes in chickpeas for noodles for added texture and fiber.
The chicken broth in the recipe is further enhanced with the addition of coconut milk at the end.
Even better, this soup comes together really quickly, and has a bunch of ingredients that you may already have on hand in your fridge and pantry.
Ingredients: (serves 6)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
1 large red bell pepper, seed and membranes removed, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups unsalted chicken stock
1 (15 oz) can unsalted chickpeas, rinsed and drained
Note: I was sent a box of various Bob’s Red Mill products to make the below recipe. Opinions are mine alone.
Lentils are one of those foods that I wish I had experimented with earlier in my cooking. They are easy to cook, really tasty, and packed with nutritional goodness. Just one serving (1/4 cup) of red lentils has 14g of fiber and 13g of protein. Red lentils in particular are great for soups and stews because they cook really quickly and break down when heated, making for a nice thickened base.
This Lemony Red Lentil Soup is adapted from a New York Times Cooking recipe. I mostly kept to the original recipe, but increased the spice and lemon and added in another carrot.
The half chunky half smooth soup is super comforting and makes for a really satisfying lunch or dinner.
My friend and I made this during our cooking day and froze it for future meals.
Ingredients:
3tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1tablespoon tomato paste
1teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground chile powder, plus more for garnish
1quart chicken broth (or vegetable broth to make vegetarian)
Like much of the east coast, Philadelphia got hit with a blizzard last weekend. Which meant I had a whole weekend to make a bunch of meals, like this Carrot Ginger Soup!
This Carrot Ginger Soup from Cooking Light is comforting and creamy without any cream! The hint of curry powder brings such a nice warmth to the dish.
It makes 12 servings, so it’s a great recipe to stock your freezer. I love it as a side to my sandwich or salad for lunch!
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter (or margarine to make dairy-free)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
7 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth to make vegetarian)
Messaging below is intended for ages 21+ and is intended to be enjoyed responsibly, in moderation. This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #OktoberOnTheFarm #CollectiveBias
I’m celebrating Oktoberfest a bit late on my blog, but the weather has just starting feeling fall-like this week! Oktoberfest is a 16-day festival held in Munich, Germany at the end of September/beginning of October that is famously known for its beer drinking and accompanying eats.
When I think of Oktoberfest, I immediately imagine beer, pretzels, and yummy wursts (or sausages). One of my favorite sausages (although it’s not German) is Kielbasa, especially when grilled.
Hillshire Farm® Polska Kielbasa is made with beef, pork, and turkey with a blend of natural spices to really bring the flavor. I wanted to play off of the smoky flavor as well as pay tribute to Oktoberfest with a Beer and Cheddar Soup to pair with the Grilled Polska Kielbasa. I found Hillshire Farm Polska Kielbasa in my local Walmart.
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons salted butter
1 leek, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup flour
4 cups low sodium chicken stock
12 oz Oktoberfest beer
1 1/2 cups half and half
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon smoked hot sauce (can also use liquid smoke)
This post is sponsored by Door-to-Door Organics. All opinions are my own. #MyFarm2Table
I was sent some beautiful Local Organic Heirloom Tomatoes from Door-to-Door Organics for my Farm-to-Table post. I love the colors of heirloom tomatoes, especially the lighter ones, so I wanted to use them in a way that highlighted their coloring. What better way to make heirloom tomatoes the star but in a Gazpacho recipe?
Now, the one typical setback of making gazpacho is going through the whole process of peeling and seeding tomatoes. So, for this recipe, I just eliminated it. I have a pretty awesome blender (a Blendtec) which blended the tomatoes well enough to basically eliminate the skins and seeds, so yours may come out a bit more chunky. But removing the skin of a tomato is just such a pain!
I served my silky smooth gazpacho topped with finely chopped cherry tomatoes and a Wild Flour Bakery Hearth Baked Mini Baguette that was also in my box from Door-to-Door Organics. The recipe also includes a green bell pepper and a jalapeno which were also a part of my box.
Ingredients:
3 cups heirloom tomatoes, chopped (I used some yellow and red)
