Minestrone Soup

This was, by far, the best minestrone soup I have ever eaten! It has an amazing rich flavor and a great variety of vegetables. First some alterations from the original recipe.

I always go a little over with the onions. The recipe called for two cups, I probably added about 1/4 to 1/2 cup more. I used zucchini, though the recipe says you can use eggplant instead or in addition. I do like eggplant but just didn't have any in the house. This is a great recipe to go overboard with the seasonings. Sometimes, as I found out with the cream of celery soup, it is not a good idea. In this case, it worked! A little extra of all the herbs made this soup very rich and delicious. Mine was also a little thicker and more of a stew due to the tomato puree. I used two 14 ounce cans.

The recipe also calls for parsley to be used as a garnish. Parsley is a great herb full of antioxidants and so I chose to add a couple large handfuls in the soup as it cooked so I can fully reap all the benefits parsley has to offer....and it was a perfect addition! I ate this soup all week long and never got sick of it. Towards the end of the week, I noticed some fresh mozzarella in the fridge and tried putting a couple chunks on the soup before reheating it in the microwave. This was a great idea! Not only did it taste amazing but mozzarella cheese is naturally low in fat so it added calcium without making it unhealthy. Bon Appetit!

Summer Vegetable Soup

I made the Summer Vegetable soup last weekend. I did not really alter the recipe at all. It says you have the option of adding buttermilk, but I did not. Honestly, all the fresh veggies were good but the broth was pretty much water, garlic and potatoes blended in a food processor, which on its own I think would be good, but did not make a good base for a veggie soup. I had a blast making it though! No helpers on this one. I may venture away from soups and make a dip for Jadon's birthday party tomorrow and hopefully, Susie will be here tonight to help. They maybe we will skip ahead to desserts! MmmmMmmmMmmm. Its a beautiful day ! Yesterday was fabulous and today will be even better.

Cream of Asparagus Soup

What a great and unique soup. First things first. I wanted to try to make it with almond milk so it was dairy free, but I was a little nervous about doing that for this one. Asparagus soup sounded very different to me so I did not want to stray from the recipe too much. But I will substitute milk for almond on the next cream based soup. I did, however, use fat free organic milk. And of course Smart Balance in place of butter. I don't think either substitution had any negative effects on flavor. In fact, for a cream based soup, this was light and frothy and just delicious. I think I may have over done it a little with the white pepper as well as the dill. I used fresh and a lot of it. Just something to keep in mind for next time. But it turned out great! I hope you enjoy! And as always, just send me a message if you are curious about the recipe. Or of course pick up the cookbook!

Gypsy Soup!

I had never heard of Gypsy Soup before this endeavor and let me just say, I was missing out! I stayed pretty true to the recipe since it was so new to me. Of course, I used extra garlic. I also substituted the green peppers for red and yellow since they were on sale and taste better. I used two bay leaves instead of one cause I like to live on the edge and I used canned chick peas instead of cooked fresh cause who has time for that. Once again, Kelly was my amazing chopper. I am going to have to keep her on staff in my kitchen permanently I think! Once again, I am wishing I doubled this recipe.

I am looking forward to the weekend so I can continue this soup adventure. The past few days have been somewhat yucky and today pretty much topped it off...and its still early. I am looking forward to the routine of following a recipe. And the satisfaction of tasting it!

Spicy Tomato Soup

First of all, let me just say that I am a connoisseur of tomato soup. Well, this has to be the best I have ever dipped my spoon in! I had some help with this one. Kelly was my expert chopper and I do believe she will be invited over every time I cook from now on to take on this daunting task. There were a couple of changes I did make to the recipe. I don't keep butter in the house so I used Smart Balance instead. So little butter is used in this recipe that I don't think you can tell much of a difference. I used fresh dill and a bit more than the recipe suggests. I love my herbs! My only regret: THAT I DIDN'T DOUBLE THE RECIPE!