Cream of Mushroom Soup

Last weekend, my son made me this delicious soup. He got the recipe from his school Foods class.

2 tbsp butter

1/4 onion, finely chopped

2 tbsp flour

2 1/2 cups milk

6-8 mushrooms, chopped

1 tsp parsley, oregano and basil

Dash salt and pepper

1/3 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese (or cheddar)

1 tbsp (or cube) stock

Melt butter in large saucepan. Add onion and saute until onion is soft, about 2 minutes. Stir in flour to form a roux. Cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly. Using a whisk, slowly stir in milk, ensuring a smooth consistency. Continue stirring occasionally until mixture has thickened (boil gently). Meanwhile, steam the mushrooms for 2-3 minutes. Then add to soup with herbs and stock. Cook at a simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, adding vegetable steaming water if necessary. Add grated cheese, stir until melted, serve immediately

Pad Thai

My daughter found this recipe and modified it.  It's pretty quick to make and very tasty.  It needs "instant stir fry noodles", which I found under the brand name Six Fortune.  They are the kind of noodle you get in Ichiban or Mr Noodles, you could use two packages of that.


1-2 chicken breasts, thinly sliced
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 onion, chopped
1 cup chopped red, green and/or orange peppers
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 can coconut milk
1/4 cup cashews (or peanuts)
1 lime, juiced
4 tbsp fish sauce
5 tbsp brown sugar
red rooster hot sauce
3-4 cups water or chicken broth
1/2 package instant stir fry noodles

Marinate chicken in soy sauce and cornstarch while chopping veggies.  Mix coconut milk, lime juice, sugar, fish sauce and hot sauce in small bowl or cup.  Boil water or broth and cook noodles 2-3 minutes. Drain and reserve liquid.  Heat oil in wok or large frying pan.  Stir fry chicken, remove from wok, then fry veggies.  Add sauce, noodles and chicken.  You might want to add some of the noodle-cooking liquid, depending on how soupy you like it, and sprinkle with cashews.

I forgot to take the photo until we had eaten most of it, but it will make enough to feed 3-5 people, depending on if they are growing teenagers or not!

Taco Soup

Ever have leftover taco meat? Here is a recipe that uses it up, and can also be thrown in the slow cooker.

1/2 lb ground beef
1 onion
taco seasoning
(or use leftover taco meat)
1 can (14 ounce/398 ml) tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 can black beans (rinsed really well)
1 cup frozen corn
3 cups of water
1/2 cup-1 cup salsa

Fry up the ground beef and onion, if necessary. Add all ingredients to large pot or slow cooker, adjusting water til it is of soup consistency. Simmer 1 1/2 hours on the stove top or 4-6 hours in slow cooker. Grate cheese over each bowl, add a dollop of sour cream and serve with tortilla chips.

Roasted tomato and red pepper soup

I made this soup on Monday, and loved it! It wasn't very hard, and the time it took was "oven time", meaning you can do other things (like play on the computer...)

6 nice, vine-ripened tomotoes
2 red peppers
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
3 cups stock (veggie or chicken)
basil
olive oil
salt
black pepper

Cut each tomato in half, place on a baking sheet. Cut the peppers into large chunks after seeding and put on baking sheet, too. Drizzle with olive oil and salt. Roast at 325F for 50 minutes to an hour. When they are raosted (and don't they smell fantastic?), let cool for ten minutes or so, then peel most of the skins off. Heat some oil and fry the onions and garlic. Add broth, basil and roasted veggies and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for about 10 minutes, then use an immersion blender to blend it all together. Add black pepper to taste. If you don't have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender, then return to pot to heat through.

Bruce didn't like the tomato seeds left in, so you could remove them before roasting. I think next time, I will try roasting the onions and garlic, too. You could also skip the broth and just have a tomato sauce.

Coconut Lime Chicken Soup

I was just visiting my friend Jen and remembered this recipe Jill found a few months ago. It is a very quick and easy way to use up leftover chicken (I didn't use quite as much chicken as the recipe called for, I had about 1/2 a deli chicken from Sobeys). For the Thai seasoning, I have some from Victorian Epicure. I didn't have any fresh cilantro, but thought it was pretty good, anyways. James din't like it, but he's picky!

Makes: 4 servings
Start to Finish: 25 minutes


Ingredients
1 2- to 2-1/2-lb. deli-roasted chicken
1 15-oz. can unsweetened coconut milk
2 cups water
1/4 cup lime juice (2 medium limes)
3 medium carrots, thinly-sliced diagonally (about 1-1/2 cups)
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. Thai seasoning blend
1/4 tsp. salt
Thai seasoning blend (optional)
Fresh cilantro (optional)
Lime wedges (optional)
Directions
1. Remove and discard skin and bones from chicken. Shred chicken. In large saucepan combine shredded chicken with coconut milk, water, lime juice, sliced carrots, soy sauce, the 2 teaspoons Thai seasoning and salt. Bring to boiling; reduce heat and simmer, covered, 8 minutes or until carrots are crisp-tender.

2. To serve, sprinkle bowls of soup with additional Thai seasoning and cilantro. Pass lime wedges. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition Facts
Servings Per Recipe 4 servings Calories 487, Total Fat (g) 38, Saturated Fat (g) 24, Cholesterol (mg) 125, Sodium (mg) 1437, Carbohydrate (g) 11, Total Sugar (g) 4, Fiber (g) 1, Protein (g) 29, Vitamin C (DV%) 12, Calcium (DV%) 2, Iron (DV%) 17, Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet