Where do they go in the summer? All those little viruses...where do they hide, and lie dormant for months while we play in the sunshine? They must hide somewhere...because I don't think I've ever had a cold/flu, or known anyone who's had a cold/flu, in the summer time. Then school starts. All those little kidlets start hanging out together all day, and suddenly, those sneaky viruses seize the opportunity to make a comeback.
Regardless, The Sniffles, round 1, have already passed through my house. The only one not affected, so far, is me. So I'm thinking now is the time to really get on the soup making, cuz you never know when it's gonna be Mama who's down for the count.
I made two easy soups in the crock last week. Both were pretty well received, but one was completely eaten up, and one was eaten once, then forgotten in the fridge. I loved them both, but family preferred the minestrone. I also made a chicken and wild rice, which was actually my favorite of the two. The family ate it, and liked it, but it was "forgettable" for them, so no one went in and claimed the leftovers. Regardless...I'm thinking the soup had something to do with the fact that the sniffle cases were so minor and quickly healed, and I never got sick at all. There's something mysteriously health-promoting about soup.
Our first contender: "Minestrone" from Slow Cooker Revolution. This soup is meatless, however I used homemade chicken stock, which to me, is pretty vital to a good soup. It was a little on the carb-y side for me, with pasta and cannellini beans in it, but the flavor was good, and the thickness and texture were spot on.
The recipe calls for "brining" the beans the night before. So just like you would normally soak them in water, but with salt added to it. They said it would soften the skins of the beans, but I didn't really find that to be the case. I think next time I will just go ahead and soak them in regular filtered water like I normally would for beans.
So first things first: the night before you make the soup you need sort your dry beans for any foreign objects like stones, and any shriveled or discolored beans...
Then thoroughly rinse and drain. Then put them in a bowl with fresh water, cover and let 'em soak overnight.
The next day you proceed with the recipe. I love that they used the microwave to soften and blend the aromatics--onion, garlic, pepper flakes, oil...it smelled delicious, and gave the soup a really nice head start on blending the flavors. I'm going to do that all the time with my soups in the crock from now on.
The recipe called for Swiss chard, which I bought at the farmers market, but when I went to use it, it had leaf-borer eggs on the back of the leaves. I recognize them because my own garden was infested with them this year. :( So I tossed them out, and used my dehydrated kale instead. I used my dehydrated carrots too.
I also threw a little bit of dehydrated zucchini in there, and a little bit of dehydrated green peppers, just for fun.
Next into the pot: the drained and rinsed soaked beans, along with the onion/garlic mixture that was pre-softened in the microwave.
I cooked the beans and veggies together in the broth, then later added the tomato sauce and pasta for the last hour, once the beans were already soft (remembering that whole tomato-products-preventing-beans-from-cooking fiasco....now I add tomato products only AFTER the beans are already cooked). I used a gluten free shell-shaped pasta.
Everyone loved this soup. Next time, more veggies, maybe some chicken added. Keeper though. Test #21 was a success. Someone else has is posted. HERE is the link for you.
On to "Turkey and Wild Rice Soup" from Stephanie O'Dea's book Make it Fast, Cook it Slow. I've made this one a lot. It's fast to toss in the pot, and then go about your day. I used chicken instead of turkey. I never add the meat at the beginning of an 8 hr cooking time! It would completely dry out your chicken, and all the flavor and texture of it would be lost to the broth. I cook the veggies and rice together in homemade chicken stock, then add in the cooked chicken chunks the last hour, just to heat them through. That way I have tender, juicy chicken chunks in my soup, rather than dried out chunks of flavorless leather. Once again, I didn't have any fresh spinach on hand so I called on my handy dried kale. But I used fresh carrots this time because I had some in the fridge that need to be used up.
The recipe is right HERE on Stephanie's website.
Today I'm going to toss together a quick Fiesta Chicken Soup from a cookbook I have called Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook, by Sarah Fragoso. I make this soup about every other week--kind of a staple lunch around here. However I don't have an online source to share the recipe, so I'm not even going to be cruel and talk about it. Shhh...you didn't just hear that last thing I said about making Fiesta soup today....
Enjoy these soups, especially if you feel a little on the sniffly side. Tell your boss that Dr. Slow Cookin' Mama gives you permission to stay home and eat soup when you've got a cold.
Here's your Rx: Take two (cups of soup) and (don't) call me in the morning (don't you know you should be sleeping in the morning when you are sick?).
Cheers to a soup-filled sniffle season.
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