Persian Carrot Soup

This soup may not sound too appetizing, but it is very good (and dangerous... I burned myself THREE times making it!).  It comes from my Congressional Club cookbook, and it is the recipe of the California Representative Henry Waxman.
Note: I 1/2d the recipe, and it was a little lemony, so I'd go light on the lemon juice.  I also used canned carrots, which worked just fine!

Persian Carrot Soup
2 t olive oil
2 large onions, diced (onion powder)
12 cloves garlic, minced (garlic powder)
10 cups chicken broth
2 pounds frozen carrots, 1/4" slices
2 bay leaves
5 T lemon juice
2 t sugar (I didn't have "regular sugar" so I used brown sugar.)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic.  Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. (I just added the oil and powders, then moved to step 2 without cooking for 5 minutes.)
2. Add the broth, carrots, and bay leaves.  Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to medium-low.  Simmer 35 - 45 minutes, until the carrots are tender.  Discard the bay leaf.
3. Blend.  Add the lemon juice, sugar, salt, and pepper.
4. Serve hot or cold.

Serves 8

This soup was very rich and creamy.  Most creamy soups are unhealthy because they are thickened with, well, cream.  This one was thickened with the blended carrots, though, so it was healthy.

(There are no pictures.  As mentioned earlier, I burned myself while cooking, and I was almost going to be whiney enough not to eat, but Chris finished blending the soup.  I felt really bad not eating it when he had been sweet enough to finish it, so I ate under protest.  There are no pictures because I was... protesting...)

Soup Round 2

Last night we had tomato soup and "grilled cheese sandwiches."
Tomato soup is probably one of my favorite soups, and this is one of the easiest recipes!
It came from my mom; I do not know where she got it.

Hot Tomato Punch
1 qt Bloody Mary mix
1/2 c tomato paste
1/4 c vinegar (I did not use this)
2 1/2 c tomato sauce
1/4 c lemon juice
unsweetend whipped cream (note: You can not whip fat-free cream... Trust me... I've tried it twice.)
1. Mix all ingredients except cream together; heat over medium.
2. Serve topped with the whipped cream (This soup really needs the cream because the Bloody Mary mix is VERY spicy!)
I added: basil, dill, garlic powder, onion powder, and liquid smoke.  It was delicious!

For the "grilled cheese sandwiches" I put Pam and liquid smoke in a pan.  I put in a tortilla topped with cheese, onion powder, garlic powder, and chili powder.  I then topped it with another tortilla sprayed with Pam on the outside.  After the cheese melted I cut the tortillas into quarters to dip in our soup... YUMMY!

(We were eating in front of the TV because our favorite shows were on - "The Middle"

and "Modern Family!")

It's Soup Weather!

I love fall! - Halloween, bonfires, cool crisp weather, fewer mosquitoes... and soup!
Tonight was the first time that I deemed it "cool enough" to make soup.  Sometimes I don't want to stand over a hot pot for a while or eat a bowl of something piping hot... But this evening it was officially okay in my book!
One of my favorite soups is chili... but my gallbladder doctor and Chris's cholestrol doctor do not like for us to eat red meat... SO... chicken chili is a wonderful option!  This particular recipe is all my own... I didn't take somebody else's and add/subtract stuff.  I looked at two different recipes and made my own.  I did things that were in both recipes, I did things in one recipe, and I did things that weren't in either recipe... and it actually turned out more than decent... actually pretty good!! =)
The two recipes I "used" are Robert St. John (of Purple Parrot/Crescant City fame)'s chili recipe and Colorado House Rep Joel Hefley's (Don't get all jealous thinking I know a fancy politician... I'm just own the "Senate Club Cookbook"... a very prestigious, select group in Washington, D.C....).

Chicken Chili
3/4 frozen chicken breasts (cooked according to package directions, sprinkled with worstershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, and italian seasoning 1/2 way through cooking)
2 1/2ish cups boullion (I used beef because that's all I could find in my cavernous cabinets)
garlic salt (however much you pour out)
onion powder (ditto)
liquid smoke (same)
dill (I used lots because I relly like it.)
fresh herbs (I was outside watching Chris plant some trees and I got distracted by my herbs, so I decided to grab the tops off of the oregano, basil, and rosemary... who knows how much I ended up with...??)
1 15 oz can white beans, drained (kidney? canoli?  I don't know...)
couple of tablespoons of flour
corn (whatever is leftover from the night before cooked by a sweet husband with who-knows-what seasoning, but it was very good...)

1. Chop cooked chicken into cubes.
2. Mix boullion, chicken, onion powder, garlic salt, liquid smoke, dill, and herbs in a large pot over medium heat and stir occassionally until it boils.
3. Turn the heat down to low and let simmer for a while (10/15 minutes?) while stirring to prevent sticking.
4. Add the beans and enough flour to make a thick liquid and continue to cook on low for a while (10 more minutes...).  You made need more/less flour depending on how you like your chili... I do not like liquidy chili, so I added 4/5 tablespoons of flour.
5. Add the corn as an afterthought when you see it in the fridge while getting drinks out.  Cook for 5ish more minutes, stirring occassionally, to make sure the corn heats up.
6. Serve over chips or crackers with cheese.

This made about 4 servings for us (I ate small servings, Chris's were a little larger.)

Chili pre beans and thickening

Chili pre eating