Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

This is healthy and delicious!  It's not my recipe so here's the link to the person who deserves the credit:

http://luluthebaker.blogspot.com/2011/09/cheesy-vegetable-chowder.html

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup finely chopped carrot

1 stalk celery, finely chopped (feel free to add more celery if you like celery; I don't, so I don't add much)

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

4 cups chicken broth (I usually use a mixture of low-sodium chicken broth and broth made with chicken soup base because it gives it such nice flavor)

2 large baking potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 Tablespoon flour

1/2 cup water

2/3 cup milk

2 cups chopped broccoli

2 heaping cups shredded cheddar cheese

Melt the butter in a large soup pot.  Add onions, carrots, and celery and saute over medium heat until tender.  Add garlic and cook 1 or 2 additional minutes.  Add chicken broth and potatoes, bring to a boil, and cook until potatoes are tender.  Mix flour with water, add, and simmer until soup is slightly thickened.  Add milk and broccoli and cook until broccoli is just tender and soup is heated through.  Stir in cheese, allow to melt, and serve.

Ukrainian Borscht

This soup is amazing!  If you like beets, you will adore this soup!  It is so healthy and so delicious!  Lot's of work, but well worth it!!!  My mother got this recipe from a Ukrainian friend of hers when I was in high school.  It has been one of our favorites ever since.

Note:  The recipe says to cook a whole chicken and use the meat and broth from that.  But I prefer to just cook some chicken breasts, or even use a rotiseree chicken and then add chicken stock or water mixed with 'better than bullion'.  There isn't a measurement for water/chicken broth in the recipe, so the best way is to make sure all the veggies and meat are fully covered with the liquid and it turns out great.  (Some of the water will dissolve while boiling so be generous with the amount you put in).  Put in the beet juice before adding water so you don't have too much liquid.

Also you'll need to use a very large pot, unless you want to do half the recipe.

1 chicken whole

4 cans of beets - juice only!  (make sure you don't use pickled beets, I made that mistake once without realizing it and it ruined the whole pot of soup!)

3 bunches fresh beets (aprrox. 12 small to medium size)

  *sometimes we put in half fresh and half canned beets, they are both good in it, but at least do some fresh ones for sure*

1 pkg baby carrots

6 med. potatoes

1 large onion

2 c celery

1/2 cabbage

2 large bell peppers (red or green are best)

1 pkg fresh dill

1/2 c fresh parsley

2 dashes garlic powder

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

salt to taste

1 small can tomato sauce

1 small can tomato paste

sour cream to put on top (optional)

Cook chicken in boiling water.  Strain the broth and save it.  Remove from bones and cut up meat.  Put in fridge while preparing soup.  Chop up all vegetables (remove skin from both potatoes and beets) and put into the broth.  Add beet juice from the 4 cans to the broth.  Chop up fresh seasonings and add to the soup.  Add tomato sauce and paste.  Then add the salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Boil vegetables in the broth for about 20-30 min. until slightly tender. Turn off the heat.  Once the vegetables are fully cooked then add the chicken (otherwise the meat will be tough). If the tomato flavor is dominant you need more beet juice, the sweet beet flavor is what you want.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top of the soup.  

All ingredients are approximate, you may want to vary amounts according to your preference.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

      This soup is AMAZING!  That is, if you like broccoli cheese.  I just love this recipe.  And I love that it uses real cheese instead of processed cheese like lots of recipes for this kind of soup calls for.  It's very easy to make, and even my kids will eat it!   note: it says to puree it, but it's good both un-pureed and pureed, your preference.  I found this recipe on this website... http://diethood.com/2011/04/18/broccoli-cheese-soup/

·                                  tablespoon butter

·                                 1 onion, chopped

·                                 1/4 cup butter

·                                 1/4 cup flour

·                                 2 cups whole milk

·                                 2 cups chicken broth

·                                 1/2 pound fresh broccoli, cut into florets

·                                 1 cup carrots, (about 3 large carrots) chopped

·                                 salt and pepper, to taste

·                                 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

·                                 8 ounces grated cheddar cheese

Directions:

·                                 In a small pan, saute the onion in butter. Set aside.

·                                 Next you need to prepare the roux; cook butter and flour using a whisk over medium heat for 3 minutes. Stir constantly.

·                                 Slowly add in the milk and continue to whisk.

·                                 Add the chicken stock whisking all the time. Simmer for 20 minutes.

·                                 Add the broccoli, carrots and sautéed onions.

·                                 Cook over low heat until the veggies are tender, about 20 minutes.

·                                 Add salt and pepper.

·                                 Pour in batches into blender, or a food processor, and puree.

·                                 Return to pot over low heat and add the grated cheese; stir until well blended.

·                                 Stir in the nutmeg and serve

Mimi's Cafe Corn Chowder

(photo courtesy of Tea Jenny)

4 tablespoons butter or margarine
6 tablespoons onion, chopped
3/4 cup celery, large dice
2 1/2 cups hot water
2 cups raw potato, peeled, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
3 cups frozen corn, thawed
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 pinch white pepper
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 quart half and half, divided use


In large pot, melt butter using medium heat. Add onion and celery, simmer until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. 

Add water, potatoes, corn and seasonings. Cover and simmer 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. 

Whisk flour into 1 cup half and half, and stir flour mixture into soup. Add remaining half and half. Simmer about 15 minutes, until soup thickens. 

Add salt and pepper if needed. To thin soup, add milk. To thicken soup, simmer 5-10 minutes more as desired.