Big Man, Little Kitchen

Mmm more soup! Kris and I have definitely been on a soup kick lately. Great thing about soup – you can use whatever is in your pantry and come up with something good. Tonight I saw we had a couple cans of black beans and some kielbasa in the fridge so this is what I came up with. I am calling this my ‘base black bean kielbasa soup’, not too many ingredients but still tasty. You could easily change this up – Use salsa instead of the diced tomatoes, add some fresh corn to the mix and you would have a more southwest version.Just some basic ingredients in here tonight. Gather everything up and start chopping. I like to get everything diced, sliced and open before even getting out the pan.Heat some olive oil in a large dutch oven, toss in the kielbasa and brown for about 3 minutes. Now add the onion and peppers, cook 5 minutes more. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Here is when the house begins to smell soooo good!Next add the tomatoes and drained black beans. Stir and cook for a couple of minutes. Add enough stock to cover (or as much as you like), add spices stir and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 30 minutes. That is it! Grab a large bowl and serve. Top with cheese, sour cream or anything that makes you feel good. Cheers!

Ingredients:
1/2 onion, diced
1 pepper (any color), diced
1 serano pepper, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 kielbasa
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
3-4 cups chicken stock
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp chili powder
salt and pepper, to taste
1 T olive oil

Directions:
Heat olive oil in large dutch oven over medium heat. Add kielbasa and cook for 3 minutes. Add onion and peppers, cook 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant. Add tomatoes and beans. Stir and cook for a couple minutes. Add stock and spices, bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Serve in large bowls and enjoy.

Soup Week continues. You might be asking yourself ‘What happened to Thursdays soup?’. Well that was leftover night! We had to polish off the soups from earlier in the week. Apparently  I make more than 2 people can eat. Tonight we went with a pork tenderloin soup. Another keeper! This had a bit of a chili feel. I used chili powder, paprika and cumin  to spice it up. A jalapeño for additional heat gave this batch just the right feel. I like to chop everything up then get cooking.First brown the pork in your Dutch oven. Remove to a plate and saute  the onion ,  pepper and jalapeño for 5 minutes. Add the garlic  and cook for a minute. Toss the pork back in the pan. Now is when I like to sprinkle on some chili powder and cook for a minute . This gives the pork more flavor.Now is the time to add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. Serve in a large bowl, top with fresh chopped avacado. Cheers!

Ingredients:

• 1lb pork tenderloin
• 1 red pepper
• Small onion
• 1 jalapeño
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 can diced tomatos
• 2 cans navy beans
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 2 T chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 T olive oil
• 2 T chopped cilantro
• 1 avacado

Directions:

Heat olive oil in Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add pork and brown. Remove pork, add red pepper, onion and jalapeño. Cook for 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for a minute.

Put pork back in pan, sprinkle with chili powder and stir. Add remaining ingredients except for cilantro and avacado. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in cilantro and remove from heat. Top with avacado for serving.

Soup Week continues – tonight’s entry is my favorite of the week so far! White bean kale and sausage, a great combination. I think this will be the Halloween Night meal. We found the kielbasa at Whole Foods and it was a good one. Kris agreed this is a keeper! The Dutch oven is getting a workout this week. One great thing about  making soup every night is you do not need to dirty many pans! Clean up is a breeze. Serve this soup in a large bowl and top with some parmesan cheese and you will be satisfied. Cheers!

Ingredients

• 12 Oz smoked kielbasa
• 3 carrots
• 2 stalks celery
• 1 medium onion
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 2 cans cannelli beans
• 5 Oz baby kale
• 1 T Italian spice blend
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 T olive oil
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Heat olive oil in Dutch oven over medium high heat. Slice kielbasa and add to pan and brown for about 5 minutes. Remove kielbasa to a paper towel lined plate. Add carrots, celery and onion to pan. Cook for 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add stock, Italian spice, salt and pepper. Bring to boil and cook 10 minutes.

Add kale and cook for 10 more minutes, or until kale and carrots are tender. Toss in kielbasa and beans. Heat through and serve.

45 degrees and raining makes for another good night for soup. Tonight we went with a hamburger soup. This is always a good choice on a cool fall evening. Hamburger, potatoes, veggies = Tasty!This is another easy to put together soup. It does not take long and has tons of flavor. Normally I toss in green beans but tonight I used peas. That is the good thing about soup – toss in what you like! Serve in a large bowl, add some hot sauce and top with grated parmesan cheese and you are ready to go. Cheers!

Ingredients

• 1 lb hamburger
• Small onion
• 2 medium potatoes, diced
• 1 can diced tomatos
• 4 cups stock
• 1 bag frozen pea/carrot mis
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Brown burger and onion in large Dutch oven. Drain and return to pot. Add potatoes, tomatoes, stock and seasonings. Bring to boil, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add frozen veggies, cover and simmer 15 minutes more.

Fall is upon us here in Minnesota and that means soup season!! I decided to have a soup week and try out some new recipes. Night 1 = Chicken Noodle with Kale. This turned out to be a very good combination and a keeper. Great thing about soup is you can easily make it on a weeknight. Takes about an hour to create a flavorful, hearty soup!!A good dutch oven is a must for cooking up a tasty soup. They keep an even heat and allow the flavors to meld as you slowly simmer for an hour. I also made a batch of gluten free cornbread to go along with the soup – a great combination. Nothing better than a warm piece of cornbread topped with butter and honey. Cheers!

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked chicken (I use rotisserie chicken)
• 3 medium carrots, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 5 oz baby kale
• Cooked noodles – I used gluten free spirals – add as many as you like
• 1 T tomato paste
• 1 t salt
• 1 T pepper (or more – I like a lot of pepper in chicken soup)
• Fresh spice mix – marjoram, thyme, sage, rosemary, bay leaf – a sprig or two of each
• Olive oil

Directions

Heat olive oil in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add carrots, celery and onion. Cook for about 5 minutes, until veggies soften. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add stock, chicken, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Tie the fresh spice mix together using kitchen twine and toss in pot. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes. While soup is simmering, cook noodles according to package. Add kale and noodles during final 10 minutes of cooking.  Serve in large bowls and top with grated cheese and hot sauce. (optional)