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Quick and Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup

02/02/2018 by Laura Leave a Comment

Can you believe it is February 2nd today?  According to Punxsutawney Phil, there’s 6 more weeks of soup weather ahead of us!

January was a total blur for me.  I got that ridiculous virus (flu).  I really hope you have escaped it, and if you catch it, do take it seriously.  I started hacking on Boxing Day; coughing so hard and uncontrollably I could not catch my breath at times.  (Before you ask, YES I GOT A FLU SHOT!)  I saw the Dr. on the 27th of December and was given steroids, antivirals, and inhalers.  If you know me at all, you know I will do anything to avoid taking Prednisone.  This time, I did not even consider putting up a fight!  I would have done anything to STOP the coughing!  When there were clear signs of infection a week later, I was put on antibiotics.  I ran fevers of about 100′ off and on for three weeks.  It was just last week that I honestly believed I would make it to Valentines Day!  I’m surprised our food delivery folks haven’t called to see why the Hot and Sour soup orders have stopped!  Anyway, with my absence explained, and all the crap I ordered on-line while sick; returned, I’m here to share this recipe with you!

We love chicken tortilla soup!  So flavorful and satisfying.  I always have a whole chicken in the freezer, and roasted tomatoes in the pantry.  Onions, avocados, tortillas, and cilantro are usually restocked weekly.  I discovered a frozen southwest veggie mix a couple summers ago.  It is the perfect add-in to this soup.  This frozen veggie combo also makes a great cold salad with a lime, cumin, cilantro vinaigrette.  This veggie mix has become a staple in the freezer as well.  This post is not sponsored…I’m sharing this “short cut” with you ’cause that’s what I’m all about.

For the soup

Place one whole chicken* (extra fat, skin and giblets removed), in a large stock pot.

  • cover the chicken with 3 quarts of fresh, cold water
  • season with salt and pepper

Simmer about two hours, over low heat, until chicken is done – no pink in the thighs.

Remove chicken from pot.  Strain the broth into a large bowl and set aside.

Pull the chicken off the bones, removing the skin, breaking the meat into bite size pieces. Set aside.

*You could use rotisserie chicken and three quarts of chicken stock, if your prefer to not cook a whole chicken. Just start with the steps below.

1 large or 2 small jalapeno peppers, minced

1 large, sweet onion, diced

4 T. olive oil

Sauté the onion and pepper in the olive oil over medium heat in your stock pot, about 5 minutes, until tender.

Add:

  • 1 large can diced, fire roasted tomatoes
  • 2 T ground cumin
  • 1 T chili powder
  • Salt, pepper
  • 2 bags of southwestern style frozen vegetables

Pour the reserved stock back into the stock pot.  Taste for Seasoning.  Simmer about 30 minutes.

15 minutes before serving, add the reserved chicken meat to the pot.  Simmer gently to warm the meat through. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

While the soup is heating, prepare the garnishes:

Cut 4-5 corn tortillas into strips.  Add 4 T of oil to a sauté pan and cook them until lightly brown and crisp.  Cool on a paper towel to remove any excess oil.

1 bunch of cilantro, chopped

1 bunch of green onions, sliced

2-3 avocado’s diced

lime wedges – 1 per serving

grated cheese, for serving

sour cream for serving

When ready to serve, ladle soup into a serving bowl bowl.  Top with tortilla strips, shredded cheese, avocado, cilantro, onion and sour cream.  Add a lime wedge on the side..  This soup is fantastic leftover and also freezes well.

Make it soon, you won’t regret it!

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a wonderful evening.

Laura

Filed Under: Mexican, One Pot Meal, Poultry, Quick - Week Night, Soup Tagged With: avacado, bean, cheese, chicken, cilantro, cour cream, onion, soup, tortilla

Italian Wedding Soup

10/24/2014 by Laura 1 Comment

As I say goodbye to the best summer ever in the Pacific Northwest,  I try to convince myself there are benefits to the cooler weather.  I replace my t-shirt with my favorite sweater, my flip-flops with my awesome purple suede boots, and snuggle into a bed fitted with soft flannel sheets and a fluffy down comforter.  Drifting off to sleep,  I dream about SOUP!   Not July’s cold, fruity, melted popsicle like soup but hearty, hot, fill your belly, warm your soul, go on to live another day kind of soup!  Butternut Squash Soup, White Bean and Kale Soup, Lentil Soup, Beef and Barely Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup (always on hand in the freezer for unplanned cold or flu), and soups I have yet to invent, soups from foreign lands, made with spices, beans and grains I have never tried.  I snap out of my pre-winter doldrums and find myself almost giddy with excitement.  I have stock to make, bones and veggies to roast, broth to clarify, beans to soak, and recipes to research.  Where’s my tureen? I think I need a new stock pot! “Dave, I’m heading to Restaurant Supply, I’ll be back in an hour”!

Italian Wedding Soup

It has been pouring heavy, bone-chilling rain all week.  We’ve had a fire three nights out of five.  I finally made time to make a pot of soup.  I absolutely love Italian Wedding Soup.  I have no idea when or where I first had it, but I always order it when it’s on the menu!  I love the combination of the rich broth, the little one-bite meatballs and the strong, bitter greens, traditionally endive.  In researching recipes, I learned this soup has nothing to do with weddings.  Per Wikipedia, the term “wedding soup” is a mistranslation of the Italian language phrase “minestra maritata (“married soup”),” which is a reference to the fact that green vegetables and meats go well together.  As you can imagine, there are hundreds of variations of this soup.  My version is a combination of Whole Foods and Ina Garten’s recipes tailored to what I had on hand.

For the Meatballs

1 pound ground chicken

1 pound ground chicken Italian sausage

1 cup fresh white breadcrumbs

3 cloves minced garlic

4 tablespoons fresh minced parsley

2 tablespoons fresh minced oregano

1 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese

2 eggs

2 tablespoons of milk

salt and pepper to taste

Mince the garlic, parsley and oregano.  Place the meats, breadcrumbs, grated cheese, eggs, milk, garlic and herbs in a large bowl and mix well.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add a little more milk if the mixture is too dry and not sticking together.  Add a few more bread crumbs if the mixture is too wet and falling apart.  Make a “test” meat ball.  Warm a skillet over medium heat.  Add a little olive oil to the skillet.  Fry the test meatball until done, about 4 minutes on each side.  Taste the meatball and adjust the seasoning.  Proceed making small meatballs with the remainder of the meat.  The chicken mixture is a little sticky.  Dampening your hands with cool water will help.  Place the meatballs on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes at 350′ to set the meatballs.  Set aside until ready to add to the soup.

Italian Wedding Soup

For the Soup

1 cup diced onion

1 cup diced carrot

1 cup diced celery

3 cloves minced garlic

4 tablespoons olive oil

Italian Wedding Soup

1 cup dry white wine

3 quarts rich chicken stock – I used the new Pacific Foods Organic Bone Broth – It’s as close to homemade stock as you can get!

1 14.5 ounce can fire roasted, organic diced tomatoes

16 ounces small pasta, I used mini-shells

16 ounces baby kale, or chard, or spinach or endive or any combination

salt and pepper

1/2 cup freshly grated Percorino Romano cheese

Sauté the onions, carrots, celery and garlic in the olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the white wine and stir.  Add the stock and tomatoes.  Bring to a slow simmer.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add the meatballs and continue to simmer slowly.  Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil and prepare the pasta.  Cook about 5 minutes, drain and add to the soup.***  Return to a slow simmer.  Stir in the grated cheese.  About 5 minutes prior to serving, add the greens.  Cook just until the greens slightly “melt” into the soup.  Ladle into soup bowls.  Garnish with additional grated cheese and a little minced parsley.

Italian Wedding Soup

***Both of the recipes I referenced instruct you to cook the pasta in the soup.  NEVER do that with any pasta.  You will end up with a big, cloudy, sticky mess.  As a matter of fact, it is often best to keep the pasta out of the soup entirely, until ready to eat.  Just place a little pasta in the bowl and then pour the hot soup over it when ready to serve. 

Build a big roaring fire, pour yourself a glass of Pinot Grigio, and hunker down with your hot bowl of soup.  We’ve got about 5 more months of this!

Have a great evening,

Laura

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: One Pot Meal, Pasta, Poultry, Soup Tagged With: cheese, chicken, garlic, Italian, meatballs, oregano, pasta, soup

Dave’s Diner – The All American Burger!

07/06/2014 by Laura Leave a Comment

Dave has mastered the art of grilling a burger.  He mixes 80/20 organic ground beef with salt, pepper, seasoning salt, and a little water.  He heats the grill for a solid 15 minutes to ensure it is at the maximum temperature.  The patties are seared about 5 minutes per side.  He adds cheese the last few minutes, and lightly toasts the buns.  Once removed from the heat, the meat rests at least 5 minutes.  The best thing about grilling your own burgers?  You can have it YOUR WAY!  Mine was served with lettuce, tomato, dill pickle, purple onion, mustard, mayonnaise and ketchup.  Oh, and a few sweet potato fries!  My other favorite is with pepper jack cheese, grilled Anaheim chili, purple onion and avocado.  Dave loves sautéed mushrooms and Swiss cheese on his.  How do you like your burgers?

All American Cheeseburger

The picture below is one of the hummingbirds who lives in our back yard all year around.  He loves the crocosmia, which is just outside of my office window.  I caught this shot around dusk, while waiting for Dave to finish grilling our burgers.

HUMMINGBIRD AND CROCOSMIA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Beef, Dave's Diner, Quick - Week Night Tagged With: burger, cheese, quick

The Great Avocado Mystery and Lo-Carb Taco Salad

01/08/2014 by Laura 1 Comment

I decided to make a low carb Taco Salad for tonight’s dinner.  Pretty straightforward: lettuce, seasoned lean ground beef, low fat cheese, black beans, lite sour cream (mixed with salsa for the dressing), olives, tomatoes, avocado (had to sub pre-made guacamole) and green onions.   We have this salad frequently, alternating between gilled chicken breast and ground beef.

Low Carb Taco Salad

While gathering up ingredients at the store today, I became obsessed with this question:

WHERE ARE THE RIPE AVACADOS! 

I live in the city with many grocery stores nearby, and I shop frequently.  Every 2-3 days to be exact and sometimes everyday.  The avocados at the store I visited 3 days ago could have easily been used for batting practice or pool.   The avocados at the same store this afternoon were in the same condition.  Now, if I had purchased an avocado on my previous visit (as I should have) it would now be pretty close to being perfectly ripe.   So I am very curious…. What do they do with the ripe avocados!  I could go to the same store everyday this week and I know for certain, I would not find a ripe one!  Are you as perplexed about this as I am?  You could argue the same is true for tomatoes, melons, pineapples and bananas, but it really isn’t.  These items are always available in varying stages of ripeness.  That is why I am so dismayed by this whole avocado thing!  (I do have a resource in the form of a day old produce market, that always has ripe avocados.  I just resent making an additional trip for one ripe avocado.)  To make this even more complicated, I found the same thing to be true in Hawaii and California, the home of many of the avocados we consume!  Any insight you can share, is really appreciated!

taco salad 004

Filed Under: Mexican, Quick - Week Night, Salads Tagged With: avocado, cheese, ground beef, sour cream, taco

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