Taco Chili Souper Salad

I’m not a big chili fan. Something about the texture weirds me out. But I made chili using coarse ground beef (instead of regular) the other night, and it was FANTASTIC! I was so excited! Plus I’m using up the beans in my pantry, which I don’t tend to eat, so this was a win-win, as far as I’m concerned. :)

This is also a fairly healthy dish. There is a little bit of fat in the beef and the sausage, and of course if you add guacamole, cheese and sour cream, you’ll increase the fat a LOT, but even still it’s not too bad. (And the avocado fat is even good for you! Actually, I think it’s all pretty ok, unless you’re allergic to dairy, but different studies say different things about that, so I’ll just sing the praises of the avocado, ok? Everyone seems happy with plant-fats.)

I’ve been trying to incorporate more vegetables into my diet though, so I also didn’t really want to just eat a big bowl of chili. I started thinking about serving it over salad, and ta-da! Taco-chili Souper Salad! (Cutesy name, huh? I can’t decide if I like it or not.) The cold, crisp texture of the lettuce, tomatoes and onions contrasts really well with the warmth of the chili. AND since the chili has some juice in it, you don’t even need dressing! (No, really. Trust me. I’m the dressing QUEEN. I promise you don’t need it here, though. ;D)


The Recipe:
Chili only: 6-8
Chili over salad: 8-10

The Soup:
nonstick spray
1 pound coarse ground lean ground beef (ideally 10% fat or less)
2 Italian sausage links (optional)
1 medium onion, chopped (approx. 1 cup)
1 15-oz can black beans with juice
1 15-oz can white beans (also called cannellini or Great Northern beans) with juice
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes with juice
1 14.5-oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes with juice
1 4-oz can diced green chilis
1 package taco seasoning

Spray a large skillet with nonstick spray and add the ground beef. Cut the sausage casings open and put the meat into the skillet with the ground beef. Add the onion and cook the whole mixture until the meat is browned.

Beginning with the meat (if you’re using 10% fat or less, don’t drain the fat), add the ingredients to the crockpot, and stir to combine.

Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

(*Alternatively:
Saute the onions in a large pot. Add the beef and sausage and cook through. Add the remaining ingredients, and allow to simmer until heated thoroughly. This will produce a slightly thicker chili than the crockpot.)

The Salad:
3 romaine hearts, chopped/shredded/whatever
16 oz cherry or grape tomatoes
sliced red onion
1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed thoroughly (optional – I did not include it in mine)
1 14-oz can corn (optional – I did not include it in mine)

On the side (optional):
guacamole
salsa
sour cream
shredded cheese

On a plate, pile up the lettuce. Spoon some hot taco-chili over the lettuce, and top with the remaining salad fixings. (Because there will be juice in the chili, you won’t need dressing.)

Perfect: healthy, comforting and refreshing, all at the same time. Who knew? :)

Summer Salsa "Soup"

This is for Emily, who needed something that her whole family would eat! Hopefully this works. :)

I love salsa. I mean, I could eat it with a spoon, straight from the container (and have been known to do just that). I’m talking about the salsa from the refrigerated section, full of tomatoe-y, garlicky goodness. I finally figured that maybe I should stop eating salsa from the container because a) it gets expensive (seriously – do you know how much those little containers COST?) and b) it’s not really all that good for you. I came up with this to split the difference. One of the things I like best about this recipe is the "build your own" component with all the add-ons at the bottom. I usually have all but the tortilla chips on hand, and I just throw things together as they sound good. It adds nice variety, and if you're serving this to guests (or families), everyone gets something they like.

The most important thing below is to make sure that you have RIPE tomatoes. Don’t even bother making this in the wintertime, and if you shoot for early summer or early fall, at the beginning and end of tomato season, it’s probably best to get tomatoes on the vine. Get the big round ones, too, not the skinny little Roma ones. You need the JUICE for this to work. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

The Recipe:
Serves 6

6 large hothouse tomatoes or tomatoes on the vine, chopped
1 medium white or yellow onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
2 cloves garlic, FINELY minced
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
juice from 4 limes
½ -1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and FINELY minced (if you like spicy food, use the whole pepper; if you HATE spicy food, just leave it out)
¼ cup olive oil
2 10 ¾-oz cans broth (I prefer beef broth, but vegetable broth works, too. Chicken broth tastes WEIRD, though. Just FYI.)
1 pound cooked steak strips (optional – I don’t usually include them, but sometimes I need some extra protein)
sour cream, for serving
guacamole, for serving
crushed tortilla chips, for serving
shredded Mexican cheese blend, for serving

Combine everything not labeled “for serving” above in a LARGE bowl. (The picture below is a 4-qt. bowl, and it has no steak in it. This makes a LOT of soup.) Stir to combine, and (ideally) refrigerate several hours or (even better) overnight. (Note: it’ll be good even if you don’t have time to refrigerate it, but it’ll be FANTASTIC if you do.) Also, you probably will NOT need salt for this. I know, I know, I’m the salt queen, but the broth is already salted. Mix it up, let it chill and taste it before you add salt. Seriously. I’m NOT KIDDING. You might be sorry otherwise.

Serve with optional garnishes (not shown below):
sour cream
guacamole
crushed tortilla chips
shredded cheese

Sort of Asian Soup!

This is for Nezu, who asked me for something without eggplant, tomatoes, or pepper of any kind.  Okay, this has red pepper flakes, but you could certainly delete them and substitute more ginger!  I'm sure, Nezu, that you have other ideas for spicing things up, since you've lived with this forever!  Might horseradish work?  If you use this, I think I'd omit the thyme, but you'd have to taste it to know!)  As for me, I really love this soup! And I buy a large head of my vegetable choice, and I use the rest for Kung Pao, as in "Kung Pao Cabbage," e.g.  MMMMM! 

1 Tbl. canola oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 stalks celery, diagonally sliced

1 bunch green onions, sliced into 3/4" - 1" pieces

4 cans vegetable broth (I use Swanson's)

1 Tbl. freshly grated (or finely minced) ginger--about 1 1/4" - 1 1/2" of a 1" diameter root (Marste introduced me to a microplane grater!  Boy, does this make life easier!  Ha!)

1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves (or 1 1/2 tsp. fresh!)  (I know this sounds odd--just trust me!)

3 Tbl. soy sauce

1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes (mild; 1/4-medium; 1/2 hot!)

1 small head bok choy, Chinese cabbage, or green cabbage, cleaned and thinly sliced

1 lb. frozen vegetarian meatballs

1/2 tsp. sesame oil

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

OPTIONAL:  1 8-oz. can sliced water chestnuts, drained (adds crunch)

1 15-oz. can baby corn, drained (adds color and fun!)

Heat oil in a soup pot.  Add the onion, and cook over medium heat until it's soft.  Add garlic and celery, and continue cooking until the celery is soft.  Add the green onions and broth.  Add the ginger thyme, soy sauce, and pepper flakes (or other spicy seasoning, Nezu!  :)).  Simmer until it's fragrant.

Add the cabbage-family vegetable, and cook until it's crisp-tender.  Add the meatballs, and cook until they're thawed and heated through--if the broth is bubbling, it's heated!  Turn off the heat, and add the oil and cilantro, stir them in, and serve.

This is a thick soup because of the vegetables and meatballs.  If you like a thinner soup, add a can, or two, of broth!

What I Ate for Dinner: Chinese-Style Soup – AKA Marste’s Soul Food

When I have a stomachache or cramps, or when I’m tired and weepy, or when I’m just emotionally exhausted and need to feel taken care of, this is what I eat. The ingredients vary – the recipe below is LITERALLY what I ate for dinner Thursday night – but it almost always includes garlic, ginger, onions, beef broth and soy sauce. (Sometimes that’s ALL it contains.)

The rest of the ingredients change depending on what I have in the fridge at the moment. I’ve used bok choy (fantastic), crab (well, imitation crab, anyway), beef, ground turkey (the consistency was weird on that one, though), carrots, green beans, lettuce (yes, really – it was good, too!), chopped celery (also good!), tomatoes, mushrooms – whatever is in the fridge.

What you see below is what I had in the fridge last night, so it’s what I had for dinner. As written, it won’t serve many, but you can just double it to feed a family. The whole thing, start to finish, took me about 15 minutes. Yes, really.

The Recipe:
Serves 2

½ Tbs canola oil
1 clove garlic, minced OR ½ tsp garlic powder
¼ cup frozen, pre-chopped onion
¼ tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp 5-spice powder
1 Tbs low- sodium soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
2 cups beef broth
1 handful frozen broccoli
1 or 2 pre-cooked chicken breasts, chopped (I use Trader Joe’s grilled chicken strips)
2 handfuls raw spinach (prepared)
½ package Chinese rice noodles (optional)

On the side:
chili paste
vinegar
sesame oil

If you’re using noodles, prepare those first. Boil them according to the package directions, and drain them. (Don’t worry about them getting cold; we’re going to pour boiling soup over them in a minute.)

In a pan, heat the canola oil. Add the garlic, onion, ginger and 5-spice powder, and sauté until the onion is translucent. Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, and beef broth and bring just to a boil. Add the frozen broccoli and the chicken and bring back to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer about 3-5 minutes, until the chicken is hot in the middle. Add the raw spinach and stir just until it wilts, about 15 seconds.

If you’re using noodles, portion the noodles out into bowls and pour the broth over the top. Otherwise just dish yourself up some soup!

Serve with vinegar, chili paste and sesame oil on the side, and let each person doctor their soup to taste.


Yeah. I know it looks a lot like this one. I had a lot of the same (visible) ingredients on hand. The spices are different though, so it doesn't TASTE the same. Really. ;)

Vegetable Barley Soup

I ALWAYS use a food processor when I'm making a soup--or anything else!--that has a lot of chopped, diced, minced, etc. vegetables and condiments. The time it takes me to wash my food processor (it does go in the dishwasher, but the dishwasher clouds the bowl and dulls the blades!) is far less than the time I spend chopping all this stuff! Plus, I've noticed that, by the time it's cooked, I can't tell much difference in the appearance of the vegetable shapes between hand chopping and food processor chopping. And my mouth and stomach CERTAINLY don't notice! Ha!


1 Tbl. olive or canola oil

1 medium onion, chopped 3-4 stalks celery, diced
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
6 medium carrots (about 36 "baby" carrots), chopped

2 broccoli crowns or 15-20 broccoli florets (or a medium peeled turnip!), chopped

12 oz. frozen green beans (I've also substituted 1/2 lb. sliced mushrooms, when Jenna ISN'T here!)
8 cups vegetable broth

1 14 1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 heaping tsp. dried thyme leaves

1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp. caraway seeds (These are important, because they don't add flavor, but they DO make the barley and vegetables much, much easier to digest!)

1/4 cup regular pearled barley (There are bags of this in grocery stores, but for this small amount, you can also find it in bulk bins in health food stores and some grocery stores.)
2 cups frozen, chopped spinach (You can also use a 5 oz. bag of fresh, or a bunch of fresh, and chop it or cut it into strips.)


*SEE NOTE! In a large soup pot sprayed with cooking spray, heat the oil, and add the onion, celery, and carrots. Cook this for a few minutes, until the onion is soft. Add the garlic, and sauté a bit longer. Add the broccoli, and cook about 5 minutes, or until the broccoli has softened. Add the green beans.


Add the broth, tomatoes, salt, pepper, thyme, bay leaf, and caraway seeds. Add the barley, and cook until the barley's done, about 45 minutes.


Add the spinach, and heat through.


This is a great stand-alone meal, or, if I'm serving it to others, I add salad with bleu cheese or balsamic vinaigrette, depending on my mood!, and (maybe) garlic bread.


*NOTE: This takes less time to cook if it's broken up and cooked in smaller quantities, in the form of "add-ons." If you have more time and less inclination to do the adding in, just toss everything in together and simmer it until it's done! A couple of hours will do it, and it's better if it's simmered longer!


Also, you can use quick-cooking barley, which takes about 10-15 minutes to cook. I prefer regular, because I like the thought of less processing! This is funny, if you think about all the frozen vegetables I use! So, I'm compromising between prep time--fresh takes a LOT more prep--and taste--fresh tastes better! Amazingly, my family and neighbors--they're my "guinea pigs," so to speak--don't seem to care one way or the other! Ha!

Not-Quite-Bouillabaisse

If Bouillabaisse had a cousin, it would be this quick and easy, one-pot seafood stew. High in protein, low in just about everything else, this will warm the cockles of your heart on a winter night. (Yeah. I said “cockles.” Stop snickering!)

Makes 6-8 large servings or 8-10 medium ones

2 Tbs olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
3 large celery ribs, chopped
1 onion, chopped (or 1 cup chopped onion)
3-4 Tbs chopped fresh thyme (the entire contents of one small grocery-store package)
3-4 Tbs chopped fresh flat leaf (sometimes called Italian) parsley (the entire contents of one small grocery-store package)
1 cup white wine
4 cups chicken broth
2 15-oz cans UNSALTED diced tomatoes (the unsalted part is important)
1 Tbs Old Bay seasoning
3 pounds assorted fish (I use 1 lb each: shrimp, scallops, tilapia)
juice of 2 lemons, plus extra lemons for serving alongside

In a stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onion, celery, thyme and parsley, and sauté until the onions get soft, about 5-7 minutes. Add the wine, broth, tomatoes and Old Bay seasoning, and bring to a boil.

While the broth mixture heats, chop the tilapia (or other fish) into large (approx 2-inch) pieces. When the broth boils, lower the heat, add all the fish and shellfish, as well as the juice of 2 lemons. Stir gently to combine, then cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes, or until the shrimp are pink and/or the fish flakes with a fork.
Serve with a lemon half for each person to squeeze into their bowl, and some crusty bread for sopping up the broth. I also like a little pepper on mine. *happy sigh*

Savory Butternut Squash Soup

I'm not crazy about the sweetness that most butternut squash soups are flavored with. I always sort of feel like I'm eating dessert for dinner, but not in a good way. :P So this recipe is a savory one. It's jam-packed with vegetables, and the colors are GORGEOUS. I like serving it during the holidays: the red, white and green of the vegetables look fantastic in the deep yellow color of the soup. Mmmmmmmm.

The Recipe
3 Tbs olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped (or 2 cups frozen pre-diced)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small package fresh rosemary, chopped OR 3 Tbs dried, crumbled into the pan
2 15-oz cans diced tomatoes (or 1 28-oz can)
6 cups chicken broth
10 cups butternut squash puree (methods below), or use canned pumpkin (and sage instead of rosemary)*
1 package frozen broccoli, thawed in the microwave
1 package frozen cauliflower, thawed in the microwave
1 cup cream or ½ & ½ (optional)
Bleu cheese crumbles for garnish (Yes, really. It’s FANTASTIC.)
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a stock pot and add the onions and rosemary. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to turn a little brown. If the onions get too dry, add a little juice from the canned tomatoes.

Add the tomatoes and the chicken broth and bring to a boil.

Add the butternut squash about 2 cups at a time, stirring to combine after each addition.

(Note: if you are making this for a party, you can assemble it up to this point and then continue with the recipe about a half hour before you want to serve it. Make sure to heat the soup back to almost-boiling before continuing the recipe, though.)

Add the broccoli and cauliflower and heat through. Just before serving, add the cream or ½ & ½ and stir to combine.

Garnish with bleu cheese crumbles and a little salt and pepper. (I hardly ever add salt to a dish while it's cooking, especially if I know the ingredients - like canned tomatoes - have salt already added. Everyone likes different amounts of salt in their food, so I just think it's easier to put out the shakers.)




Serve with bread and a plate of olive oil and minced garlic for dipping.

*To make butternut squash puree:
Method 1: if you have a well-stocked Trader Joe’s nearby, just buy it canned. You’ll need 5 15-oz cans

Method 2: Sometimes you can find cubed butternut squash in the frozen vegetable section at the grocery. If so, just thaw it in the microwave and either dump it in the food processor or mash it up with a fork. Each package will make about 1 1/2-2 cups of puree. (If you end up with a little too much or a little too little, just use whatever you've got. It'll be fine.)

Method 3: Buy some butternut squash (figure 1 pound of squash for every 1 ½ cups of puree – so 4 pounds of squash will make 6 cups of puree). With a fork, pierce the outside a bunch of times. Microwave it for 8-10 minutes, cut it in half, and scoop out the insides. Repeat for as many squash as you have.

Method 4: Substitute canned pumpkin, and instead of rosemary, use sage.