Soup is Good Food.

From Better Homes and Gardens: One Dish Dinners again:

Hamburger-Vegetable Soup

1 lb ground beef or ground pork
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 chopped green sweet pepper
4 cups of beef broth
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
1 7.5oz can chopped tomatoes
1/2 of a 9oz package of frozen lima beans
1/2 cup chopped, peeled potato or 1/2 cup loose-pack frozen hash brown potatoes
1 medium carrot, cut into matchstick-size strips
1 tblsp snipped fresh basil or 1tsp dried basil, crushed
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
1/8 tsp black pepper

• In a large saucepan, cook beef, onion, and sweet pepper until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain fat.
• Stir in broth, corn, undrained tomatoes, lima beans, potato, carrot, basil, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf, and black pepper.
• Bring to boiling; reduce heat.
• Cover and simmer for 15 mins. or until vegetables are tender.
• Discard bay leaf and serve.

Well, I used beef. And red pepper because I don't like green peppers. The beef broth was bullion cubes (and when they say 1 cube per 1 cup they really mean it! I tried less because I thought it might be too salty, but it was not flavorful enough with just 4 cubes per 6 cups of water.) And my carrots were not julienned (which didn't match the julienned look of the hash browned potatoes I used; that would have been so much prettier)... I'm just not that good with my knife skills. Plus my knives suck.

But taste wise it was pretty damn good. And I'm ok with lima beans :)

Comfort Food that needs a Twist

I made soup today*. I've been making lots of soups lately. This one was ok. East to make, decently filling, but there was just..something it needed. The cookbook is called Better Homes & Gardens: One Dish Dinners.

Chicken Chowder

12 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast halves or thighs
3 slices of bacon, chopped
1/3 cup of chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped red sweet pepper
1 14.75 or 15 oz can of cream-style corn
1 14.5 ounce can reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup of milk
3/4 cup of packaged instant mashed potatoes
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1/8 tsp. coarsely ground pepper

• Cut Chicken into 1/2 inch pieces; set aside.
• In a dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from Dutch oven with a slotted spoon, reserving drippings in pan; set bacon aside.
• Cook chicken, onion, and sweet pepper in bacon drippings over medium heat, about 3 minutes or until onion is crisp-tender.
• Stir in corn, broth, and milk.
• Stir in instant potatoes, thyme, and pepper.
• Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 8 minutes or until chicken is tender and no longer pink and soup is thickened; stir occasionally.
• Sprinkle with bacon pieces.

I didn't use reduced sodium broth and actually added salt. I also used fresh thyme instead of dried and that may have been why I felt there wasn't enough seasonings. It's worth trying once I think.

*Pictures will be added to the blog once I find where I hid my camera for safe keeping. =P