Loaded Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken noodle soup is a very favorite at our home. My husband actually has this soup along with half a sandwich during his business trips at a Panera Bread if he can find one in the city that he travels to.
My kiddo has loved this soup since she was what six months old. We used to puree the soup and give it to her and she would lap up an entire bowl without any fuss. Well, now we do not need to puree it like before.

We have been making this soup at home with chicken, carrots, onions, garlic, celery and ofcorse chicken with some Italian spices. Thought of just taking it a little bit further and making it a compete meal by adding a few other ingredients. It was a good meal in a bowl with some nice easy peasy home made artisan bread

Ingredients

2 carrots
1 medium onion
5 cloves garlic
3 to 4 celery stalks
2 cups of small bits of chicken (I use breast meat) - about 2 to 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cups fresh baby spinach
1 can cannelloni beans
1 to 1 & 1/2 cups broken spaghetti (you can add more or less - or any pasta of your choice)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon dried Italian herb seasoning
1/2 teaspoon pepper
salt to taste
5 cups chicken stock (to make it quick) OR 7 cups water and let it simmer for longer

Method

Finely chop the onions, celery, carrots and garlic. Add the oil to a big saucepan and add these veggies to this oil. Once they start to sweat, add some salt and add the chicken pieces. Mix well till the chicken turns a nice white color (the pink is gone). Now add drained cannelloni beans, chopped spinach,  dried Italian herbs, pasta, pepper powder and mix well. Add water or stock and mix well. Bring it to a nice boil. Once this mixture boils, bring the heat to medium low and cover the saucepan and let the soup simmer.
If you are using stock, the simmer time becomes less, as stock has a lot of flavor. maybe in an hour or so the soup is ready to savor. However, if you are using plain water, it takes some time for the water to become flavorful. Soup should be ready in about 3 to 4 hours.
This tastes good with bread and salad - becomes a complete meal in a bowl.

You can make this into a vegetarian soup by not adding the chicken - and substituting vegetable stock for chicken stock, if you plan to use stock/broth

Roasted Sweet Peppers and Zucchini Soup

Ingredients

1 onion - roughly chopped
1 green zucchini - roughly chopped
1 yellow squash (zucchini) - roughly chopped
1 red pepper - roughly chopped
1 yellow pepper - roughly chopped
1 tomato - roughly chopped
5 cloves garlic - chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon black pepper powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1teaspoon chilli powder (optional)
croutons for garnish

Method

Mix all the ingredients, except for the crutons and let it stand for about 15 minutes. Lay them in one layer on a cookie sheet and let it roast in a 375 degrees fahrenheit oven for about 30 minutes. Let all the roasted veggies cool down. Blend these roasted vegetables in a blender to a smooth soup consistency. Use even the water that is accumulated on the cookie sheet. You can sieve this mixture if you want to or just use it the way it is.
In a saucepan, add this soup and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Add more salt if you want to. You can add some chilli powder here if you want it a bit spicy. Garnish with croutons and serve.

Cream of Tomato Soup

Ingredients

4 plump and big tomatoes

1 small onion

2 cloves garlic

1/2 inch piece of ginger

1 celery stick

1 small carrot

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder 9you can add more if you want it spicy)

salt to taste

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup milk

croûtons for garnish

heavy cream (optional)

Method

Cube the tomatoes, onions, celery and carrots. Roughly chop the garlic and ginger. Put all these ingredients in a pressure cooker along with 3 cups of water and let it cook for about 2 whistles. When the pressure is released - Using a hand blender blend the mixture well. Strain the mixture and let it stand.

In a saucepan/soup pot add the butter. When the butter melts, add the flour and mix well. Do not let the flour burn - just let it cook for about 5 minutes. Then add milk and keep stirring continuously. When the roux comes to a boil add the strained tomato mixture and stir continuously while doing so - else clumps will form. Bring the soup to a boil. Add salt to taste and sugar and chilli powder. Once it boils - cover the mixture and let it simmer on medium low heat for about 15 minutes. Add some heavy cream if desired. Serve hot in soup bowls and garnish with croûtons.