Dump Soup

My mom, Amanda's "memaw" discovered this recipe years ago. I'm not sure where she found it, some church covered dish dinner most likely. She raved about how easy it was and how dad was actually willing to eat it. I fell in love with it because it is so easy and it is made with ingredients I almost always have on hand. Mom insist it must be made with Campbell's minestrone and no other brand will do.

Last week, our first cold snap caught me by surprise. September? When did that happen? Well, fall had arrived and I found myself scrounging through the pantry looking for warming comfort food. Dump Soup it was. Today, we finished it off. The cold spell didn't even last as long as the leftovers did. Tomorrow is October? You've got to be kidding me.

Dump Soup

Ingredients:

1 lb ground meat

1 large onion chopped

3 cloves of garlic minced

4 or 5 stems of celery diced

2 cans Campbell's minestrone soup

2 cans pinto beans

1 can ranch style beans

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 can diced tomatoes (I used fire roasted!)

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Brown ground meat with onion, garlic and celery. Dump in other ingredients. Add salt and pepper.

Add 2 soup cans of water. Simmer for 30 minutes or so to let the flavors have time to meld. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with crusty garlic bread. (Although it is great with corn bread too.)

Even better the next day.

Additional Notes:

For a richer flavor, use beef broth instead of water. The leftovers will thicken; just add water to desired consistency.

If you want to extend it - dump in more cans. Sometimes I add a can of whole kernal corn or a can of green beans. (In the above photo I had added half a can of corn and half a can of black beans left over from a taco salad the previous day.)

My Mom likes it with 2 cans of ranch style beans and some people prefer the spicy Rotel.

You can add tobasco at the table or stir in some red pepper flakes.

Chris adds japalenos. Modifications are limitless.

As written above it is approximately 130 calories per one cup serving. Change things and you'd have to recalculate.

-Karen

Beef Stuffed Cabbage

Most of the time when I go to the grocery store I just put ingredients in my cart that speak to me in the moment. I rarely have a PLAN. I always admire the women who have a menu plan and know exactly what they are going to buy when they go to the store. I guess it's good that I am good at creating dishes from the ingredients on hand. So tonight when I was trying to decide what to make for dinner, I remembered I had a head of cabbage and some ground beef in the fridge. Which lead to...

Beef Stuffed Cabbage

8 cabbage leaves (savoy would be better, but I just had regular cabbage)
1/2 lb lean ground beef
1/2 cup uncooked white rice
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup of wheat germ (hidden nutrition!)
1 carrot, grated
1/2 onion finely chopped
2-3 cloves of finely chopped garlic
1 egg white
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
2 cans of diced tomatoes
salt and pepper

Place cabbage in a large bowl, add some water to the bottom and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Microwave for 2 minutes to soften the cabbage leaves, making them pliable and easier to roll.

In a large bowl combine beef, rice, water, wheat germ, carrot, onion, garlic, egg white and seasoning. Mix well.

Spoon 1/4 cup of beef mixture into each cabbage leaf, rolling like you would an eggroll.

Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and brown the cabbage leaves. Add water and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for about an hour. Turn cabbage rolls so that they cook evenly. Check and add water if it reduces to far. 2 rolls per serving, serves 4.

Weight Watchers Points: 6 per serving.
-Amanda

Potato Leek Soup

Since I moved to Turkey, I find myself making soup much more often. This is because in Turkey food is taken more seriously. One reason for this is that there is very little prepared food here. Everything is made from scratch, it is much healthier, much less processed and much more time consuming. A typical dinner includes a soup course, as well as the entree , starch, vegetable and various sides. Dessert is always served, even if it is just a piece of fruit. So--my more casual American meals--entree plus veggie are not really considered "complete." I have had add more soups to my cooking repertoire.

I really like this soup, it is from Robert Irvine (Food Network). It is an amazing soup in its original form (using butter) but I use olive oil instead. When I make it with butter my taste buds are delighted, but I can feel my behind expanding. However, it tastes great, even without the butter. One thing I want to stress---USE FRESH THYME--it is SO worth it. Also if you make soups or sauces often--get an immersion blender. I LOVE mine. It has made soups incredibly easy to make, which means I do it more often and I burn myself less (the process of transferring hot liquids into a food processor can be tricky.)

Potato Leek Soup

6 potatoes, peeled and quartered

8 leeks, wash well

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped roughly

1 bay leaf

2 quarts chicken broth (or bouillon)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves

Salt and pepper

In a soup pot, put the potatoes and four of the leeks, onion, bay leaf and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Boil until the potatoes are soft. Chop up the remaining four leeks. Mix flour and olive oil and milk in a bowl bowl to make a roux to thicken the soup. Add the leeks, olive oil mixture, fresh thyme, and salt and pepper. Remove bay leaf. Blend the soup using an immersion blender or in batches in the food processor. Once it is smooth pour back into the pot and simmer for 20 more minutes until soup has thickened. Serve with a little thyme on top as a garnish.

Go with your feelings...

If you are feeling lazy and just want to scrub the potatoes well instead of peeling them--no one will notice after you blend it.

If you are feeling naughty use 1 stick of butter instead of olive oil and cream instead of milk.

*Warning: You many not be able to stop eating this soup. You also may need new pants in a bigger size.

-Jules

Chicken Spinach Pasta

Lately it seems like I am on a kick of fast and easy dinners, which isn't bad since I know a lot of people are always looking for quick and easy meals to fix in the supper time rush. This was a brainstorm that I had NO idea if it would turn out. It actually was really good and it was so simple! Even Maddie and Izzie scarfed down this meal, spinach and all!

Chicken Spinach Pasta

1/4 onion diced really small
8-10 button mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2- 2 cups loosely packed fresh baby spinach (sub frozen if you like, but use less)
12 oz chicken, cut in small pieces
1 cup of cottage cheese
3 tbsp plain yogurt
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
6 oz pasta
1 tsp of italian seasoning
pinch of grated nutmeg
pinch of hot pepper flakes

Boil pasta according to package directions.
In a large skillet saute onions and mushrooms, using cooking spray so they don't stick. When the mushrooms and onions are soft, add spinach and wilt it down. Remove from skillet. Spray with cooking spray and cook chicken until almost cooked through. Remove and add to the spinach mixture. Drain noodles and return to their pot. Add spinach & chicken mixture to the noodles. In a blender, or small food processor (or magic bullet!) put the cottage cheese, yogurt, parmesan and seasonings. Blend until smooth. Add to noodles, add a bit of water if it needs to be thinned out. Serves 4.

Weight Watchers:
6pts per serving. I forgot the breakdown of the points. But I did use 2% cottage cheese and enriched whole grain pasta.

-Amanda

Easy Peezy Cheezy Beany Burritos

These easy cheese and bean burritos are for one of those nights when you want something quick and easy for dinner. It also only requires one small pot so it won't get the kitchen messy.

Easy Peezy Cheezy Beany Burritos

1 can of fat-free refried beans
1 cup of shredded reduced fat cheese
1/2 can of fire roasted tomatoes, drained, reserving 1-2 tbsp of liquid
1/4 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
8 small flour or corn tortillas
salt

Spray a small pot with cooking spray, add the onions and garlic and cook on medium until they are softened and starting to caramelize (turn brown.) Add can of beans, the tomatoes with 1-2 tbsp of liquid, and spices. Stir. Add cheese and stir until melted and mixed in. Serve on flour or corn tortillas. Serves 4.

Weight Watchers:
Tortillas- 1 pt per tortilla
cheese- 2 pts per serving
beans- 1 pt per serving
-Amanda

Shrimp Couscous

I love couscous and other small pastas and grains. My husband doesn't so I often take the opportunity to cook them for lunch just for myself. They cook very quickly and you can do a small amount without leftovers. This dish is so easy to throw together, takes at most 10 minutes and that includes defrosting the shrimp!

Shrimp Couscous

2/3 cup of chicken broth
1/3 cup of couscous
4 oz shrimp
5-6 button mushrooms
1 tablespoon of Italian dressing
pinch of oregano

Defrost shrimp in a small bowl under running water. Bring chicken broth and oregano to boil in a small pot. Watch closely because this little amount will boil quickly. As soon as it comes to a boil add couscous. Cover and remove from heat.

Dry off shrimp and saute in a cast iron skillet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. While shrimp is cooking slice mushrooms. Remove shrimp from heat and saute mushrooms. Add salt and pepper.

Uncover couscous and fluff with a fork, stir in shrimp, mushrooms and Italian dressing. Serves 1.

Weight Watchers:
couscous: 4 pts
shrimp: 1 pt
1 tbsp dressing: 1pt
-Amanda

Yayla Çorba

Merhabalar! That means "Hello Ya'll!" in Turkish. I have been invited by Amanda to join the Frickin Chicken. I apparently wooed her with my food pornography and anecdotes of being anAmerican Ex-Pat in Turkey. I have been in Turkey for about six months and have made it my job to try as many new dishes as possible. Translation: I eat my own weight in food on a regular basis. I love food and cooking, and immersing myself in a new cuisine has been a blast.

Turkish food is extremely varied by region, but a commonality in most cuisines is yogurt. Many Turkish foods use yogurt either as an ingredient or a condiment. What is great about using yogurt in a soup means you get a rich creamy soup without having to use a butter based roux. Yayla Çorba (pronounced chorba and means soup) is an amazing comfort food. This soup is especially wonderful when you are sick. The yogurt in the soup is good for stomach or digestive ailments. It is also very easy--which is helpful because when you are sick the last thing you want to do is stand in the kitchen and chop and measure. I know this soup looks different but it has become one of my favorites since I came here. Don't be skeptical of the mint, it is really fantastic with the savory creaminess of the soup.

Yayla Çorba

6 cups water
1 cube beef bouillon (omit for vegetarian soup)
1/2 cup rice, washed and drained
2 cups yogurt
1 egg
2 tbsp of flour
2 tbsp butter
2 tsp dry mint

*1-2 tsp of red pepper flakes

*Optional

In a large pot boil the water, rice, salt and bouillon. Cook on medium high, until the rice is done.

While the rice is cooking, in a bowl, mix yogurt, egg and flour well. After the rice is cooked, take a few spoons of liquid from the pot and mix into the bowl to temper the yogurt and egg. Add the yogurt and egg mixture into the pot slowly, so the egg and yogurt does not curdle. Stir very slowly. Cook for 10 more minutes.

In a frying pan, heat the butter until it starts to spit, then add the mint, and let sit for 20-30 seconds. Do not let the mint burn. Pour the butter and mint into the soup and stir.

This soup is very quick, very easy and very tasty. Other herbs that are sometimes used in addition to, or in place of, the mint are tarragon and dill. To make the soup lighter you could use less butter or substitute olive oil for the butter.

Serves: 4-6

-Jules