Sweet Anna's

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recipes - soup

mexican-style hearty chicken soup

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This hearty, mexican-style chicken soup is full of beans, veggies, and a satisfying kick of spice and lime.

And it’s one of my new favorite soups!

I really am in love with soups lately. Soups of all kinds really.  Soups, stews, chili…  all cozy, easy, one-pot meals!

Unfortunately I think my family is getting sick of them and I was specifically asked not to make anymore soups for a while.

I guess I’m not very good at following instructions! (As if there was any doubt about that. Sorry, honey!)

This soup was absolutely worth the rule-breaking though…  almost like a tortilla soup from your favorite mexican restaurat, only easier and heartier!

There is just nothing like a good hot bowl of soup on a cold winter’s day.

mexican-style hearty chicken soup

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 large carrots, chopped
  • 2 large celery stalks, chopped
  • 2 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 4 frozen boneless-skinless chicken thighs (or 2-3 breasts)
  • 1 (15oz) can diced tomatoes
  • 2 (15oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 (8oz) can diced green chiles
  • 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
  • 2 teaspoons taco/chili seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder, to taste
  • salt & pepper, to taste
  • 1-2 regular limes, juiced (to taste!)

Directions

Heat the butter in a large dutch oven over medium high heat until hot. Dump in the onions, carrots and celery and sauté until soft and starting to brown, seasoning with the seasoning salt (Johnny's) while you stir. Stir in the garlic and sauté for a few seconds until very fragrant.

Stir in the rest of the ingredients except for the lime juice, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 2 hours or longer.

Take the chicken out of the soup, shred it with a fork and then return it to the pot. Squeeze in the fresh lime juice (lemon will work fine if that's all you have!) and taste for seasoning, adding more salt/pepper/spice if desired.

Serve with tortilla chips and diced avocados, if you want a Tortilla-Soup-style experience!

https://sweetannas.com/2012/12/mexican-style-hearty-chicken-soup.html

 

cowboy potato corn chowder

by 2 Comments

Have you ever made those fun little tinfoil-packet meals when you were camping?  Hamburger, potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, a little butter…  all wrapped up in a neat little foil pouch and cooked on the fire until steaming?

Well, this soup is the wintery at-home comfort food version of that meal!

I have been making too many soups lately.  Too many.  Everyone but me is tired of them.  But I just can’t seem to stop.

Fall = soup, in my book.  Everything about this cool, crisp air, the falling leaves, the early darkness, makes me want to smell a simmering pot of soup on my stove and savor its warmth all evening.

So, I keep trying to at least come up with new ideas to keep my family happy.

I created this soup specifically for my husband.  The campfire packet meals are his thing and I couldn’t help but think how great all those flavors would taste in a thick creamy corn chowder.

I’ll tell ya… this soup is right near the top of my list of favorite soups now.  I will definitely be making it again!

(By the way, this makes a big batch of chowder.  I would say it’s enough to feed 6-8 people, or more.  Feel free to cut the batch in half if you’re only feeding 2-4 people!)

cowboy potato corn chowder

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds ground beef
  • 2 tablespoons butter or bacon grease
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 3-4 large baking potatoes, chopped
  • 4 large carrots, chopped
  • 4 large celery stalks, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons Johnny's all-purpose salt seasoning
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 (15oz) can cream-style corn
  • 2 cups shredded cheese (cheddar/jack blend is great!)
  • 1-3 fresh jalapeños, minced (to taste... add little by little until you find the spice you want!)
  • 1 bunch green onions, chopped

Directions

In a large dutch-oven, brown the ground beef over medium-high heat, seasoning it with 1 teaspoon of the seasoning salt. Remove the beef, and drain most of the grease, if there is any, out of the pan. (Don't clean the pan though, you want all the good little bits on the bottom!).

Add a couple tablespoons of butter (or better yet, bacon grease if you have it!) to the still hot pot, and dump in the onions. Sauté for a few minutes, until clear, stirring well and scraping all the little bits off the bottom of the pot. Dump in the potatoes, carrots and celery and the remaining teaspoon of seasoning salt and continue to sauté until soft or a little browned (or if you are in a hurry, just skip this part!).

Stir in the garlic and sauté until nice and fragrant. Dump back in the browned beef, and stir in the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for at least an hour, until the potatoes are very tender.

(At this point, I like to get out my potato masher and smash up a few of the potatoes in the pot. Not all of them, but just a bit. Totally optional... do it if you want!).

Stir in the cream, corn, cheese, jalapeños & green onions and heat until melted and warm. Season to taste with salt & pepper & serve!

https://sweetannas.com/2012/11/cowboy-potato-corn-chowder.html

a Sweet Anna’s original recipe

hearty sausage, bean & potato soup

by 8 Comments

Rich, flavorful broth… hearty beef & sausage… lots of veggies, potatoes and beans…  a little bit of everything really!

This was an ‘everything but the kitchen sink’, or clean-out-the-cupboards soup, and it turned out so great I had to write it down so I could make it again.

The real beauty of this soup is that you can adjust the amounts however you’d like.  Use what you have…  It will be delicious!

hearty sausage, bean & potato soup

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 lb ground sausage
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2-3 large carrots, chopped
  • 2-3 celery stalks, chopped
  • 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2-3 potatoes, cubed
  • 4 cans (or about 8 cups) beans, drained and rinsed (any, I used black & garbanzo)
  • 1 can crushed tomatoes
  • seasoning salt (Johnny's) or salt, to taste
  • lots of freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder, or more to taste
  • 6 cups chicken stock

Directions

In a large (6 qt or bigger) dutch oven or soup pot, brown the sausage over medium-high heat. (Don't worry about cooking it through, that can happen later!). Remove to a plate and set aside.

If your meat was very lean and there's not much grease in the pan, pour in a little olive oil and then sauté the onions, carrots and celery until soft and starting to brown a but. (Make sure you stir occasionally and scrape up all the good bits off the bottom of the pan... that's where a bunch of flavor comes from!)

Stir in the garlic and cook for a minute or two until very fragrant.

Dump in the rest of the ingredients, including the meat you browned earlier, stir well, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for at least an hour.

As with most soups, the longer it sits, the better it tastes... so this is a great meal to make ahead and reheat another day!

https://sweetannas.com/2012/10/hearty-sausage-bean-potato-soup.html

 

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