Soup Week: Hot Cheese Soup

A couple of weeks back we had tacos for dinner, and whenever we have tacos for dinner, I always make this soup the next day with any leftovers we have left in the fridge - it's the perfect soup to use them up and is so easy! Actually, again it's a soup that my dad always made growing up, and I've continued doing it over the years. The soup itself is really cheesy, and pretty hearty (with the meat and tomatoes), and what really makes it is so good is that it's nice and spicy. I LOVE it, but my husband doesn't care for it. Oh well, more for me!

Hot Cheese Soup
Mikyn's Kitchen
Serves 3-4

1 can Cheddar cheese soup
4 cups milk
1/4 pound or so fully cooked taco-seasoned ground beef
1/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/3 cup tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup taco sauce or salsa (I use the "medium" hot one)
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt & pepper to taste

1. In a medium size saucepan, add the can of cheddar cheese soup, stirring and slowly adding the milk until incorporated.

2. Add the ground beef, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, salsa, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper. Stir, and bring to almost a boil. Let simmer for a couple of minutes to ensure that the meat is heated through. Taste and re-season as necessary. Serve and enjoy!

Soup Week: Best ever Corn Chowder

I know, I KNOW. I've only been doing this for a couple of months, and ALREADY another corn chowder recipe. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I love this soup so much, I'm constantly trying out new corn chowder recipes. This though has to be one of my favourites so far. Perfectly spicy, lots of veggies and corn, and the bacon adds lots of extra flavour!

We just got back from two weeks out of town, with a week spent beside the lake and visiting one of our family member's farm. Seriously, who wouldn't want to look out at this every day?










Well, the last one isn't from the farm, but it is one of the areas we visited. I miss it already. So pretty, so relaxing, so fabulous. Oh, and lots of fresh organic vegetables and herbs right out of the garden. We were lucky enough to be able to bring some home with us, and so they immediately went into both the corn chowder and the borscht I made (both over the weekend). Again, lots of fun for me! This recipe I used for this soup was adapted from this one I saw on For the love of cooking. Her original recipe is delicious, and this one has even more of the flavours I love and was a huge hit for me. Can't get enough, and you won't be able to either.

Corn Chowder
Adapted slightly from For the Love of Cooking
Serves about 8

4 pieces of bacon, chopped into small pieces
1 onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1/4 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 hot banana pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 russet potato, diced
1 yam or sweet potato, diced
4 cups chicken stock
3 sprigs fresh thyme (leaves only) or 1 tsp dried
1 bay leaf
4 cups corn (fresh or frozen)
3 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook bacon, and set aside.

2. Saute onions, celery, carrots and peppers until soft (about 8 minutes). Add garlic and thyme and cook for about another 45 seconds, stirring constantly.

3. Add stock, both potatoes, corn, bay leaf and salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Once it's reached a boil, in a separate bowl, ladle the hot soup into the milk until the milk is warm, then transfer into the hot soup. Simmer (being careful not to let it come to a boil), and cook until the potatoes are soft (about 10 minutes or so).

4. If you like a smoother soup, blend until smooth, but I much prefer the chunkier version (make sure to remove the bay leaf!). Mix in the reserved bacon (or use to garnish), and enjoy!

Soup Week: Dad's Borscht

Ok, ok, so I never promised to be a food stylist, nor an excellent photographer. So, forgive me when it comes to the picture. I think I took like 10 or more pictures of this same bowl of soup, and it seems that I'm still trying to figure out how to avoid flashes in the soup itself though here obviously I need to work on clarity. I'm working on it though!

I mentioned before that I'm a soup lover, and I think every time I talk to someone about cooking, I always always say that soup is my favourite thing to make. So, that's why I've decided to do a soup week. All are SO delicious!! Check in every day, and you'll find some delicious soups that I think are all currently or at least have been stocked in my freezer at some point over the last couple months.

Growing up, my father was the cook, and a fantastic one at that. While as a kid I could never bring myself to eat a soup that had both beets and cabbage in it, I do still have many memories of it being around quite often: Dad enjoying the "chunkier" version, and mom pureeing it for a "smoother" version. I personally vote for the chunkier version. I know what you're thinking... beets, cabbage and carrots in a soup? Could it really be that good? Well, if you've ever tried borscht (and even if you haven't), let me tell you that it IS good (and I'm pretty picky)... and no it is not "the devil in soup form" as I've heard it so affectionately referred to :) So, try it - you'll love it. And a huge thank you to my wonderful dad for passing on his recipe! I did adapt it a bit from his recipe, but it still turned out delicious.

Borscht
Adapted slightly
Serves 10-12

5 russet potatoes, shredded
2 carrots, shredded
1 large beet, shredded
2 stalks celery, shredded (omitted from original version)
4 cups chicken broth (or you could use beef broth... I used homemade)
1 tomato, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 medium to large red cabbage, shredded
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
3 stalks fresh dill, chopped and stalks removed (the key here is LOTS of fresh dill!)
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste (about 1/2-1 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp pepper)

1. In a large pot, boil the potatoes, carrots, beet and celery in the chicken broth until soft, about 5 minutes. When it comes to a boil, add the tomato, and reduce it to a simmer. (Note: in my dad's version, rather than using shredded potatoes, he chops and boils the potatoes separately and then mashes them, adding lots of whipping cream and butter until the mixture is almost runny.... then add it to the vegetable/soup mixture to make a creamier and thicker soup. This sounds incredible, though I opted for the healthier version by omitting both).

2. Using the butter and the olive oil, fry the cabbage and onions until just softened, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another 60 seconds. Once cooked, add the whole mixture to the vegetable mixture. Season with dill, garlic powder, salt and pepper, seasoning to taste. With the salt especially, season with just a little bit, then taste it and re-season as necessary. Be sure to use a bit of a heavy hand with the pepper. It'll give you a bit of a spicier soup, and it's delicious! Bring to a boil and enjoy!

Meat Sauce with Garlic and Oregano

This pasta meat sauce is officially my favourite sauce to go on pasta! Around here, we are definitely a family that prefers the typical meaty red sauce on our pasta (except for the occasional indulgence of fettucine alfredo at a restaurant!)... and I have to say that up until about a month ago, I thought my go-to pasta sauce was one of the best ones I've had. That is, until I had this one. Oh my goodness did I ever love it! I was visiting my sister and her husband this summer, and she made this for us all one night for dinner. My sister is so amazing, and always makes such delicious meals... so inspiring! I think she gets her talent from the two fantastic cooks in our family: her husband is a talented and well known chef in their community, and our dad (who did all the cooking growing up) is also an excellent cook. Well, they've taught her well. This recipe is her recipe that her and her husband have come up with, and so I've tried to recreate it with her help! Her best words of advice on this is to season it to your taste... want more garlic? Add more... more oregano? ditto.

We served ours for dinner with freshly made garlic bread. Mmmm... I can smell the garlic now!

Meat Sauce with Garlic and Oregano

Serves 4

Source: Lauren!

1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil

1 pound ground beef

1 medium onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp fresh oregano, chopped

3/4 of a 796mL can diced tomatoes, undrained

1/2 of a 6oz can tomato paste

1 Tbsp sugar

salt & pepper to taste

Linguine or other pasta of your choice, cooked

1. Bring a pot of water to boil and cook pasta according to directions.

2. Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil in pan, and cook onions until almost tender (about 5 minutes). Add garlic, and cook for another 60 seconds.

3. Add ground beef to the onion and garlic mixture, and brown meat until it is thoroughly cooked.

4. Once meat is cooked, add the tomato paste, and stir it into the meat mixture, cooking it for about 60 seconds. Then, add diced tomatoes, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper to the meat mixture, and simmer until the sauce becomes thick and most of the juices from the diced tomatoes are reduced - at least 20 minutes.

5. Once sauce is ready, stir in another small handful of fresh oregano, remove from heat and drizzle about 1/2 Tbsp of olive oil into the sauce and stir. Drain the pasta (don't rinse it!); Toss with meat sauce and serve!

Greek Pasta Salad

So, this is one of my go-to lunch dishes, and something that I seriously will have all year long (no matter how expensive it gets to buy out of season produce!). So, in the summertime I take advantage of the fantastic availability of local, fresh produce... perfect time of year to find bell peppers, cucumber and sweet cherry tomatoes... and lots of them!

I love this dish because it's so easy and so healthy. Actually, I've had a bit of free time on my hands over the last 10 months, and "for kicks" one day I decided to count my daily calories, and so I figure this dish to be around the 400 calorie mark. Pretty reasonable in my mind. The calorie counting only lasted about 2 days because it's just way to much work, and really, who wants to keep that up? I know, you don't care too much about calories either - you care about delicious food. And this is. Try it! You'll love it. And it's easy.

Greek Pasta Salad

Serves 2

1 cup Whole wheat rotini pasta

1/2 Bell pepper, chopped (I use any combination of red, orange or yellow peppers)

10-12 Cherry tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup Long english cucumber, chopped (I usually cut off about 4 inches worth)

3 Tbsp Zesty Italian salad dressing

3 Tbsp Feta cheese, cubed

10 Black olives, sliced (not shown, but definitely improves the salad!)

1) Bring a pot of water to a boil, and cook pasta according to directions. Drain and rinse in cold water in order to cool down (I prefer the pasta to be cold in my salad).

2) Meanwhile, cut up bell peppers, cherry tomatoes and cucumber into bite-sized pieces. Slice the black olives if using them.

3) Add pasta and vegetables (well technically fruit) into a bowl, and mix in feta cheese and salad dressing. Mix and serve! See? Easy.

I always make this with store bought salad dressing, but have seen some interesting recipes for homemade italian dressing including this one at Our best bites that I want to try soon. Do you have any good recipes? Share them with me if you do!