Winter meals: Soups & Stews

ines871

Hi everyone,

Ever wonder what's the actual difference, if any, between "Soup & Stew"?

While both soup and stew are made by combining ingredients cooked in liquid (broth, stock, water, etc.),

stew often contains less liquid and can be thick enough to be served on a plate or ladled on top of a base like noodles, potatoes, or rice. Stews can also be thickened with flour, and have more of a gravy-like consistency than soup. Stews often are simmered for hours at a lower temperature like in a crock-pot.

Have you savored this soup for example:

• 1/2 onion diced
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Ginger (measured to your liking)
• 7 Cremini mushrooms quartered
• 2 each of Squash & carrots & potatoes chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp each of turmeric & black pepper & Basil & Rosemary & Sage & Thyme
• Kale as much as you want

The Italian herbs in this recipe are famous for their ability to open up the Respiratory system while soothing the throat lining. The turmeric and black pepper duo work together to bring down inflammation all over your body and both garlic & ginger help ward off bacterial or viral infections.

Instructions

1. Sauté onions, garlic, ginger & mushrooms
2. Cook other veggies (potatoes & carrots & squash) until soft enough
3. Add all herbs
4. Add kale & boil for 10 minutes
5. Salt to taste

PS: These ingredients & amounts are only a basic guide, obviously you can vary them as you want. I always make changes to what already have on hand. - Done every weekend, but always finished before 4 days 🙂

Grab a bowl & spoon and eat up all the healing benefits this wonderful soup has to offer...

Come share your favorite Healing & Nutritious one-pot meals

ines871

another Favorite family winter meal: Mediterranean Lamb & Lentil stew, also over rice

We prefer Basmati rice, but any will do, or eat just the stew.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pounds lamb shoulder arm chops, cubed. Always I use any bones in the lamb for thicker
• 1 teaspoon each paprika & salt
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 cup lentils, picked over and rinsed
• 2 cups chicken broth, & more as needed
• 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 2 cups coarsely chopped fresh spinach
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 lemon, juiced and zested
• 1/2 teaspoon each of dried basil & sage & thyme

Directions

Prep 15 m, Cook 40 m, Ready In 55 minutes

1. Heat oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the lamb & brown on all sides, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Add onion & garlic and continue cooking about 2 minutes, stirring often.
2. Stir in the lentils, 2 cups of the chicken broth, tomatoes, carrots & the 3 Herbs. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low & simmer, covered, until the lentils are tender but not quite done, stirring occasionally. This will take from about 30 minutes. If the stew seems dry, add more broth (up to one cup additional). (Save the lamb bones, for later if you want).
3. Add the Spinach and cook 5 minutes more. Stir in the lemon zest & juice.
4. Vary any recipe here as you want. in case I forget, it's Nutritious, filling & Yummy ! - Bon Appetit 🙂

blevinandwomba

Soups and Stews are one of my favorite things about cold weather. Actually, I can eat them year round, but I do enjoy them even more in the cold. I made an Indian dal (lentil/bean soup) yesterday afternoon, so supper is done for the next day or two. I put

2/3 c. dried black-eyed peas and 1 1/3 c. dried chickpeas to soak for a day, and then a day to sprout. Then I cooked them until quite soft, adding salt to taste about half-way through, before adding 2 onions slowly fried in coconut oil (3 tbs?) until golden brown. I added several cloves crushed garlic, I teaspoon each ground cumin and ground brown mustard seed, an few anaheim peppers, some shishito peppers( very mild), and a few tomatoes. I peeled, sliced, and salted a large eggplant, then let it sit until I could see water forming. I wiped off the salt, and squeezed them a little to get the bitter juices out. Then I cubed them and added them to the mixture. When the eggplant was tender I juice a couple of my calamondins ( sour mini oranges), seeded them, and chopped them very fine before adding to the soup. Salted to taste. The eggplant/bean combination makes for a very rich tasting soup. Almost forgot, I did add some curry leaves, but they had been in the freezer so long I don't know if they actually contributed anything

gennywu

This is one of my favorites. It is a simple recipe, but the oregano makes it special.

Green Bean and Hamburger Soup

1 pound ground beef

4 cups water

1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained

3 medium carrots, sliced

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 cup chopped celery

4 teaspoons beef bouillon granules

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1 cup cut fresh or frozen green beans (or cabbage)

 

1. In a large saucepan, brown beef; drain. Add the next 10 ingredients; bring to a boil.

2. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until potatoes and carrots are tender. Add beans. Cover and simmer 15 minutes longer or until the beans are tender.

 

ines871

Agreed, I use Oregano in everything with meat in it too, for us more like turkey.

Linda Bittle

I love soups and stews! I often make a simple hamburger soup with a bag of mixed veggies (frozen), a big onion, stewed tomatoes, a few potatoes, and whatever herbs suit me at the time. It's always different, depending on what I have handy, and always good. Love that there are leftovers for work lunches, too.

ines871

Agreed @blevinandwomba re "Soups and Stews are one of my favorite things about cold weather. Actually, I can eat them year round " - us too, but me more so. - Well, (he prefers heartier/meat meals that my little system doesn't tolerate too well).

Now, you 'sprout chickpeas' = Excellent & so good for you. - Amazing, I've heard that twice this year. Thanks for reminding me. Gotta add sprouting them especially since I just started eating chickpea paste last year on Gluten-Free bread & discovered I REALLY like them.

However "Eggplant, & shishito peppers (very mild)", I have yet to eat. What does Eggplant taste like ?

shllnzl

@rainbow Eggplant has a neutral flavor, I also think zucchini has a neutral flavor. Anyways, eggplant will take on the flavor of what it's cooked with, like Eggplant Parmesan.

blevinandwomba

@rainbow I agree with shllnzl that eggplant is fairly neutral, but it also has an underlying ..butteriness? for lack of a better word. I feel it gives a lot of depth to a dish, even though the flavor itself is not pronounced. I use it in conjunction with mushrooms for my vegetarian chili, and the combination does lend a meaty flavor.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind with eggplant-

1. the typical large, purple-black one is often bitter. If you salt and drain it as described above, it will remove the bitterness. Use a very coarse salt, and cut in thick slices, or the eggplant might soak up too much salt
2. eggplant should be cooked until very tender. Undercooked it is spongy and unpleasant and bland.

gardneto76

These all sound so delicious I printed the pages to try them later! I love a hot soup or stew on a nice cool day. We are not really supposed to eat a lot of potatoes due to the high carb content (cardiologists orders to loose weight) any suggestions other than radishes?

VickiP

@gardneto76 We raised some Sunchokes aka Jerusalem Artichokes this year that are useful as a potato substitute.

lmrebert

I love soups and stews because...LEFTOVERS!!! I take them for lunch at work and eat at night. Last night I did what I usually do.. look in the frig and pantry and figure out whats going to happen.

16 cups RO water

8 veggie bouillons

Olive oil to saute'

1 medium organic onion

5 large garlic cloves crushed then chopped

1 large zucchini from my garden

5 celery stalks

1 Tbls turmeric

10 astragalus root shaves

2 cups rinsed quinoa

2 cans white beans

2 cups chopped spinach

fresh ground black pepper to taste

pink Himalayan salt to taste

Just saute' veggies and spice in oil til sweated, add water bouillons, astragalus, salt pepper and quinoa. Simmer until quinoa is done and add beans cook a bit longer, add chopped spinach then taste to see if more seasoning is needed. Then I pick out the astragalus root.. the last one evaded me... haven't found it yet...so the disclaimer was made to the family... maybe the winner will get a prize! Husband text me at work "loved the soup!!" Winning on the fly

ines871

@lmrebert re " I did what I usually do.. look in the frig & pantry and figure out whats going to happen. "

EXACTLY. That's how the household gets Nourished 80+% of the time, & forget ! most of any Measuring. I just do lotsa 'Taste-Tests'; & somehow manage to have enough left over for the rest of the family LOL. Saturday it was:

4 Organic Chicken thighs (previously cooked in Coconut oil) , cubed,

'Lentil Trio' (black & red & green), & Carrots, & Yellow potatoes, & Spinach, & Purple onions, &

Herbs = Basil + Marjoram + Oregano + Paprika + Parsley + Sage + Salt + Thyme

And you know when it's been GOOD ? - When they want more & More! until there's nothing for left-overs.

LOL

lmrebert

@Mary Linda Bittle we totally used to make that when my children were little and we still ate meat...and we called it garbage soup since I just put a bunch of stuff and leftovers in it!

blevinandwomba

I've made this twice lately. I add beans to it, and use the bean broth instead of veggie broth. I might have added a little coconut aminos or soy sauce, but I'm not sure.

https://www.budgetbytes.com/african-peanut-stew-vegan/

It's terrific.

blevinandwomba

This weekend I made this. It is definitely a keeper.

https://myheartbeets.com/instant-pot-pumpkin-dal

a few notes:

1. I cooked it on the stovetop, not the instant pot. It only took about thirty minutes of cooking.
2. I soaked the red lentils for an hour, then drained before cooking. This is my preference, to assist digestion. I soak all legumes, even lentils- most get a lot more than an hour!
3. I used water with a little coconut aminos instead of veggie broth. I did add an extra cup. If I hadn't soaked the lentils I may have wanted more.
4. I used 1 1/2 c. roasted acorn squash instead of a can of pumpkin
5. If you don't have curry leaves, I don't think I makes a big difference, though I do like the flavor.
6. If you love cooking Indian, try out her freezer onion masala; its a big timesaver!

This one of my favorite cooking blogs, by the way. Mostly Indian recipes, all gluten-free and real food. She has a lot of paleo options, too.

blevinandwomba

And this weeks recipe was...

https://www.aspicyperspective.com/chimichurri-chicken-lentil-soup/

I made it on the stove top, not the crockpot. Also, I cooked a chicken for broth, and did put some of the broth in the recipe, but decided not to add the chicken. I like the lentils better without it, and then I could have lentil soup for one meal and a chicken salad for the other.

I'm not from Argentina, but I'm pretty sure that isn't an authentic chimichurri that you add at the end( dijon mustard?). That being said, it tasted very good in the soup. I did use more vinegar than called for- vinegar is great with lentils.

SherryA

Wow. Lots of good ideas here! I'm definitely going to try the soup in the original post. And freezer onion masala - got to try that!

Here's one of my favorites. Personally, I think it's the perfect food. Even my grandkids love it. We call it Green Soup, because it is green after you blend it up.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons ghee

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 cup onion, minced

2 tablespoons peeled and grated ginger

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon coriander powder

½ teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon dried basil

¼ teaspoon garam masala

5 cups water

1 cup rinsed split mung beans

1 tablespoon Better Than Bouillon

2 stalks celery, chopped

1½ cups carrot, peeled and minced (about 2 carrots)

1 cup green cabbage, chopped

4 collard greens leaves, without stems, chopped (or Kale)

1½ teaspoons sea salt

Juice of one lemon (or more to taste) (Important ingredient!)

Instructions

Place 3 tablespoons ghee into a pressure cooker. Heat ghee over medium heat, adding 1 teaspoon mustard seeds. Wait for mustard seeds to ‘pop.’

Mix in 1 cup minced onion, 2 tablespoons peeled and grated ginger, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon fennel powder, 1 teaspoon coriander powder, ½ teaspoon cumin powder, 1 teaspoon dried basil, and ¼ teaspoon garam masala.

Sauté all for a few minutes.

Add 5 cups water, 1 cup rinsed split mung, 1 tablespoon Better Than Bouillon, 2 stalks chopped celery, 1½ cups peeled and minced carrots, 1 cup chopped green cabbage and 4 chopped collard greens leaves (or kale).

Secure lid of pressure cooker and bring to a boil. When pressure cooker comes to full steam, lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes (or as needed according to pressure cooker used).

Turn heat off. Let pressure cooker cool until it is safe to open.

Add 1½ teaspoons sea salt and the lemon juice.

Blend soup in a blender or with hand blender until smooth.

blevinandwomba

@figsagee That sound delicious. I'll have to try next time I find some mung beans. I can't get enough legumes.

SherryA

Be sure to use split mung beans. It has been hard to find organic split mung beans that are affordable, but they are available now online.

blevinandwomba

And this weeks soup was...

https://www.budgetbytes.com/moroccan-lentil-vegetable-stew/

I skipped the lentils and added a lot more chickpeas. I cooked up a pound of dry chickpeas, and used most of them in the soup. I also partially blended the soup, then added some fresh spinach and let it cook just until the spinach was wilted. It was very good. The combination of spices was lovely.