Italian Sausage soup

This is another delicious soup my friend Elania made on Halloween!  She also added orzo pasta - it was tasty!

Italian Sausage Soup

Ingredients

2 pounds Italian sausage

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

4 (14 ounce) cans beef broth

• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans Italian-style stewed tomatoes
• 2 cups sliced carrots

• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans great Northern beans, undrained
• 4 small zucchini, cubed
• 4 cups spinach - packed, rinsed and torn
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Original recipe yields 6 servings

Note: Recipe directions are for the original serving size.

Directions

• In a stockpot or Dutch oven, brown sausage with garlic. Stir in broth, tomatoes and carrots, and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes.
• Stir in beans with liquid and zucchini. Cover, and simmer another 15 minutes, or until zucchini is tender.
• Remove from heat, and add spinach. Replace lid allowing the heat from the soup to cook the spinach leaves. Soup is ready to serve after 5 minutes.

Black Bean / Sweet Potato Burritos

Some of our family's most favorite recipes come from an incredible website, "100 Days of Real Food".  This is one we recently tried for the first time and LOVED it!  Whenever I make a new recipe for dinner, I ask the children to give me their HONEST opinion of the meal (one of the few times they are allowed to say if they don't like something - politely, of course!)  Each child gave this meal an enthusiastic "2 thumbs up" - so I decided I'd better record it here so we can make it again and again! :)

Thanks to "100 Days of Real Food" - this recipe comes from their recipe archive.

Ingredients
 2 sweet potatoes (I use white Cuban sweet potatoes - my favorite!)
 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
 2 teaspoons cumin, divided
 ½ to1teaspoon chili powder (depending on your heat preferences)
 ½ teaspoon salt
 ¼ teaspoon pepper
 8 ounces organic black beans, drained and rinsed (I use canned for
convenience)
 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded, ribbed, and chopped
 ½ cup chopped red onion (about 1 small onion)
 1 small jalapeno, diced (optional - I leave it out if cooking for my kids)
 6 whole-wheat tortillas
 1 cup grated organic cheddar cheese (optional because they are
delicious without)
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Peel and cube sweet potatoes and coat lightly with 2 tablespoons of the
olive oil (toss in a large bowl to evenly coat). Spread potatoes evenly on a
roasting pan and sprinkle with1teaspoon cumin, chili powder, salt, and
pepper. Roast for 20-25 minutes or until soft through but not mushy.
3. When potatoes are finished roasting, add the other 2 tablespoons of olive
oil to a large skillet on medium heat. Add red pepper and red onion and
sauté until slightly softened.
4. Add black beans to skillet and continue to sauté on low heat. Add
remaining 1 teaspoon cumin and chili powder to skillet mixture. Stir
contents thoroughly until heated through.
5. Gently add the roasted sweet potatoes to the skillet mixture along with
salt and pepper to taste. Turn to low and cover skillet to keep warm.6. Meanwhile, place the tortillas one by one in a dry (no need for oil)
stainless steel or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Heat about 30 seconds
on each side.
If using cheese: sprinkle grated cheese on the tortilla after it is heated on
one side.
7. Move warmed tortilla to a platter and add the desired amount of the
sweet potato filling to each. Then fold to close and secure with a tooth
pick.
Serving Suggestions
Serve with a mixed green salad topped with your favorite salsa (a
mango/cilantro/lime salsa is perfect with this recipe!). Also use leftover filling to
make quesadillas and freeze for a later meal or packed lunch.

Butternut Squash Chili

Our family LOVES butternut squash!  We enjoy it in soups, salads, and pasta dishes.  So I was thrilled to find this new recipe for Butternut Squash Chili (courtesy of citronlimette.com):

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon canola oil
• 1½ pound ground turkey
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped onion
• ½ cup chopped green pepper
• ½ cup chopped red pepper
• 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon diced jalapeno pepper
• ¼ cup white wine
• 1 teaspoon ground ancho chile pepper
• 2 teaspoon oregano
• ½ teaspoon ground red pepper
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 2½ cups cubed peeled butternut squash

See more spicy recipes!

Instructions

1. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray and add 1 teaspoon oil. Season ground turkey with salt and pepper and add to pan; saute 7-8 minutes. Remove from heat.
2. Add 2 teaspoon oil to pan and add onion, green pepper, red pepper and saute 2-3 minutes. Add tomato paste, garlic and jalapeno; saute 1-2 minutes. Add wine; bring to boil, scraping pan. Cook 2 minutes. Return ground turkey to pan.
3. Stir in ancho chili pepper, oregano, ground red pepper, ground cumin, ground coriander, diced tomatoes, kidney beans and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.
4. Add butternut squash and simmer 45 minutes or until squash is tender.

Pumpkin Bean Soup

Pumpkin-Bean Soup (courtesy of Better Homes & Gardens)

ingredients

• 1
  15-oz. can pumpkin
• 1
  14-oz. can unsweetened coconut milk
• 1
  15-oz. can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1
  14-oz. can vegetable broth
• 1
  tsp. dried leaf sage, crushed
• Salt and ground black pepper
• Cracked black peppercorns, optional
• Fresh lime slices, optional
  
  
  

Black Bean, Corn, Avocado Salad

(courtesy of Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
• 1 avocado - peeled, pitted and diced
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 6 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Directions

1. Place lime juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, and cayenne pepper in a small jar. Cover with lid, and shake until ingredients are well mixed.
2. In a salad bowl, combine beans, corn, avocado, bell pepper, tomatoes, green onions, and cilantro. Shake lime dressing, and pour it over the salad. Stir salad to coat vegetables and beans with dressing, and serve.

White Chicken Tortilla Soup
(courtesy of Erica)

Ingredients:
4 ounce can of diced green chili's (you can make your own if you prefer)
4 cups chicken stock
1 rotisserie chicken - I get mine from Costco. Remove meat and cut chicken in to bite size pieces( you can also use 2 lbs cooked boneless, skinless chicken).
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
1/2 cup diced yellow onion
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
2 cans Great Northern Beans (white beans)
1 cup sweet white corn (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper to tasteDirections:
In a large pot saute onions and garlic in the EVOO over medium high heat for 4 minutes. Add chicken stock, green chili's, cumin, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, add chicken, sweet white corn and beans. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

To thicken soup and add body: Add 3 tablespoons of cornstarch in a cup-sized container, mix as little cold water as possible to form a thin paste. Bring the soup back up to a boil; stir with 1 hand and pour the paste in slowly with the other. Continue to cook on high heat for a minute, then reduce to low. The soup will look cloudy at first but will clear up and thicken slightly. Remove from heat.

Add Cilantro and lime juice.

Garnish/toppings: sour cream, Mexican style shredded cheese, corn chips (you you can make your own - see below), lime wedges, chopped cilantro, chopped chives.

{As you can see I didn't add all the garnishings for the picture}

This soup is delicious and very easy to make (especially if you get the chicken like I do and use corn chips). It yields about 8-12 servings.