Chicken Feet Papaya Soup

This is one of my favorite soups...Chicken Feet Papaya soup:

Chicken feet

Papaya
Red dates
Dried Mandarin peel
Pork bone
Ginger

Blanch the chicken feet and pork bone for about 5-10 minutes first. That gets rid of oil and scuzz that comes with using animal bone. This soup is nourishing and the papaya helps with breastmilk production. (Fish and Green Papaya soup is the best for that.)

I have a thermal pot which makes soup really easy to do. As the water heats up to a rolling boil in the metal pot, I prepare and add all the ingredients. I boil the soup for about 45 minutes and then transfer it into the thermal pot where it continues to simmer. A few carefree hours later...it's done! This pot is also awesome for making stews and congee. 

Gazpacho

Fall means harvest time and we were passed a ton of heirloom tomatoes from my Uncle. One giant yellow one was too old and ripe to eat by itself so I thought a gazpacho would be nice to cap off the last of the summer harvest. I looked up recipes for inspiration and then made my own. Sorry, the picture should really feature the gazpacho in the top right corner and not the rest. =) But what a colorful meal no?

Tomatoes

Cucumber

Purple Onion

Garlic

Balsamic Vinegar

Lemon Juice

Cayenne Pepper

Cumin

Tomato Juice

Olive Oil

Basil for garnish

Just puree everything raw, add S&P to taste and enjoy! 

Salmon was seared with rosemary, garlic, S&P. Salad is bagged kale salad mix from Costco. And basmati rice...leftover from Indian take out. 

Fish soup

I've been wanting to make fish soup for a while. My Dad told me that these red, big eyed fish are ideal because it (and tilapia) are pretty much the only fish that will make the soup milky and creamy when you boil it long enough. That's when you know it's good'n ready. Fish soup is also supposed to be good to drink after injuries or surgery...to promote circulation and healing. I'm sure no clinical studies have been done on this...but it's a known fact for Chinese people...and they have a 5000 yr medical history so they could be onto something. Can't hurt anyways. Fish Onion Carrot Tomato Ginger - helps take away the fishiness I put the fish into a cheesecloth bag so that I don't have to deal with the bones afterwards. Make sure all the gills and guts are cleaned out well before putting the fish in the soup! Keep it at a rolling boil until the broth looks creamy (so start with more water). Add a pinch of salt and enjoy!!

Cream of Mushroom

Okay making your own cream of mushroom is so amazing I will likely never buy it again!

Onion
Cremini mushrooms
Thyme
Veggie broth
Whipping cream (this is probably a killer but Almond Milk can be used as a healthy, low-fat substitute)

9 Bean Squash & Spinach Soup

 

We're trying to reduce the amount of meat we consume...because it really is way too much for our physical systems that really are built more for herbaboires than carnivores. This is coming from someone who LOVES her meat. Especially red meat, medium rare. Sigh.

So...taking Meatless Mondays more seriously...I'm venturing into vegetarian cooking territory and making a hearty, high protein, high fibre soup.

9 bean mix (from Costco)

Butternut squash

Spinach

Oregano

Basil

Celery seed

Paprika

Garlic

Turkey bones (for the broth, I know, it's not vegetarian but I didn't have vegetable stock handy. Baby steps)

And you know, it's pretty tasty! And filling! I do burn it off faster than a heavy meat dinner, but then I reach for some almonds or fruit to take the edge off and just go to sleep. And my GI is happier for it.

Hearty Turkey soup

It's getting colder and colder out there. Time for all the soup and stew recipes to come out! Here's an experiment that turned out pretty yummy: Turkey soup

Turkey carcas from whatever festive dinner you had
Turkey meat (I prefer the leftover dark meat)
Butternut squash (leftovers as well)
Tomatoes
Carrots
Celery
Onion
Quinoa
Garlic
Dried herbs (Thyme, Basil, Oregano in my case)

Threw everything into a big pot in the afternoon....3 hrs of simmering later....yummy goodness that feels like a warm blankie. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Soup & Kale Chicken Hash

I've always wanted to try making my own butternut squash soup. So, I bought one, baked it in the oven for 45min and then used half of it to make this soup.

Butternut squash
Onion
Curry Powder
Chicken Stock

I made the chicken stock with the carcas of a Costco BBQ chicken. Meanwhile I took its breastmeat and sauteed it with kale and some leftover potato hash. Everything went together...great comfort food! So great in fact, I just put the kale chicken hash straight into the butternut soup:



So now it's a hearty kale chicken butternut squash soup!

Both were really delicious...and will surely be made again. =)

Tomato Soup

 

I've been making a lot of tomato soup of late. It's actually pretty easy...and you can adjust the flavors however you like. The first time I made it, it was too "carroty" said my husband. I was lacking chicken or vegetable broth and used some carrot juice instead. I thought the soup tasted fine. But whatever....

 

Tomatoes

Peppers (red, orange or yellow)

Onion

Broth (I made turkey broth from leftover bones...yum!)

White wine

Baby carrots

S&P

Thyme

Basil

Marble Cheese (I remember recipes asking for heavy cream which I didn't have, so thought cheese will do.)

 

What's also really nice is a pinch of chili powder for some kick.

I also have to say, immersion blenders are the bomb.

Chicken Soup

The weather's getting cool and that brings out a craving for a hearty chicken soup. This is probably my favorite while growing up:

Chicken carcas (I save the bones from when I buy whole BBQ chicken)
Tomatoes
Carrots
Potatoes
Onion
Garlic
Salt

I like to boil/simmer it until the bones fall apart from the joints. Using one of those handheld drink blenders to puree the veggies in the soup add to the richness of flavor too. I had two bowls already. So yum.
 

Kidney Cleanse Soup

This is an Asian broth my Mom taught me...it's good for a kidney cleanse. I'd say 99% of Asian soups are medicinal in some way in that it's always good for one thing or another. Asian soups are rarely purely for indulgent tastes like say, creamy clam chowder is.

What I also like about this soup is it's simple ingredients:

Artichoke
Lean pork
Dried dates
Water







(Some of the more "advanced" soups have so many different herbs, roots, seeds, fungi added that I can never remember it offhand. Nor can I keep track of all its medicinal qualities.)

After two or so hours in the crock pot...add a pinch of salt to bring out the flavors and enjoy! Your kidneys will be happier too.