Green Swamp SoupKid, Earth and Time Friendly Recipes

It’s snowed-in fare extraordinaire! This ultra-creamy comfort food is hearty, flavorful and, yes, still healthy. Kids love the peas and carrots nestled in this soup, and parents love the hint of white wine and fennel.

Aside from the organic potatoes, peas and carrots, one of the things that makes this soup healthier than your average Joe potato soup is how I make it creamy. Rather than using the 3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream called for in, say, Emeril’s recipe for this soup, I use just 1/2 cup half and half. I’m able to get an ultra-creamy consistency by pureeing about half of the soup with the half and half in a blender.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. vegetable or olive oil
2 cups finely chopped leeks
2 cups finely chopped onions
4 cups russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup organic frozen peas
2 celery stalks
1 cup carrots, finely chopped
2 tablespoons white wine
1/4 tsp. dried fennel
1/2 tsp. dried mustard
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
4 cups of water
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Sautee leeks, onions and celery in oil until soft and clear, about 5 minutes. (If you need to, add a little water to the mixture to keep it moist.)

2. Add potatoes, carrots, wine, bouillon, fennel and water.

3. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until potatoes are tender, about 12 minutes. Your soup mixture should be nice and thick.

4. Put about 1/2 of the soup mixture in a blender and puree with the half and half.

5. Add pureed creamy mixture back into soup.

6. Add salt and pepper to taste.

My Thanksgiving turkey, affectionately named Maybel, was my first turkey ever. A free-range organic turkey, I really tried to do right by her. This simple, delicious turkey and rice soup is one example of my attempt to honor her and not let any go to waste.

Warning: this is not the most appetizing paragraph! My mom told me I needed to boil the turkey carcass in order to make the most out of Maybel and turn her into a nutritious, delicious broth. Having been a vegetarian for the majority of my adult life, this idea did not appeal to me in practice, though it did in theory. It made sense to try to make the most of Maybel and learn how soup broth is really made — I just didn’t want to do it! My mom gave me all of the instruction I needed … I basically put the carcass in a big pot filled with water, one onion and three celery stalks and boiled it for two hours. I let the broth cool a little, then drained the broth and separated all the bones from it (eek!!!). I was seriously feeling like a pioneer woman straight out of Plymouth at this point.

Once I got past the boiling part, the rest was pretty easy. I just stored the broth in plastic containers in the fridge, then removed all of the fat off of the top of the broth. Now, I had what I needed to make the soup.

Cooking up this soup was a snap. I simply simmered carrots, onions and celery in the broth until they were tender, then added the leftover turkey meat and 1/2 cup of rice. This simmered for another 20 minutes. I also added 1 tsp. of rubbed sage and about 1 tsp of salt and freshly ground pepper for additional flavor. The result was pure homey comfort!

If you don’t want to boil your poor turkey, you can simply use chicken broth in this recipe with leftover turkey meat. But now, you’ll know how that chicken broth was really made.

Ingredients:

2 cups carrots, chopped
3 large celery stalks, diced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups turkey, cubed
1/2 cup rice (I used Jasmine, any will do)

If using real turkey broth:

4 cups broth
2 cups water

If using chicken broth:

6 cups chicken broth

Directions:

1. Throw veggies into a large pot and simmer in about 2 cups of broth until tender.

2. Add the turkey, spices and the rest of the broth until you reach a simmer.

3. Add rice.

4. Simmer for 20 minutes until rice is tender.

5. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Just in time for Thanksgiving — this yummy, flavorful soup makes a uniquely healthy appetizer, or a post-Thanksgiving-leftover-dinner main dish. And, it’s insanely simple to make, so it won’t take much time at all to whip up. I served this soup with Jalapeno corn waffles topped with spicy toasted squash seeds, but it’s also nice with just a little plain sour cream or yogurt.

The following recipe for this soup is slightly modified from this recipe by Annie B. Bond.

Ingredients:
2 acorn squash, cut in half
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 Granny Smith or other tart apples, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
2/3 cup sherry (optional)
5 vegetable stock
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Fresh-ground black pepper to taste
Pinch cayenne (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Lay the squash halves cut side down on baking sheets, and roast them for 45 minutes or until the flesh is soft. When the squash has cooled a little, scoop out the seeds and discard them. Then, with a large spoon, scoop out the flesh of the squash into a bowl.

2. Heat the butter or oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onion softens. Add the garlic, ginger, and curry powder, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the apples and the sherry, and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the apples soften.

3. Puree the squash flesh with the water or stock in batches in a blender or food processor. Transfer the squash puree to a large saucepan, then puree the apple-sherry mixture, and add this to the pureed squash.

4. Heat the soup, and season it with the salt, pepper, and, if you like, cayenne. Ladle the hot soup into bowls, and serve.

Finally, after almost four months of blogging, I’ve made the recipe that’s the namesake of my blog — Green Swamp Soup. This, of course, is asparagus soup. It’s my kids’ absolute favorite soup, mostly because it’s green, creamy and asparagus-y.

I love the taste of asparagus, but I also love the fact that it’s one the most nutritionally well-balanced vegetables in existence. It’s literally loaded with a wide variety of vitamins and nutrients, including vitamin C, B1, B2, B3, B6, vitamin K and folic acid, to name just a few. It even has 3 grams of fiber and 5.3 grams of protein!

The other great thing about this recipe is that it’s extremely easy and the kids can help with the prepwork.

Ingredients:

2 bunches asparagus (about two pounds), with stalks karate chopped off
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 tablespoons butter
2 cubes low-sodium vegetable bouillon
2 1/2 cups of water
1/4 cup half and half
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 tsp. dried thyme

Directions:

1. Remove the asparagus stalk. Hold one end of the asparagus spear in each hand and bend the stalk close to the bottom. The spear will naturally break at the point where it becomes tough!

2. While breaking stalks, boil about 5 cups of salted water in a large sauce pan.

3. When water is boiling, put asparagus spears in with just a touch of sugar and boil for 8 minutes, or until bright green.

4. Drain asparagus, being sure to save 2 1/2 cups of the water.

5. Sautee onions in butter until soft. Add garlic and sautee until fragrant. (About two minutes.)

6. Add flour.

7. Sautee two minutes until flour is well blended with onions and butter.

8. Add 2 1/2 cups asparagus water to onions.

9. Add bouillon.

10. Bring to a simmer.

11. Add thyme.

12. Simmer for five minutes to combine flavors.

13. Put soup base, asparagus, pine nuts, milk and half and half into a blender.

14. Puree until smooth. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.

16. Serve with warm, crusty bread. For fun, put the bread “boat” in the soup and have the kids “sink” it!

Do kids really like this? See for yourself!

If there’s one comfort food every kid loves it’s pasta. They love it served with tomato sauce, cheese sauce, in salads, stir fries and yes, even soups. This recipe combines the Italian seasonings my kids love, plus noodles and A LOT of veggies. This soup, when made with Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta, is chock full of even more vitamins, fiber, protein and calcium!

I discovered Ronzoni last weekend at our cousin Margaret Buckton’s house. This pasta looks and tastes like regular old pasta, but has all the added nutrients of what you’d normally find in a whole wheat pasta, and then some. Add mozzarella or parmasan cheese and you’ve got a yummy, wholesome Italian dinner.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, diced

2 tsp. olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

5 cups chopped seasonal veggies of your choice: squash, zucchini, eggplant, brussels sprouts, carrots, green beans, broccoli, rutabaga

2 cups diced tomatoes (canned or fresh)

1 can garbanzo or white beans

1 tsp. dried basil (or use fresh if available)

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. thyme

3 tbsp. fresh parsley

6 cups water

3 cubes low-sodium veggie bouillion

1/2 package Ronzoni thin spaghetti, broken in half

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Saute onions on medium heat for five minutes or unil clear.

2. Add garlic and saute two minutes.

3. Add spices, except parsley.

4. Add all veggies, tomatoes, bouillion and water.

5. Bring to a boil, then add spaghetti noodles.

6. Boil for 10 minutes, then simmer on low till veggies are cooked through.

7. Serve hot and garnish with parsley and grated mozzarella cheese.

I served this with some crusty Italian bread and olive oil!

I love football season for two reasons. 1. It makes my husband ridiculously happy. 2. This distracted happiness gives me plenty of time to make homemade chili. Nothing says a perfect end to a perfect fall day to me than a huge crock pot full of homemade chili. It’s our family’s favorite comfort food — and this version is ridiculously healthy and flavorful.

I used to make my chili with habenaros and jalapenos, but I’ve learned how to take it down several notches for the kiddies by using a roasted poblano pepper. This gives the chili a smoky, peppery flavor without all of the “heat” from the hot chiles. If you have a gas stove, it’s easy to roast your own pepper. Check out this article from Summer Tomato to learn how. Serve it up at halt-time with fresh salsa, sour cream, pepper jack cheese, jalapenos and lots of blue and red tortilla chips.

Ingredients:

2 tsp. olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 poblano pepper, roasted, seeded and then chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 ears of fresh sweet corn, or 1 14.5-oz. can of corn
1 small green pepper, diced
1 small red pepper, diced
1 can red kidney beans
2 cans black beans
2 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. cumin

If using canned tomatoes:
1 14.5-oz. can diced  tomatoes
1 28-oz. can tomato sauce

If using fresh tomatoes, use:
2 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped
2 quarts fresh tomatoes, peeled, cored and pureed
4 tbsp. fresh cilantro (garnish)

Directions:

1. Roast pepper. (Follow these directions from Summer Tomato.)

2. Saute onions and peppers in oil on medium-high heat until clear, about five minutes.

3. Add garlic and saute for two minutes more or until fragrant.

If using canned tomatoes:

4. Combine sauteed ingredients and all remaining ingredients in crock pot. Cook on low heat for four hours or until desired thickness (I like my chili T-H-I-C-K).

If using fresh tomatoes:

4. Combine sauteed ingredients and all remaining ingredients in crock pot. Cook on high heat for four hours or until desired thickness (leave yourself an hour of cooking on low heat for a thicker consistency).