Giving chicken soup a little kick

Homemade chicken soup is such a simply wonderful meal. It’s a great comfort when you’re under the weather, but a warm bowl full of chicken, broth and other goodies is delicious no matter how you feel. The next time you want a little twist on a traditional favorite, give this recipe a try.

Kickin’ Chicken and Rice Soup
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, ends removed, diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
1 cup dry white rice, rinsed
1 cup diced cooked chicken
1 cup (7-8 ounces) diced smoked sausage (I used one of these guys)
8 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
8 ounces large shrimp, butterflied and separated

Heat olive oil over medium heat in large, heavy pot. Add garlic, onion, carrots, celery and bell pepper and sautée for a couple minutes. Stir in Creole seasoning, rice, sausage and chicken and sautée for a couple more minutes. Add broth and tomato paste. Bring pot to boil and then reduce heat, allowing soup to simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, or until rice is cooked. Stir in shrimp, cover, and simmer for another five minutes, until shrimp is fully cooked.

Hearty lentil soup perfect for a stormy night

I don’t know why I ever found soup intimidating.

I’ve only attempted a few pots on my own, but every time, I’m amazed by how easy it is to make soup, and how flavorful the end result turns out.

Friday’s gray, stormy conditions were perfect soup weather, so I decided to give lentil soup a go. I bought the kielbasa and lentils a few days ago — Winco’s bulk food bins are my new best friend, I think a pound of lentils cost me 70 cents — and put post-stuffing vegetables to good use. The choice in herbs was based solely on what’s in my spice cabinet at the moment.

This recipe resulted in a pretty hefty pot of soup (maybe 8 large servings), so some of the leftovers went into the freezer for a future stormy night.

Hearty Lentil Soup with Kielbasa
2 ½ cups dry lentils
10 cups chicken broth
14 oz. kielbasa, cut into slices
1 ½ cups chopped carrots
1 ½ cups chopped celery
2 medium white onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil

Heat olive oil in large pot over medium heat. Add garlic, onions, celery and carrots and sauté vegetables for roughly 5 minutes, or until they soften slightly. Add kielbasa and herbs to pot, stirring with vegetables for 2-3 minutes, and then add lentils, broth and bay leaves. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are soft (in my case, this was roughly 30-40 minutes).