Chicken Salsa Soup

Homemade soup is a staple for us.  I make it often, in large batches, and I keep meal-sized portions in the freezer to have for quick suppers.  Here is how I make one of our favorites.

Chicken Salsa Soup

Start with two quarts of homemade or store-bought chicken broth.  (I boil the remains of a rotisserie chicken.)
One pint of salsa.  (I use homemade,  with the spice level set to medium.)
One package of Soup Vegetables.  The mix from Weis Market is perfect, with potatoes, carrots, onions, okra, etc.  (I wanted a little more corn in this batch, so I also added a 12-ounce package of frozen sweet corn.)
Simmer till veggies are tender.
Depending on the flavor of the broth at this point, I have been known to add some chicken bouillon to perk it up.
Stir in some chopped chicken (the breasts from the rotisserie chicken are perfect) and two cans of black beans, drained but not rinsed.
Simmer for about ten minutes, and your soup is ready to serve.

These are the soup-mix vegetables.  I keep at least one package in the freezer at all times, to have them handy when we get the urge for soup.

We had our first frost a few nights ago, and there is a definite autumn chill in the air ... it's soup season!

Enjoy!

Potato Cauliflower Soup

It's been rainy and cold all day ... a perfect day to make a pot of soup for dinner.  I felt fairly adventurous as I searched through the freezer and cupboards for soup makings.  The fun thing about making soup is that even the most unlikely combination of ingredients can be wonderful together.

 

 

 

Here is what I came up with:

Potato Cauliflower Soup

4-5 slices of bacon
1 medium yellow onion
3 stalks of celery
3 large Russet potatoes
1 bag of frozen cauliflower
48 oz. chicken broth

Cut the bacon into small pieces, and cook it in the soup pot.  Finely chop the onion and celery, and add it to the bacon.  Saute till tender.  Peel and dice potatoes.  Add potatoes and cauliflower to the pot.  Cover with chicken broth.  Simmer until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally.  Use a hand blender (or regular blender) to puree soup.  Salt to taste.  Top each bowl with a sprinkle of grated cheese.  (I'll bet sour cream would be good, too.)

 

 

This soup turned out really, REALLY good!  (There are plenty of leftovers in the fridge for later in the week.)

 

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I haven't forgotten that I promised to share pictures from the greyhound gathering in California over the weekend.  There are a lot of them, and I am still working to get them formatted.