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Soups and Stews
Goat and Lentil Stoup
Joining a CSA has been a lesson in open mindedness for us. You never realize how much you’re set in your foodie ways until you get thrown a curve ball or two. Goat meat is a curve ball. When we opened our CSA bag and started sorting out our haul, I was slightly taken aback by the package of ground goat meat I found nestled underneath the chicken and ground pork. What the heck do you do with goat? I was scared it would have that gamey strong taste that you sometime get with lamb. Well goat doesn’t really taste like lamb. It’s more of cross between lamb and beef and it’s delicious.
When in doubt with ground meat, make a soup – or stoup in this case. I’m calling it a stoup because it’s a really thick hearty soup – more like a stew. I threw in a handful of parsley to brighten this up but you can use whatever fresh herbs you like. If you can’t find goat, ground lamb or ground beef would work well too.
Recipe: Goat and Lentil Stoup
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground lamb or goat
- 1 small onion rough chopped
- 3 carrots sliced into quart inch medallions
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
- 4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
- 1 cup dried brown lentils
Instructions
1. Heat about 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot. Add ground meat with salt and cook until no longer pink. Remove from pot.
2. Add onions and carrots to pot and saute until onions start to get soft.
3. Add broth, water, and lentils and bring to a boil. Add bay leaves, thyme, and rosemary. Turn down to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Then add ground meat and cook for another 10 minutes or until lentils are done. They should be soft but not mushy.
4. Remove from heat and add chopped parsley.
Number of servings (yield): 6
Country Ham Chowder with Collard Greens
Mother nature has a bizarre sense of humor. Just last week I was debating on unpacking my warm weather clothes and planning my spring herb garden. This week I’m bundling up in blankets and wearing sweaters and long socks. Mentally I had moved onto warm sunny spring weather but mother nature slapped me back to reality. What do you do when the temperature goes from 80 degrees to 35 degrees? You make soup. Good soup. Soup that makes you forget the cold dreary weather outdoors for a few minutes.
This soup recipe is courtesy of Chef Tyler Brown of the Capitol Grille at the Hermitage Hotel. It’s a twist on the southern classic collard greens. For the tomatoes, I used a 28 ounce can of San Marzano peel whole tomatoes. I rinsed and drained them well and diced them before adding them to the pot. To save yourself some time cleaning greens, Glory Greens are already chopped and the toughest parts of the stems have been removed. Make sure you taste before adding any additional salt since country ham can be extremely salty.
Country Ham Chowder with Collard Greens
Ingredients
- 2 cups julienned collard greens
- 3 cloves thinly shaved garlic
- 1 medium diced sweet onion
- 3 tbsp Olive oil
- 2 cups diced San Marzano tomatoes
- 2 cups chicken stock or broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- Salt and pepper
- ½ cup diced country ham
Instructions
- Heat large pot over medium low heat. Add olive oil.
- Add onions and garlic and cover.
- Sweat the onion and garlic in olive oil. Once they become translucent add the collard greens.
- Stirring constantly, cook until tender- about 15 minutes.
- Add chicken stock, tomatoes, bay leaf, and thyme. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Add the country ham and check the seasoning.
Lamb and Vegetable Stew with Thyme
Getting tired of beef stew? Substitute lamb and you have a completely different taste. This a lowfat variation of a classic lamb stew that has lots of super tender chunks of meat and veggies. Leeks can be pretty dirty so make sure you clean them well before you put them in your stew. This recipe is easy but it takes some time so this is best for a weekend.
Lamb and Vegetable Stew with Thyme Recipe
Ingredients
| 1 pound lean leg of lamb, cut into 1-inch pieces2 cups water | |
| 4 cups vgetable broth | |
| 2 large leeks sliced, white and pale green parts only | |
| 2 stalks of celery, thinly sliced | |
| 2 medium carrot, thinly sliced | |
| 2 tsp dried thyme | |
| 1 tsp table salt | |
| 1/2 tsp black pepper | |
| 1 medium uncooked baking potato, peeled | |
Instructions
1. Bring water to a boil over high heat. Add lamb and cook 10 minutes; drain and set lamb aside.
2. Pour broth in same saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat. Add leeks, celery and carrots; reduce heat and simmer, covered for 10 minutes.
3. Return lamb to saucepan; add thyme, salt and pepper. Simmer, covered, until lamb is very tender, about 45 minutes.
4. Grate potato into stew, using small holes of a box grater. Stir well and reduce heat to lowest possible simmer. Cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Yields about 1 3/4 cup per serving.
This was adapted from a Weight Watchers International recipe.
Read MoreHow to make homemade vegetable stock
Making vegetable stock is so simple that now I wonder why I never tried it before. Since the weather has turned cold, soups and stews are showing up on our table more and more often. I was prepping a soup recipe a few weeks ago and started reading the ingredient list on store bought vegetable broth. It contained malodextrin, glycerine, and disodium something or other among various other chemicals and preservatives I couldn’t pronounce. I’ve talked before on this blog about my increasing level of paranoia about what’s in the food we eat. I started wondering how difficult it would be to make my own stock and this is my first attempt. Boy was it easy. I gathered up whatever veggies I could find in the vegetable bin and slow simmered them in my dutch oven with some spices and herbs. Not only was it simple and delicious, I felt good about using it because I knew what was in it.
Vegetable stock is pretty flexible ingredient-wise. As long as you have the big three – carrots, celery, and onions, you can experiment with the other stuff. Keep in mind that vegetables with strong flavors like broccoli will dominate your stock.
Homemade Vegetable Stock Recipe
Ingredients
10 cups water
3 stalks of celery
3 carrots
1 onion – cut in half
2 cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
Read MoreSnow Day Spicy Brown Lentil Soup
It’s amazing what you can come up with when there’s too much snow outside to get to the grocery store. This should probably more accurately be called “clean out the veggie bin and pantry” lentil soup. Lentils are a great blank canvas. Toss them in with any aromatics and a good flavorful liquid and you’ve got yourself a tasty soup. I used hot sausage in this but meat is completely optional. If you really want to add some kick, substitute 1 tsp of Cajun seasoning for the thyme springs. This makes about 6 servings.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1 cup carrots, diced
- 3/4 cup celery, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- Salt and black pepper
- 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 cup brown lentils
- 10 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
- 4 to 6 fresh thyme sprigs
- 2/3 cup dried whole wheat elbow pasta
- 7 oz hot smoked sausage diced into half moon rounds
Directions
1. Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat.
2. Add the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, salt, and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are tender, about 5 to 8 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes with their juices. Simmer for about 8 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
4. Add the lentils and broth and stir. Add the thyme sprigs.
5. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and simmer over low heat until the lentils are almost tender, about 30 minutes.
6. Stir in the pasta and sausage. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Sausage and White Bean Soup with Kale
Who doesn’t like a big bowl of hot soup this time of year? In Nashville, this winter is starting out to be one of the coldest since my time here. Of course Nashville cold doesn’t compare to Buffalo NY or Washington D.C. cold, but by our standards it’s pretty frigid. On a cold afternoon, soup has a way of warming you from the inside out. Eating it is like getting the culinary equivalent of a big bear hug.
I added kale to this because I think kale and white beans have an affinity for each other. You could also try chard or spinach. If using spinach, remove from the heat and stir in the spinach and let it sit for about 5 minutes while the spinach wilts. I like to use Glory Kale Greens because they’re stemmed and ready to use.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil
1 small onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 15 oz cans white beans, drained and rinsed
3 cups vegetable broth
1/2 pound Italian sausage (sweet or hot)
1 cup canned diced tomatoes with basil, oregano, and garlic
4 cups kale greens, stems removed, washed, and chopped
Directions
1. Heat large sauce pan over medium heat and add oil.
2. Add Italian sausage and saute until browned. Remove from skillet.
3. Add onions to pan and saute until translucent. Add garlic and saute until fragrant ( about 3 minutes).
4. Add sausage back to pan along with beans, tomatoes, and broth.
5. Increase heat to medium high and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
6. OPTIONAL – I like my soup to have a thicker consistency so I mash some of the beans with a potato masher to thicken it up.
7. Add kale greens and simmer for another 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
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