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Sausage Bean Soup

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It’s getting cold outside (finally) and thoughts go to warm, comforting soup.  Bret bought some great Italian sausage last week and I’ve been looking for something to make with it.  This Sausage Bean Soup looked perfect.  I could tell it was going to be good!

I changed the original Taste of Home recipe slightly by adding a bit of chili sauce because I wanted more of a tomato base to it.  I also like my soup more soupy than chunky, so I added more liquid for that.  The result was a wonderful savory soup full of good stuff like tomatoes, butter beans, black beans and sweet Italian Sausage.

If you don’t have Italian sausage, I’m sure ground beef or ground turkey would be great too. Some of the reviewers used great northern beans instead of the butter beans, but I liked the texture the butter beans added. You could even leave the meat out and add a third kind of bean if that’s more your style. This is a nice addition to my soup recipes and I’ll be using it often!

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Sausage Bean Soup
***1/2 - slightly adapted from Taste of Home.
Ingredients
  • 3/4 lb bulk Italian sausage
  • 1/2 C chopped onion
  • 1 garlic clove minced
  • 1 can (16 oz.) butter beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 2 tbsp chili sauce
  • 1 tbsp minced fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried basil
  • 1 1/2 cans (or about 20 oz.) reduced-sodium beef broth
Instructions
  1. In a dutch oven or large pan, crumble and cook the sausage along with the onion and garlic over medium heat until no longer pink, 5-7 minutes.  Drain excess grease.
  2. Stir in beans, tomatoes, chili sauce, basil, and beef broth, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered, about 15 minutes.
Recipe Notes

Tips and Stuff:  I added a teaspoon of olive oil because the sausage didn't have enough fat to saute the onion and garlic.  Enjoy!

Hearty Hamburger Cauliflower Soup

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It’s officially soup season. Yay!  It’s been in the thirties and forties this week, so the soup recipes came out and got sorted through.  Just when I had decided on one to make, my friend Sherry emailed me a recipe she had recently created for their family.

Hamburger Cauliflower Soup
Sherry says, “I wanted to use cauliflower in a soup instead of potatoes and couldn’t find a recipe that wasn’t cream based.” Well, she did a great job because it turned out beautifully. It was comforting, full of good stuff, and delicious. The cauliflower was tender and soaked in some of that wonderful beefy-tomato broth and was a great addition to the soup. I got a photo of it hot and steamy right out of the pot…

Hamburger Cauliflower Soup Bowl
I was looking for a soup or stew to take to a friend of mine who just got out of the hospital and this one was perfect. I took it over to them steaming hot with fresh crackers and a few slices of Double-Layer Pumpkin Pie.  When I got home I slipped on my jammies and fluffy socks and enjoyed a bowl of it while watching Project Runway.  Now, that’s the life!    I think we’ll double this one next time.

Hamburger Cauliflower Soup 3

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Hamburger Cauliflower Soup

****created a la Sherry Sebastian.  Delicious and hearty.

Servings: 4 - 6
Ingredients
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 Medium Onion (roughly chopped)
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 Can Stewed Tomatoes
  • 3 Cups water
  • 3 Beef bouillon cubes
  • 1/4 tsp Onion Powder
  • 1/4 tsp Garlic Salt
  • 1/2 tsp Basil
  • 1 tsp Celery flakes
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
  • 1/2 Large Cauliflower head (cut into florets)
Instructions
  1. In a large pot, saute the onion in the olive oil until almost translucent.  Add the hamburger and brown*. Add the stewed tomatoes, water, bouillon cubes, onion powder,  basil, garlic salt, celery flakes and salt and pepper. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
  2. Add Cauliflower florets and simmer (very slow simmer) for 1 hour.
Recipe Notes

Tips and Stuff:
I added a another cup of water to her original recipe (called for 2 cups) because I wanted to make sure and have enough to take to my friend.

*If the ground beef generates excess grease, drain it off before you add the rest of the ingredients so the soup won't be oily.

The original recipe didn't have basil, but  it's one of my favorite herbs so I put it in almost everything!

Be sure and add the cauliflower when the recipe calls for it - you don't want it to get mushy.

Next time I might add even more vegetables - the broth base of this is soooo good!

Spicy Black Eyed Pea Soup

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It’s interesting how a recipe evolves in our house.  We don’t start out to create one, but as they say “invention is the mother of necessity.”  Actually that was said by Plato, but that’s another story.  Anyway, we had Eckrich Link Sausage leftover from another recipe and had the “necessity” to use it.

I came home one day and Bret had diced the sausage and added it to a can of black eyed peas, which we always have in the cupboard.  It was pretty darn good, so I started playing with the combination and found that keeping it simple was the best way to go.  I almost called it a stew because it can be – depending on how much water you put into it.  Bret prefers the chunky stuff and I prefer the soup part, and that’s how the final version of this came about!  We always make quick corn muffins as a companion to it and often serve it with a side of fruit to round it out.  Now that it’s getting colder outside we’ll have this often to warm us up.   It’s easy to make, actually fairly healthy (except for the warm muffins slathered in butter…), and a staple in my recipe book.  Enjoy!

Black Eyed Pea Soup

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Black Eyed Pea Soup
****We love this hearty soup when the weather turns cold.  The combination of vegetables and spices is just right!
Servings: 4 -5
Author: Susan Blades
Ingredients
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1 link (about 6.5 oz) smoked turkey sausage, diced
  • 2 cans black eyed peas
  • 1 can Rotel tomatoes
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 C medium salsa
  • 1 tbsp chopped pickled jalapenos (optional)
  • 1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • Water
Instructions
  1. In a large pot or dutch oven, sauté the diced sausage in the olive oil for 2 to 3 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally.  Add the black eyed peas, including liquid, and the can of Rotel, including liquid.  Stir in the onion and garlic powders, salsa, jalapenos (optional), salt and pepper.  Add one black eyed pea can (about 2 Cups) of water and stir.  
  2. Bring to a boil on medium high heat, then turn to medium low and simmer for about 20 minutes until flavors are blended. Serve with cornbread.
Recipe Notes

Tips and Stuff:

We like the soup spicy, so we use medium Rotel along with the jalapenos - you can use a mild salsa and no jalapenos if you prefer it milder.

Sometimes I pick up the black eyed peas with bacon or onion and that adds a nice flavor to the soup.

If I don't have a can of Rotel tomatoes, I use petite diced tomatoes and a can of green chiles. This lasts quite a while in the refrigerator and tastes better every day.

Ma’s Taco Soup

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Everyone has their own version of taco soup!  This one comes from Ma Blades and she says it’s originally a Weight Watcher’s recipe from way back.  It’ll be really good when it finally cools off here in forever-summer land.  A quick throw-together dinner for the crockpot or stovetop – serve with crackers or nice sweet corn muffins.
TacoSoup2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ma’s Taco Soup
*** very good.  More like chili than soup to me - very filling!
Servings: 4
Ingredients
  • ½ lb cooked ground beef
  • 1 can diced tomatoes (plain, Italian, or other)
  • 2 cans ranch style beans
  • 1 can whole kernel corn
  • 1 can hominy
  • 1 packet taco seasoning
Instructions
  1. Dump all ingredients, including undrained cans of vegetables, into a crock pot and cook on low for about 5 hours.  Or put it all in a large pot and simmer until all the flavors are melded together and you think it’s done!
Recipe Notes
Tips and Stuff:  I used about 3 tbsp. of Penzey's taco seasoning (the best!) instead of the packet of taco seasoning.  This would be good using ground turkey or with no meat at all.

From-Scratch Chicken and Rice Soup

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There’s nothing like a pot of homemade Chicken and Rice Soup to warm you up when it’s cool outside.  This from-scratch chicken and rice soup is a perfect blend of roasted chicken broth, rice and spices.

It takes a little time to make (mostly simmering to get all those flavors to blend), but it’s worth it. Refrigerate the leftovers – it gets better every day!

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Homemade Chicken and Rice Soup
****I've been making this soup for years - experimenting with different seasonings and finally arriving at the right one for us!  Be creative and throw in whatever vegetables or seasonings your family likes best.
Servings: 6 -8
Ingredients
  • 1 deli chicken or home-roasted chicken
  • 1 small onion roughly chopped
  • 1 Cup chopped celery
  • 1 Cup chopped carrots
  • 2 tsp poultry seasoning
  • 1 1/2   tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1   tsp garlic powder
  • 1 can chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup rice
Instructions
  1. Remove meat from chicken and store in refrigerator.  Place chicken carcass and bones in a dutch oven and cover entirely with water, about 2/3rds up the side of the pan.  Simmer on medium-low for about 30 minutes with lid on.  Let cool completely and remove bones from the pot, pulling the remaining meat off the bones and leaving the meat in the stock.  

  2. After all bones are carefully removed, add the onion, celery, carrots, and seasonings. Stir to combine, then simmer on low with lid for 30 minutes. 

  3. Add chicken stock and 2 Cups of water, and bring stock to a boil. Add rice and turn down to low - simmer for 20 minutes, or if using quick-cook rice, according to instructions. Serve immediately or let cool thoroughly and refrigerate. Gets better every day. Add more or less rice according to tastes. May use flat noodle pasta, too, for chicken and noodle soup.

Recipe Notes

Tips and Stuff:

If the soup doesn't have enough chicken pieces, go ahead and throw in some from the meat you originally took off the chicken.

Make sure the skin is off of all the bones (particularly the wing skin) or you'll have too much fat floating on the soup.

We, of course, don't use onion so I use 1 tsp of onion powder instead and it works fine.

To make sure the bones are all out of the soup, I don thin latex gloves (rinsed of course) and run my hands through the cooled soup before the rice is added.