Healthy and hearty soup

2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken (or Thanksgiving turkey)
1 10oz container mushrooms, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
10 cups chicken broth or water
1 15oz can pinto beans (or any kind you like)
4 cups kale or bok-choy, or both, chopped
1/2 cup millet
1 cup couscous
2 bay leaves
1 tsp turmeric
1/3 cup parsley, dill, and cilantro, chopped (or any one of them)
olive oil
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 black pepper
1 tsp paprika


Heat oil in a large pot and saute onions, carrots, and celery for about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook for another 3 minutes.
Stir in garlic and the rest of the ingredients except for the herbs and kale, and bring to a boil.
Cover and turn the heat down and cook for 15 minutes. Add the herb mix and the kale and cook for another couple
minutes.


Serves 10

3 Bean and Kale Soup

1 lb pork chorizo sausage
1 cup diced tomatoes*
1/2 lb dry beans (kidney, northern or Christmas)*
1 cup dry garbanzo beans*
1 cup roasted red peppers, chopped
1 can V8 juice (or 1 cup tomato sauce)
3 cups water or broth
1/2 cup carrots diced
1/2 cup celery diced
1/2 cup chopped onions
2 cups chopped kale
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 tsp cumin
1 bay leaf
Parsley
Salt and pepper


The night before put the dry beans, bay leaf and water in a slow cooker.
Cook pork chorizo sausage in a skillet for 5 minutes. Add onions and garlic and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the meat mix to the beans and water and turn on the slow-cooker on low heat to cook overnight.

In the morning add the rest of the ingredients to the slow-cooker and continue to cook on low heat for 4 more hours.

Optional topping for the soup: shredded cheddar cheese, sour-cream, tortilla chips.


*Araksya's Tip: You can use canned beans instead of dry beans and canned tomatoes, and skip the cooking overnight. I prepared my veggies the night before by chopping them and putting them in the containers and kept it in the fridge.

Split Pea Soup

2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp marjoram
1 lb pork sausage
1 lb (2 1/4 cups) green split peas
3 quarts water
1/2 cup flour
1 cup diced onions
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced potatoes


Wash split peas and sort. In large saucepan combine water and seasonings (top 3 ingredients) and bring to boil. Add peas gradually so water doesn't stop boiling.
Cook sausage in the skillet, and add flour when the sausage is browned. Cook for a minute, and then add to the soup, cover, and simmer until peas are tender - 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Add veggies and cook for another half hour to an hour.

Borscht (Cabbage and Beet soup)

Ingredients

1 medium cabbage shredded
1 small beet peeled and diced
2 carrots diced
1 bell pepper coarsely chopped
3-4 potatoes diced
1 onion chopped
1 cup tomato sauce
2 TB tomato paste
1/4 cup Italian parsley chopped
2 TB olive oil
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp dry basil or 2 TB fresh
1-quart broth (beef or chicken) or water
salt and pepper


Directions

Heat oil in a big pan, add onions and cook until transparent. Add tomato paste and sauce, basil, paprika, and stir well. Then add the rest of the vegetables to the pan, the broth, salt, and pepper and let it cook for 30-40 minutes or longer until the vegetables are cooked well but still a little crunchy. Add parsley and turn the heat off.

Makes 8 servings

Araksya's Tip: You can add beef (ground or chunks) to this dish. If adding ground beef then cook the meat with onions. Or you can cook any beef pieces in water with bay leaf and use that broth for the soup with the meat.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Veggie Soup

Ingredients

1-2 pounds butternut squash peeled, seeded and chopped
2 carrots cut into big chunks
1 celery stalk cut into big chunks
1 big bell pepper cut into chunks
2-3 cups chicken or beef stock
2 TB olive oil
1/4 cup Italian parsley
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 425F. Prepare a big cookie sheet with a foil and put all of the veggies on the sheet. Drizzle them with olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
Roast them in the oven for 30 minutes or until the veggies get browned slightly.
Take them out and let them cool for a few minutes, and then blend them in the blender with parsley and the chicken or beef stock.

Pour the mix into a pot and warm it up on the stove.

Makes 4 servings

Chakhobili - Armenian Chicken Onion Soup

You've got to give this a try. I guarantee that you'll like it!

3-4 pieces of chicken (any part)
3 onions quartered and then sliced
1 8oz can tomato sauce or puree
1 TB tomato paste
2 TB flour for thickening
2-3 TB oil (olive or canola or whatever you have)
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp dry basil
1 TB fresh or 1 tsp. dry parsley (I prefer the fresh one)
1-2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste

In a pot cover the chicken with water, add some salt and bay leaves and cook on the stove until chicken is cooked. Take the chicken out and save the broth. Shred the chicken and set aside.
Meanwhile in a medium saucepan heat oil over medium heat and add sliced onions by layering them and putting a pinch of salt on each layer. Don't stir the onions for about 10 minutes or until the bottom onions get browned, and then stir them until all of the onions are golden brown.
Add flour to the onions, stir to mix and then add paprika, basil, parsley and black pepper, tomato sauce and paste. Then add the shredded chicken and the broth to the onion mix. Bring to a boil and cook another 5 minutes or until thickened the way you prefer.


Yield: 6 servings