My Favorite Broccoli Cheese Soup

So I woke up bright and early today to create what I thought was a genius idea, a light broccoli cheese soup. Well, lets just say it failed epicly because broccoli cheese soup is just not meant to be light. It's not the same without some butter, lots of cheese and a little cream. It lacked far too much, so I tossed it down the sink and began again - the right way. With all the goodness it's intended to have. Sometimes it's worth the calories! I went with a larger portion milk to a lesser portion of cream, so it's better for you than a mostly cream or half and half version at least =). I threw in one of my favorite herbs, a bit of thyme (I tossed a bit into my gravy yesterday too it compliments a lot of foods). Then, I couldn't stick with just one type of cheese so I had to add in some Parmesan. I may call it the secret of the soup. You could even up it to 2 oz of Parmesan if you want a slightly more pronounced flavor. It really gives the soup a perfect little kick without being overpowering. Just be sure you use freshly grated cheeses, no pre-shredded in this recipe or the smooth texture of the soup would likely be ruined. Also, when I state in the recipe to very finely grate the Parmesan I mean on the funky looking, pokey side of the box grater. Grating it this way helps it melt quicker and smoother. 
I love that this soup is hearty without being too heavy. It's filling enough that it can be served as the main course. All you need is this and some fresh Crusty Rustic Bread (I live on the stuff lately) and you've got yourself an incredibly delicious, simple and comforting meal. This is definitely my new favorite Broccoli Cheese Soup! Enjoy!

Chop the broccoli into small pieces and finely grate the Parmesan (the Cheddar can be grated on the large or small grate, it will melt quickly either way).

Broccoli Cheese Soup
Yields about 4 - 6 servings

Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter, diced in cubes
1 cup diced yellow onion (about 1/2 large onion)
1 large clove garlic, finely minced
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups milk (I used 2%)
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 cups finely chopped, fresh broccoli pieces*
6 oz. freshly grated Sharp Cheddar cheese
1 oz. freshly, very finely grated Parmesan cheese (or more to taste)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp of each, but this will vary depending on the brand of cheeses and your salt/pepper preference).

Directions:
Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add in onions and cook, stirring frequently until soft, about 3 minutes. Add in garlic, dried thyme and flour, and cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly. While whisking, slowly pour in milk, chicken broth then cream. Cook, stirring frequently, just until mixture begins to gently bubble, then reduce heat to medium low, add in broccoli pieces and cook until broccoli is tender about 6 - 8 minutes, stirring frequetly. Turn heat off, add in cheese and stir until melted, season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm. 

*From about 3 heads of broccoli, use floret portion only. I began with about 1 lb broccoli crowns, chopped off majority of the stems, then chopped the florets into very small pieces about 1/4 - 1/2 inch. 

Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli Soup Copycat Recipe

Say hello to soup season and another restaurant copycat recipe you can make at home. Whenever we'd to go to Olive Garden I use to always get the Minestrone soup or once in a while the Zuppa Toscana. A few months ago I finally decided to step out of that comfort zone and try something new, their Pasta e Fagioli Soup. It is hearty and delicious. It is a meal of itself. I don't love everything at Olive Garden but I always like their soup and their salad (although I wish the salad had better greens in it and it wasn't so skimpy on the tomatoes and olives. And no I'm not picky =). Anyway I thought this soup would be pretty easy to recreate at home, so yesterday I went and ordered their Pasta e Fagioli Soup and brought it home to make my own and compare. They are nearly exactly the same. I didn't do the fancy matchstick cut of the carrots but feel free to do so if you'd like. 

I just served this as the main dish along with some fresh out of the oven (unbelievably simple to make) Crusty Rustic Bread and some fresh garlic butter. To make the garlic butter I just combine 1 small clove of crushed garlic with 1/4 cup softened butter then season it with salt and fresh ground black pepper. It's a simple and amazing dinner that everyone will love. Enjoy!

Pasta e Fagioli Soup (Olive Garden Copycat Recipe)
Yields about 6 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup ditalini pasta, uncooked
1 lb lean ground beef or mild Italian sausage (I've tried both and like either)
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 cup diced carrots (about 2 medium, you can cut them into matchsticks if desired)
1 cup diced celery (about 3 stalks)
3/4 cup chopped yellow onion (about 1/2 of a large)
1 large clove garlic, finely minced
3 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
3 cups beef broth (chicken broth works fine too)
1 cup water
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 (15 oz) can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
Romano cheese (I also like it with Italian cheese blend), for serving

Directions:
Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large non-stick saucepan over medium high heat, crumble in ground beef or sausage and cook, stirring occasionally until cooked through. Pour beef (along with fat from beef, if you want it to be healthier you can drain the fat) into a bowl, set aside. Heat remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil in same large saucepan, saute carrots, celery and onion over medium high heat until tender about 4 minutes, add garlic and saute 1 minute longer. Reduce heat to a low, add tomato sauce, beef broth, water, canned tomatoes, sugar, basil, oregano, thyme, marjoram, cooked beef along, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover with lid and allow to simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until veggies are soft. Meanwhile prepare ditalini pasta according to directions on package, cooking to al dente. 
Add cooked and drained pasta to soup along with kidney beans and great northern beans and allow to cook 5 minutes longer. Serve warm with grated Romano cheese if desired.
Note: the longer the soup rests the more liquid the pasta will absorb so you can thin it with additional beef broth if desired.

Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

If you've been following I'm sure you know by now that I love a good slow cooker meal. Who doesn't? Meals prepared in a slow cooker yield flavorful and tender results with such minimal effort. This soup is definitely proof of that.
If you don't have a slow cooker you could also make this on the stove top. I've also prepared it on the stove top before and added grilled chicken to it. If you choose to prepare it on the stove top add cooked chicken and allow the soup an hour to simmer over low heat so all the flavors have some time to develop and meld together. 
I love Mexican food. I could eat it everyday. It has such unique and exciting flavors. Addictive flavors if you ask me. I hope you enjoy another Slow Cooker Meal from Cooking Classy =).

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
Yields about 5 servings

Ingredients:

20 oz boneless skinless, chicken breasts halves
3 (14.5 oz) cans low-sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies
3/4 cup diced yellow onion (about 1 small)
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro 

Serve with:
diced fresh tomatoes
shredded Monterrey Jack or Cheddar Cheese (Mexican blend works too)
tortilla strips or tortilla chips, see recipe below for homemade baked tortilla strips
fresh guacamole or diced avocados
sour cream
hot sauce (optional)

Directions:
In a slow cooker, whisk together chicken broth, canned tomatoes, diced yellow onion, chili powder, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, coriander then season with salt and pepper to taste. Add raw chicken breasts, cover with lid and cook on low heat 7 - 8 hours. 
Remove chicken and shred. Return shredded chicken to slow cooker along with lime juice and fresh chopped cilantro and gently stir (if you wanted another filler you can add in some frozen corn or rinsed black beans). Serve warm with diced tomatoes, shredded cheese, tortilla strips, guacamole, sour cream, optional hot sauce and additional cilantro if desired.

Baked Tortilla Strips

Ingredients:
6 corn tortillas
olive oil cooking spray (vegetable works too)
salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat both sides of tortillas evenly with cooking spray. Align coated tortillas in an even stack, then cut in half down the middle, then dice halves into about 1/4" strips. Arrange strips in a single layer (if they overlap a little that's find just make sure they aren't stacked on top of each other) on a Silpat lined baking sheet, season with salt to taste and bake in preheated oven 10-12 minutes until golden. Allow to cool and store in an airtight container.

Recipes Source: Cooking Classy

Cheesy Bacon Ranch Potato Soup

I didn't know traditional creamy potato soup could get any better! I love a warm bowl of homestyle potato soup, which is why I decided to give it an upgrade. I grew up eating a lot of meat and potato meals. I don't think my mom ever missed a Sunday dinner of roast beef and mashed potatoes (and NEVER the instant potatoes, I didn't even know they existed growing up). So, basically potatoes are one food I could never part with. One of my favorite dinner sides is Twice Baked Potatoes. 
The inspiration for this soup came from those incredibly delicious Twice Baked Potatoes, those dreamy, creamy potatoes that are loaded with Cheddar cheese, sprinkled with browned crispy bacon and chopped green onions then they're finished off with a generous drizzling of creamy Ranch dressing. Yeah, all of that in soup form and this soup better be good right? It's definitely my new favorite potato soup, I'm not sure if I'll be able to eat the traditional plain old potato soup anymore. This stuff is just too flavorful and cheesily delicious to look back to that soup again =). 
This recipe may seem a little different, I didn't make a roux to add the flour, rather I whisked it into the milk. I didn't want to add butter because the mayonnaise already replaced the fat and creaminess of what butter would do. I also chose to use sharp cheddar cheese because in my opinion when you use sharp you can use less cheese (then if you were to use mild or medium) and therefor you're adding less calories (don't get me wrong this isn't a low calorie soup, I just try to lightly reduce calories where I can). I decided to leave the carrot and celery out of this recipe so it's more like a loaded or twice baked potato but if you really wanted to you could add them.
If you want even more of a ranch flavor you could drizzle the top of the soup with additional ranch, made according to the directions on the package. I hope you love this soup as much as I do and make it often this upcoming fall and winter season! There's nothing like a perfect bowl of soup to warm a cold fall evening. Enjoy! 

Cheesy Bacon Ranch Potato Soup
Yields about 6 servings

Ingredients:
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup whole milk
1 1/2 Tbsp dry ranch dressing mix

3 lbs Russet potatoes, peeled and diced into about 3/4-1" cubes (about 8 medium potatoes)
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup diced yellow onion (about 1 small onion)
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth*
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, divided (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 oz. finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup)
freshly ground black pepper to taste
10 slices bacon, cooked and chopped (or crumbled if you like it extra crispy)
3 green onions, chopped

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, whisk together sour cream, mayonnaise, 1/4 cup milk and ranch seasoning mix. Cover bowl and refrigerate. 
Heat olive oil a large cast iron dutch oven over medium high heat. Add onion and saute about 4 minutes until golden, add garlic and saute 1 more minute. Add chicken broth and diced potatoes and bring mixture just to a boil, then reduce heat to medium, cover pot and cook 15 - 20 minutes until potatoes are very tender. 
In a mixing bowl, whisk together 2 cups milk with 1/4 cup flour (whisk very well to break up flour) and pour mixture into soup. Increase temperature to medium high heat, and bring mixture just to a boil, stirring constantly (stirring constantly will help break down the potatoes a bit). Once mixture reaches a boil, reduce heat to low, add ranch dressing mixture from refrigerator, 1 cup (4 oz) grated Cheddar cheese, grated Parmesan cheese and season with black pepper to taste. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring frequently (note, if you want smaller potato chunks in the soup you can simply mash the soup with a potato masher to break them down a bit more). Serve warm, sprinkle each serving with remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, chopped bacon, and chopped green onions. 

*you can use low sodium chicken broth if you prefer, for this recipe I just used regular and didn't add any salt to the soup. If you use low sodium you may want to add additional salt to the soup.

Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

Chicken Posole

This is one of my all time favorite soup recipes! I got the recipe from my sister a few years ago. Thanks for the recipe sista =)! I changed it up quite a bit to add more flavor. Before it didn't have any spices or green onions, the chicken wasn't grilled and it wasn't served with avocados. Sometimes if I don't have fresh tomatoes I will also use canned but if you use canned I would say omit the sugar (I added sugar to tone down the acidity of the fresh tomatoes). This soup is hearty, healthy, loaded with fresh goodness and full of exciting flavors (and heat if you prefer). This soup isn't your traditional Posole. It's very similar to chicken tortilla soup but with added cabbage and hominy. If you like Mexican food you will love this soup!

Chicken Posole

Yields about 4 servings

Ingredients:

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, grilled and shredded*

1.25 lb Roma tomatoes (about 5)

1/2 large yellow onion

2 green onions

3 cloves garlic

1-5 jalapenos, to taste**

1/3 cup cilantro 

6 cups chicken broth (you can add an additional 2 cups if desired)

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp cumin

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 (29 oz) can Mexican Style hominy (don't drain)

Serve with:

chopped cabbage (cut to about 1/2"- 1" pieces)

lime wedges

shredded Monterrey or Cheddar cheese

sour cream

chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish (optional)

diced avocados (don't ask me why but I totally forgot to add these when I took the pics)

tortilla chips

Directions:

Dice tomtatoes, yellow onion, green onions, garlic and jalepenos into chunks then toss into food processor along with 1/3 cup cilantro. Pulse until everything is chopped into very small pieces (you may need to do this in batches depending on how much your food processor can fit, alternately you can chop these all up by hand which is what I would do before I got a processor). Pour mixture into a large saucepan, add in chicken broth, chili powder, sugar, cumin, salt and pepper. Bring mixture just to a boil then reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes (or up to 1 hour). Add in hominy and grilled, shredded chicken and cook a few minutes until heated through. To serve: place a handful of chopped cabbage in serving bowl, squeeze juice of one lime wedge over cabbage, laddle soup over cabbage, top with grated cheese, diced avocados, sour cream, optional cilantro and serve warm with tortilla chips (I like to dip some chips and crush some into the soup).

*for the chicken I baste them lightly with extra virgin olive oil then season them lightly with taco seasoning (here is a good recipe, I omit the red pepper flakes and substitute cayenne pepper) before grilling. But do it however your prefer. 

**add these according to desired heat preference. To me these are the highlight of the soup and I love things HOT so I usually add about 5. If you don't like a lot of heat I'd recommend going with a lesser amount and maybe even removing the seeds from the jalapenos. So add with caution based on how much heat you like.


Recipe Source: Cooking Classy