Soup

Homemade Chicken Stock

November 28, 2013 by The Partial Ingredients

Hopefully I won’t sound too dramatic by saying there’s something a little magical about chicken stock. To me, taking leftover bones and inedible parts and transforming them into a healthy and flavorful broth is kind of amazing. It’s also an easy way to improve the flavor of any recipe that requires chicken stock. Not only does it taste amazing, it has been shown to have a number of health benefits. It turns out your mother was right serving you chicken soup when you were sick because studies have shown that chicken broth does help boost the immune system. It is rich in minerals like calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus which promote teeth and bone health. Broth is also high in collagen which helps promote hair, skin, nails and joint health. It is high in the amino acids proline and glycine which assist in ligament and connective tissue health. So I don’t think I’m being too hyperbolic in saying this stuff might be magical. If anyone needs to go through a medical procedure like surgery I highly recommend making a batch and freezing it in portions for when you need it. For added nutrients I recommend using a mineral rich sea salt like Celtic or Himalayan. I also add a teaspoon of turmeric which aids in controlling inflammation. I like to make stock in bulk so I seal a few jars in the refrigerator and freeze the rest in bags.

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Roasted Sweet Potato Soup with Smokey Croutons and Greek Yogurt

November 3, 2013 by The Partial Ingredients

What better way to enjoy the Fall weather than with a warm bowl of sweet potato soup? A lot of sweet potato recipes go on the sweet side but this recipe heads in the savory direction. There’s no added sugar or sweeteners which is refreshing because sweet potatoes are sweet (duh) as it is! All you need is some spicy flavors to contrast with the potato’s flavor. The soup is flavored with turmeric and smoked paprika, along with the smokey croutons and creamy greek yogurt. I really liked the contrast between the crunchy croutons and the soup. I garnished the soup with greek yogurt and cilantro. Lime and honey are also optional garnishes. I will definitely be making this a lot on the colder days this season!

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Green Chile and Chorizo Soup with Smokey Croutons

July 17, 2013 by The Partial Ingredients

I love soups and tex-mex food and this recipe combines the best of both worlds! This soup combines a delicious mix of green chilies and tomatillos, chorizo, hominy, potatoes and spices. I went a little overboard with the garnishes and topped the soup with crumbled queso fresco, green onion, fresh lime, cilantro and smokey baked croutons. Even the croutons alone in this recipe are stand out awesome and could easily be snacked on alone! The recipe does require a lot of ingredients and time to prepare but it is totally worth it in the end. I actually never made anything with hominy before and I thought it worked really nicely with the other ingredients. The soup was hardy, with multiple layers of sweet, spicy and savory flavors. I chose a beef chorizo for the meat but soy and pork varieties would work fine in this soup. All of the ingredients blended together so well and I was happy with how it came out!

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Tofu and Kimchi Noodle Soup

May 29, 2013 by The Partial Ingredients

Anyone who has ever tried kimchi knows how addictive and delicious it is. I’m always finding new ways to incorporate it into recipes. Kimchi is a great addition to soups since the juice and flavor enhances the broth and turns it a pretty red color. This recipe is really easy to put together and doesn’t take long to prepare. For a few extra veggies I threw in mushrooms and bean sprouts, though i’m sure there are loads of other veggies you could add that would work great. I made the soup on the spicy side with added gochujang paste along with a healthy amount of sriracha as garnish.

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Persian Chicken Noodle Soup

May 13, 2013 by The Partial Ingredients

This recipe is so perfect for rainy Spring days! Chicken noodle soup is one of my favorites and I love trying different versions of the classic. This soup is filled with veggies, vermicelli noodles and herbs. The fresh ingredients give the recipe a lighter effect which is great for the current season. The broth is simple and clean, seasoned with cilantro, parsley and lime juice. While I’m used to the thicker egg noodles in chicken noodle soup I really liked the thin vermicelli noodles too. You can make the soup easily with just 4 drumsticks but I chose to make the stock and soup out of the whole chicken. I like the mixture of white and dark meat in the soup; plus the whole bird flavors the stock nicely. I can see this becoming a regular meal on colder days!

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Chicken and Butternut Squash Stew with Preserved Lemons

November 14, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

This stew is a great combination of Fall and middle eastern flavors. The recipe brings together shredded chicken, butternut squash, chickpeas, Bulgur wheat, preserved lemons and savory spices. This combination makes a great dinner on a cold night. Butternut squash has been a favorite of mine for a while and once again it didn’t disappoint! Another favorite ingredient of mine is preserved lemon which flavored the stew very nicely. The bulgur, chickpeas and chicken made the stew extra hearty and delicious! I topped the stew with a little yogurt and lemons slices for garnish.

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Korean Ramen with Kimchi and Sauteed Mushrooms

July 19, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

Just a disclaimer to twenty somethings: this is not your college ramen experience! Korea has its own version of Japanese Ramen and you can eat it with all sorts of different toppings. I loaded the soup with a hard boiled egg, peas, green onions, sauteed mushrooms, cilantro and of course kimchi. Korea has had a long love affair with kimchi and I have had my own mini infatuation going on here in California for a while now. The kimchi spices mixes in with the broth and blanches a bit in the hot soup. I used the ‘Hakubaku’ brand of ramen noodles which had a really nice consistency and thickness. I wouldn’t recommend using the ‘top ramen’ noodles but it would probably do in a pinch if you can’t find the hakubaku brand in stores. I really liked how all the condiments mixed together with the noodles and broth. It was definitely the best ramen I have ever eaten!

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Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Milk

July 9, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

It probably seems crazy to most Americans to down a hot bowl of soup right now. This soup makes more sense to me because temperatures on the central coast just haven’t risen much at all. Next time it hits lower temperatures this soup would be perfect to enjoy on a cooler day. Better yet, you could wait until late summer or Fall when the squash actually comes into season. If you are craving roasted butternut squash like me, there’s no time like the present for a good soup.

I chose to make this soup with a few of the great flavors from Thai cooking–coconut milk, red chili paste, and a mixture of fragrant spices. I roasted the butternut squash first in the oven and threw all the ingredients into a big soup pot to simmer. The soup had a lot of wonderful flavors. I loved the flavor of the roasted squash with the creamy coconut milk, spicy chilies, and thai spices. It was pretty simple to throw together and I couldn’t be more happy with how it turned out! I served it with a side of jasmine rice and ended up mixing a few tablespoons of the rice into the soup. It turned out to be a great combination!
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Tofu and Wakame Miso Soup

May 9, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

Whenever I go to a Japanese restaurant I usually pick up a bowl of miso soup. I am a fan of soups of all kinds but this is one of my favorites and I’ve always thought about trying it at home. It turns out making miso is easy and the only trouble I ran into was finding a few of the ingredients. Luckily a local asian market carried the miso paste, seaweed and rice noodles. The other ingredients were easy to find at the grocery store. Making the soup was really easy and took less than 30 minutes to prepare. An important part of this recipe is not boiling the broth as it changes the flavor of the diluted miso. The result is a really great soup that is actually quite versatile–you can add tons of things and it would turn out great. Some examples could be cooked/shredded chicken, potatoes, carrots, bok choy, snap peas, spinach, etc.

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Red Lentil and Coconut Curry Soup

April 17, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

Soups and curries are two of my favorite things and I knew I had to give this recipe a try. The flavors remind me a lot of Thai curries since the soup’s base is coconut milk. I used an Indian Garam Masala with Turmeric to give it a spicy, aromatic flavor. I toasted the spices with a few arbol chilies and ground them all together. The soup was really easy to make and all it really requires is a few hours for the ingredients to cook together. The result was a delicious and filling soup with nice coconut and curry flavors. The soup is surprisingly filling due to the rich broth and the high protein foods like chickpeas and lentils. I garnished a bowl with a drop of coconut milk, cilantro and sliced jalapeno. Plain yogurt would work great as a garnish as well. The soup goes well with rice, couscous, quinoa, or bread.
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