Generic Soup

Michael Symon has a saying on his new show ‘Cook Like an Iron Chef’: “learn a recipe and you can make a great dish, learn a technique and you can make 100”. I kind of feel like this perfectly describes my generic soup. I start with the base of sautéed onions, add garlic, add chicken stock and whatever veggies you want. Add any seasonings that work well with those veggies.

Regular Chunky Soup: Add whatever protein you like (chicken, meatballs, etc.), bring to boil, reduce to simmer about one hour.

Creamed Soup: Skip the protein, bring to boil, reduce to simmer about one hour. Add one can of fat free evaporated milk and blend with an emersion blender.

You could also add rice, pasta, potatoes or beans. If you use potatoes add them when you start the veggies. If you add pasta, cook it first and add it at the end. It has a tendency to soak up a lot of the broth. Rice can either be cooked first (good use of leftovers) or you can add uncooked rice when you start the boil. Same with canned beans. Drain, rinse and add prior to the simmer.

^^ Veggie Soup with Chicken ^^
I started with sautéing a diced onion then added a couple of cloves of chopped garlic. Next went in the chicken broth and one boneless, skinless chicken breast. Once the chicken was cooked I removed it and added chopped celery and carrots. I let the firm veggies cook about 15 minutes and then I added cut up fresh green beans, sliced zucchini and grape tomatoes (cut in half) with plenty of basil and oregano, black pepper and just a smidgeon of salt. Bring to boil, diced the chicken breast and put that back in, reduced to simmer for about 45 minutes. Took half a bunch of kale (you could use spinach but I like kale because it doesn't get a mushy), stripped it from the stalks and added it to the soup to wilt. Simmered an additional 15 minutes.
M-M-Scrumptious.
^^Cream of Broccoli Soup^^

I sautéed onion and garlic, added broccoli, chicken broth, basil, a little sea salt and fresh ground pepper, a few red pepper flakes for some zip. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer for about an hour. Add a can of fat free evaporated milk, hit it with the emersion blender and wah-la. A big pot of deliciousness ready to enjoy.

Health-O-Meter: These are both very low cal. Notice I didn’t start with butter or oil to sauté the onion. I don’t think it’s necessary. The onions will start to sweat which adds a little moisture. Stir them while they are cooking down and they won't ‘fry’.
I can’t do the calorie count because it depends on what you add. Obviously the protein you use will change the nutritional value and so will pasta, rice, potatoes or beans.

I normally don’t post recipes that I haven’t tried but since my bestie Sandi asked about French Onion Soup, I’ve been wanting to try Anne Burrell’s French Onion as seen on the Food Network. It looks easy but takes time. It also has great reviews. Some recommend beef stock instead of chicken or half beef/half chicken. I think I would do the half and half.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/french-onion-soup-recipe/index.html
This is going to be a little higher in calories due to A) the olive oil; B) the baguette; C) the Gruyere cheese. Still, I don’t think it will be hideously bad. You control the amount of olive oil, the size of the slice of bread and how cheesy you make it. I personally will use very little oil, a thin slice of bread and lots of cheese ;-)