Hearty and Healthy Feel Good Meals
These soups can be eaten as a start of a dinner or with salad and bread as a meal. These soups are hearty, delicious, healthy, and vegetarian. The stew is not vegetarian, but is a hearty alternative to chicken soup. The stew is particularly good when you have a cold or your allergies are acting up.
Mushroom- Barley Soup
Cook ½ cup of raw pearled barley in 1 ½ cups of stock until tender. Add 5 more cups of stock, 3- 4 tbsp. of tamari (soy sauce), and 3-4 tbsp. of dry sherry. Sauté 2 cloves of minced garlic and 1 heaping cup of chopped onion in 3 tbsp. of butter. When soft add 1 lb. of sliced fresh mushrooms and ½- 1 tsp. of salt. When tender add to barley. Simmer 20 minutes, covered, over lowest possible heat.
Spicy Tomato Soup
Sauté 1 ½ cup of minced onion and 3 cloves of crushed garlic in 1 tbsp. of butter and 1 tbsp. of oil. in a kettle or large saucepan. Cook 5 minutes, until translucent, then add 1 tsp. of dill weed, 2 lb. can of concentrated, crushed tomatoes and 2 cups of stock or 6 cups of chopped canned tomatoes and their liquid and 1 tbsp. of honey. Cover and simmer at least 45 minutes on low heat. Whisk in sour cream 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with chopped scallions.
Zucchini Puree
Place 7 cups of chunked zucchini (3 medium), 1 cup of chopped onion, 2 cups of stock or water and 1 ½ tsp of salt in a saucepan and cook until the zucchini is just tender. Puree in a blender. Put in a pot and whisk in ¾ cup of dry milk, ¼ cup of sour cream, a pinch of celery seed, and ½ tsp. basil. Heat until hot enough to serve and top with scallions.
Chicken Stew and Dumplings
stew: in a large pot gently boil boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 per person you are feeding) totally covered in water (6-8 cups) for ½ hour. Add 2-3 chicken bouillon cubes, around 4 scrubbed, chopped potatoes, 1 chopped onion, 3-4 chunked carrots, and 1-2 chopped celery sticks. Cook 45 minutes to an hour or until the potatoes are cooked. In a separate container whisk together 1 ½ cups of milk and 12 tbsp. of flour. Add to the chicken mixture, stirring well. Add 1 cup …