Salsa Chicken & Black Bean Soup

Ingredients:
--1 pound chicken (I used frozen breast tenderloins)
--1 cup dried black beans (or 2 cans, drained and rinsed)
--4 cups chicken broth
--1 cup sliced mushrooms
--1 cup frozen corn
--1 jar prepared salsa (16 oz)
--1 1/2 tsp cumin
--1/2 cup sour cream (to stir in at the end)
--shredded cheddar cheese, avocado slices, cilantro (all optional)


Drain and rinse the beans. Add to the crockpot. Put in the chicken, and add the broth and salsa. Pour in the corn and mushrooms, and add the cumin. Stir, but don't disturb the beans---let them stay at the bottom of the pot, closest to the heating element.

Cover and cook on high for 9 hours. Yup. High. For 9 hours. It took a crazy long time for the beans to soften, but they did.

If you are using beans you soaked overnight, canned beans, or pre-cooked beans, you can cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-5--similar to normal soup-cooking time.

If you'd like to thicken the broth (I did this), you can use your immersible blender (I love that thing) to blend a bit of the beans and chicken. If you don't have one, scoop out 2 cups of the soup and carefully blend in your traditonal blender. Stir the mixture back into the crockpot.

Stir in the 1/2 cup of sour cream before serving, and garnish with shredded cheese and avocado slices.

Egg Drop Soup

Ingredients:

1 c Chicken Broth - Divided

1/8 tsp Ground Ginger

2 T Fresh Chives - chopped

1/4 tsp Salt

1 1/2 T Cornstarch

2 Eggs

1 Egg Yolk 

Reserve 3/4 cup of chicken broth, and pour the rest into a large saucepan. Stir the salt, ginger and chives into the saucepan, and bring to a rolling boil. In a cup or small bowl, stir together the remaining broth and cornstarch until smooth. Set aside. 

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolk together using a fork. Drizzle egg a little at a time from the fork into the boiling broth mixture. Egg should cook immediately. Once the eggs have been dropped, stir in the cornstarch mixture gradually until the soup is the desired consistency.

Taco Soup

Ingredients:

1 lb Ground Beef / Turkey
1 White Onion - Chopped
2 cans Stewed Tomatoes - Mexican style
1 can Tomato Sauce
1 can Diced Tomatoes with Chilies
1 c Water
1 can Chili
1 T Taco Seasoning
1 can Corn - Drained
1 can Green Chilies

Put everything into a p and cook until warm. Serve with ....

Corn Chips
Sour Cream
Grated Cheese
Chopped Green Onions

Creamy Potato Soup

Ingredients

5 medium potatoes (I prefer red)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 tablespoon butter/margarine

1 tablespoon flour

1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon dill, 1/2 teaspoon dried chives

pepper (to taste)

1 cup milk

1. In a large pot cook potatoes and onions in plenty of boiling water for about 15 minutes or until tender. Drain and reserve 1 cup of potato/onion mixture.

2. In a food processor or blender combine remaining potatoes/onions and broth. Cover and blend or about 1 minute or until smooth. Set aside.

3. In the same saucepan melt the butter. Stir in flour, salt, dill, chives, pepper. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute.

4. Stir the blended soup, reserved potatoes, and milk mixture all together. Cook and stir until heated through. Add additional milk if you would like it thinner. Pour into bowls or bread bowls and top with bacon bit, cheese and more chives!

* This recipe takes about 25 minutes to make. It only has 205 calories and 4 grams of fat! Eat a lot, it is really good!