SOUP-A-THON 2012: Tea & (Fake) Sausage Soup

Ingredients:
Gimme Lean Ground Sausage - 1/4 of a tube
3 tea bags
3 cups water 
1 red potato, diced
6-8 baby carrots, chopped
1/4 of a large onion, diced
Ground sage - generous dash
Onion powder - generous dash
Black pepper - to taste
3 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 tsp Soy Sauce
1 extra large cube Knorr Vegetarian Vegetable Bouillon

Here is my confession: This was an experimental soup-a-thon soup and I thought at first that I had failed.  I originally made this without the last three ingredients, poured myself a small cup to taste, and found the broth pretty underwhelming. Then I went into Emergency Flavor Enhancement Mode and added the lemon juice, soy sauce, and bullion cube and let it simmer for a while and ... viola! it was really tasty!

So, here is how I would make this if I were going to make it properly from the start:

Start off hot water with three tea bags in a medium pot. What I did here was tie the tea bags to the pot handle. If this makes you nervous or you don't have tea bags with strings, you could just make 3 cups of tea first.
Chop your garlic, onions, potato, and carrots and add them in as they're chopped. They should be bite sized or smaller. Add your bullion cube too.
Make your sausage into bite sized chunks or balls and add that right to the pot.
Now, add your spices and also your lemon juice and soy sauce.
Let simmer for quite a while until your sausage is cooked and everything has blended. 20 minutes should be enough. Longer is OK too.

Serve!
If you're not vegan and feeling it, I bet some grated romano cheese would be awesome on this.

Serves 2 in big bowls or 4 people as a side.


Nutrition information: 
Total: 303 calories
Per serving if serving 2: 151.5 calories
Based on MyFitnessPal.com's nutrition calculator.

Apple-Cheddar-Potato-Parsnip Soup

I realize my soup names are not always the most creative, but no one can accuse them of being inaccurate!

I made a huge batch of this.  Halve or quarter this recipe at will, but as far as spices go it should always be to taste, so don't get too hung up on math!

Serves: 6 - 8 (around a 12 oz serving)

Ingredients:
Shredded cheddar - 8 oz
Red Potatoes - 5 medium
Parsnips - 2 medium
Gala apple - 3 medium
Lemon Juice - 2-3 table spoons
Knorr Vegetarian Vegetable Bullion - 2 extra large cubes
Water - 4-5 cups (less for thicker soup, more for thinner soup or unexpected company!)
Dried Sage - to taste
Nutmeg - a dash
Salt - a teaspoon or so, to taste

Peel your parsnips. Chop your potatoes and parsnips up into smallish pieces and cook in boiling, salted water until soft (10-20 minutes).  In the meantime, get 2 cups of water into a large pot with both bullion cubes and your spices. Place on lowish heat and cover.

Chop up your apples into smallish pieces.

Are your potatoes and parsnips ready? Good. Drain them.

Now you'll want to blend your potatoes, parsnips, apples and remaining water in a blender or food processor. You might have to do this in several batches! Use enough water to allow your blender/food processor to work without difficulty but not so much that you really thin out the soup. 2-3 cups total should be more than enough.

Add your blended potato-parsnip-apple goodness to your broth. It should be quite thick and you might have to guide it out with a spatula or wooden spoon. Mix well.

Add shredded cheddar, stirring as you do.

Stir occasionally and let this soup simmer for a while -- long enough so the cheese melts in. (For a rule of thumb try 10-15 minutes at least; more is always OK).

Then... serve!

Here are approximate nutrition facts, courtesy of the myfitnesspal.com recipe calculator. Serving size is around 12 ounces.

Microwaved Baked Potato Pizza With Tarragon

So, I don't have a stove! I can't really say what's wrong with it but it won't turn on and it's a really old gas stove so I'm leaving it to a questionable expert (my super) to examine it rather than risk burning my new apartment down.

I'm someone who really enjoys cooking awesome food despite unexpected limitations, so today I decided I would have toaster oven bagel pizza for dinner. But! My bagels went unexpectedly stale (too stale even for toasty resurrection).  And thus was born...

Microwaved Baked Potato Pizza With Tarragon


Serves: 1
Calories: 400 (this may vary depending on potato size and cheese saturation level)
Ingredients:
1 potato
Handful of Grape Tomatoes
Handful of Shredded Cheese (I used Sargento's Artisan Blend of Mozzarella and Smoked Provolone)
Small (a little goes a long way!) bunch of fresh tarragon
1 tbsp Butter
Lemon Juice
1 clove garlic

Start by microwaving your potato. Wash it and POKE HOLES IN IT FIRST! to avoid disappointing results like in-microwave explosion. Use a fork and poke deeply. Different potatoes take different amounts of time to bake in a microwave; if you feel uncertain start with 4 minutes and go from there.

While your potato is microwaving, chop up your garlic and tarragon very finely. Put them into a mug. Add lemon juice--just enough to sort of generously coat/cover your garlic and tarragon. Add a dollop of butter. Set aside.

Slice or chop up your grape tomatoes as you see fit.

When your potato is done, microwave your mug of butter, lemon juice, garlic and tarragon for 30 seconds or until butter is melted.

Cut your potato into quarters and fluff it a bit. Pour half the butter mixture over it. Then dump your tomatoes on top of it and then your cheese. Pour the rest of the butter mixture over it. Microwave this for 20-30 seconds.

Ta-da! Microwaved amazingness.

I ate this with a glass of cheap Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, which I feel goes fabulously with anything even vaguely Italian.