Make It Fast, Cook It Slow (16 page)
Read Make It Fast, Cook It Slow Online
Authors: Stephanie O'Dea,Stephanie O’Dea
BORSCHT
serves
6
The Ingredients
8 beets, peeled and sliced (wear old clothes, beets stain!)
1 yellow onion, chopped
1½ cups sliced mushrooms
1½ cups chopped celery
½ cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped parsnip
1 potato, peeled and chopped
2½ cups shredded red cabbage
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon dill
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
½ cup beer (Redbridge is gluten-free)
5 cups water
sour cream (at least 2 tablespoons per family member)
The Directions
Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Put the vegetables into the stoneware. Don’t fuss too much when chopping the vegetables; the soup will be blended. Add the salt, pepper, dill, tomato paste, sugar, vinegar, beer, and water. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or on high for 4 to 6. You want the
vegetables fully smooshy so you can blend them easily. Carefully (and wearing
old
clothes) use a handheld immersion blender to soupify. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with a generous dollop of sour cream.
The Verdict
Borscht is good, and healthy. It is also red. Very, very red. It looked like raspberry jam to me, but it doesn’t taste like it at all. It tastes like vegetable soup made with beets. Adam and I enjoyed our meals, but the kids didn’t have any. The guinea pigs were thrilled to eat the beet stems.
BROCCOLI AND THREE-CHEESE SOUP
serves
6
The Ingredients
½ white onion, diced
2 cups milk (2 percent or lower in fat content)
1 quart chicken broth
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 (10-ounce) bags of frozen broccoli florets
1 cup each of three different shredded cheeses (I used Jarlsberg, Gruyère, and cheddar)
The Directions
Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Dice the onion into really small pieces (I used a handheld chopper), and put it into the cooker. The onions are going to soften in the milk and broth, and need to be quite small so you don’t crunch on onion pieces. Pour in the milk and broth, and add the pepper, salt, and nutmeg. Stir in the frozen broccoli. Cook on low for 7 to 9 hours, or on high for 4 to 6 hours. The broth is done when the onion is soft and translucent. Stir in the shredded cheese 20 minutes before serving. The cheese will be stringy and stick to the broccoli florets. This didn’t bother me or my family, but many of my readers opted to use an immersion blender to make the soup look pretty. Serve with your favorite rolls or drop biscuits.
The Verdict
This is the best broccoli and cheese soup I have ever had. That sounds like a big stretch or an exaggeration, but this really beats the canned soup, or the stuff I’ve had at restaurants. My children both had three helpings! I read about six different recipes before deciding to make this one. I didn’t like the idea of making a roux with butter and flour and stirring it in to thicken the broth; it seemed like an unnecessary step. The broth is thin, but very buttery in flavor. If you opt to use the immersion blender, your soup will thicken through emulsification and have a creamier texture.
BUFFALO WING SOUP
serves
4 to 6
The Ingredients
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
¼ cup flour (I used rice flour)
½ yellow onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
2 cups cooked and cubed chicken
¾ cup chicken broth
2 cups milk (no higher fat content than 2 percent, or it will curdle; soy milk is okay)
½ teaspoon celery salt
½ teaspoon garlic salt
½ cup hot wing sauce
4 ounces Velveeta cheese
The Directions
Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Make a roux with the butter and flour in a saucepan on the stovetop. Set aside. Put the onion and celery into the stoneware. Add the chicken. Pour in the broth and milk. Add the celery salt and garlic salt. (This is saltier than I am used to. If you are on a low-sodium diet, omit the salt altogether. You can always season to taste after cooking.) Stir in the flour and butter mixture. Add the hot sauce. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or on high for 3 to 4 hours. The soup is done when the celery and onion reach the desired tenderness and the flavors have melded. Add cubed Velveeta 20 minutes before serving.
BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
serves
8
The Ingredients
1 butternut squash
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 small onions, diced
2 small apples, peeled and cubed
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1¼ teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
The Directions
Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Cut the squash in half lengthwise. This is terribly hard to do, but if you microwave the entire squash for 2 to 5 minutes on high, the skin will soften a bit. Scoop out the seeds and stringy pulp. Brush the olive oil on the inside of the squash and roast in the oven cut side up at 400°F for 15 minutes, or until the skin peels away from the flesh.
Plug in the slow cooker and turn to high. Add the broth, onions, and apples. Stir in the salt, pepper, and spices. Cover to let heat. When the squash has finished roasting, add it to the pot. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or on high for about 4 hours. Carefully blend with a handheld immersion blender.
The Verdict
This is my comfort soup. I like to curl up with a mug and watch TV. My mom, grandma, and I all like squash soup. It’s so creamy and full of flavor that it tastes like it has a bunch of butter and cream in it even though there isn’t any.
CABBAGE SOUP
serves
1
for lunch for
2
weeks
The Ingredients
1 small head cabbage
1 cup baby carrots
1 bunch celery
1 red bell pepper
2 green onions
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
4 cups water
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon seasoning blend (Italian, herbes de Provence, etc.)
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Tabasco sauce (optional)
The Directions
Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Chop all vegetables into bite-size chunks and plop into cooker. Pour in the liquid. Stir in the garlic, seasoning blend, and pepper flakes. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Season with a bit of Tabasco sauce, if desired.
The Verdict
I’ve never followed the Cabbage Soup diet fully (my friend Amie lost 45 pounds!), but evidently cabbage is supposed to help with water retention. That’s enough of a reason for me to make this every once in a while when I’m feeling terribly vain.
CHEESEBURGER SOUP
serves
6
The Ingredients
½ pound lean ground beef
4 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon dried onion flakes
2 small garlic cloves, minced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 potatoes, cut in 1-inch cubes
1 cup cow’s milk
12 ounces Velveeta cheese, cubed
Tabasco sauce (optional)
crumbled bacon (optional)
The Directions
Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Brown the meat on the stovetop, and drain excess fat. Set aside to cool for a bit. Pour the chicken broth into the stoneware, and stir in the onion flakes and minced garlic. Add the bell pepper and potatoes (I didn’t peel them). Stir in the browned meat. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours, or until potatoes are tender. Stir in milk and Velveeta 20 to 30 minutes before serving. Garnish with Tabasco sauce and crumbled bacon, if desired.
CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS SOUP
serves
6
The Ingredients
3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken (I used frozen thighs)
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
16 ounces frozen vegetables (I used corn, peas, and carrots)
2 (10.5-ounce) cans cream-of-something soup, or alternative (see below)
1 (10-ounce) can refrigerated biscuits, or one batch biscuits (I used a gluten-free baking mix, and used the drop-biscuit recipe listed on the back of the bag)
The Directions
Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Put the chicken and vegetables into the bottom of the stoneware insert. Add the cream-of soups, or your homemade substitute (see below). Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or on high for 4 to 5 hours.
An hour before serving, shred the chicken with two large forks, and drop in the biscuit dough. Cover and cook on high for another hour. The dumplings are done when a knife is easily inserted and comes out clean. The dumplings will be spongy, and will brown a bit on the sides and top. Serve in bowls, with a dumpling or two per person.
ALTERNATIVE SOUP
4 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour (I used a gluten-free baking mix)
1 cup milk (I used soy)
1 cup chicken broth
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
The Directions
Combine the ingredients in a saucepan.
CHICKEN AND RICE SOUP
serves
10
The Ingredients
2 cups blended vegetables (I used celery, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, a red bell pepper, and green onion)
1 cup cooked, shredded chicken
2 quarts (8 cups) chicken broth
1 cup water
1 cup raw brown rice
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
kosher salt
black pepper
The Directions
Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Wash and trim the vegetables, and put in a blender or food processor to purée. Place into slow cooker. Add the chicken, broth, water, brown rice, herbes de Provence, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.
The Verdict
Chicken and rice is the gluten-free family’s chicken noodle soup. Everything is right with the world when you have a steamy bowl of home-cooked goodness. This is a fantastic way to clean out the produce drawer of your refrigerator—it’s perfectly fine to use vegetables that are a bit past their prime.
