I’m always on the lookout for new soups, especially recipes like this one that feature vegetables. This quick and easy Italian-inspired soup calls for store-bought cheese tortellini (or your favorite flavor) and other ingredients that can be kept on hand.

I followed the recipe except for sauteing some diced onion along with the carrots and celery. I also substituted broccoli for the zucchini and canned diced tomato (about 1/2 cup) for the fresh tomatoes. For protein, I added some diced cooked chicken. Garnish each serving with a dollop of pesto and some Parmesan cheese.

Tortellini and Vegetable Soup
-recipe from williams-sonoma.com

For a traditional Italian version of this hearty vegetable soup, garnish each serving with a spoonful of store-bought pesto. The pesto adds herbaceous notes to the simple soup. Round out the meal with a loaf of crusty Italian or whole-grain bread.

2 Tbs. olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 carrots, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
2 zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 lb. fresh cheese tortellini
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, warm the 2 Tbs. olive oil. Add the carrots, celery and zucchini and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the broth and bring to a boil.

Add the tortellini and cook for 5 minutes, or according to the package instructions. Remove from the heat. Stir in the tomatoes and parsley, and season with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into warmed bowls, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with the cheese and serve immediately. Serves 4.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Food Made Fast Series, One Pot, by Carrolyn Carreño (Oxmoor House, 2008).

Tags: broccoli, carrots, parmesan cheese, pesto, soup, tomatoes, tortellini, zucchini

Mole, a Mexican specialty, is a rich, thick sauce with complex flavors. It is usually labor-intensive and includes a long list of ingredients. This quick version of a mole (pronounced MOH-lay) uses canned chipotle chilies and diced tomatoes to form the sauce for tender chunks of chicken. The smoky, spicy sauce includes chocolate, an ingredient commonly found in some moles. Don’t worry, the sauce doesn’t taste like chocolate…it just provides another layer of flavor.

After reading a few other mole recipes, I decided to add 1 teaspoon of oregano, 1 chopped clove of garlic and a dollop of peanut butter to my simmering Chicken Mole with Chipotles. The extra ingredients aren’t necessary but added just a little more flavor. A friend of mine who swung by right after the mole finished cooking got to try some. She loved it (and wanted seconds)! Husband and I loved it, too. The mole was spicy but not too spicy. Serve with steamed rice.

For other fun recipes, check out Foodie Friday.

Chicken Mole with Chipotles
-recipe from epicurious.com

Mole, a classic Mexican chili sauce, gets streamlined here. Chipotle chilies (available canned at Latin American markets and many supermarkets) add heat, while unsweetened chocolate provides subtle sweetness. Serve the stew in shallow bowls with steamed rice. Add an arugula, orange, and red onion salad and a basket of warm corn tortillas. For dessert, offer cinnamon-spiked hot chocolate and wafer cookies. Makes 4 servings.

6 skinless boneless chicken thighs, each cut into 3 pieces
2 tablespoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 14 1/2-ounce cans chili-style chunky tomatoes in juice
1 cup canned low-salt chicken broth
2 tablespoons minced canned chipotle chilies plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped

Coat chicken on all sides with cumin. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add chicken; sauté until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Add onion and sauté until beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes with juice, broth, chipotle chilies, adobo sauce, and chocolate and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until chicken is cooked through and sauce thickens slightly, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; serve.

Tags: Chicken, chipotle chile, chocolate, cumin, Mexican, mole, peanut butter, tomatoes

The other day I was in one of those “what am I going to make for dinner” quandaries. I knew I wanted to use some fresh corn I had on hand and I was NOT going to make a special trip to the store for any dinner ingredients. After a quick inventory of what I had in the pantry/fridge and a quick recipe search, I decided to make Mexican Chicken Soup. Now I know that September isn’t quite soup weather but, hey, we live in the Pacific Northwest and it was overcast and rainy on this particular day. Soup was definitely going to be on the menu!

Not only is this Mexican Chicken Soup hearty and filling, but it’s easy and can be made with ingredients you keep stocked up on (beans, frozen corn, chicken broth, etc). I love the smoky flavor that the chipotle chiles bring to the broth. Mmmm, it’s so good! My soup was fairly spicy which could’ve been due to the size and/or heat of the jalepeno chile I used. If you prefer a milder soup, leave out the jalepeno chile entirely and just use some of the canned chipotle chile and the adobo sauce it is packed in. I didn’t have kidney beans so I used a can each of black beans and pinto beans. For the garnish, I simply topped each bowl of soup with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of chopped cilantro. The avocado and jack cheese would be delicious, too, but don’t sweat it if you don’t have it. 

Mexican Chicken Soup
-recipe from Cook’s Country Magazine

Mexican chicken soup is a thicker, richer, spicier rendition of everybody’s favorite soup. Beans, corn, tomatoes, and chiles all play a role. Garnish the soup with avocado, Monterey Jack cheese, and cilantro. You can temper the heat of this spicy soup by reducing the amount of adobo sauce. Serves 6 to 8.

6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 large onion , quartered
4 cloves garlic , peeled
10 sprigs cilantro
Table salt
1 (14.5-ounce) can whole tomatoes in juice , drained, with juice reserved
1/2 jalapeno chile , seeds and ribs removed
1 canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce plus 1 tablespoon sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups frozen corn kernels
2 (14-ounce) cans kidney beans , drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons lime juice

Bring 4 cups broth, chicken, 2 onion quarters, 2 garlic cloves, cilantro, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to boil in large skillet over high heat. Cover and cook over low heat until chicken is cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer chicken to large plate.

Puree tomatoes, remaining 2 onion quarters, remaining 2 garlic cloves, jalapeño, chipotle, and adobo sauce in blender until smooth.

Heat oil in Dutch oven over high heat until shimmering. Add tomato mixture and 1/8 teaspoon salt and cook until darkened in color, 8 to10 minutes. Strain broth directly into pot with tomato puree (discard solids). Add remaining 2 cups broth, reserved tomato juice, corn, and beans and simmer to blend flavors, about 5 minutes. Shred or dice chicken into bite-sized pieces and add to soup. Stir in lime juice and season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Test Kitchen Discoveries
•Use boneless and skinless chicken thighs, which are far moister and richer flavored than white breast meat.
•Poaching the chicken in canned chicken broth will enrich the broth and make it taste homemade.
•For authentic flavor, “fry” the pureed tomatoes, onions, garlic, and chiles until the flavor and color have intensified. Most Mexican sauces are prepared in this fashion.
•Smoky chipotle chiles add both heat and a rich flavor to the casserole. These chiles, which are smoked jalapeños, come packed in a tomato-based adobo sauce. Small cans of the chiles are found in the Mexican foods section of most supermarkets.

Tags: beans, chipotle chile, cilantro, corn, Mexican Chicken Soup, tomatoes

Here’s a good, quick springtime recipe if you’re hankering for a steak. The colors and flavors of the tomato salsa are vibrant and fresh, and it adds an Italian flare to the pan-seared rib-eyes. This is an easy recipe to cut in half if you’re only cooking for two (or even one). I served the steak with crusty bread and sauteed zucchini.

Pan-Seared Rib-Eye Steak with Balsamic Onion & Tomato Salsa
-recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine

1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, cut into medium dice (to yield about 1-1/2  cups)
2 tsp. granulated sugar
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
4 boneless rib-eye steaks, 3/4 to 1 inch thick (6 to 8 oz. each)

Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until hot; add the onion and sugar. Cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until it begins to soften but not brown, 4 to 5 min. Add the vinegar and cook until the onions are soft, 2 to 3  min. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring, until they just begin to soften, 1 to 2 min. Remove the skillet from the heat, stir in the basil, and season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and keep warm.

Season the steaks generously on both sides with salt and pepper. Wipe out the skillet and melt the butter in the skillet over high heat. Cook two of the steaks until nicely browned on both sides and cooked to your liking, about 3 min. per side for medium rare. Transfer the steaks to plates or a platter and keep warm while you cook the remaining two steaks. Serve the steaks topped with the onion and tomato salsa.

Serving suggestions: Serve alongside a mixed salad of Bibb lettuce, spinach, and torn basil.

Tags: balsamic vinegar, basil, Beef, onions, Quick Cooking, rib-eye, steak, tomato salsa, tomatoes

This spicy beef noodle dish made a good weeknight dinner; nothing fancy but certainly quick and easy. You’ve got a little bit of everything in one bowl with this meal…thinly sliced beef, stir fried veggies, pasta. The soy sauce, Sriracha and tomatoes combine to lightly coat the meat, veggies and pasta without standing in the way of their individual flavors. I thought that the one tablespoon of Sriracha was enough to give the dish a pleasant amount of heat. Use less, though, if you’re apprehensive about the spice factor; you can always drizzle more on later if you want more zip.  

The beef released alot of juices when I was browning it so I transfered the beef (and it’s juices) to a bowl, wiped out the pan, added more oil, and proceeded with the recipe. Some of the prep could be done ahead of time to speed up the cooking process. The handy hint in the recipe on chilling the beef in the freezer (before cutting) for a half hour really does make it easier to slice. Just don’t leave it in there too long or you’ll have a frozen hunk of meat. Sunset even includes recipe variations in case you want to change things up a bit. When it comes to food, variety really is the spice of life!

Beef with Tomatoes, Pasta, and Chili Sauce
-from Sunset magazine

While researching a story on Peruvian cooking (“Peruvian Passage,” June 2006), we came across tallarín saltado, a popular fusion dish that combines Asian stir-fry techniques with beef, fresh tomatoes, Asian chili sauce, and Italian spaghetti. It was a hit here at Sunset: It’s fast and easy, and you can substitute other meats, vegetables, or different kinds of pasta. This is our favorite combination, using broccoli and fusilli. Notes: Slicing the beef is easier if it has been chilled for 20 to 30 minutes in the freezer. For less spicy heat, decrease or leave out the chili sauce.

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients
1/2 pound fusilli pasta
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound beef sirloin, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-in.-thick slices
1 large onion, halved lengthwise and cut into thin wedges
3 cups broccoli florets (about 1 in. each)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Sriracha (Asian red chili sauce)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 medium tomatoes, cut into 1-in.-thick wedges
Preparation

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add fusilli. Cook until tender to the bite, 5 to 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add beef and cook until it starts to brown, about 3 minutes. Stir and let it continue to brown for 2 to 3 minutes more. Transfer beef to a plate, reserving oil, and set aside.

Add onion to the pan and cook, stirring often, until it begins to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add broccoli and cook until bright green, 2 to 3 minutes. Add soy sauce, Sriracha, cilantro, and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and reserved beef and cook until tomatoes begin to release their juices, 2 to 3 minutes longer. Add the cooked fusilli, stir, and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated or been absorbed by the pasta, 2 to 3 minutes. Season to taste with additional soy sauce or Sriracha. Serve hot with a sprinkling of fresh cilantro, if desired.

Variations: This dish is extremely flexible, and the soy-chili sauce tastes great with any of the following additions and/or substitutions.

Chicken or shrimp:Use 1 lb. boned, skinned chicken breasts cut into 1/4-in.-thick strips, or 1 lb. medium shelled and deveined shrimp.

Other vegetables: Add your favorite green vegetable (such as green beans or zucchini) in addition to or in place of the broccoli. You can also toss in a thinly sliced red or green bell pepper or 1 cup thinly sliced green cabbage (add at the same time as the onion).

Swap pastas:Try using penne pasta instead of fusilli. Or, for a more authentically Peruvian version, use spaghetti.

Tags: Beef, broccoli, Main Dish, Quick Cooking, stir-fry, tomatoes