Spicy and Sweet Shrimp and Veggie Soup

Soup is not just good food, it’s great food, but for some reason people think soup is difficult to make.  In fact, it is one of the easiest things you can make and contrary to popular belief, it does not take long to cook. 

I have been known to cook up a soup for lunch the way some people would break open a can.   Canned soup is something I’ve given up.  It’s just too disappointing for me and you can give it up too.   Trust me and try it.  You can’t fail unless you add something crazy and frankly, I can’t think of anything too crazy for a soup. 

This soup is sweet, spicy, filling, delicious and good for you.  What more can you ask for?

Remember to put things together that make sense to you—flavors you think go well together and that you would enjoy.  Once you get your confidence up, experiment as much as you like. 

Kabocha Squash
Kabocha Squash is a prize in our house. It’s a small squash about the size of a cantaloupe. There is no need to peel it either. It has a sweet flavor with a texture like potatoes, not watery like many other squashes. Like most orange vegetables, Kabocha weighs in with a high percentage of Vitamin A.

-------------------------------------------

RECIPE

Shrimp and Veggie Soup

Ingredients:

• Onion
• Red Sweet Bell Peppers chopped
• Green Cabbage (about a quarter or a little more)
• Kabocha Squash (I used one half)
• Fresh Green Beans with the tough end cut
• Carrots (2) ends cut and peeled
• Okra cut crosswise (discard tough end)
• Red cabbage (small amount for color)
• Two packs of Knorr Powdered Chicken Bouillon
• Seasonings – Garlic powder, Black pepper, Season salt (with caution—bouillon is already salty), red pepper flakes (if desired)
• Fresh or uncooked frozen shrimp (shelled and deveined) I used jumbo shrimp but cut them in two or three pieces
• 8 cups of water (the water should just cover the veggies.  Go too high and your soup will be thin and watery).

Directions:

•          Prepare vegetables and add to the pot. 
•          Fill pot with water just above veggies.  You don’t want your soup to be too thin and watery.
•          Add powdered bouillon and mix well (when I’m making a vegetable soup, I like to use chicken bouillon or a homemade chicken broth for a richer flavor.  Feel free to skip this or use a vegetable-based bouillon or broth.)
•          Season with garlic powder, black pepper, a little season salt and red pepper flakes (use with caution because they do intensify over time).
•          Bring to a boil and turn fire down to simmer.
•          Cover and let cook until all veggies are tender.
•          Add shrimp and let simmer until shrimp is pink (just a few minutes)
•          Turn off the fire and let the soup flavors meld together-if you can wait.
•          Stir once more to mix well.

Please note that soup is even better the second day.

Enjoy!

Got questions?  Fire away!

Inspiration from a Clean Fridge

I cleaned the fridge today.  No, I mean I really cleaned the fridge. 

Yes, I tossed all of the expired foods along with the extraneous unidentifiable crap, but then I did the same in the freezer too.  It’s amazing what you can find in the back of your fridge and freezer.  My daughter actually discovered two things she had forgotten about, acting like she was just reunited with some long lost friends.

I went even further with my cleaning project taking out the shelves and racks in the fridge and freezer.  I then moved on to the outside and yes, the top!  You know--that place where you put things you can’t find a place for anywhere else?  Especially if you are height-challenged like me and can’t really see up there anyway.

Afterward, I felt so proud of my work that I gave a tour to anyone in the vicinity.  You can imagine the looks I received after the second and third tour.

Later, I had to make an unexpected trip to the store so while I was there, I also decided to pick up something relatively easy for dinner.  We don’t eat a lot of convenience foods in our house.  We cook—actually, I cook—but that’s okay because as long as I am feeling inspired I don’t mind. 

With the clean fridge I was able to easily identify what I wanted to work with today—Kabocha Squash and frozen veggies.  I mean finally, the freezer wasn’t just a UFM anymore--Unidentified Frozen Mass. 

Kabocha Squash is a prize in our house.  It’s a small squash about the size of a cantaloupe.  There is no need to peel it either.  It has a sweet flavor with a texture like potatoes, not watery like many other squashes.  Like most orange vegetables, Kabocha weighs in with a high percentage of Vitamin A.

I decided on something we haven’t had in many months—stew beef.  We eat a lot of chicken, and seafood, but once in a while we do eat a little beef.  Besides, it just seemed like a perfect combination of flavors for a small stew--a comforting dish on a not-so-warm spring day.  

This probably not the average family’s Saturday easy or quick meal, but it was relatively easy, quick, good and good for you.

-----------

RECIPE

Kabocha Squash Saturday Stew

Ingredients:

Stew Beef sliced into small pieces

½ Kabocha Squash (use your judgment on how much you want to add)

ByBee Foods Organic Petite Whole Green Beans (or any veggie of your choice)

(*Remember that success in creating inspired foods means pairing items that seem like a good match)

Green Bell Pepper (chopped)

Onion (chopped)

Salt

Pepper

Organic No-Salt Seasoning (I buy this at Costco and I love it.  Trader Joe’s also makes it.)

Directions:

• Sauté Onion and Peppers in olive or any vegetable oil until the onion is translucent
• Remove from pan
• Sauté meat until pink color is gone
• Add onion and peppers and mix together
• Season well
• Add Squash mixing well
• *Add water slowly, just short of fully covering--pour on the side taking care not to drench mixture.  You want the seasonings to stay put.
• Put Green beans on top
• Bring it to a boil
• Cover and turn heat down to simmer
• Once squash gets soft, mix everything together
• Continue to simmer until beef is tender.

*If you like your stew soupy, you can add more water as it cooks down.

I had planned to add some cornstarch to thicken, but the squash did that job beautifully.

Enjoy!

Basic Butternut Squash Soup

Soup is my favorite food and subject. I often wake up with new soup combinations on my mind.   Why?  Soup is the ultimate playground of creativity.

Healing Power of Soup

Another thing that intrigues me is the healing power of soup.  It is legendary.  Mothers everywhere whip up a batch of chicken soup at the first sign of illness.  It seems to restore a feeling of well-being immediately.   Whether it’s a scientific fact or a placebo effect, the end result is still the same. Comfort in the body, mind and soul boosts your immune system and leads to wellness.

Soup’s well deserved healing reputation may be attributed to the fact that it is one of the few ways of cooking that allows you to consume all of the nutrients available from the food. With all cooking methods, nutrients tend to leach out into the water, steam or juices that escape and are then discarded.  With soup, you are consuming that water so nothing is lost.

Nutritional Value of Butternut Squash

Butternut Squash, like sweet potato, has a very high percentage of Vitamin A and Vitamin C.  A rule of thumb when it comes to identifying the nutritional value of foods is the color.  When you see orange veggies, you can pretty much count on Vitamin A to be at the forefront.  It’s a great thing to add to soups when you want to boost your nutrition intake.

---------------------------------------------------------------

RECIPE

Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut Squash Soup is a blank canvas when it comes to creating with soup.   The possible variations are endless, but let’s begin with the basic recipe.

I find that caramelized onion is a great compliment to the flavors in this squash.  I also use red bell peppers as opposed to green because the flavor and color combines well with the sweetness of the squash and enhances the visual appeal.

Ingredients:

1 large Butternut Squash (take great care in peeling and cutting—the shape of this squash can make it difficult to work with).  Trader Joes carries peeled and cubed squash for a very reasonable price.

1 or 2 large onions

Red Bell Pepper

Butter and/or Olive Oil or any vegetable oil

Chicken Broth (I used 2 packs of powdered chicken bouillon.  You can make your own broth by boiling chicken, onion, celery, carrots, bell peppers and seasonings, cooking until meat is tender and then skimming everything out and storing the broth in the fridge.  I do this around Thanksgiving when I know it will be used in many dishes.  You can also freeze it.)

Season Salt

Garlic Powder

Black Pepper

Costco no salt organic seasoning

Red Pepper Flakes

Directions:

Chop onions and Red Bell Pepper

Melt butter or oil in the bottom of the pot

Add onions sautéing stirring constantly until they become translucent and golden brown (take care not to burn!)

Add red bell pepper and continue to sauté for a few minutes

Add cubed squash

Add water just enough to cover squash

Season including powdered bouillon (bouillon is salty so hold back on any additional salt until you taste)

Bring to a boil

Cover and simmer until squash is tender

Use a potato masher to mash squash

Stir to combine all ingredients

Taste and add more seasonings if needed

Serving Variations 

*I Individualized each serving as follows:

Serving #1:

1 Tablespoon of Heavy Cream

Grated Wisconsin Cheddar Cheese on top as a garnish

Served with toasted Whole Grain Bread

This is my favorite!

Serving #2:

Thawed frozen cooked shrimp in a cup of water with Old Bay Seasoning

Drained and added to soup

Reheat bowl to heat shrimp or heat shrimp prior to adding

Served with Crackers

My Hubbie’s favorite.

*What would you like to add? 

Here are a few ideas:  Toasted nuts, pasta, cooked veggies, boiled chopped egg, meat, fish, shell fish like King crab.  Remember that creativity is all about creating something that appeals to you.

Simple and fast.

Enjoy!

Fake Curry (in a hurry)

Red Chili (a common addition to curries)

Trinidadian and Guyanese Curry   

Food that passes through our doors doesn’t stand a chance of emerging in a plain, boring or tasteless dish. Our kitchen is where all souls meet. Our food is influenced by our ancestry—mine, African, Native American, Irish and Southern--my husband Puerto Rican,  Bajan and Trinidadian. It’s not that we have some sacred recipes handed down. It’s that we cook what we are inspired to cook and our inspiration comes from deep within our gut. Maybe it’s even in our DNA.

We love to cook, and we rarely use a recipe, because frankly, some recipes are disappointing.  Case in point—I have a cookbook authored by a flash-in-the-pan chef who had 15 minutes of fame doled out by association.  She was well-schooled in the culinary arts and her recipes were somewhat complex.  I decided to follow one of her recipes from start to finish creating a Sunday dinner feast for my family that was not only elegant, but flavorful—so I thought.  I was not impressed by the end result.  It was flavorless in my opinion and I could have skipped much of the process and arrived with a much tastier result on my own.  This is one of the reasons that recipes for me are just a jumping off point to ideas on the road to creating a satisfying sensory experience.

Now, I am not from the Caribbean, India or any country where curry dishes are a staple, but I make a delicious curry dish that my kids call Fake Curried Chicken.  They say that because I made up the recipe and don’t have a Caribbean bone in my body but the fact is, I know what I like.  I also know that everyone who tries it--including them--loves it.  So, with no disrespect to true curry chefs out there because I really love authentic Caribbean, Indian and other ethnic foods, here is my personal take on curry.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Recipe--Fake Chicken Curry (in a hurry)

This is one of those dishes where I can walk in, dump everything in a pot, put the rice in a rice cooker and move on to do other things including relax.  It won’t be long until the house is filled with a beautifully intoxicating fragrance that no one can resist.

Ingredients:

Chicken Wings (I sometimes cut at the joint)

Curry (explore this one because there are so many different curries available—Curry is really a combination of turmeric, coriander, and cumin as a base with many other spices like chilies, cilantro, and fennel.   Whether hot, spicy or mild; green, red or yellow; the variation of curries are as endless as their countries of origin.)

1 large Onion

1 Green Bell Pepper (my personal preference for curry)

Celery (nice but optional)

Season Salt (use care with salt—curry seasoning may also contain salt)

Corn Starch

Black Pepper

Garlic Powder

Cooked Rice (I use brown)

Directions:

Add chicken to appropriate pot with room to spare for veggies and water to cover the chicken plus at least 1 to 2 inches above (this will allow chicken to cook well and cover the added veggies). 

Chop the onion, green pepper and celery and add to the pot

Season well with garlic powder, pepper, salt and curry—be generous with the curry and stingy with salt—you can always add more at the end or on the plate if needed.

Bring to a boil and then turn down to simmer

Cover and let cook until the chicken is well done, almost falling off the bone

Mix a small amount of corn starch with an equal amount of cold water in a bowl or cup stirring until you have a smooth lump-free mixture.  Turn the fire up and add cornstarch and stir.  As you come back to the boiling point, the cornstarch will thicken the liquid to a gravy consistency—continue this process gradually until your gravy meets your preferred thickness.  You don’t want to end up with a cement block but if you do end up with your gravy being too thick, just add a little more water.  

Taste and add more seasonings if needed.  After trial and error a few times, you will know instinctively how much seasoning is needed for you.

Serve over cooked rice with vegetables of your choice on the side.

Variations—This is just my basic dish.  I have done this with potatoes right in the mix eliminating the need for rice and I’ve also made mixed veggies in lieu of rice or potatoes just putting the curry chicken right on top. 

It’s simple, delicious and easy, always a favorite for my family or when unexpected company arrives.

Enjoy!

Feel free to leave questions or comments below.

Basics and My not-so-secret ingredient Spaghetti Sauce

When I got married I knew nothing about cooking.  I went in the kitchen, read the package instructions and tried not to burn things.  Unfortunately, as hard as I tried, burning and bad meals were the order of the day.

My husband, an inspired chef, knew that he would have to teach me a few things if he was ever going to eat a decent meal that he didn’t cook himself.  Yes, he gave me some basic how-to’s, but what really left its mark was the exposure he gave me to foods and spices I had never known growing up. 

He introduced me to sweet peppers, plantain, mangoes, sauces, and spices, but more importantly he made me realize that cooking well is cooking from the heart.  It was on from there. 

Not every inspired dish has turned out well.  When my children were growing up like all kids everyday they asked “Mom, what’s for dinner?”  Whenever my answer was “Oh, it’s a surprise!” they looked just a little uneasy.  Today when my family sees that inspired look in my eyes, they can’t wait to taste my latest creation.

Success means using basic combinations that work

Honestly, the only rules here are the ones you make because everyone’s taste buds are different.  Depending on where you are in your cooking skills, you will begin to understand that certain combinations of ingredients create the basis for a successful dish. 

A great example of this is onions, sweet peppers and fresh garlic, my favorite trio.  They are generally always good together.  When you are working with these three ingredients, whatever you are making is bound to turn out good.  You then build on this foundation.  

If you hate garlic don’t use it!  Remember, the idea here is to free yourself of rules and go with what you truly feel in your gut.  I do advise you to be adventurous to try new things and even if you previously thought you hated something, try to see it in a differently.   Doing new things in new ways is what creative cooking is all about.

-------------------------------------------------

Recipe

Spaghetti and Meat Sauce with Sweet Potato

I love sweet potatoes.  Their beautiful orange color and naturally sweet taste makes them a year round staple in my house.  One day while preparing spaghetti, it seemed to me that a sweet potato would add just the right amount of creaminess that I was craving. I know, that sounds a bit strange to you right now, but I am telling you that this has become a staple in my house.  Even my husband, who hates pasta and tomato-based sauces, loves this. 

Ingredients (feel free to substitute):

Spaghetti #9

Ground Turkey  (small pack)

1 large sweet potato

Onion

1 Sweet Red Pepper

1 Clove of Fresh Garlic

1 can of crushed tomatoes

Olive Oil

Directions:

Put on the water for spaghetti.

Peel the sweet potato and then cut into big chunks.

When the water begins to boil, throw it into the pot.

Have a strainer or slotted spoon handy.

Cook until tender.

Remove to a bowl or large dish.

Add spaghetti to boiling water--follow package directions.

Peel and chop the onion, peppers and fresh garlic into small pieces.

Sauté the onion and peppers in olive or any vegetable oil until the onion is translucent.

Add the garlic last and

Remove from the pan.

Sauté ground turkey, chopping and stirring until all the pink is gone but again, don’t let it burn.  I generally use a little olive oil in the pan when doing this when doing this because ground turkey doesn’t have much fat.

Add the sautéed onion, garlic and peppers to the meat.

Season according to your taste—I use powdered garlic, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and an organic unsalted seasoning mix I bought in Costco.

Add the can of crushed tomatoes and let it simmer adding seasonings to taste.

Using a potato masher,  mash the sweet potato.

Add to the sauce and mix well.

Here’s the great thing about the sweet potato:

•  It sweetens the sauce taking away that harsh tomato acidity that often comes with tomatoes without having to add sugar (hence my husband’s love for this dish)
• Sweet potatoes add a creamy texture to the sauce
•  One sweet potato adds 4 grams of fiber, 475% of the recommended dietary allowance of Vitamin A and 32% of Vitamin C.

So you have now created a masterpiece with a high-nutrition IQ that tastes heavenly and provides comfort all on the same plate.

What could be better than that?

Enjoy!

Comments and questions related to this post are welcome!

About this blog...

I am not a chef, nor do I play one on TV, at least not yet.  What really bothers me is that when it comes to eating and cooking, people tend to limit themselves.  They either say things like, I can't cook or they follow recipes like they were the law.  They eat fast food and think it's good and they have these hard rules about specific things like hating all vegetables or fish. 

This blog is about my creative exploits in the kitchen and how you too can begin to create some culinary masterpieces of your own.  Somewhere deep inside, you have the ability to create in the kitchen or anywhere else in your life. You just have to begin to trust your inspiration and figure out how to bring it to life.