"Dill"icious salmon chowder!

 

We have not discontinued our Saturday soup-making tradition, but I assumed that people were getting bored with the recipes and I stopped posting them.  I have since had two requests for this recipe, so I will go ahead...

This would be a great way to use up leftover cooked fish.  It was a nice Spring-tasting soup which turned out to be about 250 calories per serving.  Six servings.

Salmon-Dill Chowder

1.  Sauté 2 chopped onions, 12 button mushrooms, 2 Yukon gold potatoes, chopped, sliced, 2 cloves minced garlic and 1 bell pepper, chopped, in 1 Tbsp. olive oil until the onions are limp.

2.  Add 1 bunch of fresh dill, chopped, and 3 cans of reduced fat chicken broth.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are soft.  Blend until smooth.

3.  Add 1 additional Yukon Gold potato, chopped, cooked fish which has been "chunked" with a fork(we used 2 salmon fillets),  and a half package of frozen peas.  Bring to a simmer and cook until potatoes are done.  Don't overcook--you want the peas to have a nice, fresh pop to them.

This was not the prettiest soup we have ever made--the dill gives it kind of a greenish tint, but it was delish!

This past Saturday we made a huge pot of cowboy stew.  Let me assure you that no cowboys were  injured in the process.    This is a recipe that we have made for years, but I have tweaked it to reduce the calories.  It made 12 servings, each 200 calories.

As with many soups, it is even better the next day (and the next) as the flavors really come together.

Cowboy Stew

1.  Brown 2 lbs. lean ground beef (or ground turkey).  Drain, to remove the fat, then rinse with hot water.  This does a good job of reducing the fat in ground beef, but isn't necessary if you are using turkey.

2.  In a large stock pot, sauté 3 chopped onions and 2 minced garlic cloves in 1 Tbsp. olive oil until the onions are limp.  Add two cans of Rotelle tomatoes with peppers, 4 cans of diced tomatoes, 2 quarts of hot water and 3 heaping Tbsp. beef soup base.   Add hot sauce (we like Tapatio) to taste.  Add salt and pepper and blend until smooth.

3.  Add to the soup base the hamburger, 1 can whole kernel corn (with liquid), 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained, 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained, and four Yukon gold potatoes, diced.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about thirty minutes. 

This can be as spicy as you want, but don't fear the heat--Aubrey loved it and asked for it two days in a row!  So it has been kid-tasted and kid-approved!