Stuffed Pepper Soup

I am so DELIGHTED to be finally sharing this recipe! Stuffed Pepper Soup is a staple in my kitchen and in my family but it's been so HOT outside that I haven't been able to make it until now! Lucky for me, North Florida has a lovely fall season and I finally got to bust out this classic :) As I said, I've been eating this meal as long as I can remember. My mom is not a huge fan of cooking but she LOVES making this, and everyone loves eating it. The French bread and butter is an ABSOLUTE NECESSITY. The soup is just not the same without it. Don't skip that step. It really doesn't get much more simple than this! So few ingredient, but so much flavor, it amazes me really. The beef, peppers, and tomato flavors blend beautifully together with just one standard seasoning - salt. That's it, but I promise the basic ingredients come together in a wonderful way.

Featured in La Petite Fashionista Magazine!

Stuffed Pepper Soup

Makes 4 Servings

Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

1/2 cup rice

1/4 cup water

1 egg

46 fl oz tomato juice

46 fl oz water

3 green bell peppers

1 loaf French bread

1/4 cup butter

Salt to taste

1. Mix tomato juice and water in a large pot and turn heat to high. Mix ground beef, rice, water, and egg in a large bowl.

2. Slice off the top third of two of the bell peppers. Cut around and discard the stems. Discard any seeds. Tightly pack meat mixture in the hollowed out bell peppers.

3. Cut the remaining bell pepper and top pieces into 1 1/2 inch cubes, discarding stems and seeds. Form the remaining meat mixture into meatballs 2 inches in diameter.

4. Add stuffed peppers, meatballs, and pepper chunks to the pot. When the pot comes to a boil, cover and turn heat to low. Simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Add salt to taste. Serve with sliced French bread and butter. 

Mix the tomato juice and water in a large pot and turn the heat to high. To make your life easy simply pour the tomato juice in, fill the tomato juice container with water, add that to the pot, and mix!

Mix the ground beef, rice, water, and egg. Simple ingredients.

Slice the top third off of two bell peppers. The larger bases will hold some of the stuffing! Discard any seeds and stems. Don't waste the pepper pieces around the stems though!

All clean.

Tightly pack the meat mixture in the hallowed out bell peppers and add them to the pot.

Chop up the other bell pepper, discarding the stems and seeds like before.

Form the remaining meat mixture into 2 inch meatballs and add all meatballs and peppers to the pot!

When the pot comes to a boil, cover and simmer on low for an hour and a half. This is another one of those meals that makes your house smell scrumptious!

Salt to taste and serve with French bread and butter. This recipe is perfect for feeding large groups of people! Depending on the size of your pot, you could fill it with more stuffed peppers and meatballs for a larger crowd. I've even had two pots going on the stove at the same time for large groups! It's definitely hungry-man approved - my boyfriend puts in requests for this soup! The flavor tastes as if you put 49189173679 times more effort into the recipe than you really did, which is always good! Enjoy this easy and hearty family recipe :)

Sweet Potato & Pumpkin Soup

Well this soup just screams "Fall" doesn't it? With the classic pumpkin pie spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice, and two staples of the holidays - pumpkin and sweet potatoes, this soup makes your kitchen smell like November and December. The soup has a slight sweetness from the brown sugar, but it's not like you're eating pumpkin pie soup. The brown sugar simple highlights the other spicy fall flavors in the soup. I chose not to puree the sweet potatoes because I liked the idea of a sweeter version of a chunky potato soup, but you could puree the soup if you like. Enjoy the fall flavors and subtle sweetness of this festive holiday soup :)

Featured in La Petite Fashionista Magazine!

Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Soup

Makes 3 servings

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 large sweet potato

15 oz pumpkin puree

2 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp allspice

1. Mix pumpkin puree and vegetable broth in a large pot. Turn the heat to high.

2. Peel sweet potato and chop into 1 inch cubes.

3. Add sweet potatoes and spices to the pot. When the soup comes to a boil, turn the heat to low and simmer covered for an hour or until the potatoes are tender. Turn the heat off and mix in the heavy cream. Enjoy!

Whisk the pumpkin puree into the vegetable broth and turn the heat to high.

Peel one large sweet potato and cut it into one inch cubes.

Add the potatoes and spices to the pot! Get ready for your kitchen to start smelling like fall...

Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cover for 1 hour. The potatoes will get nice and tender!

Turn the heat off and mix in the heavy cream. Mmm so luscious and warm.

I really enjoy how familiar all of these ingredients are, yet I've never tried them put together in this way before! I'll be honest, I'd been dreaming about this soup but wasn't quite sure what to expect of the final result. I'm quite pleased with the blend of sweet and savory that I achieved :) Just enough sweetness to highlight the savory/spicy fall flavors without being overwhelming. If you are in the mood for something outside the box yet familiar, try some Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Soup! 

White Chili

There's something about a big bowl of chili that warms your soul (and your hands holding the bowl) on a cold fall or winter day. That's all I want when it's cold outside really - soup! I love me some classic chili w/ beef and a tomato base, but I decided to try something a little different for this recipe. The hearty veggies and beans are all still there, but beef is swapped for chicken and the broth is chicken stock and heavy cream (YUM). The cream gives this a wonderful richness that you wouldn't normally expect for chili, but if you're being health conscious, you could skip it I suppose.  And did I mention this recipe is SO simple? Cozy up on the couch with a throw blanket and a big bowl of White Chili and prepare for comfort.

Featured in La Petite Fashionista Magazine!

White Chili

Makes 4 servings

Total time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients  (( Healthier Ingredient Substitutions ))

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1 orange bell pepper

1 white onion

8 3/4 oz corn

31.6 oz great northern beans

9 oz chopped green chiles

32 oz unsalted chicken broth

1/4 cup heavy cream   (( skip the cream ))

2 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp butter   (( 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil ))

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp black pepper

Salt to taste

1. Dice onion and bell pepper. Melt butter over medium heat in a large pot. Sauté diced onion and bell pepper for 2 minutes. Mince garlic and add to pot, sautéing for another minute.

2. Add chicken broth, heavy cream, corn, beans, chiles, chili powder, cumin, black pepper, and salt to the pot and turn heat to high. When the soup comes to a boil, turn the heat to low and simmer uncovered for an hour, stirring occasionally. Enjoy!

Chop the pepper and onion and mince the garlic! The rest of the veggies are canned, so no prep required!

Shred two fully cooked chicken breasts. Using a cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store is a fantastic shortcut here!

Saute the chopped onion and pepper in butter over medium heat in a large pot. Add the garlic and saute for another minute.

Add all other ingredients besides the heavy cream and turn the heat to high. When the chili comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for an hour. Please ignore the amount of liquid in this picture - I've edited the recipe slightly since these pictures were taken!

Mmmm the luscious creamy goodness. This recipe is so hearty and the cream adds a rich element to the broth.

Loaded with hearty veggies and shredded chicken, this chili is definitely satisfying. And you know what I think would make it even better? Some cornbread. MMM! Definitely serving it with a side of cornbread in the future!

Tortilla Soup

I'm not so sure "tortilla soup" is the proper name for this recipe, but I think it comes close to what you expect for something like tortilla soup. This tasty concoction is just something I came up with when I rummaged through my kitchen! I have most of these things available to me all the time. The pantry items are really basic and I almost always end up buying onions and peppers at the grocery store whether I have a specific recipe in mind or not. And it's so simple! And makes you feel all warm inside.

Tortilla Soup

Makes 8 servings
Cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients  (( Healthier Ingredient Substitutions ))                          

3 cups cooked rotini pasta (( 3 cups cooked wheat rotini pasta ))                                    

3 large tortillas (( 3 large wheat tortillas ))                                           

1 chicken breast, cooked and chopped                                 

1 green bell pepper                                                                       

1 small onion                                                                                     

32 oz. UNSALTED chicken broth (( 32 oz. low fat unsalted chicken broth ))                                           

1 cup water                                                                                       

1 can diced tomatoes with green chilis                                  

1 can black beans                                                                            

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (( 1/2 cup low fat shredded cheddar cheese ))                                  

1 cup sour cream (( 1/2 cup low fat sour cream ))                                 

1 1/2 Tbsp lime juice                                                                      

1/2 Tbsp dried cilantro                                                                  

1/2 tsp olive oil                                                                                 

1/2 tsp garlic powder                                                                     

1/2 tsp cumin                                                                                    

1/2 tsp chili powder                                                                       

1/2 tsp salt (( salt to taste ))                                               

1/4 tsp black pepper

1. Dice bell pepper and onion and saute in a large pot with olive oil over medium low heat for 5 minutes.

2. Add chicken broth, canned tomatoes and chilis, cup of water, lime juice, cilantro, garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper and turn the heat to medium high. Bring to a boil.

3. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

4. Add cooked chicken, black beans, and cooked pasta and continue simmering. Sprinkle 1/2 cup cheddar cheese on tortillas and bake in a 400 degree F oven for 7 minutes.

5. Turn stove off and let soup cool for 5 minutes.

6. Add 1/2 cup sour cream and  1/2 cup cheddar cheese and stir until everything is combined and melted. Skip the cheddar cheese for healthier version.

7. Serve with tortilla slice and sour cream. Enjoy!

Chop your bell pepper and onion. This soup is nice and hearty!

Notice the UNSALTED chicken broth. This is important. There is an enormous amount of salt in most broths. This way you can control the amount of salt in the recipe!

Saute the bell pepper and onion with some olive oil until the onions start to become translucent.

Add broth, canned tomatoes, water, lime juice, cilantro, garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, salt, and black pepper. Turn the heat to medium high and bring to a boil. Then bring right back down to simmer! If you're chicken and pasta aren't cooked yet, now is the time to do it. It will only taste better the longer it simmers! It should simmer for a minimum of 15 minutes.

Add the chicken and black beans and continue to simmer!

Lookin' good.

Put tortillas and cheese in the oven for about 7 minutes at 400 degrees. Keep and eye on them though! There a nice crispy addition to the soup when they're done.

Turn the stove heat off and let cool for 5 minutes. You don't want it to be too hot when you add the dairy! Now comes the rich part... Stir in the sour cream and cheddar cheese until everything is melted together.

Serve with the sliced tortillas and more sour cream! Yummy and warm and zesty!