IP: Chayote, Carrot, Fish Soup

So it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted anything. This is mostly due to long work days, long trips away from home (flights, distance driving), and sheer laziness. Though I have to admit, I’m usually so tired by the end of the day, I settle for something like noodles, or fried rice, both of which are nothing special to post about.

So now I do have a little bit of time, and I have an Instant Pot. I got today off, so here’s a soup that I did… And I’m home long enough to be able to finish drinking all of it!

 

Ingredients:

• 2 chayote, peeled, cored, diced in to 1″ cubes
• Three medium carrots, sliced in 1/2″ pieces
• 1 chicken bouillon cube, prepared as per manufacturer instructions (can substitute with vegetable stock)
• 2 blue cod fillets (I used frozen). Too hard to break into pieces, so I put the whole pieces in, frozen

Instructions:

Pretty much put everything in to the pot, fill the remaining space of the pot to almost half way mark, and press the soup button (30 minutes on high pressure). Leave it on slow release when it’s done. Salt and season as needed. I found that I didn’t need to add anything else due to the chicken bouillon. Typically I use chicken stock, but I am only home for the next three days, so I can’t justify opening a pack and leaving it in the fridge for the next 10 days following.

Hopefully I’ll be back sooner than later! I have yet to unlock the full potential of this magical kitchen appliance. Perhaps a small roast next, if I have guests over.

Thai Coconut Salmon Soup

(Sorry for my long hiatus. I really haven’t been in the mood for cooking, nor have I had the time. I started a new job in January, and it’s been go go go since then. Every month, I travel for an average of two weeks, so that just means hotels and restaurant or grocery store food. I am now located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, but I am still a west coaster at heart. We’ve had some really nice weather, and suddenly, this May long weekend, it’s cold and raining. I even had to turn the heat up. And so I also figured it was time for a soup, since it’s been too hot for soup in the past few months. An opportunity arose, and I jumped on it!)

Well, we know how my camera skills are with food: poor at best. Here’s the finished product: Thai ‪#‎salmon‬ ‪#‎coconut‬ ‪#‎soup‬. At first I thought I could eat the whole thing in one night, but it proves to be too big of a challenge, and my eyes were hungrier than my stomach. Tbh, it probably feeds 4-5 people if each person has a medium sized bowl, and seconds.

This is a great recipe for a cold day. It’s warm, not too thin and not too thick, and there’s plenty of different ways to change this up. I originally was going to cook up the chicken thighs that I had frozen a couple weeks back because I wasn’t able to finish them before I went on my work trip, but I went shopping yesterday and found salmon on sale… So why not! Western/Asian fusion.

(This is what it looked like just before I put the lid on. The red isn’t an indication of how spicy it was. It’s not too spicy at all! It just makes your insides warm up in a fuzzy kind of way. A good fuzzy.)

Ingredients (ball park, since I freelanced this one):

– 2 cans (398ml each) of coconut milk
– 1L chicken broth (I used 900ml Campbell’s chicken broth)
– 5 medium red potatoes, diced
– 5 carrots, diced
– 2 ribs of celery, diced
– 4 leaves of cabbage, cut in to squares-ish
– 2 cuts of salmon (leave as is)
– 3 tablespoons of Thai Tom yum paste
– 3 tablespoons of peanut butter (smooth or crunchy doesn’t matter)
– 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
– 1 tablespoon grated ginger

Instructions:

Throw everything in to slow cooker and leave on low for 6-7 hours. The sauces won’t melt right away, but just stir them in and let them do their thing. When it hits the 5 hour mark, the salmon should be cooked, or at least really soft. Take the opportunity to take them out and in to a bowl, and pull it apart so it’s flaky. Drop it back in to the pot, and stir, and let it go for the remaining time.

Anyway, hope you give this a go. It’s really good! I’ve had my second bowl and I’m about ready for a nap.

When I think of crock pots and slow cookers, I am always reminded that mom once asked me where the “Crack pot” was. Oh, mum. Miss you!

 

‪#‎noobcook‬‪#‎food‬‪#‎comfortfood‬‪#‎homecooking‬‪#‎homemade‬‪#‎thaifood‬‪#‎slowcooker‬‪#‎cookinginyeg‬

Cabbage Roll Soup

Okay, so I actually made this one today, as the new soup of the week. Last week was wild rice and clear vegetable soup. Didn’t take a picture because there really wasn’t much to look at. Or maybe I did, but it’s still on my phone. Anyway, I have to sleep soon because I work tomorrow, so I’ll make this quick.

It doesn’t look all that appetizing, but it sure tastes good! There’s something about soup on a cold winter day that makes it so much nicer.

• 1/4 head of cabbage, chopped
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 ounces of tomato paste
• 1 (12 oz) can of tomatoes + juice, diced (I used home canned ones my mom had stashed away. They had whole peppercorn in them)
• 1L beef broth (can easily be substituted with vegetable broth, which I did not have)
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup wild rice
• 1-1/2 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1-1/2 garlic powder
• 1-1/2 tbsp oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• Salt and pepper to taste

***please note: the spices and herbs (as well as everything else except garlic and onion) are approximations. I never measure, and it is all done to taste***

In a large pot, sauté the cabbage, garlic, and onions until soft. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, beef broth, and Worcestershire sauce and bring to simmer. Add rice, and herbs and spices. Allow for about 30 minutes for rice to cook, or until soft.

You may have to add water as needed. I did find that while the rice was absorbing water, water also evaporated out and caused the soup to thicken a bit too much for my liking.

Enjoy!! Happy first day of December!

#noobcook

Vegetable Soup

So I found that my dad really likes to have soup. I found this out when I kept seeing those Campbell’s soup labels in the recycling. So I’d decided to take it upon myself to make a soup every week for him. The first one I made was a potato corn chowder. The second week was a clam chowder. Then I said “NO CREAM BASE NEXT WEEK,” so I came up with this. A tomato-based vegetable soup!

So this is one of those times where I get creative. I don’t often take measurements for things like this. I only measure for baking. Here we go!

• 1 medium white onion, diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 stalks (?) of celery, diced
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup of white mushrooms, chopped
• 1x 540ml diced tomatoes
• 2c tomato sauce
• 2c water
• 1.5 c macaroni, cooked, drained
• 2 tsp chili flakes
• Salt, pepper, and Cajun spice to taste

Cook macaroni in separate pot. Drain.

Add oil to a big pot. Start with onion and let simmer until translucent. Then garlic and mushrooms. Let sit for a minute or so. Then celery and carrots. Another two minutes. Add diced tomatoes (all of it. Liquid and all). Add water and tomato sauce. Add cooked macaroni. Bring to boil. Then add spices to taste.

#noobcook #latenight #food #cookstagram

Honestly though, I don’t usually cook this late. It’s only because dad likes soup for lunch, and I didn’t get around to making it yesterday. I prefer him not eating that canned stuff anyway.

Note: I added quite a bit of spice, so it’s got a bit of a kick. Didn’t notice until I took a few spoons for myself. I asked my sister to draw three flames on a sticky note so I’ve left it up to dad to decide if he wants to add more water. Otherwise, someone might be pooping lava in the morning. >;]

Potato Beef Bean Tomato Soup

Okay, so it is a bit of a long name that I made for it, but it covers most of the items that I put in it. It is thick and delicious for sure, and can definitely feed more than 6 people. My family of 4 had a big bowl each and I also threw a frozen pizza in the oven as well because at the start, I was worried that the soup was going to be a lot thinner. I had eyeballed the chicken stock as well as every other liquid in it. It turned out great and can be eaten on its own with perhaps some bread on the side to mop up the last drops of soup.

I also wanted to say that my version was adapted from 365daysofcrockpot.com. I was originally going to use the slow cooker but turns out I procrastinated too much and opted just to use the stove instead.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 4 medium sized potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 cup carrots, diced
• 15 oz chicken stock
• 2 large red onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (28oz) can of diced tomatoes
• 1.5 jars of Ragu pasta sauce
• 1 can bean salad, with liquid
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• Cheddar cheese

Directions:

Brown the ground beef until thoroughly cooked. Lightly season with salt and pepper, and mix well. Drain the oil and set aside.

In a large pot, put in potatoes, carrots, chicken stock, pasta sauce, diced tomatoes, garlic, oregano, pepper, and garlic powder. Bring to boil and keep it at a gentle boil for about 30 minutes to get a head start on the softening of the hard vegetables. Then throw in the rest of the stuff: red onion, bean salad, zucchini, and some cheese. Just let it keep boiling. The main items that you want soft are the potatoes and carrots, so every so often, poke at a potato and see if it is the right softness.

I think this took me about an hour, but I can’t remember. I made this early this week and finally I have time to blog about it now.

Spoon the soup in to bowls, top them off with some cheese, and eat!