Soup for the soul—and the body

 

January marks the beginning of what poets and novelists often call “the bleak midwinter.” It’s a time when we too often regret the excesses of the holiday season. Did you gain pounds? I never pay attention to that, but I know well the feeling of having had too much rich, heavy food (and there’s still eggnog in my fridge, begging to be drunk). I have friends who annually foreswear alcohol and snacks for the month of January, another resolution I ignore, though I know I drank more wine and ate more chocolate in those days in Santa Fe with my family.

And yet, January can be blustery and cold. In Fort Worth, we call that stock show weather, because sure as rain the annual Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show (no, it’s no longer called the Fat Stock Show) brings ice, sleet, and cold temperatures. And the weather is in true form this year—the stock show parade (no motorized vehicles) is Saturday, and the temperature is predicted to plunge to ten degrees by Monday morning.

Clearly, it’s soup weather. What’s your favorite? Split pea? Chicken and noodle? Cheeseburger soup? They all sound a bit heavy to me at this point, but I made a pot of chicken soup this week that was flavorful and warming yet light and low in calories. I don’t remember where I got the recipe nor what it was called, so for simplicity’s sake, I’ll call it chicken/avocado/lime soup. Bonus: it’s easy. Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

1-1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 cup chopped green onions (white and green parts)

2 jalapeños, seeded and chopped (leave the seeds if you want your soup hot—if you know me, you know I omitted the peppers)

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 cans low sodium chicken broth (I made four cups with Better than Bouillon and could have used more)

2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced

½ tsp. ground cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

3 medium avocados

Optional for garnish: corn chips, sour cream, shredded jack cheese

Directions:

Heat one Tbsp. olive oil in your soup pot and sauté green onions and jalapeños until tender, adding minced garlic at the end—do not let the garlic burn. Add chicken broth, tomatoes, cumin, salt and pepper, and chicken. Bring to a boil and quickly reduce heat to simmer (I wasn’t paying attention and let it boil a bit, which toughens the chicken). Put the lid on the pan and cook until chicken is thoroughly done. Stir from time to time.

Remove chicken from pot and let cool. Keep soup warm on a low setting. When chicken is cool enough to handle, use two forks to shred it and then return it to the soup. Heat to serving temperature. When removed from burner, add cilantro and lime juice. Add avocadoes and any other garnish to individual servings.

This is a lot like tortilla soup but easier to make. And it’s delicious.

Pork chops and corn pudding

 

If, as my mom always told me, food is half eaten with the eye, last night’s dinner was no great shakes. It was colorless. If I’d been serving company, I’d have used some garnishes or a dark vegetable to spark it up. But it was just family (an attitude my dad always fought against, insisting you saved your best manners for your family—I have a hard time getting the grown kids and grandkids to accept that!) On the other hand, the part of the meal that was eaten with the taste buds and not the eye was a great success.

I had to give up some preconceived notions to fix this. Unlike a lot of true gourmets, I have never been opposed to cooking with canned soup. There are some great recipes out there, particularly for cream of mushroom and cream of chicken. But I draw the line, most of the time, at packaged dry mixes. Last night’s recipe used Hidden Valley Ranch dressing—too late  I remembered that there are directions online for making your own, though I’m not sure that’s a big improvement. Most recipes call for buttermilk powder, something few of us have on hand. I did find that you can buy it at Central Market for $7.99 a pound. Wonder how long it would take to use up a pound.

Anyway, back to the pork chops. Central Market had big lovely Berkshire chops on sale last week. Even on sale, they were not cheap, so we settled for three chops for the four of us—a good decision since we had leftovers. For years I’ve avoided pork chops because, like chicken, they can be dry if not accompanied by a sauce. But then I found this recipe, and we tried it.

Slow Cooker pork chops

3 or 4 meaty pork chops (not those skinny little ones)

Cream of mushroom soup

Cream of chicken soup

1 packet ranch dressing mix

Put chops in cooker, cover with combined soups, and sprinkle dressing mix over it. Cook on low 6-8 hours. The meat literally falls off the bone and is moist and delicious.

Corn pudding sounded to me like a perfect side for pork chops. I have a standby recipe that feeds two, but I was afraid it wouldn’t be enough. I found a version of that same recipe online that feeds 8-10, so I halved it. It was a great success. I know that because the resident teenager ate three helpings and licked the bowl clean.

Quick and easy corn pudding

2 cups corn kernels (cut fresh off the cob would be best, but I used frozen – be sure to defrost first)

1-1/2 Tbsp. flour

½ Tbsp. sugar

¼ tsp. salt

1 c. milk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

If you want, you can chop half the defrosted corn in a process. I skipped this step, but I think it would be a good idea. Mix everything together except milk and eggs. Mix those separately and then pour over corn mixture. Stir to make sure it’s evenly distributed.

Bake at 350^o about 40 minutes or until the center is firmly set (it may take a little longer).

Honest, this meal took less prep than anything I’ve cooked in a long time, especially since Christian oversaw the pork in the crock pot in the main house. Took me five minutes max to prepare the pudding, and Jordan cooked it in the house. My toaster oven is not deep enough, and I don’t trust the temperature. I’m lucky to be able to send things into the house when my tiny kitchen isn’t equipped to handle them.