Tomato Potato Soup

Yes, it rhymes but this soup will knock your socks off. It's hearty enough to fill you up yet it won't literally stick to your ribs... perfect combination. Try it out... it won't disappoint. Oh, and feel free to add in any other ingredients that you may just have lying around your kitchen!


Ingredients:
- 5 peeled and cubed potatoes
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 4 celery stalks, chopped
- 1/2 large onion, chopped
- 6 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
- 1 can tomato sauce
- 2 cups water
- 1/4 vegetable bullion cube
- 1/2 can tomato paste
- olive oil
- 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- crushed red pepper
- paprika
- dried parsley
- dried oregano
- salt
- pepper

To Make:
In a large pot, liberally drizzle with olive oil and add in the potatoes, season with salt. Cook for about 5 minutes on medium high heat. Next, add in the onions, carrots, garlic and celery. Add more olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix together. Let this cook for another 5-7 minutes, until the veggies just start getting tender.

In the meantime, place the vegetable bullion into the 2 cups of water and place in microwave for 3 minutes. Add this mixture into the pot and mix together.

Let this cook for another 10 minutes on high heat until the veggies start getting tender. Add in the can of PLAIN tomato sauce and the tomato paste. Mix together.

Season with 1 tablespoon of the following: crushed red pepper, paprika, dried oregano, black pepper and dried parsley. Mix together. Slowly add in the Parmesan cheese.

Cover and let this cook for about 25 minutes or until the veggies are nice and tender. Taste and determine if this needs more salt.

Serve as is or over rice.

Mexican Bean Soup

Once it starts getting colder outside, I really enjoy making warm, healthy (yet hearty) soups. I don't get crazy with needing "specific" ingredients... I usually just evaluate my fridge and pantry and use what I've got. This soup turned out to be a complete success!

Ingredients:- 1 can dark red kidney beans
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 10 garlic cloves, chopped
- Your choice of either 2 boca burgers, 1/2 pound ground turkey, beef or chicken)
(I used Boca burger for this dish)
- 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
- olive oil
- water
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- salt
- pepper

To Make:

In a medium pot, saute the onions, garlic and peppers in olive oil until they are just about tender. Add your choice of meat. Season with salt and pepper. Add 2 cups of water and the tomato paste. Stir together well. Add a dash of salt and pepper.

Next, drain the top of the kidney beans and add them into the soup. Add another cup of water. Season with oregano and crushed red pepper to taste. Mix together and cover. Cook on medium high heat for 5 minutes, then reduce and continue cooking on medium low heat for another 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Taste the broth for seasoning... season more if needed.

In the meantime, boil 1 cup of rice according to the package. You can use minute rice or the regular kind. I prefer minute rice in this situation since this soup does not take long to cook.

Once the rice is complete, scoop some rice into a large soup bowl and top with soup.

Delicious, hearty, healthy and QUICK!