Thursday Recipe - Creamed Grinch Soup

What better way to start off the New Year than with a recipe involving my favorite Christmas story? The Grinch was always my favorite one to watch on TV.

Here's the story behind the recipe. It was late. Everyone was hungry. I was tired and didn't want to cook. So I started scrounging. I had leftover ham, some frozen broccoli, a couple of packages of noodles, and some other random bits of food lying around. I thought, what about a cream sauce with broccoli and ham to go on the noodles? My kids love that. But wait, I'm trying to avoid dairy. Maybe if I cream the broccoli with a blender... That's much too runny. How can I thicken it? Hm, cornstarch didn't work so well. *cue light bulb* I have Cream of Rice in the cupboard that really needs to be used. It thickens things.

I'm lucky I didn't end up with green splatters across the ceiling the way I was cooking. It didn't end up as a sauce, more of a soup. But it was much tastier than I expected. My kids ate it and asked for more. It still needs tweaking, but for now, here's the Grinch, creamed.

Creamed Grinch Soup

1 16 oz package frozen broccoli (chopped or chunks or whatever, it won't matter in a few minutes)
2 c. frozen cauliflower, if you've got it
4 c. hot water
1/4 c. Better-Than-Bouillon, chicken flavor
1/3 c. Cream of Rice granule thingies
1 c. chopped ham (spiced glazed spiral cut adds a lot of nice flavors to this soup)

Dump broccoli, cauliflower, water, and bouillon in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Boil for a couple of minutes until the vegetables are mostly tender. Use a stick blender to cream the heck out of them. Be careful not to splatter yourself because that stuff is boiling hot and will burn you. (The marks have mostly faded...)

Sprinkle the cream of rice over the boiling mixture, stirring the whole time. Use the blender to cream out any lumps. Cook and stir until the soup is thick and creamy. Stir in the ham. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve. Threaten children who make fun of your strange cooking methods.

Feel free to add to this soup. Some things that come to mind:
Shredded carrots
Chopped green onions
Cheese - parmesan is really good, or a sharp cheddar (unless you're trying to avoid dairy)
Fresh spinach or chard, just to add to the green color

Thursday Recipe - Dairy-free Cream of Vegetable Soup

Yesterday was a desperate day. My fridge is empty partly because I'm lazy and don't want to go to the store, partly because I've been too busy to go shopping, and partly because the day I set aside for shopping I ended up being sick. Not just sick of work and kids and my house, but lie-on-the-couch-barely-able-to-push-buttons-on-the-remote sick. So when late afternoon rolled around, I knew I'd be in trouble if I didn't get something cooking for dinner. My boys know how to cook, but nothing I had in the house. So I dragged myself off the couch and scrounged through the pantry and freezer to find something to throw together for dinner. Soup is the easiest. It can just bubble away in the pot with no stirring. I can make soups that everyone in my family can eat, despite numerous food allergies. Soups are cheap and use up weird bits of leftover stuff. Soup tastes good. Soup is easy on sick tummies.

So, guess what I made for dinner last night? Soup. How'd you know? I even took a picture.

Not this picture. That's the crocuses blooming in my front yard. And the dead stuff we still haven't cleaned up yet. Yard work isn't very high on my priority list.

This is the soup.  Now that I look at the picture, it doesn't look that appetizing. My son had already started eating it. But it tastes good. Really. Trust me. Better than it looks. It was so good, it's all gone.

Dairy-free Cream of Vegetable Soup

1/2 medium onion, diced
2 T. butter
5 medium potatoes, scrubbed and cubed fairly small
2 t. salt
1 t. ground black pepper
1 t. smoked paprika (regular will work)
2 bay leaves
1 T. dried parsley
pinch nutmeg
1 12 oz bag frozen mixed vegetables
1 14 oz can coconut milk
6 oz bacon, diced (optional)

Saute onion in butter in large (3-4 quart) saucepan. Add diced potatoes, seasonings, and enough water to cover. Cover pot and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until potatoes are tender. Add frozen vegetables. Cook another 5 to 10 minutes until frozen veggies are cooked. Add coconut milk. Cover and cook on low just until heated through. Add more salt if needed.

Meanwhile, cook bacon until crunchy. Serve as a garnish on the soup.