Great soup, if you have turkey leftovers from Thanksgiving or if you just wish to have a rich, hearty soup for lunch. Any part of turkey will be good (I cooked mine from turkey neck and some leftovers). It takes 30-40 minutes to cook and the taste is amazing. The key to great taste are tomatoes and herbs.

Preparation time: 15 minutes.

Cooking time: 30 minutes.

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

2/3 lb of Turkey meat

1 white onion

1.5 cup of boiled pinto beans (boil separately or canned rinsed very well)

½ can of diced tomatoes

2-3 potatoes

½ of red bell pepper

½ teaspoon of cumin

½ teaspoons of basil

½ teaspoon of oregano

Pinch of black pepper

Pinch of salt.

1 carrot (optional)

3 quarts (approx.) of water;

1/3 cup dill

Prepare the vegetables: peel onion, carrot and potato. Wash everything carefully.

Shred the carrot, cut the potato in mid-sized chunks, and finely chop the onion. Set half of onion aside.

Wash and chop the red bell pepper.

Take a 4 quart pan, put the turkey meat and cover it with water (approximately 3 quarts), set on medium heat and wait until it starts boiling. Take away the scum if any. Add salt, pepper, bell pepper, carrot, potato and onion. Boil for 15-20 minutes, then, add the tomatoes(canned diced tomatoes) and spices: cumin, basil, oregano. (if you have fresh herbs basil ,oregano etc. – add them at the end). Let the soup boil for 10-15 more minutes and then, just before serving add the finely chopped dill.

Serve warm, with toasted bread or garlic bread.

 These three soups are the best comfort meal for the lunch in fall: it enegrizes, keeps you warm and boosts your taste buds. You can add lots of flavors to these soups by experimenting with herbs: basil, dill, parsley and others.

Vegetarian Pea Soup 

Vegetarian pea soup is good those days when you want a rich-creamy soup without any meat component in it. It’s a comfort food perfect right for the days when it’s chilly and drizzly outside. This recipe has simple ingredients and doesn’t require to be a skillful chef to prepare it.

All in all perfect autumn soup for the family. Read more

Pumpkin crème-soup with shrimp, cream cheese and basil.

It’s autumn and it means that it’s time for a great pumpkin soup with shrimp that I just LOVE cooking.

It doesn’t require a lot of effort but it comes out perfectly smooth, bringing in the autumn flavors and colors into your kitchen.

I tasted this soup long time ago in Europe, brought it into my kitchen and my family just loves it. Hope, you will too. Read more

 Zucchini crème-soup

This is a very simple crème soup. It takes 40 minutes to cook and your family will enjoy this meal. It’s a great summer or fall soup for your to enjoy! Simple and flavorful! It takes little effort to cook and it’s a really light  dish. It gives you energy and makes you feel good. Read more

Vegetarian pea soup is good those days when you want a rich-creamy soup without any meat component in it. It’s a comfort food perfect right for the days when it’s chilly and drizzly outside. This recipe has simple ingredients and doesn’t require to be a skillful chef to prepare it.

All in all perfect autumn soup for the family. 

Cooking time: 1 h

Preparation time: 15 min

Inactive time: 30 min 

1 cup of peas

3-4 qt. of water

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of black fresh ground pepper

3 tablespoons of sour cream

1 tablespoon of cooking oil (vegetable better)

1 medium white onion

1 carrot

3 medium potatoes

1 red bell pepper

2 bay leaves (or 1 teaspoon of crushed bay leaves)

Pre-soak 1 cup of peas for 30 minutes. (Use hot water and twice bigger bowl, in order for you to keep the beans in the bowl not outside of it:-).

Peel and wash the veggies: onion, carrot, potatoes and pepper. Shred the carrot and finely chop the onion and pepper. Cut potato in medium sized pieces. Put the half of the chopped onion aside.

Set a 3 quart saucepan with water and add the veggies plus couple of bay leaves, add salt and black pepper.

Simmer for 10 minutes and then add the peas. Boil the soup for 30-40 minutes at the low heat.

Set a frying pan and add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and the chopped onion. Fry on medium heat, until golden brown and then add 3 tablespoons of sour cream or cooking cream. Braise for 5 minutes and then pour the sauce into the soup and stir very well.

Simmer the soup for another 20 minutes or until the peas dissolve in the soup, truning it into the rich creme-soup.

Serve this soup warm, you may add some sour cream in each plate separately.

I fry the fine italian bread cut in medium squares with salt and pepperand add it to the soup when eating.

You can choose to do the same if you’d like.

This is a very simple crème soup. It takes 40 minutes to cook and your family will enjoy this meal. It’s a great summer soup for your to enjoy! Simple and flavorful!

For this recipe you will need:

2 mid-sized zucchini

1 mid-sized white onion

1 big carrot

1 green bell pepper

4 oz. crème cheese

1 tbsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. cumin

1/3 cup of chopped lemon basil

2 cups of dry homemade bread

2 quart of stock (vegetable, chicken etc.)

Pour the stock into the 4 quart pan,

Peel carrot and onion.

Wash: carrot, onion, zucchini and belle pepper. Clean the seeds of green bell pepper, and cut in quarters, cut into medium pieces zucchini. Cut the onion in halves.

Put the veggies into the sauce pan with stock, add salt, pepper, cumin and set the gas on medium.

Boil the veggies for 30-40 minutes until soft.

When your veggies are cooked, put them into the food processor or blender and finely blend ( you can add the veggies with a little bit of stock, but not all of it).

Put the blended veggies into the fridge for 5-10 min to cool off. Contrary, take the crème cheese out of the fridge to soften a bit.

When the veggies cooled off a little bit cut the crème cheese in slices and add to the blended veggies. Puree everything.

Add the puree into the stock left in the sauce pan.

Chop the lemon basil and add to your soup.

On a frying pan, add some cooking oil and fry some bread, cut in medium sized pieces.

Your soup is ready to serve.

When serving Either put the bread onto separate plates or put the fried bread into the serving plates and then pour your soup.

Enjoy!

Buckwheat and pork soup is very delicious and healthy. Buckwheat is rich in iron (60–100 ppm), zinc (20–30 ppm) and selenium (20–50 . ppb. Buckwheat have been linked to lowered risk of developing high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Buckwheat is rich in flavinoids, paticularly rutin, which is antioxidant, strengthens the capillaries.  So this soup is a win-win dish, your children should Love it and it’s very health , and mainly: fast and simple to cook.

For the soup you will need: 

1 ½  cup of  buckwheat

½ pound pork/ beef

5 cups of water

1 carrot

1 white onion

1 bell pepper

2 tablespoons of sour cream

1 tablespoon of cooking oil

Bay Leaves

Salt

Pepper

Dill

Parsley

Wash the buckwheat and drain the water twice, for the third time pour the hot water into your buckwheat and let it soak.

Preparing the stock:

Wash and cut in square pieces ( ~1 inch wide) the meat, peel the carrot and onion. Shred the carrot and finely chop the onion. Take the saucepan and pour 5 cups of water in it, add the meat, carrot and ½ of the cut onion. Add freshly ground black pepper, salt, couple bay leaves. Boil at medium heat for 20 minutes. Clean of seeds and wash the bell pepper, finely chop it and add in 5-10 minutes after you put the stock on gas.

***Tip from Helen: the heat should be medium and you should watch so that the stock would boil slowly and be transparent. The fat off meat and foam should be skimmed. Watch for this carefully. You don’t need these in your stock.***

After 20 minutes of stock cooking add the buckwheat and let the soup boil for 15-20 more minutes. Meanwhile, take 2-3 eggs (depending in how many plates you serve) and put the boil.

Take the second half of chopped onion and, fry it at medium heat until golden brown. Add 2 tablespoons of sour cream and let it braise for 2-3 minutes.  After you see that your buckwheat is cooked add the sauce of onion and sour cream to your soup.

Chop the herbs and throw into the saucepan 2-3 minutes before serving (herbs are not vital, but they will add the flavor).

Take your hard boiled eggs, remove the sells, cut in halves and put in the plate. Pour your soup in the plates. Your soup is ready to be served.

Enjoy!

Helen

Vegetarian Ukrainian Borscht

Ukrainian Borscht is a traditional soup for Ukrainian people. It’s very delicious, easy to cook and practically every household cooks this dish at least once-twice a month.

On the other hand every region, village and even household has their own recipe of borscht.  Many families have their recipes being passed from mothers to daughters for centuries. And mainly every cook will have his/ her own taste of Borscht that no one else can repeat. Taste of Borsch is like handwriting is very hard to copy.

Borscht existed at the times when the Kyiv Rus was baptized by Prince Volodymyr in 988 AD. It was a famous dish of all feasts.

So for the vegetarian Ukrainian Borscht you will need

1 cup of beans; (8 oz.)

2-3 carrots;

2 white onions;

1 red bell pepper;

3-4 potatoes;

½ cup of sour cream;

1 can of pureed tomatoes;

½ can of green beans;

2 beats (small-medium size);

½ cup of finely chopped dill;

½ cup of finely chopped parsley;

Pre-soak beans in hot water (for 30-40 minutes) until soft.

Meanwhile take an 8 quart saucepan. Put it on a maximum heat with water half full.

Peel carrots, potatoes, onions beats. Wash the vegetables.

 Finely chop: 2 onions and 1 bell pepper. 1/3 of the chopped onions set aside. As soon as the water started to boil add beans, salt (according to your taste) and bay leaves 2-3 big ones. Let it boil for about 10-15 minutes. Add chopped onion (two thirds and bell pepper). Continue boiling (on medium heat).

Meanwhile, grate the carrots, set ½ aside. . Grate the beats and add the grated beats and the other half of carrots into the saucepan. Let all the vegetables boil for another 20 minutes.  Cut potatoes in medium sized pieces and add to the saucepan, let everything boil for another 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, finely chop the herbs: dill and parsley.

In 20 minutes add to the cooking soup pureed or chopped tomatoes (you can take fresh ones if you have, but still the canned ones should be added in a proportion 50/50).

Decrease the heat to minimum and let the soup stay for another 10 minutes. While the soup is sitting take a frying pan and fry: the chopped onions and grated carrots, when the onions become golden and the ½ cup of sour cream. Make the heat minimum at this point and let your onions and carrots sit in this sauce; carefully stir it from time to time. When you see the sour-cream-onion-carrot sauce is becoming golden-brown (light golden brown, this may take 5-10 min) pour it into you almost ready borscht.  Stir the soup carefully and add some water if needed, and check for salt freshly ground pepper add according to your taste. Now the final steps add the canned green beans and herbs and let the soup sit for another 10 minutes.

Your Vegetarian Ukrainian Borscht is ready to serve. At many regions Ukrainian Borscht is served with special bread covered with garlic. The bread is called pampushka.

I will give you the recipe of the bread and will show how it should look soon.

Also, sometimes garlic (fresh garlic) is chopped right into the plate.

Sometimes a spoon of sour cream is added into the plate. As you wish!

Hope you will enjoy this magnificent Ukrainian dish and… give me you feedbacks!  [twitter-follow screen_name='helenscooking']