Kh. Barb's Seafood Soup

In December my sister introduced me to a delicious soup. It was published in the Saint John's Cookbook (blue spiral) and was submitted by Kh. Barbara Dunaway who just passed away in January. Memory Eternal.

This soup is very versatile and it's the spices that make it surprisingly good. I'm not a big soup fan, but this one sure hits the spot.

I'm posting this for Shelley as we were just talking about this soup the other day and I made it tonight for supper with some french bread and we shared it with a friend.

As usual I'll post the recipe and what I did or optionals in parentheses. I quadrupled this recipe so we'd have leftovers. Don't skimp on the spices when enlarging a recipe so much. Skimp on the Tabasco sauce, don't ever quadruple spicy stuff!!! Take it from me, I learned the hard way.

Barb's Seafood Soup
Saute in some oil:
1/2 c celery, chopped
1/2 c carrot, chopped
1/2 c onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
Then add:
1 can stewed or diced tomatoes or 3-4 fresh tomatoes
4 cups chicken or veggie broth
1 cup water
1T parsley
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp cumin
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T brown sugar
1 T vinegar
2 T catsup
1/2 tsp salt (this was my addition, you may not need it if you use a salty canned salmon)
3 dashes of Tabasco sauce (light if kids, put bottle on table with soup)
Simmer 30 minutes then add:
1/2 c rice (I also put in some millet, could add any grain)
Simmer 30 minutes more, check grain for doneness
Then add:
1/2 c zucchini, or spinach, or peas, or broccoli, or beet greens, etc or a combo of something (I put in beet greens and broccoli)
2 cups of cooked seafood (scallop, shrimp, crab, lobster, halibut, salmon, etc)
Cook 'till veggies are tender.

Serve with chopped tomatoes if desired and crunchy bread for dipping.

here fishy fishy fishy fishy fishy!

3 Bean Salad

In my quest for not spending so much stinking money at the store, I have been learning more about dried beans, how to grind them for flour and how to put them in things more often to make meals stretch farther.

One of my favorite salads is homemade bean salad because I like the dressing. I made it the other day and have been snacking on it. I used only the things I already had here at home. The dressing is what makes it good, so you really can add what ever beans or veggies you want. Mine was not as colorful as normal, but still very tasty...

I'll list the recipe and what I used:

3 Bean Salad (can make 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 or 7 or 9 or 10 but not definitely not 11 bean)
1 can French green beans (I did not have these, I soaked and cooked soy beans)
1 can white wax beans (I did not have these, I soaked and cooked garbanzo beans)
1 can red kidney beans (I had these but opted for pinto since when soaked and cooked they stay together better than my kidney beans do)
1 sweet pepper, diced (I did not have these, but yellow and red make a pretty salad, I used celery)
1 whole onion, cut into rings

Dressing:
1 1/2 c sugar
2/3 c oil
2/3 c vinegar
1 tsp celery seed
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

Combine all in bowl or jar, chill for 6 hours or so before serving.

I keep mine in a large jar in the fridge, it lasts a long time as long as you don't share it.