Beautiful Soups

My family once rented a live version of Alice in Wonderland that was full of celebrities. Whoopie Goldberg was the Cheshire Cat, Christopher Lloyd was a wandering knight, and Gene Wilder was the Mock Turtle. In the movie he sings a song called "Beautiful Soup" that has become one of my very favorite ways of bothering Jeff. The chorus of the song (if you imagine big and little Us as the top and bottom notes of an extended trill) goes like this:

"BeuUUuuUUuuUUuuUUuuUUuuUUuuUUuuUUuuUUuuUUuuUUuuUUuuUUuuUUuuUUuuUUuuUUuuUUuuUUtiIIfuUUl SouUUuuUUuuUUuuUUuup."

It drives Jeff totally bazonkers. If I start singing it he'll recognize it and yell Stop! before the second syllable. It makes me feel pretty powerful.

Anyhoo! This is relevant only because we've been eating a lot of good soup lately. The only one I have a picture of is the African Sweet Potato Stew with Red Beans from Cooking Light. But I'll also include the recipes for Braised Lamb Stew with Ginger (so yummy! and also from Cooking Light). These were both really delicious. I know it's a little too hot for soup right now, but I'd recommend them anyway.

African Sweet Potato Stew with Red Beans:


Ingredients:

2 tsp. olive oil
1 1/2 c. chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
4 c. (1/2 inch) cubed peeled sweet potato (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 1/2 cups cooked small red beans
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 c. chopped red bell pepper
1/2 c. water
1 tsp. grated peeled fresh ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 (14.5-oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 (4.5-oz) can chopped green chiles, drained
3 T. creamy peanut butter
3 T. chopped dry-roasted peanuts
6 lime wedges

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until tender.
2. Place onion mixture in a 5-quart electric slow cooker. Add sweet potato and next 10 ingredients. Cover and cook on Low 8 hours or until vegetables are tender.
3. Spoon 1 cup cooking liquid into a small bowl. Add peanut butter and stir well with a whisk. Stir peanut butter mixture into stew. Ladle stew into individual bowls, top with peanuts, and serve with lime wedges. Yield: 6 servings. Calories: 308. Fat: 8.8g. Fiber: 10.2 g.


Braised Lamb Stew with Ginger:

This was, I think, my favorite of the soups. So soothing. And BeauUUuuUUuutiful.

Ingredients:
1 lb. lamb stew meat
2 T. cornstarch
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. dry sherry
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c. boiling water
6 dried shiitake mushrooms (I used one 4-oz can with its liquid instead of dried mushrooms and boiling water)
1 T. canola oil
2 T. minced peeled fresh ginger (I used 1 T. grated)
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 c. chicken broth
1 1/3 c. sliced carrot
2 T. oyster sauce (I omitted this since I didn't have any)
4 c. hot cooked rice noodles (I didn't have these either, so I put a package of Ramen noodles minus the seasoning in with the soup for its last 5 minutes of cooking).

Directions:

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl.
2. Combine 1/2 c. boiling water and dried mushrooms in a bowl. Let stand 15 minutes; drain, reserving soaking liquid. Discard stems; thinly slice caps.
3. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add ginger and garlic; saute 30 seconds. Add lamb mixture; saute 4 minutes. Stir in broth; bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat; simmer 40 minutes. Uncover; bring to a boil. Add carrot, mushrooms, and reserved liquid. Cook 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Add oyster sauce. Ladle into bowls; serve with rice noodles. Yield: 4 servings. Calories: 451. Fat: 10g. Fiber: 4g.