Soups and Salads

SOUPS AND SALADS

LENTIL SOUP

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Ingredients:

2 C. lentils
1½ Q. water and 6 chicken bouillon cubes (or 3 14½-oz. cans chicken broth and 3 cans of water)
1 large can (No. 2½) stewed tomatoes
1 bay leaf
3 carrots, cut in chunks
1 onion, cut up
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lb. cooked hamburger

Directions:

Put all ingredients except hamburger in a 4 Q. kettle, bring to a boil, and let cook until tender. Add cooked hamburger and heat. A ham hock may be cooked with above ingredients instead of hamburger, or pieces of ham may be added at the last.

REFRIED BEANS (from pinto beans)

Ingredients:

Pinto beans (rinsed and sorted)
Water
1 clove garlic
1 small onion
1 T. shortening or oil.
Oregano to taste
Salt to taste

Fill crock pot &frac1/2; full of pinto beans (sorted and rinsed). Fill with water until ¾ full. Cook beans until tender. Add more water if needed. Takes approximately 4 hours on high. In a sauce pan cook the garlic and onion in the shortening or oil. Add beans, mashed. Add oregano and salt if desired. Can be frozen.

SPLIT PEA SOUP WITH SAUSAGE BALLS

A favorite of many. Makes 12 servings.

Ingredients:

1 lb. (2¼ C.) green split peas
3 Q. water
2 t. salt
¼ t. marjoram
½ t. pepper
1 C. diced celery
1 lb. bulk pork sausage
1 C. diced onion
1 C. diced potatoes
Salt to taste
1 C. diced carrots

Directions:

Wash split peas and sort. In large saucepan combine water and seasonings and bring to a boil. Add peas gradually so water does not stop boiling. Shape sausage into 1-inch balls (about 28 of them) and roll in flour. Drop into soup, cover, and simmer until sausage is well done and peas are tender. About 20 minutes before time to serve, add vegetables and cook until tender.

NOTE: You may wish to cook and drain sausage before adding it to the soup.

CREAMY VEGETABLE SOUP

Ingredients:

1 C. diced carrots
1 C. diced celery
1 C. diced cauliflower
1 C. diced broccoli
2 C. diced potatoes
½ cup diced onion
2 cups milk
¼ C. butter
1 cup flour
1 can chunk turkey or beef (optional)

Directions:

Place carrots, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes, and onion in a pot. Cover with water and gently boil until vegetables are tender. Mix flour and milk in blender or beat with fork until smooth. Pour into vegetable mixture and add butter. Season with salt and pepper. You can add 1 or 2 C. shredded cheese for a cheese flavored soup, or add 1 can of chunk beef or turkey.

CALIFORNIA BEAN SOUP

Ingredients:

2 C. white beans (rinsed)
2½ Q. water (10 cups)
1 Q. tomatoes
¼ C. dried onion or ½ C. chopped onion
¼ C. dried diced carrots or ½ to 1 C. chopped carrots
½ C. dried celery chopped or 1 C. chopped celery
1 or 2 ham hocks or 5-7 T. ham soup base or bouillon

Directions:

Soak beans in water overnight or boil 5 minutes and soak 1 hour. Add tomatoes. Cook 2 hours. Add remaining ingredients and cook until beans are soft.

DELICIOUS TURKEY SOUP WITH DRY SOUP MIX

Serves 6.

Ingredients:

8 C. chicken or turkey broth (May use reconstituted chicken bouillon)
¾ C. dry soup mix
Salt and pepper to taste
1 C. diced celery
2 C. diced turkey or chicken
1 tall can evaporated milk

Directions:

Mix broth, soup mix, salt and pepper and celery and simmer for 45 minutes. Stir in diced turkey and can of milk. Heat and serve. May thicken with flour or cornstarch.

NOTE: Dry soup mix is available for dry-pack canning at some canneries.

HAM HOCK AND SOUP MIX

Serves 6.

Ingredients:

1 ham hock
¾ C. soup mix
About 7 C. water
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Simmer all ingredients for 45 minutes or until tender. Remove ham hock, returning meat to soup. Serve.

HAMBURGER SOUP

Serves 6.

Ingredients:

2 cans beef broth and 1 C. water (or 4 C water and 4 bouillon cubes)
½ C. soup mix
1 Q. tomato juice or tomatoes
½ lb. hamburger (browned)

Directions:

Bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes or until tender. Add tomato juice or tomatoes ½ lb browned hamburger

Simmer 5 minutes and serve.

FRANKFURTER SOUP

Makes 2 to 3 servings.

Ingredients:

2 frankfurters thinly sliced
2 T. chopped onions
1 T. butter
1 can tomato soup
1 soup can of water or milk
½ C. cooked rice (optional)

Directions:

Brown the frankfurters and onions in butter. Add soup, liquid and rice. Heat and serve.

WHITE BEANS REPLACE FAT IN MOST BAKING

Method 1:

Cover beans with water and cook until very soft. Mash until consistency of shortening (I use a blender). Replace in recipes on an equal basis (1 C. beans for 1 C. fat). Example: Recipe calls for 1 C. margarine. Use 1 C. mashed beans. You may need to add some liquid to your recipe to get the dough consistency you want. I found that the mashed beans don’t keep very long in the fridge so I freeze them.

Method 2:

Grind beans in your wheat grinder. Store in airtight container. Replace fat in the recipe as per Method 1. You will need to add liquid since the ground beans will be part of the dry ingredients.

TUNA CHOWDER

Makes 1½ Q.

Ingredients:

¾ C. chopped onion
¾ C. sliced celery
3 T. butter
3 C. diced raw potatoes
2½ C. water
1½ t. salt
1½ T. flour
2 C. milk
2 cans tuna fish, drained and flaked

Directions:

Brown onion, celery in butter for about 5 minutes or until tender. Add potatoes, water and salt. Heat to boiling and cook over medium heat about 15 minutes. Mix together flour and milk. Stir into potato mixture and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add tuna fish and serve at once.

MACARONI SALAD

Makes 6 servings.

Ingredients:

1 C. uncooked macaroni
1 t. salt
4 C. boiling water
1 can tuna fish
1 C. chopped vegetables (celery, green pepper, onion, cooked peas, carrots, etc.)
Salad dressing

Directions:

Bring water and salt to a boil. Add macaroni. Boil until tender (10 minutes); do not overcook. Drain. Rinse in cold water. Drain again. Chill. Mix with tuna fish and vegetables. Marinate with salad dressing to taste.

FRUIT GELATIN SALAD

Ingredients:

1 package (3 oz.) gelatin
1 C. boiling water
1 C. fruit juice or cold water (or 12 ice cubes)

Directions:

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Stir in juice or cold water or ice cubes. Refrigerate until partially set. Add 1 cup fresh fruit or canned fruit cut up (Do not use fresh pineapple). Chill until firmly set.