Hot and sour chicken, cabbage, and rice soup

We finally got our first real snow of the season here in western NY. It's crazy that it's a couple of weeks into January and we hadn't really had any measurable snow here yet. 

 

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It's very unusual and just didn't feel like winter. Now that we have a nice white covering, I'm officially into comfort food mode. For me, that includes a lot of soup. This soup was inspired by a recipe I read recently on The Kitchn. 

 

I read it and couldn't believe the amount of jalapeno, fresh ginger and garlic that were in this soup. I knew that my husband, who is a big fan of spice and heat, would be able to handle it like nothing....but I wasn't so sure about me with the heat. I did cut back a little...

I loved it (sure, it made me cough a little when all those pungent ingredients hit the heat!). When I ate it, the ginger hit me in the back of the throat and it did clear up my nose a little bit, but it was a good heat. It was warming and spicy and delicious - perfect for a winter evening. 

 

I would highly recommend it if you or a loved one has a cold or is stuffed up. If you are not a big fan of heat, you may want to cut down on the jalapeno or ginger. This is a very versatile recipe. Y

 

ou could cut out the chicken and add more mushrooms and other veggies for a vegetarian version. You could substitute rice noodles or soba noodles for the rice. Whatever you like. It's great to make if you have some leftover chicken. Plus, I am always looking for new ways to incorporate cabbage into our diet. This recipe will make about six servings. 

Cheddar broccoli soup

I was searching the internet for a cheddar broccoli soup - one that had a lot of cheddar flavor and one that contained a good amount of broccoli and carrots. I also was hoping to find a "copycat" recipe of Panera's cheddar broccoli soup. I love their cheddar broccoli soup, so I wanted to replicate it at home. 

 

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I found a copycat recipe all over the internet. I don't know where it originated or if it's really from there... I read all the copycat recipes and then made my own version below.

This soup was delicious, and like most soups, better for lunch the next day. I enjoyed it a lot - it was exactly what I was imagining. Perfect for a winter dinner (too bad it's been more like April around here lately). 

 

I bought these little bread bowls at my grocery's bakery because I thought it would be fun to serve the soup this way. You just need to carefully cut off the tops and pull out some of the bread until it's hollow enough to hold soup (freeze the extra bread for the next time you need to make breadcrumbs). It's completely optional though. 

 

You can also puree the soup if you like. This soup will make about 6 servings.