What to Do With Leftover Soup

Hey guys!  TGIF!

Now that it’s nearing winter and the weather has gotten crisp, it’s the perfect time to make hot soups! There’s something comforting about having a bowl of warm soup on a cold day, no?  But if you live alone or with a partner, making a batch of soup can be much like making a Thanksgiving Day turkey for two — you’ll have leftovers for weeks!

While most “how to” sites tell you how to turn your leftovers into soup, I’m going to share some of my fave ways to spice up leftover soups!

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• Add some spice or flavor. Adding hot sauces like Tapatio, Frank’s Red Hot and Sriracha to broth-based soups is a great change of pace.  Try adding salsa too to make a new flavor!  Santa Fe salsa with black beans and corn tastes great in a chicken noodle soup.
• Change up the bread or carb accompaniment. Do you know how good a baked potato chip tastes dipped in lentil soup?  So. Good.  Think outside the baguette — try olive loaf or cinnamon bread to accompany your soups.  You’ll be surprised at how your soup goes from blah to huzzah with an interesting bread accompaniment. Calorie conscious?  Try spraying your fave bread with Pam, layering on your fave spice (rosemary and garlic are my faves!) and then baking in the oven.  Healthy crackers like Wasa, Akmak and TLC varieties go great in soups as well.
• Make arroz con __ with it. Many Latin American countries have their own version of “arroz con pollo” (chicken with rice), which is usually cooked white rice with tomato sauce, peas, carrots and shredded chicken mixed in.  If you made a tomato-based soup, try adding it to cooked brown rice and adding a shredded lean protein or tofu and veggies.
• Make a casserole out of it. Turn a vegetable soup into a casserole by adding mashed sweet potatoes or squash, egg (or fake egg) to help tie everything together, then bake in the oven.  Try making an enchilada or lasagna casserole with the soup as filling! Search recipe sites, like allrecipes, for casseroles and get creative!
• Use it as a base for a stir-fry. Made a vegetable soup and got bored with it after day 3?  Turn it into a stir fry dish.  Remove some of the broth, add fresh cabbage, baked tofu and rice noodles.
• Use it as filling for any tortilla-wrapped dish. Chili and bean-based soups are easy to dehydrate by heating in a sauce pan.  Add fresh onion and any seasonings you’re craving, then use as a filling for a taco, burrito or wrap.  Add lettuce, cheese and/or guacamole.
• Use it as pasta sauce. Broccoli and cauliflower, tomato and even bean-based soups taste great over a bed of whole wheat noodles.  Add sliced olives for an extra kick.  You can even turn it into a cold pasta salad dish.

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What’s your favorite soup?  How do you spice up your leftover soups?  What’s on the agenda for the weekend? The boyf and I are going to a Halloween party tomorrow but I still don’t have a costume!  Any costume suggestions? Other than that, I’ve got lots of reading to do :/

<3, The Cranky One

Tags: chili, leftover soup, Recipes, soups