Broccoli Chile Cheese Soup is a whole meal with flavor, tons of broccoli and the right touch of heat!
This Broccoli Chile Cheese Soup is super easy, filling and tasty … loaded with broccoli!. It sorta happened by accident.
Have you ever opened up a prepared soup or dish and found it underwhelming? Naw … never happens. Well, the other day I happened to have a 16 ounce tub of Marketside Broccoli Cheddar soup. This is the Walmart brand. I opened it up and tried it. It was very bland. Not much flavor at all, but it had good texture. It also had very little broccoli. This is a soup that is super easy to fix – I just added lots of fresh steamed broccoli, some quality sharp cheddar, diced green chiles, and cumin to taste. Voila! Really good spicy broccoli cheddar soup. I hate to throw out something that at least has potential.
Note that this could also be good with more seasonings, like paprika, chili powder, Frank’s and more. But I was going for the minimum that would make this a complete and satisfying soup. I did think the cumin was important, but I used a minimal amount to make it somewhat subtle. Also note that many cheddar cheeses do not melt well. I find the store brands melt poorly. You do not need to use Tillamook cheese, but it is one of the brands that melts very well.
This is generally a classic formula for how to enhance an underwhelming dish – add fresh veggies, quality sharp cheese, chiles, and seasoning. Hope you like this one!
1 cup grated sharp cheddar Tillamook cheese (or quality equivalent)
½ cup diced green chiles
¼ tsp ground cumin or to taste
Instructions
Steam the broccoli florets until just getting soft, about 2-3 minutes, and set aside.
Meanwhile, dump the tub of broccoli cheddar soup into a medium pot and set to medium heat. Add the remaining ingredients (including broccoli), heat, and adjust the amount of cheddar cheese, chile and cumin to taste if you wish.
Marinated Mushrooms Chiles and Peppers are easy and versatile – 5 minutes to make, wait, and it’s a scrumptious salad. Sautee it and top hamburgers with it!
This Marinated Mushrooms Chiles and Peppers is super simple and quick to make, yet very tasty and versatile. Plus I think it’s pretty! It only has 6 ingredients and you can just throw it together.
The flavors blend together the more you marinate it. You’ll want to marinate it for minimum of an hour – in this case I marinated it for 3 hours. I actually think of this as 2 dishes in one. I made the recipe, let it marinate and then divided it in half. One half I just ate as a salad. The other half I sauteed in a skillet over medium-high heat for 5-10 minutes, basically until the vegetables are soft and starting to sear around the edges. When you cook it, it changes the character of the dish a bit. Not only is the texture different (soft, not crunchy) – the flavor changes as it seems sugars are release so it gets just a touch of sweetness and even more blending of flavors. Personally, I might put these sauteed veggies on top of a hamburger. I also might cook them with sausage and serve it as a main dish. You could also just top a pizza with this and it would be great.
Also, when I sauteed this, I did not add any oil but I did use a non-stick skillet. There is already oil in the balsamic vinaigrette. So … you make this, let it marinate a while, then either eat it or sautee it and eat it. Brain dead simple
½ large red bell pepper, sliced into 1" to 2" strips
½ cup coarsely diced red onion
Instructions
Stir together the salad dressing, balsamic vinegar, and green chiles. Set aside
Dump the mushrooms, bell pepper, and onion into a large bowl. Pour the dressing/chile mixture over, and stir to fully coat the vegetables.
Cover and put in the refrigerator; let marinate for at least an hour and up to several days.
Serve as a salad or appetizer and enjoy!
Note: You can also sautee in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat for 5-10 minutes or until vegetables are soft and starting to sear. Serve as a side dish or a topping on pizza or meat. (No additional fat or oil needed.)
Mushroom Chile Red Pepper Quesadilla is a very simple quesadilla with a filling of only 4 ingredients that play off each other very well. Everybody loved this one!
This Mushroom Chile Red Pepper Quesadilla is a keeper to make over and over again. Not only does it have just 4 basic ingredients, but the balance of flavors is robust and satisfying. You can’t mess this one up no matter how hard you try.
The proportions are approximate, so you don’t have to be exact. You just scale up for different size tortillas. For the quesadilla in the photo, I used 6 inch tortillas. I cooked it in an 8-inch quesadilla maker. I used about 4-5 large mushrooms, 1/4 red bell pepper diced, scant 1/4 cup diced green chiles, and 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese. I nearly always put too much filling in my quesadillas and it oozes out of all sides. In this case, I had about 2-3 tbsp extra filling left in the skillet – that means this amount is about perfect for the 8 inch tortillas. So…. I’m specifying 8 inch tortillas for this recipe.
You also don’t need a quesadilla maker, but I really love them. I have 5 of them – three 8-inch ones and two 12-inch ones. If I’m using a skillet, I always use a non-stick one. To flip it over, I slide it off onto a large plate and then place the skillet upside down over the plate and quickly flip it over. Nope, I have never dropped one – but that’s a definite risk.
One thing I love about quesadillas is that tortillas freeze well, so I usually have the basic ingredients on hand and can whip up a special quesadilla without shopping. In this case, the ingredients might sound too basic, but the combination garnered rave reviews. Don’t underestimate the results you can get with simple quesadillas!
So you gotta try this one – and don’t hesitate to experiment with it. Hope you like it!
Saute mushrooms and bell pepper until soft in the butter in a small or medium skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally. This takes about 3-5 minutes, a bit less time if you cover it.
Stir the green chiles into the vegetable mixture and set aside.
Place one tortilla in a skillet or quesadilla maker; do not use any fat. Cover the tortilla with half the cheese; it might look scantily covered, but that's fine - it prevents overstuffing.
With a spoon, place small blobs of the vegetables evenly on the tortilla. Then top with a layer of the remaining cheese. Don't worry about covering the tortilla evenly - it spreads out on its own fairly well.
Top with the remaining tortilla and cook over medium heat until starting to brown nicely. If using a quesadilla maker, it's done. If using a skillet, slide it off onto a plate, turn the skillet upside down on the plate and flip so the uncooked side is on the skillet; then cook several more minutes to lightly brown the other side.
Gaucho Breakfast Casserole is a hearty full meal loaded with sausage, black olives, chiles, cheese, and peppers … yummy!
This Gaucho Breakfast Casserole has just become a family favorite at our house! It’s loaded with sausage and has a great balance of chiles, cheese, and bell peppers. The real clincher that makes this dish special, though, is the black olives.
I can’t recall seeing black olives in omelettes or breakfast casseroles, but I’m guessing they are common in some other parts of the country. I made this recipe in a 7″x11″ baking dish, and I topped half with the black olives and left them off the other half to compare. The difference turned out to be amazing! It’s very good without the olives, but exceptional with the olives – the olives change the flavor profile significantly.
I specifically used a mild breakfast sausage, specifically the King Soopers / City Market brand. It comes in a 16 oz chub. Note: the King Soopers brand only seems to come in one heat level (mild) – there is no indication on the package of any heat level. I often use hot or medium sausage in tomato-based main dishes (like pizza, chili, soups, etc), but in an egg dish I think anything but mild is likely to overwhelm the dish. Otherwise, this recipe is pretty hard to mess up.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 7x11’’ pan with cooking spray.
Combine the eggs, sour cream, milk, 1 cup of cheese and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Whisk together until well blended.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add sausage and cook until browned, breaking it into small pieces with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Scoop the sausage out with a slotted spoon and set aside. Drain most of the grease from the skillet.
Add the bell peppers and onion to the same skillet the sausage was cooked in and sauté for 3 minutes. Stir in the green chiles and sausage to mix well, then spread evenly into the 7x11" baking dish.
Pour egg mixture over the sausage mixture in the baking dish. Sprinkle the diced black olives and remaining ½ cup cheese evenly over the top and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the edges are set and the center is just barely jiggly.
Top with sliced green onions, serve and enjoy!
Note: Leftover egg casserole can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days. Leftovers are very good when reheated in the microwave.
Also, this recipe can be doubled and baked in a 9x13" baking dish.
Southwestern Omelette is a stick-to-your-ribs breakfast feast of eggs, sausage, green chiles, cheese and tomatoes. A complete meal.
This Southwestern Omelette is a classic, straightforward omelette that’s a full meal. It’s full of green chiles, onions, sausage, cheese, and tomatoes. As with traditional omelettes, the filling ingredients are chopped and perhaps cooked ahead of time. Then the eggs start cooking in the bottom of the pan, the fillings are layered on and the omelette is folded in half.
In this case I specifically used mild green chiles and mild sausage. I was looking for the flavor to stand out and I wanted a balance of flavors. With medium or hot ingredients, the heat dominates; I wanted the omelette to be meaty and with a distinct chile flavor. Mild chiles often have a good green chile flavor that you can actually taste when it’s not overwhelmed by the heat.
Of course, you can always add bell pepper, mushrooms, sour cream, or vary the cheese. This is a very simple and quick recipe that is easy to make just about any time. Hope you like it!
Spicy Spaghetti Squash Casserole is a super flavorful spicy smooth-but-a-little chunky. It’s just as good the next day and is even good cold.
I think I just invented this one, and it magically turned into a keeper. I happened to have a large spaghetti squash so I began exploring casseroles for yellow squash. I specifically did not want to make a vegetable version of spaghetti. Been there, done that; and I’m often underwhelmed with the result.
I deliberately overcooked the squash; I did not want the strands that spaghetti squash is known for. I was very pleasantly surprised with the result – when I took it out of the oven and scooped it out of the shell, it was mush. Spaghetti squash happens to have a very nice flavor all by itself. This casserole has a nice texture for what is essentially a vegetable custard dish (ie, with eggs and milk). It is a little lumpy and very flavorful – I love the heat and flavor the chiles provide. Plus the sharp cheddar really adds a special depth to the flavor.
Note: in the photo, I used Buffalo seasoned Panko bread crumbs. You can use saltines, Ritz crackers, Panko crumbs, crushed tortilla chips – just about any will work. This is a very versatile and forgiving recipe.
You literally cannot taste or see the sharp cheddar cheese at all. It adds quite a bit to both flavor and texture. That makes it a secret ingredient! This would not be the same dish without it.
Brush olive oil all over cut side of the squash and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place cut side down in rectangular baking dish sprayed with cooking spray (11" x 7" is good) and bake for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, mix cracker crumbs and cheese together in a medium bowl. Blend in half the melted butter and set aside.
When squash is done, let cool enough to handle, then scoop the flesh out into a bowl. It should be mushy.
Stir onions, green chiles, and half of the cracker mixture into the cooked squash.
Mix eggs, milk, salt and pepper together in a small bowl, then into squash mixture.
Spread into the same baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cracker mixture..
Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned, about 30 minutes.
Spicy Onion Soup with Sausage is a robust French onion based soup on steroids- extra flavor, onions, green chiles, and really spicy sausage – yummy!
This is fundamentally a French Onion Soup … but with killer spicy sausage, green chiles, and a few added flavor enhancers to make it truly memorable. It’s easy to make and guaranteed to be a hit. For a get together, I would double or quadruple it.
I started with a 32-oz carton of ready-made French Onion Soup (Pacific Foods, rather bland, nothing special); you could just as well use two 14.5 oz cans of beef broth or a packet of Lipton French Onion Soup (made per directions). It’s the flavorful additions that really make this special.
The rest of the ingredients are common flavor enhancers … except the sausage. I used half of a 1 lb. chubb of Tennessee Pride Hot Country Sausage. This is a no-fail, forgiving recipe, so you can use whatever sausage you like. I generally have a preference for Southern-style hot breakfast sausage that comes in a chubb. I grew up in the South where we often had patties of this kind of sausage with breakfast; wow – lots of flavor, great texture, and undoubtably plenty of fat and calories. That’s what I call real comfort food. I always keep this kind of sausage in my freezer. (Yeah, I’ve also got chorizo and both mild and hot Italian sausage.)
I created this recipe tweaking as I went, so the amounts of beef bouillon, vinegar, and chiles will give you the spicy and very robust flavor I was shooting for. If you want to tone it down, you can go easy adjusting to taste as you go along. Personally, I feel I ended up with one of the very best, incredibly satisfying onion soups I’ve ever had. This is an ideal soup to serve after a day in the snow. If you want a more Southwestern flavor, you can add chili powder and cumin. I was aiming more for spicy and flavorful than ethnic.
Also, I would generally double the recipe, as this only serves about 4 people. I made it on the stove, but it’s ideal for a slow cooker and can be left on low for hours. Hope you enjoy this!
1 32 oz carton of French Onion Soup (or 2 14.5 oz cans beef broth)
1 large yellow onion
½ of 1 lb chubb of hot breakfast sausage
1 tbsp beef bouillon
¼ cup red wine vinegar
½ cup diced medium-hot green chiles
Optional: Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
Cut onion into thin slices and quarter each slice, making about 2-inch strips of onion.
Brown the sausage in a medium pot, breaking it up into small chunks. Drain the fat off, leaving about 2 tbsp in the skillet to cook the onions in. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Fry the onions in the 2 tbsp fat over medium heat until soft and starting to brown. Add the cooked sausage back in and pour the French Onion Soup (or beef broth) in.
Stir well and add in the beef bouillon and vinegar; you may want to add a bit of each and taste as you go if you want it on the mild side.
Stir in the green chiles, simmer for a few minutes and serve.
Optional: top with shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese.
Pimento Chile Corn Muffins are tasty little bites of comfort food that can be thrown together from ingredients you’re likely to have in the pantry. Great to serve at parties.
These are essentially a deluxe version of corn muffins that have corn kernels, lots of extra flavor from chiles and pimentos, and they’re very moist. Plus they are super easy to make. I think this is a good dish to take to a game day party. It’s pop in your mouth comfort food.
I specifically used mild green chiles – I think the flavors are more balanced that way. When I first made these, I was expecting to serve them hot; but I found I liked them even better after a few hours. This might be just my imagination or state of hunger. One thing I like about this recipe is that I usually have all the ingredients around, so I can make this on the fly.
I also used a Mexican blend of shredded cheese. This is usually very mild, so I found that I didn’t even notice the cheese. The next time I make it, I’ll probably try a sharper cheese. It also would be good with shredded pepper jack. It’s very obviously a forgiving recipe, so you might try whatever chiles and cheese sounds good.
Chipotle Pizza is a simple homemade pizza with fresh tomatoes and jalapeno, but also with a distinctive spicy (but not too spicy) chipotle heat and flavor.
This Chipotle Pizza is brain-dead simple and has a nice amount of heat and flavor. It has a distinctive chipotle flavor, but the chipotle sauce is mixed with spaghetti or pizza sauce for moderate heat (so you don’t blow your socks off). There are only a few toppings, but add more if you want!
I specifically used the Rhodes Texas Size Rolls frozen dough because it rises and handles beautifully, tastes awesome, and has very nice texture. Now…. it does come in a bag of 24 big rolls – but the recipe only uses 6 of them for one pizza. If you are only making one, wrap the remaining 18 up well in a plastic bag and return to the deep freeze. Rhodes recommends using the dough within a month, but bread dough generally keeps for 6 months. I found it rises really well even when I think I’m handling it and stretching it out way too much.
I used La Costeña Chipotle Sauce (Salsa De Chile Chipotle); it came in a 7.76 oz can and looks just like tomato sauce. It’s definitely hot, though, with some serious chipotle taste and heat. I mixed it 50/50 with Ragu Traditional Old World Style Sauce. It came out with exactly the flavor and heat level I wanted.
I was aiming for a fairly simple pizza with just bacon, fresh tomato, jalapeño, and mozarella cheese on top. Want more? Go for it and make it a deluxe. Mushrooms and onions would also be great on this. I also garnished it with bits of fresh parsley.
I have some of the Rhodes bread dough left over, so I’ll be experimenting a bit more with it. Try this one – hope you like it!
1-2 fresh medium jalapeños, sliced into ¼ inch rounds
1½ cups shredded mozarella
½ cup canned spaghetti or pizza sauce
½ cup chipotle sauce*
dried oregano
dried basil
* NOT chipotle in adobo (too spicy)
Instructions
At least 3-4 hours before cooking, start thawing the dough: For each 12-16 inch pizza, take out 6 frozen balls of dough; return the bag of frozen dough to the freezer. Note the size of pizza varies depending on how thin you make the crust.
Cook the bacon fully, but not crisp; and cut into about ½ inch square pieces. Set aside.
Spray a cookie sheet or pizza pan with cooking spray. Press the 6 balls of dough into 1 ball and spread it with your hands into about a 12 to 16 inch circle; it will shrink back some as you spread it out. Be careful to keep the dough fairly even in thickness, not allowing holes to form. It will rise as it bakes to ½ to 1 inch thickness.
Blend the spaghetti sauce and chipotle sauce; taste and adjust for desired heat level. (The chipotle sauce is hot!)
Spread the sauce on the dough so it covers well up to about ¼-1/2 inch from edge. Sauce should be about ¼ inch thick on the dough.
Top with the shredded mozarella. Sprinkle lightly with oregano and basil.
Spread bacon bits evenly and then arrange the slices of tomato and jalapeño on top.
Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until crust is nicely browning around the edges.
8 Can Chicken Enchilada Soup is a super quick awesome bean soup ideal for a crowd or potluck, mainly thrown together with ingredients from 8 cans!
This 8 Can Chicken Enchilada Soup is idea for feeding a crowd of spicy food lovers. It’s quick to make, easy to modify to your family’s tastes, and quite versatile. This is a recipe to keep in your file of go-to quick recipes.
I’m describing here both how I made it and some suggestions for modification. If I’m taking it to a potluck, I’d cook it and serve it in a slow cooker. But it’s just as easy in a big pot on the stove. You can throw this together in all of 10 minutes.
I originally intended this as a recipe for camping trips; I usually go on two camping trips a year where we just have a camping stove. But …. this makes 8 cups and I only take small pots on the trips (usually it’s just 2 of us). This one requires a pretty good sized pot.
Also, this is a very forgiving recipe. I used La Costeña Charro Beans (available at King Soopers or Walmart) because they really are awesome and I happened to have a can. You can just use a 15 oz can of pinto beans instead, though – this soup already is tasty even without the charro flavor (bacon, chicharron, and chorizo). Also, I specified Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce (available at King Soopers), but you can substitute other brands. I find different brands of green enchilada sauces vary a lot in both heat and flavor; but in a robust soup like this, the enchilada sauce you use is not likely to make a big difference.
Another ingredient you might want to vary is the green chiles. Usually I pull out my frozen green chiles from last year’s harvest, dice some up and then just keep adding them to taste. You can adjust the flavor/heat by using a 4 oz can instead of 7 oz or by using mild, medium or hot chiles.
I usually have all these ingredients on hand (for sure if I use pinto beans instead of La Costeña Charro Beans) – so this particular recipe is one I’m likely to use if I have to serve dinner on no notice. Everybody likes it, so keep this one in your recipe files. Hope you like it!
