Summer Cantaloupe Soup

I just tried this out and I love love love this soup. Wonderful for those steamy hot days when you don't feel like adding anything else hot to your body. It's creamy, cool and light.

1 medium cantaloupe, peeled, seeded and diced
1/4 cup lime juice
1 (14 oz) can light coconut milk
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. ground cinammon
1 medium seedless cucumber, peeled, cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 cup additional melon (honeydew or cantaloupe) cut into small cubes
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint leaves
1 Tbsp. agave syrup or honey, to taste

In a blender, puree chopped cantaloupe, lime juice and coconut milk. Pour in a large bowl through a sieve. Discard pulp.
Whisk chili powder and cinammon into the cantaloupe puree. Stir in cucumber, melon cubes and mint. Season to taste with the syrup and chill for an hour.

Makes 6 (1-cup) servings

recipe from www.redbookmag.com, August 2008

Easy Shrimp Chowder

From Southern Living and a Southern guy named T

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 medium onion, chopped
2 (10 3/4-ounce) cans cream of potato soup, undiluted
3 1/2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 1/2 pounds medium-size fresh shrimp, peeled*
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Garnish: chopped fresh parsley
Oyster crackers (optional)
Preparation
Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat; add onion, and sauté 8 minutes or until tender. Stir in cream of potato soup, milk, and pepper; bring to a boil. Add shrimp; reduce heat, and simmer, stirring often, 5 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink. Stir in cheese until melted. Garnish, if desired. Serve immediately. Serve with oyster crackers, if desired.
*1 1/2 pounds frozen shrimp, thawed; 1 1/2 pounds peeled crawfish tails; or 3 cups chopped cooked chicken may be substituted.

Yield
Makes 12 cups

Soup: Taco Soup

Tacos are messy, soup is easier. This recipe has a lot of ingredients, but is really pretty simple to make. You can even successfully make it ahead the day before, and then serve it for dinner the next night.

Zesty Taco Soup

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can lima beans, drained
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 1/2 cups water
1 (1 ounce) package ranch dressing mix
1 (15 ounce) can white hominy, drained
1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

DIRECTIONS
In a large Dutch oven, brown the beef and chopped onion over medium heat. Drain off any fat.
Add chilies, salt and pepper, beans, water, seasoning mixes, hominy, and stewed tomatoes to the beef and onion. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.
Top with shredded cheese, and serve with chips.

Yield : 6 - 8 servings
PREP TIME
5 Min
COOK TIME
45 Min
READY IN
50 Min