Fall for Soups

There is something to be said about Fall and starting to eat nice soups to warm your soul. Portuguese certainly are well known for their soups, some are meals in themselves. I must say I prefer the lighter type of soups but also enjoy hearty soups especially for those hectic weekdays evenings there is no time to cook a meal on time.

Here is a list of soups I absolutely love:
Lettuce Soup - a nice delicate cream which oddly enough does not taste like lettuce!
Cream of Cauliflower - a smooth cream kids will love.
Portuguese Cilantro Soup - a hearty soup that makes a meal complete.
Chick Peas and Spinach Soup - Another hearty soup especially if you add pasta to it.
Carrot and Lentil Soup - I tested this soup not that long ago and right away became a favorite. Light, a tad spicy and so very good!
Hot and Sour Thai Soup - Another recipe I tested a little while ago and was praised by all at home. As this can be pretty spicy, I decided to remove a little of the broth into a different small pot and added the spiciness to it, this way my daughters were able to enjoy the soup with just a tad of spice and the rest of us  had it the way it was meant to be.

What are some of your favorite soups?

Thursday testing: Thai Hot and Sour Soup

With a Thai daughter... Thai food. This was a recipe I tried from Leite's Culinaria site. Everyone absolutely loved it, even the little toddler, even though I decided to remove some of its broth aside and add the spiciness onto it, then only my husband, our sleepy head and I added it back to the soup. This way the soup for the dancer and the toddler was not as spicy. Even though it was not quite as she had it back home, she still loved it and made her miss home a little less.

Tuesdays Main Meal: Ravioli with shrimp sauce

On weekdays we are always rushing from one of the kids activities to another, and now with me having to do physical therapy does not help either, so easy meals are always welcome. Unfortunately as I was in a rush I did not measure all ingredients I added but here is the general idea.

DIRECTIONS

1. Boil the shrimps in salt water and a few dry chili peppers
2. Remove the shrimps and keep the water
3. Boil the fresh cheese raviolis for about half the time it will say on the package in half of the water from boiling the shrimps and half plain water
4. Meanwhile create a béchamel sauce using part of the shrimp water and add the peeled shrimp into it
5. Add chopped parsley to the béchamel
6. in an oven-save dish mix the raviolis and béchamel with shrimps and place it in the oven for 10 minutes in a low broil
7. You can added a little shredded cheese on the top and decorate it with some parsley