As you know, I started a diet a few weeks ago. Not a "diet" in the traditional sense, but a meal plan. And truth be told ... I didn't start it, my boyfriend did, which means I got sucked along for the ride. And so did my intestines.
It didn't go well the first little while.
But then my guts got adjusted and it still isn't going well. Regardless there are a few really good recipes I've been introduced to. One such recipe is Fire Broth. It's a vegetable and sausage soup that's heavy on the heat. Adam, the owner of Alchemy Crossfit, the devil who has organized this meal plan is big on heat and it shows in this soup. If you don't like heat, just dial down the hot peppers.
And since it's still freezing cold with no sign of it getting any warmer here in Southern Ontario it's still the perfect meal for this time of year. Even though technically the perfect food for this time of year should be hamburgers and potato salad. Which isn't on "the meal plan" by the way.
I hate my life.
Wait! I own chickens! I don't hate my life anymore.
Please enjoy this hot and spicy Fire Broth Soup!
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 5 cups beef broth
- ** if you're vegetarian/vegan you can use 10 cups vegetable stock instead**
- 3 Tablespoons Grapeseed Oil (or Olive Oil)
- 1 package of hot, Italian sausages (5 or 6 sausages)
- 1 yellow onion (diced)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 heads of roasted garlic
- 2 small green chiles (minced)
- 1 medium sweet potato (diced)
- 1 red pepper (diced)
- 1 zucchini (diced)
- 3-4 heirloom tomatoes (diced) **use regular if you can't find heirloom
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon coriander
- 1 Tablespoon Ancho chili powder **can also use regular chili powder
- 1 teaspoon Chipotle puree (just blend the contents of a can of chipotle peppers)
- 4 Tablespoons fresh oregano
- Put your 10 cups of broth into a soup pot and warm it up.
- Dice all your vegetables and chop your oregano.
- Heat your oil in a saute pan then add your onions and ½ teaspoon of salt. Cook until translucent.
- Add garlic, green chiles, spices, sweet potato and half the oregano to saute pan.
- Cook for 10 minutes stirring regularly.
- Add the red pepper and zucchini and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add the cooked vegetables to the warm stock. Also add the chipotle puree, tomatoes and sausage. Simmer for 15 minutes.
To roast heads of garlic, cut the tops off of the garlic, sprinkle with a little salt and olive oil. Wrap them up in tin foil and bake them in the oven at 400° for 40 minutes or until soft.
This is how to easily dice an onion.
This is what a hot green chile pepper looks like. Buy ones that look like this.
If you can't find nice, fresh tomatoes, there's no shame in using canned. No big whoop.
Remove your oregano leaves from their stems before chopping them. Stems are icky.
If you have a red pepper that's starting to feel softish in the fridge, this is the perfect opportunity to use it 'cause it's going to get soft when it's cooked anyway.
By soft I mean soft. Not rotting and covered in mould.
My zucchini seemed a bit small so I used 2. You can do that when cooking soup. Add, subtract ... do whatever you like.
It's the magic of soup.
Cook your sausages ahead of time. I boil mine for 10 minutes then stick them on the barbecue for another 10 - 15 minutes.
These look slightly dried up 'cause they'd been sitting waiting for their photo shoot for a half hour or so.
Sweet potatoes have lots of craters which are perfect little spots for growing bacteria. Make sure there isn't any mould or ick on them.
Dice all your vegetables to about this size.
Serve on a piece of barn board with a hunk of attractive looking bread. Unless you're on this stupid meal plan. In which case you're more likely to be encouraged to eat the barn board than the bread.
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Dear Karen, You really could title this post "Soups with onions with other stuff." I am truly frustrated that there is not more recognition of the fact that many people cannot eat items in the onion family, but their use in cooking is ubiquitous. I would really appreciate it if someone like you, who has the talent to create such wonderful recipes, would turn your attention to recipes that do not require onions, garlic, leeks, etc. Please take this as a challenge, not a criticism, to increase your awareness of how really hard it is to avoid these items as many people must.
As I stand hunched over my table slurping yet another bowl of fire broth, I feel like it’s time to properly thank you for sharing this recipe. It’s been a favorite of our family for a long time now and gets changed up a lot depending on what veggies are around. No matter what, it’s always delicious. I’m almost halfway through my chemo and have lost my taste for a lot of things but I have been absolutely ravenous for this soup. This weekend’s rendition included Poblano peppers, canned tomatoes, frozen diced sweet potatoes, and extra sausage. Right on.
Ok, so I made this soup last night I had to split it over 2 days the first day I just cut everything up, the second day I roasted the garlic, cooked the sausage and cooked the soup (I have 2 young kids so getting it all done at once was too much work) but holy WORTH IT! It is absolutely delicious!! And the best thing is that I had 2 bowls and didn't feel guilty about it, this soup is so healthy and just enough heat to leave a tinge on your lips but not so hot that it ruined the soup. It's absolutely perfect there is nothing I would change. Thanks so much for posting it!
That's great! Glad you liked it. It's such a hearty soup yet it's just broth based. And it would taste just as good without the sausage for anyone who is vegetarian. I used to be like you with the whole preparation thing, lol, but once you make it a few times it doesn't feel so overwhelming because you know what you're doing. Hope you had a big hunk of bread with it! ~ karen
I have been DYING to make this recipe for a year now and I am finally giving it a shot this weekend. I have one question though... what do you do with the garlic after you roast it? Do you peel it as usual and dice it? Or mash it up? Or do you just peel it all and put it right into the pot?
Hi Amanda! You roast the garlic and then squeeze it right into the pan. By the time you roast it it'll be like mush. Once you stir it in the pan it'll all break apart and almost dissolve(ish). I guess I should add that step to the recipe! ~ karen
ok thanks! And the only canned chipolte peppers I could find were in adobe sauce, is that ok? Where did you buy yours?
correction: "abodo" sauce, not adobe. lol
Adobe/Adobo. :) Yes that's good. Most chipotles are canned in adobo sauce. Those are indeed the type I use. ~ karen!
I'd waited almost two years to make this recipe and I'm so upset with myself that I waited this long.
I was definitely not expecting something this AMAZING (although I don't know why).
This will be going into heavy rotation at my home Karen!
Thanks Adam. I'm glad you liked it. 2 years after hearing about it, LOL. It's definitely one of my favourite soups. It makes a LOT though, LOL. ~ karen!
I'm not sure I have enough oregano. I always remember all the other stuff I need, but darn it, I forget the oregano. MUST. HAVE. SOUP.
Oh wait... I can make the butternut squash stuff instead.
When is the pumpkin soup recipe coming, pleeeeeeease?
LOL. It's not coming until the Kabocha squash in the garden are picked. Probably picking them this week. Make the Szechuan carrot soup. Or the broccoli soup. ~ k!
I had broccoli soup last night. And the night before. And I'll have it again later this week, when I'm breaking up the Fire Soup.
Karen, have you ever tried Kam Yen Jan Chinese Style Sausage? In anything? Any non-tinned meat product that can live in my cupboard for more than a year... is a great source of curiosity to me.
Loved this soup. So delicious and adaptable. I added a cup of Bob's Red Mill Vegi Soup Mix (lentils/split peas/veg alphabet pasta) to the broth while it heated. I removed the sausage from the casing and browned it in the pan prior to sauteeing the vegetables. And in the last ten minutes before serving I added chopped cremini mushrooms and fresh spinach. All of this bulked up the soup since my husband prefers less broth. Also put in two teaspoons of turmeric with the sauteed vegetables prior to adding the broth-- turmeric has so many health benefits! Thanks so much for this wonderful and healthful recipe!
Okay! So I am making this right now, and I'm very excited - but I realized my chipotle peppers were in Adobe sauce AFTER I put them into the pot, so that might make it a little different.
My question, and I could be crazy - but what do I do with the other half of the oregano? I see where it said to put half in, but I think I'm blind. Maybe I'll just eat it raw. That seems like a Cross Fit thing to do :)
Oh! You just sprinkle the remaining oregano on top of the soup when you serve it. Did I forget to put that in!? Sorry. I always forget to sprinkle it on my soup too. ~ karen
Well, that's exactly what I did!
And Karen, this recipe is FANTASTIC! Sooo good! I'm supposed to go to a Christmas party tonight, but all I want to do is stay in and cram as much of this soup into myself as possible! DELISH! Thanks for sharing!
I love this post! Recipe = awesome! Photos = awesome! I know it's pretty hard to mess up soup but if I haven't made something before I like to know everything step by step so this is perfect for me. Also, I'm pretty sure my man would fall in love with me all over again if I served this for dinner. Thanks!!
Michelle - It's pretty much a no fail recipe. I could eat it every day. Delicious. Good luck! ~ karen
I am making this for dinner tonight, Karen. The garlic is roasting now and it smells like heaven in here. I am making it vegetarian so it'll be a little different than yours (not even using any vegan sausage) but I'm sure it'll be fantastic just the same. It's the broth that makes it anyway wouldn't you say?
Yep. I personally love the sausage, but it absolutely doesn't need it. The flavour really comes from the broth, the garlic, the vegetables, well ... everything. The chipotle puree! Yup. Holy crap it's good. ~ karen
Trust me, I love sausage too but have given up all meats (bye, bacon) so... I made a few minor changes and it was DELICIOUS!
I wasn't done... I used the veggie broth as I mentioned I would and added chickpeas. I then took half the veggies and gave them a good whir in the blender and added it back to the soup. I just prefer my soups a little thicker. Husband and I both say it's a keeper. Thanks!
Why no meat? I love meat. Bacon specifically. As meat products go it's kind of perfect. I know a LOT of vegetarians/vegans and I'm always fascinated by their reasoning behind it. The fella's on his way to vegetarianism I think due to the thought of meat grossing him out. Other people cite health, and still others are phobic about undercooked meat/chicken. Interesting. ~ k!
Well, I've watched and read a number of things and have come to the conclusion that a plant-based diet is just healthier (in my humble opinion). Ironically I don't miss meat (I honestly never thought I could be a vegetarian or a near vegan. A few short years ago, I would've laughed in your face at the very mention of it). I also love the fact that I'm helping the environment and the animals but those weren't my main motivators (just a great side benefit). If you're interested, watch the documentary Forks Over Knives (maybe the fella would like it). Really good info and science to back it up.
Oh, wow, this sounds delicious! I'm definitely going to make it (but as you suggested with veggie broth). I have never tried any vegetarian/vegan sausages and not sure I will, but I think it'll still be outstanding with all those veggies and yummy spices (and the bread)! Thanks, Karen!
Let me guess: Paleo Diet? I'm currently doing a Paleo challenge through my Crossfit gym. I can't wait to share this recipe with my teammates! Looks so tasty.
Barbara - It *is* originally from a Crossfit diet! (whole foods) I have to say (at the risk of offending a LOT of people) I'm opposed to the Paleo diet We don't do Paleo. As far as I'm concerned cavemen weren't all that smart OR healthy looking. :) ~ karen