Soup from a Professed Soup Nazi!

Here's the deal....I LOVE SOUP! It is the only redeeming aspect of this season called Winter and it is a filling, healthy meal that warms the cockles of your soul. There are so many varieties and possibilities for soup and that drives me to spend countless hours on Pinterest looking a new, taste-bud pleasing soup to try. I also love MAKING soup! The relaxing chopping of veggies, the add-a-little-this-add-a-little-that approach, the stirring, the smells that drift through the air. Seriously, have you ever walked into a home where a big pot of soup is on the stove and heard someone say: 

"Ewwww! What the f*%$ is that smell!? Throw that crap out!"? Hopefully never!

The only exception to that is when my Mom prepared homemade chicken stock. The boiling of a chicken carcass in your kitchen would probably make me blurt the above statement out. But the product of that yucky process is still, delicious SOUP!

Here is a recipe that I am sharing for a Low Fat Shrimp Chowder. It is very easy to make, perfect for a weekday meal for a family or if you are a free wheeling single. Best of all it tastes great and leaves you FULL and SATISFIED.

What you'll need:

1 onion finely chopped

2-3 garlic cloves chopped

1 Bag of frozen baby Shrimp

2 cups of milk (use whatever you like, 2%, 1%, or skim)

1 small jar of Salsa (I like spicy but choose any heat level to suit your taste)

1 can of cream corn

1 can of Cream of Celery, Cream of Mushroom or Cream of Broccoli condensed soup

1 package of light cream cheese, chopped up in to 1 inch cubes.

1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped (optional or you can toss the seeds to reduce the heat)

1 Tbsp Olive oil (use any kind or brand you like, EVOO is great too)

What you'll do:

1) In a pot, heat the olive oil under medium heat. Add the onions and the garlic. Cook for about 5 mins until the onions start to soften. Add the jalapeno here if you are using.

2) Add the cubes of cream cheese and a little bit of the milk to incorporate the cream cheese. *Reduce the heat if you think the milk could scald*. Use a whisk to blend the cream cheese, it will melt into the milk as it heats through. This is what will give your soup a creamy, velvety texture with out the fat! I use this method for making creamy pasta sauce too.

3) Once the cream cheese is melted through, add the rest of  the milk, the jar of Salsa, the cream corn, the can of cream of *whatever* soup. Stir with a spoon or use the whisk until the soup is bubbling (approx. 7-8 mins).

4) Now add the bag of shrimp and cook for another 5 mins until the shrimp are heated through.

Now serve it up with crackers, some chopped scallions or with some Sriracha Sauce squirted on top. Enjoy! I will post a picture of the final product later as I made this soup this week. I have been eating it everyday and I am not sick of it yet.

And to close out this post and  in reference to the title, here are a couple of fun Seinfeld facts:

The Soup Nazi is based on the actual owner of a take-out soup business in Manhattan on West 55th Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue. 

As Kramer became more popular, his entrance applause grew so prolonged that the cast complained it was ruining the pacing of their scenes. Directors subsequently asked the audience not to applaud so much when Kramer entered. 

Julia Louis-Dreyfus did not appear in the series' pilot episode. In fact, she was unaware that the episode existed until it was released as part of the DVD box set in 2004.

Source: IMDB