This month with spring on the way we are looking for fresh ideas for adding nutritional punch to any Frontier Soups mix. Customers can submit their own ideas for inventive variations by replying below or posting them on the Frontier Soups Facebook page.

Winning ideas will be posted here on our recipes blog and receive a free sample of a new product we will be introducing later this year. You will be the first to try it and give us feedback on this new soup supper!

Here’s one healthy cooking variation on the Illinois Prairie Corn Chowder recipe.  Substitute pureed corn, carrots or cauliflower, or mashed potatoes as thickeners instead of cream!  Delish dish!

This dish is quintessential comfort food and the bonus is leftovers make soup for another meal.  Preparing this dish also gives the cook a chance to be creative by choosing which ingredients appeal most for this meal in bowl.  You can easily omit some of the vegetables, pick what you like best.  The more vegetables added, the more people can be served. Basic recipe will serve four nicely.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 medium to large eggplant, cut up into 1 inch chunks
• 1 purple onion, sliced into semi circles
• 1 red pepper, cut up into 1-inch pieces
• 1 yellow pepper, cut up into 1-inch pieces
• 2 medium zucchini, diced
• 1 pound to 20 ounces turkey Italian sausage
• 1 14-ounce can tomato pieces
• 1 box frozen spinach
• 1 pound small white potatoes, cut up into 1-inch pieces
• 8 ounces mushrooms, cut into quarters (Optional)

Topping Options:  Grated Parmesan cheese and/or crumbled feta cheese

Sausage Ratatouille Casserole Recipe Directions:

1. Place eggplant chunks in a medium bowl.  Toss with 1/4 cup of the olive oil.  Spread on a baking sheet in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes.  With a metal spatula turn over all pieces midway in the cooking.
2. While eggplant bakes, place 2 tablespoons olive oil and onion slices in heavy casserole or 4-quart cook pot.  Saute onion about five minutes, add peppers, toss and cook five more minutes.  Add zucchini, toss and cook 5 minutes.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet and push turkey sausage out of casings, crumble and brown about 10 minutes.  Add mushroom pieces, if desired, and cook five minutes longer.
4. Combine eggplant and sausage with the peppers and onion.  Stir well.
5. Add tomatoes, and spinach and/or potatoes, if desired.  Stir well and simmer on low 30 to 45 minutes.
6. Serve with cheese on top and crusty cracked wheat bread.

We like to make plenty of this satisfying dish and refrigerate leftovers. Step one is already done for a great soup.  The next day reheat in medium saucepan adding chicken broth as needed for liquid and add any other left over vegetables in the refrigerator such as green beans or cauliflower to make this two step soup.  Serve again with grated cheese and crusty bread.

Hello, I’m Alex and am now tweeting for Frontier Soups. As a kid I was a really picky eater, so now that I’m in college and on my own I am trying out new foods but always try to keep it healthy.

I’ve been eating homemade soup since I first wandered into the kitchen to see what mom was cooking. My mom worked as an HR consultant for Frontier Soups and would bring home soup mixes for us to try. They were delicious! You add just enough fresh ingredients so they taste truly homemade. You could even say I learned to cook with Frontier Soups mixes!

When I went off to college, I took my Frontier Soups favorites with me. I found out that food can cure homesickness! For Thanksgiving, I made the Illinois Prairie Corn Chowder for my roommates and myself. When I traveled to Spain for my year of foreign studies, I brought Frontier Soups mixes to my host family. Now they are my go-to meal when I cook for myself and to serve to friends in the working world.

I have personally cooked 28 of the 37 varieties of Frontier Soups mixes so far. If I haven’t cooked a soup you have a question about, I will find the answer and cook it up myself to be sure. I’m happy to talk to you about soup cooking questions. Whether you have questions when you’re at the grocery store or in the kitchen, I can help. Tweet with me @ http://twitter.com/FrontierSoups.

At Frontier Soups February is all about matters of the heart, and so we’ve designated it Have-A-Heart Month. To celebrate, we’re pledging $500 to the American Heart Association for its great work in promoting healthy eating as a first step in taking care of ourselves.

We also want to give a heart-felt thanks to all of our customers by including with every order a copy of our white paper “The Lean of the Bean and the Ease of Peas,” which explains the link between eating beans and preventing heart disease and lots of other health issues.

Of course, we can’t forget Valentine’s Day. Nothing makes a person feel more special than when their loved one takes the time to prepare a special meal for them, and nothing is more comforting and heart-warming than a nice hot bowl of soup. No matter who your special one is, mother/daughter, sister/brother, husband/wife or a friend, they will love our Louisiana Red Bean Gumbo Soup, which is on special this month for just $4.95, a 30 percent savings.  The gumbo also makes a great meal to feed a crowd for Mardi Gras!

You also can choose our Build Your Own Valentine’s Day Soup Gift Basket stuffed with your favorite selections.  Our handsome, rustic basket comes beautifully arranged with a crisp red and white kitchen towel, a Frontier Soups ladle and a heart-shaped dark chocolate treat for $12.95.  You choose five to ten soups or other mixes from $2.50 to $7.00 to customize your gift of warmth and affection for loved ones near or far.

We continually test our recipes and we occasionally receive helpful consumer suggestions. Please make a note that in our 2008 publication “Dinner in 8 …Hours” slow cooker booklet there are two misprints in directions:

1. Dakota Beef Barely Bean crock pot recipe should be cooked on LOW, not HIGH in your slow cooker. See the full correct Dakota Territory Beef Barley Bean Stew crock pot recipe.
2. Michigan Ski Country Chili crock pot recipe does not give correct directions for the beans. The red kidney bean MUST boil before being placed into the crockpot. See the full correct Michigan Ski Country Chili crock pot recipe.

Serves about 6.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium purple onion
• 2 medium fennel bulbs
• 1 yellow pepper
• 2 naval oranges
• Fresh parsley or tarragon

Orange Fennel Salad Recipe Ingredients:

1. Peel and slice onion in half top to bottom and then cut crosswise into narrow half circle pieces.
2. In large skillet saute onion in oil 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Cut fennel bulbs  in half top to bottom and then cut crosswise into narrow half circle pieces.  Add to skillet.
4. Cut yellow pepper the same way into narrow half rings.  Add to skillet and sauté five minutes.
5. Add juice of half an orange and continue cooking for a total of about 12 minutes.
6. Remove from heat, place on platter and cool.
7. Top with oranges sliced into pieces.
8. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Optional:  top with crumbled feta cheese or toasted walnuts, or serve warm and use as a bed for lightly sautéed white fish such as sole or snapper, for a whole meal.

Serves 3-6.

Salad Ingredients:

• 1 ripe avocado, peeled and sliced
• 1 large ripe pink grapefruit
• 3 to 6 ounces arugula
• 2 ounces crumbled blue cheese
• Optional: toasted glazed sliced almonds

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Grapefruit Avocado Salad Recipe Directions:

1. Place all ingredients for dressing into small bowl and whisk until creamy.
2. Cut grapefruit in half and scoop out all the half segments.
3. Place into salad serving bowl, adding in avocado, arugula and crumbled blue cheese.
4. Toss with dressing and serve.
5. To garnish with almonds place 1/3 cup almonds into small skillet, add 2 tablespoons of sugar over medium heat and stir until sugar melts and coats the almonds and almonds turn golden brown.  Be careful not to burn.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces brie cheese, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 shallots, minced
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/4 cup sherry or white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 6 ounces mixed greens

Lemon Brie Salad Recipe Directions:

1. Cut rind off brie, cut up and let come to room temperature.
2. Heat olive oil on low in small saucepan for 5 minutes.
3. Add in shallots and garlic, cook until translucent, 5 minutes.
4. Stir in vinegar, lemon juice and mustard.
5. Place greens in salad serving bowl with cheese on top.
6. Toss with warm dressing and serve.
7. May top with walnuts or croutons, if desired.

Serves 6. Use an 8 x 8 inch pyrex pan for this dish, or double all ingredients in the recipe and bake in a 9 x 13 pan to serve 10 to 12.

Ingredients:

• 4 to 5 thick slices buttered bread, stacked, sliced into cubes (about 4 cups)
• 12 ounces grated medium or sharp cheddar cheese
• 4 eggs, beaten slightly
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper, or Frontier Soups Chipotle Dip Mix

Cheesey Strata Recipe Directions:

1. Spread bread squares in pan.
2. Top with shredded cheese.
3. In a medium bowl mix remaining ingredients together.  Pour over the cheese and bread.
4. Cover and let stand several hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
5. Bake at 350 degrees 50 minutes for the smaller pan and one hour for the larger.  Serve immediately.

Use Little Jones sausages for this recipe, either precooked or fresh, follow directions on package.  12 sausages per package.  Determine quantity needed.

Ingredients:

• 1, 2, or 3 packages Little Jones sausages
• 3-6 good apples, sliced and cored
• 1-2 cups brown sugar

Sausage and Apples Recipe Directions:

1. Brown sausages in large skillet.
2. Add in apples browning and turning.
3. Add brown sugar, continue stirring about 10 minutes.
4. The brown sugar will turn into a golden syrup.
5. Cover and keep on low for about 25 minutes, or place in baking dish covered in oven until ready to serve.  Serve alongside an egg dish.

This can be made ahead and reheated to serve.