Soup & Dessert recipes from my book club

Every February (this is the third year), our book club hosts a soup night.  The following are some of the recipes that were made. Everything was delicious.

Tamee made a Maryland Crab Soup:

Here's the link: https://www.mccormick.com/old-bay/recipes/soups-stews/maryland-crab-soup  

Tamee stated small cut-up potatoes can be added. Doubling it will fill a crockpot to its brim.

Donna made red lentil soup:

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon olive oil

4 medium carrots, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
14 ounces vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup dried red lentils
1 (5 ounce) bag baby spinach

Directions

In a 4 quart saucepan, cook carrots and onion in oil 6-8 minutes until light brown and tender. Add cumin and cook, while stirring, one more minute. Add tomatoes, broth, lentils, 2 cups water, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper. Heat to boiling, then simmer for 10 minutes or until lentils are done. Add spinach and serve.

Notes

To reduce sodium, use no salt added tomatoes, low sodium broth and/ or omit salt.

Donna's comments:  I used low sodium broth, regular tomatoes and omitted the salt from this evening’s soup.

Desserts:

Cheryl O made a blueberry cobbler: 

https://thesaltymarshmallow.com/wprm_print/crockpot-blueberry-cobbler

She substituted wheat flour for all purpose flour and used monk fruit in the raw zero calorie sugar substitute instead of regular sugar.

Candy made a gingerbread with a lemon curd.

https://sugarspunrun.com/gingerbread/

https://sugarspunrun.com/lemon-curd-recipe/

Creamy Cucumber Salad

Friends of ours invited us over for dinner, along with some other friends. Mike made an excellent Hungarian pork and sauerkraut goulash (https://www.craftycookingmama.com/pork-and-sauerkraut-goulash-szekelygulyas-hungarian-goulash/  Note that he did not include the green bell pepper).  

I found this recipe, which I would go very well with the main dish: 

https://feelgoodfoodie.net/recipe/creamy-cucumber-salad/
 

It was a hit! Everyone loved this salad.

Ingredients
  
1/2 cup sour cream (or Greek yogurt)
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1 teaspoon granulated sugar optional
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper
2 large English cucumbers thinly sliced
1/4 red onion thinly sliced
 
Instructions
 
In a medium bowl, mix the sour cream, vinegar, dill sugar, and garlic powder until well combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
 
Add the sliced cucumbers and red onions on top of the sour cream dressing and stir to coat.
Serve immediately at room temperature or refrigerate for one hour before serving.
 
My Notes:
 
I made this 24 January 2025.
 
I used 3 cucumbers, placed on paper towels, salted, and covered to release excess water.
 

I soaked the sliced onions in ice cold water for 15-20 minutes.

I made this for eight people. There was just a small amount leftover. 

 
Serves 6 to 8.

Mykonos Cheese Dip

This is one of my favorite recipes. I've been making this since 1987. I don't remember where I got the recipe. 

Serves 8-10 people.

Ingredients

1 large clove of garlic
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/3 cup of olive oil
1/2 lb. Feta cheese, crumbled (include the liquid)
1 cup sour cream
1 small bunch fresh chives, chopped
1 Tablespoon of drained capers
Pepper to taste
A few dashes of hot pepper sauce (optional)

Pita bread or crackers to serve
 
Directions

Blend the first 3 ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

Transfer to a serving bowl. Mix in remaining ingredients. Chill.

My Notes:

It's better if prepared the night before so that the flavor of the garlic comes out.

Drizzle a little olive oil on top once finished.

Vinegar Coleslaw

I made this today for my book club. We always have a delicious spread of foods. Just coming out of the holidays, I wanted something healthy, as it does not contain any mayonnaise. 

This is the recipe I followed.
 
https://downshiftology.com/recipes/vinegar-coleslaw-no-mayo/
 
 
Prep Time 20 minutes 
Total Time 20 minutes 
 
Servings: 12 servings
 
Ingredients
 
1 head of green cabbage finely shredded
1 large carrot grated
1/2 yellow or red onion finely sliced
 
Dressing
 
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp honey (or more, depending on sweetness)
1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp celery seed
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
 
Instructions
 
Add the shredded green cabbage, carrot and onion to a large bowl.
 
In a smaller bowl, whisk together the apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, olive oil, celery seed, salt and pepper to create the dressing. Taste the dressing and decide if you'd like to add more honey.
 
Add about half of the dressing to the cabbage, onions and carrots and gently toss. Slowly add more dressing until you’ve reached your desired consistency.

My Notes:

The first three ingredients I eye-balled. I had a very large head of cabbage, so I just used half.

I used half of a small red onion.

I used the entire dressing in the salad.

The recipe states this can be stored in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.