Very tasty. I added some extra italian spices in and used ground turkey instead of ground beef. Still, a delicious dish that I will surely make again!

Reviewed On: Jul. 25, 2009

This soup is easily 5 stars with the alterations I've made. I followed the recipe as above, but cut the amount of flour in half and left the skins on the potatoes. From then on, I: - put frozen chicken breasts in and diced them later. - added a can of green beans - added some garlic - added sliced carrots - added some frozen peas I had - added parsley, rosemary, savory, salt, and pepper - all to taste. After cooking for 6 hours it was ready to serve. It was delicious, 5 star material. Looking back, the only thing I might change would be to add the rice later on as it had all but turned to a mush. But on the other hand, it added to the overall thickness of the soup which I enjoyed. I think if you make the alterations as I have you'll find this soup to join your list of favorites!

Reviewed On: Nov. 5, 2008

I'm giving this 4 stars after having made a few alterations. First, I left out the tomatoes, cilantro, and red wine vinegar simply because I didn't have any on hand. I then used both green and red bell peppers (good for the flavor and the color), some chili powder (to taste), and added some frozen corn that I had left over. Having cooked these ingredients on the stove top, as well as the garlic, black beans, and olive oil from the recipe, I mixed it all together with the squash. To finish, I topped it off with my favorite salsa (Southwest Salsa from Safeway). In the end, it was pretty dang good. Definitely not bland, as it has been called in other reviews, but I think this was largely due to my alterations - the salsa is what really helped I think. My wife also added sour cream, which she claims was another great addition (I'm not a fan of sour cream, so no comment from me). Really, the only reason I gave it 4 stars and not 5 in the end is that the texture was a bit "mushy" which detracted slightly from the overall experience. We ate it as a meal in and of itself, but it would go along great as a side to many Southwestern/Mexican/Spanish inspired dishes. I think I might try the leftovers in a tortilla with some cheese tomorrow.

Reviewed On: Nov. 3, 2008