Virtual Supper Club -- Soups and Stews

Happy New Year, everyone! I'm new to CookingLight.com and very excited to continue the monthly posts about our readers' Virtual Supper Club. In case anyone needs a quick recap (like I did!), the Virtual Supper Club consists of five ladies throughout North America who share a love of blogging, delicious food, and healthy living. They consist of: Hélène (of Vancouver Island), Val (British Columbia), Jamie (Florida panhandle), Shelby (upstate New York), and Aggie (Central Florida). Once a month, they virtually share their beautiful photography, thoughts, and experiences about creating a Cooking Light recipe from a chosen theme on each of their blogs.
Yesterday marked their first Virtual Supper Club posts of the year with the delicious theme of Soups and Stews for the cold, winter season. We can't agree with their theme choice more: from 2003 to our current issue, Cooking Light has consistently featured soups, stews, and chilies on its January/February cover year after year. From Hélène's quick and easy Spicy Tomato and White Bean Soup (pictured here) to Shelby's flavorful Shrimp and Butternut Squash in Coconut Milk Broth, each of their choices have my mouth watering. Be sure to check out each of their blogs to see their beautiful photography and read more about how the recipes turned out. 
January 2010: Soups and Stews Menu
Spicy Sausage Chili: Jamie (Florida)
"My entire family loved, loved, loved this chili.  It was such a quick weekday meal to put together.  It was very flavorful and had a nice spiciness to it but not too spicy.  As my family says.....it's a keeper!"
Shrimp and Butternut Squash in Coconut Milk Broth: Shelby (New York)"I loved the creaminess of the dish, the sweetness of the squash and coconut milk, and the heat from the red pepper flakes. Some fresh cilantro mixed in and then sprinkled on to garnish only made even more appetizing to me!"
Spicy Chicken Stew: Val (British Columbia)"Tender pieces of chicken stewed with spicy salsa, tender sweet corn and corn tortillas make this a classic dish to bring to the table. I pulled out my crock pot for the second time this week...simply unheard of!!!"

Spicy Tomato and White Bean Soup: Hélène (Vancouver Island)"This soup is ready in less than 15 minutes because you do use the food processor to chop the fresh vegetables. Instead of navy beans I used black beans. This soup was refreshing and healthy."

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Join the club! If you'd like to become an honorary member of the Virtual Supper Club, blog a recipe that fits the theme, then send us an email or leave a comment here with a link to your post.