Curried Cauliflower Soup November 26, 2012

Curry powder & fresh ginger heat up the flavor in this warming soup.

Curried Cauliflower Soup
with ginger & chickpeas

Ingredients

-1 quart reduced sodium broth (vegetable or chicken)
-1 cup cooked chickpeas (or one can drained & rinsed)
-1 1/2 cups sliced tomatoes or grape tomatoes
-1 head cauliflower (separated into florets)
-2 yellow onions (to sauté in 1 tbsp olive or canola oil)
-1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
-2-3 tbsp curry powder (to taste)
-1 tsp lemon juice (or juice or 1/2 fresh lemon)
-1 tsp black pepper
-salt to taste (do not add until serving)

Tip: Store some leftovers in the fridge & some in the freezer for future easy, healthy meals!

Method

1) Peel, chop, and sauté  onions in a large pan with 1 tbsp olive (or canola) oil. Stir frequently. When onion slices begin to brown, add 1/4 cup broth and reduce heat.

2) Rinse and separate cauliflower head into florets. Add florets to skillet with onions and add broth to moisten as needed. Stir frequently and allow florets to soften.

3) In a large pot on the stove top, bring remaining broth to medium heat and pour in contents from the skillet (onions & cauliflower). Add all remaining ingredients (except salt) and blend using an immersion blender.

If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can pour contents into a regular blender and carefully transfer back to your pot. Do not put hot contents in a regular blender–instead blend ingredients with broth before transferring to your large pot and heating. 

You want to blend until the florets are smooth but so that the soup still has some texture to it (it doesn’t need to be puréed).

4) Serve hot & enjoy! Add a light sprinkle of salt on top of poured soup when it is ready to serve.

Spiced Up Split Pea January 19, 2012

Picante Split Pea Soup topped with Ancho Chile Pepper and Daiya Vegan Cheddar Shreds

Picante Split Pea
with tomatillo & jalepeño

This is not your ordinary split pea soup. Adjust the heat to your desire by adding more or less of the hot peppers. Heat it up by the mug-full to satisfy your hungry. A mild soup get’s a little kick of savory flavor with the addition of some salsa verde. I used Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde with tomatillos and jalepeños here and have also made it using Trader Joe’s organic Tomatillo & Rosted Yellow Chili Salsa. Both were delicious and kept the soup quite mild.

Ingredients
Approximately 8 servings

-1 lb dried green split peas
-1 large yellow onion (chopped)
-1 12oz jar Salsa Verde
-4 green tea bags
-2 small organic yukon gold potatoes
-Approx. 8 cups water
-1 tsp or more Ancho Chile Pepper to taste (or Cayenne)
-3 gloves garlic (minced)
–Daiya Vegan Cheddar Shreds (topping
Methods
Total time Approx 1 hour, Active Time Approx 30 minutes

1) Add 8 cups water to large pot and boil on stove top. Turn off stove once water has reached boil. Add 4-5 green tea bags and allow to brew for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, rinse split peas and potatoes and begin to chop onion and garlic.

2) Remove tea bags, add rinsed split peas and cubed organic potatoes (about 3/4 cup cubed potatoes). Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium high heat and allow to simmer for 4o minutes. After 25 minutes add remaining ingredients: chopped onion, garlic, salsa verde, and chile powder to taste. Skim off the foam while cooking.

3) When split peas and potatoes become soft, turn off stove. Using an immersion (hand) blender, blend ingredients until smooth. Serve hot topped with a dash of chile pepper and a pinch of Daiya cheddar shreds.

Store in the fridge for up to a week or stash some in the freezer for up to 6 months. Nutrition Highlights: High fiber, high protein.

The Best Black Bean Soup January 10, 2012

Simple ingredients. Simply delicious.

The Best Black Bean Soup
with zesty salsa & avocado

They say black is slimming. When it comes to black beans these high-fiber, high-protein, low-calorie legumes can certainly do a body good. It won’t matter however, when you taste your first spoonful of this simple, natural combination of flavors you won’t need any further convincing.

Ingredients
Makes 8 Servings

-1/2 lb dried black beans
-4-5 green tea bags
-1 cup of your favorite salsa
-1 bunch fresh cilantro
-1 large yellow onion, chopped
-2 tbsp olive oil
-1/2 ripe avocado
– 2 tsp cumin powder
-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
-juice of 1 lime
-1/4 cup oat bran (optional)
Topping
–daiya deliciously dairy free mozzarella style shreds
-Baked blue corn chips
-1/2 ripe avocado (divide into slices)

Methods
1. Overnight: Rinse dried beans and soak overnight (or for at least 4 hours) in large saucepan.

The next day...After soak, drain most of the excess water. You will lose some water-soluble nutrients in the water but you will also lose some of the raffinose (type of sugar found in beans) that causes the discomfort known to give beans their nickname as “the musical fruit.” The majority of the nutrient quality will remain and your guests will thank you for this measure.

2. In a separate pot, bring 3 cups water to a boil. Once the boil is reached, turn off the burner and add 4-5 green tea bags. Cover pot with lid and allow to steep until very strong (for at least 15 minutes- but leaving the brew longer is even better).

3. In a large pot, combine brewed green tea (remove tea bags) and beans and add water until beans are totally covered. Bring beans to a boil and reduce to a simmer, cooking for approximately 1 hour until beans are soft.

4. Chop onion and add to large saucepan with 2 tbsp olive oil on medium high heat. Stir frequently until onions brown to a caramelized state (but do not become black and burnt).

5. When beans are soft, reduce heat to low and stir in cilantro leaves from one bunch, caramelized onions, 1 cup salsa, cumin, cayenne pepper, oat bran (optional), lime juice and 1/2 ripe avocado. Using an immersion (hand) blender, blend ingredients until smooth.

Serve hot. Delicious topped with baked corn chips, daiya dairy-free “cheese” shreds, and a few small avocado slices. Keeps well in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for months. Freezer tip: If freezing, use containers that will hold only a few portions each for easy future dining.

Nutrition Highlights: This 100% vegan dish is packed with nutrients and extremely filling despite its low-fat, low-calorie profile. Black beans are an excellent source of several vitamins and minerals including folate, iron, and magnesium. The green tea is high in antioxidants which help protect cells against damage (including both heart damage and wrinkles). This soup is an ideal dish for helping to lower cholesterol; The beans and oat bran are very high in soluble fiber- the type of fiber that can bind to cholesterol carrying molecules in the blood and help remove these molecules. The avocado, which adds a delicious creaminess to the soup body, is high in monounsaturated fat- the “heart-healthy” type of fat that helps to raise HDL levels and lower LDL levels.

South meets Southwest: Black-Eyed Peas & Lime-Seared Steak Soup November 15, 2011

Black-Eyed Peas & Collard Greens meet Cilantro & Lime

This soup combines elements of the traditional southern black-eyed peas and collard greens soup with southwestern flavors of cilantro and lime. I traded the traditional pork or bacon of the “Hoppin’ John” for some lean cut 100% grass-fed beef marinated in fresh lime juice. The meat here is used as an accent flavor; the black-eyed peas are the stars of this dish. Enjoy throughout the fall and winter but bookmark this dish for January 1st. The recipe makes a wonderful New Year’s Eve dish as black-eyed peas are celebrated by many as a “lucky” food to begin the new year.

Black-Eyed Peas & Lime-Seared Steak Soup
with collard greens & cilantro

Ingredients

• 1 & 1/2 cups dried black-eyed peas
• 1 cup frozen chopped collard greens
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 9 cloves fresh garlic
• 2 shallots chopped (optional but suggested)
• 0.5 lb 100% grass-fed stir-fry beef strips
• 2 large handfuls of fresh cilantro
• juice of 2 fresh limes
• dash of cayenne pepper

Methods

The Night Before: Rinse 1 1/2 cups dried black-eyed peas and soak in a large pot for at least 4 hours. I normally leave the beans to soak covered overnight. Place fresh 100% grass-fed beef, sliced thin in a zip-lock bag or container with a full lime’s worth of lime juice. Store in the fridge overnight.

1. Strain soaked black-eyed peas and add to large pot with about 4 cups water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for about an hour stirring occasionally.

2. In a large stir-fry pan, begin searing lime-marinated beef at medium heat.  Crush and chop garlic into thin slices and add about 3 of the 9 cloves to your pan with the beef. Toss in a few rinsed fresh cilantro leaves as well. If you have the optional shallots, chop these and add to your pan. Add 1/4 cup of your vegetable broth (I love Pacific Natural Foods Organic Vegetable Broth- low sodium) to the pan and cover, stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes or until beef is fully cooked.

3. When black-eyed peas have cooked (after simmering for about 60 minutes) strain, rinse, and return to large pan with the remainder of your 4 cups vegetable broth. Bring heat to medium high. Rinse 2 handfuls of cilantro (also known as coriander) thoroughly and add to your soup pan. Also add  1 cup frozen chopped collard greens, the remaining garlic, and the lime juice from the second lime.

4. Stir in beef and spike with a dash of cayenne pepper.

Amply provides enough to serve 4.

Mushroom-Parsley Soup November 4, 2011

A surprisingly refreshing mushroom soup. Accented by the flavors of fresh parsley, lemon, and cloves. I used 2 boxes Baby Bella and 1 box white mushrooms but any variety would work.

Mushroom-Parsley Soup
with black lentils and cloves

Yet another delicious soup to keep you warm this season! This recipe is an adaptation of this recipe from Jamie Oliver’s Member Recipes. Mushrooms, onions, and garlic are all wonderful immune-boosting foods. Parsley adds a refreshing complement to the flavors and a blast of immune-boosting vitamin C. Black lentils turn this soup from a tasty side dish to a filling meal, and are a remarkably good source of iron.

Ingredients
-3 10 oz boxes of mushrooms
-2 large onions
-1/2 cup dry black lentils
-1 cup chopped fresh parsley
-3 cloves garlic (crushed & chopped)
-1/2 tsp grated ginger (or thinly sliced)
-2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
-2 cups water
– 1/4 tsp cloves
-4 tbsp whole wheat flour or almond powder
-2 tsp lemon juice
-2 tbsp olive oil (or canola)
-2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
-Pinch of salt and pepper to taste

Note: You will cook the lentils in a separate saucepan so have two pans ready.

Methods
1. In your smaller pan, add 1/2 cup dry black lentils and 2 cups water. Heat to boiling and then reduce to a simmer and cook for at least 20 minutes. The lentils will cook while you prepare the rest of your soup. Add more water (or vegetable broth) if needed.

2. Chop onions and add to large saucepan (deep enough to hold at least 5 cups of volume) along with olive oil and heat to medium-high heat. Stir frequently. Immediately chop and crush garlic and add to pan. Wash mushrooms (removing dirt with a damp clothe or paper towel) and cut into small pieces. Add to saucepan and stir frequently.

3. While mushrooms, garlic, and onions cook for several minutes, prepare remaining ingredients. Wash and chop parsley, ginger, and thyme. Add remaining soup ingredients and stir well. Add your cooked black lentils as well.

4. Using an immersion (hand) blender, blend soup lightly until it reaches a smooth consistency but still has some texture from the mushrooms.

5. Serve hot and garnish with fresh parsley. Delicious when served with crisp garlic bread. Enjoy!

Cozy Pumpkin-Peanut Soup November 2, 2011

Pumpkin Peanut Soup: This super filling and delicious soup will warm you right up! Served with half a slice of whole wheat Tandoori Naan bread.

Cozy Pumpkin & Peanut Soup
with fire-roasted red peppers & scallion garnish

If you’ve been on the blog lately you’ve probably noticed I’ve been making a lot of soups lately. I must say that this recipe is probably my favorite of all I have made so far! This soup is incredibly satisfying: the combo of peanut butter and pumpkin puree (spiced up with some peppers) is such a pleasant surprise of a flavor.

I stuck very close to a recipe this time from Women’s Health Magazine. You can find the recipe here.

My Recipe Tweaks:

-Used olive oil instead of vegetable
-Chunky natural peanut butter (NO hydrogenated oils) instead of smooth reduced fat
-Cayenne Pepper instead of chili pepper flakes
-Non-fat European plan yogurt instead of sour cream (left this off when I reheated a bowl the next day)

Carrot Ginger Soup October 30, 2011

Red Lentils add Protein & Fiber to this Carrot Ginger Soup

I’ve moved this recipe to my new website: Purefitlosophy.com. Enjoy! -Andi

Zucchini & Fennel Soup October 29, 2011

Zucchini & Fennel Bulb offset Onion and pan-seared Tomato complemented by a spalsh of Lime

Zucchini & Fennel Soup
with fresh lime & pan-seared tomato

Fall and winter in New England are ripe for soup season. The first frosty weekend blew in to Boston this week (including our first snow sighting). Time to get cozy- and try some new soups!

Ingredients (adapted from this Bon Appétit recipe)

– 1 whole onion, chopped
– 1 whole fennel bulb, chopped
-1 whole zucchini, chopped
-2 tbsp olive oil
– 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
-1 whole tomato, chopped
-2 cups brewed green tea (no sugar)
– 1 fresh lime
– pinch of fresh  thyme (optional)
-dash of salt & pepper

Methods

1. Chop onion, fennel bulb, and zucchini and add to large saucepan with 1 tbsp olive oil set at medium heat.  To save time you can chop the three veggies in that order and add them to the pan as they are chopped. Stir frequently to evenly cook added ingredients.

2.While onion, fennel, bulb, and zucchini are cooking, chop tomato and add to a separate pan with 1 tbsp olive oil and a few fresh thyme leaves (optional).

3. Once fennel and onions become translucent, add in thyme and squeeze in the juice from one fresh lime. Stir and pour in 1 cup of low-sodium vegetable broth.

4. While ingredients are cooking, brew 2 cups of unsweetened green tea. (You can just fill a mug with boiling water and a green tea bag, allow the tea to steep for a 2-3 minutes, add to the pan and repeat.

5. Reduce heat to low and, using an immersion (hand) blender, blend ingredients together. If you don’t have an immersion blender you can transfer the mixture to a regular blender to blend then pour back into your large pot in stages. Add in your dash of salt and pepper to your blended soup.

6. Finally, pour into bowls and garnish with fresh fennel greens and the pan-seared tomato. Serve hot.

Time Saver Tip: Fresh, Fridge, Freeze. Fill your bowl (and others to be served) with hot soup to enjoy fresh. Immediately place a couple of extra servings in a microwave-safe container and put away in the fridge. The remaining soup can go in a freezer/microwave-safe container and stashed in the freezer for a later meal. Be sure to label and date!

Fit French Onion Soup June 18, 2011

Healthy French Onion Soup

Not-Quite-Classic French Onion Soup

This post has moved to my new website: purefitlosophy.com

Lemongrass Chicken Soup April 19, 2011

Lemongrass Chicken Soup

Soup of the Week: Lemongrass Chicken Soup

Inspired by an outstandingly delicious soup that I had one time at The Elephant Walk in Porter Square, I decided to try making my own lemongrass chicken soup. The verdict: Tasty but not yet perfected. I think throwing in some sauteed scallions next time and maybe doubling the amount of coconut milk would amp up the flavor.

Ingredients

1/2 cup grated lemongrass (frozen)
1 can light (reduced fat) coconut milk
Home-made chicken broth
Freshly cooked chicken
Grated fresh ginger
1 bunch chopped green onions (added at the end)
1-2 cloves chopped garlic
1  bunch Thai basil
1 bunch cilantro
Lemon zest from one lemon
Lemon juice from whole lemon
Juice from 2 limes
1  and 1/2 cup chopped oyster mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped parsley

Methods

To make the chicken stock I started with a whole fresh chicken, cut it into smaller portions, and boiled it in water with a pinch of salt and some fresh rosemary for over an hour. I then used the boiled chicken (which was then fully cooked) as meat for the soup. I transferred the broth to a large pot and added in all of the ingredients listed above and allowed the mix to simmer for about 45 minutes, chopping and stirring in the fresh veggies as I went along.

Tastes of Spring Break: Split Pea Soup March 31, 2011

Home-Made Split Pea Soup

Ever since attending the TCS Soup Throwdown earlier this month, I have learned to love making soup. For this soup, I kept the ingredients pretty basic (and threw in a few things I had in the kitchen just to see what would happen).

Soothing Split Pea Soup

Ingredients

• About 1 cup dried split peas (rinsed and soaked for a few hours)
• 2 cups water
• 1 large chopped yellow onion
• 4-5 cloves fresh garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil (to saute garlic and onion)
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• 1 russet potato, cut into small (bite-sized) pieces

Optional extras

• Fresh mint leaves
• Fresh parsley
• Dash of turmeric
• A few chopped carrots (add to water while boiling)
• Blue corn chips (shown as topping)
• Goat cheese (shown as topping)
• Green onion (shown as topping)
• Dash of ground black pepper

Methods

Bring rinsed split peas in water to a boil. These will cook for about 45 minutes. Meanwhile rinse and scrub on russet potato, make several punctures with a fork, and stick it in the microwave for 8 minutes on high. Begin chopping garlic and onions to saute with olive oil in stir-fry pan.

Lightly sear the chopped onion and garlic until the onion is slightly brown. Add contents of stir-fry pan (including the oil) into the large soup pan after the split peas have cooked for about 30 minutes. Cut the cooked potato into bite-sized pieces but leave out of soup pan until after the soup is blended. Add desired spices and herbs to soup (see ingredient suggestions above). Using an immersion blender, blend ingredients until smooth and add water as needed to achieve desired thickness. Add in bite sized potato pieces and stir.

Serve hot. Store leftovers in fridge or freezer.

Satisfying Soup December 28, 2010

Satisfying Soup: Hot vegetable soup with multigrain tortilla chips topped with low-fat cheddar

Featured: Health Valley Organic No Salt Added Vegetable Soup topped with multigrain tortilla chips and low-fat cheddar blend. Canned soup can be good to keep on hand for when you don’t have much time to go grocery shopping but many soups try to compensate for the lack-luster canned taste with enormous amounts of sodium. Look for low-sodium or no salt added versions and add your own toppings to amp up the flavor. I found this combo to be particularly delicious as a mid-afternoon snack and helped me stay on track with my goal to eat more vegetables. One cup of soup plus toppings delivered 70% of the DV for vitamin A, 20% of the DV for vitamin C, and lots of satisfying flavor for only 175 calories. I saved the rest of the soup for later (the can comes with two cups) but loved it so much that I couldn’t wait until the next day and ate the rest that evening.

Behind the Scenes of Tufts Dining: Chicken & Black Bean Soup October 19, 2010

 

This delicious, spicy, southwestern-style chicken and black bean soup is made fresh behind the scenes of Tufts Dining. I was impressed with all of the tasty vegetables and savory spices and will be sure not to miss this soup when it’s featured in the dining halls!

Last week, I got to watch as Tufts Dining Chef Paul made a tasty batch of Mexican Chicken and Black Bean Soup from scratch. It was great to see some behind-the-scenes action of how the food we eat in Carmichael and Dewick-Macphie. I was extremely impressed and extremely hungry by the end of my lesson. Watch Paul here.