TexMex Style Soup

Hi Everyone! So as many of you probably know, I LOVE Southern California (specifically San Diego). I dream of living there and enjoying the wonderful weather and food someday! I also LOVE soup; is that weird? Its mid-Summer here in NJ and the weather isn't too bad- about 85 degrees and clear today. Typically we get dreadfully hot and humid weather that is not appropriate for soup. I am a year-round soup eater and today I was reminiscing about SoCal and decided to make a spicy little soup.

Ingredients
1 head of cauliflower, cut up in large chunks
3.5 cups low sodium broth (i used vegetable)
1 medium onion
2/3 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1/2 cup low fat shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese
2 cloves fresh garlic
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
2 tsp dried oregano
2 large bay leaves
Sriracha-optional
Avocado- optional
Salsa- optional
Olive oil

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) Place cauliflower on an non-greased baking sheet with a silpat. Back for 30 minutes.
3) While cauliflower bakes, slice onion into and caramelized with a 1-2 tsp olive oil. The edges should become slightly browned.
4) Once cauliflower and onions are done, add to a pot with low sodium broth. Allow to simmer for about 10 minutes on medium/low.
5) To blend the vegetables you can either use an immersion blender (which I don't have) or pour the soup into a blender and blend until smooth. Return to pot and turn to medium heat.
6) Add black pepper, paprika, oregano, salt and bay leaves. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
7) Grate garlic cloves into soup and add Greek yogurt. Stir until smooth.
8) Add cheddar and mozzarella cheese and cook another 5-6 minutes until melted and mixed thoroughly.
9) Serve with optional toppings such as sliced avocado, sriracha for heat or your favorite salsa ( I use Trader Joe's Corn & Black Bean Salsa). Enjoy!

1 Pan Vegetable Stew

Hi Everyone!
I just began the final leg of my nutrition internships yesterday! I am still going to try to post as much as a I can but make sure you keep an eye on my Facebook and Twitter accounts for  items as I make them. This stew was inspired by my friend Marielle. We share a lot of similar food interests; she is a more strict vegetarian than I am and has made her own version of this twice recently. She always sends me pictures and I decided that I was going to tackle it today! In total, this really only took about 30 minutes from start to finish. I happened to have all of these items on hand but this would make for a beautiful post-farmer's market meal! Not pictured, I enjoyed this with a nice triangle of ciabatta! Mmmm!

Ingredients
1 can crushed tomatoes (28oz)
1 can chick peas, drained (15oz)
4 stems kale, chopped & including stems
3 large portobello mushroon caps
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
~ 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
4-5 stems scallions, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lemon
salt & pepper to taste

1) On medium heat add olive oil, onion and garlic. Allow to brown slightly.
2) Add kale and tomatoes. Cook about 5 minutes until becomes wilted.
3) Add chick peas, mushrooms, scallions and garlic. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Sauce will reduce slightly.
4) Zest the 1/2 lemon and squeeze juice into mixture. Add parsley.
5) Cook on medium low for 4-5 minutes more.
6) Rest for 2-3 minutes.
Enjoy!

It is really the easiest meal to make! The most time is spent chopping everything up!

Options:
1) If you are not a vegetarian simple add meat. Chicken or ground turkey would be fabulous.
2) If you don't have parsley, basil would be a great substitute. I would imagine dried herbs would also work well but not provide the fresh flavor.
3) If you don't have scallions they can be omitted entirely. They are a member of the onion family and mine were going to go bad if I didn't use them.

Veggie & Bean Soup

Veggie & Bean Soup!

Hey Everyone! I hope you are all doing well and being safe after the Hurricane Sandy craziness we have all experienced over the last 48 hours! As most of you probably know by now, cooking relaxes me, so I decided to make a hearty soup to ease the nerves from the recent events. I was also away for 3 days before the hurricane so when I returned home, I had some veggies that needed to be cooked or they'd go bad. I also had a slight case of cabin fever where I was eating pretty much everything in sight! :) Most of it was pretty healthy but this soup will fix me up! I loved using the Spaghetti Squash as noodles in this dish! Delicious and low in carbs!

Ingredients:
32oz low-sodium vegetable broth
2.5 cups chopped kale
2 cups fresh baby spinach
1 box frozen lima beans (10oz)
4 carrots
1 spaghetti squash
1 can kidney beans, rinsed
1 medium onion
olive oil
3 cloves garlic
3 bay leaves
Italian Seasoning
Black pepper

1) Preheat oven to 425F. Slice spaghetti squash in 2 and place face-down on a roasting sheet. Place in oven for 30 minutes.
2) In a large pot, pour in 4Tbsp olive oil and heat on medium high.
3) Chop onion and add to pot.
4) Mince garlic and add to pot.
5) Allow onion and garlic to sweat (about 4-5 minutes). Stirring every minute or so.
6) Add vegetable stock, bouillon and 2 cups of warm water. Allow to boil.
7) Slice carrots.
8) When liquid is boiling, add kale, carrots, spinach, frozen lima beans, rinsed kidney beans, 1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning and 3 bay leaves.
9) Cook soup on high for 15 minutes, then turn down to medium-low.
10) When spaghetti squash is finished roasting, remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before handling.
11) Using a fork or pasta spoon (or my pastasaurus :), scrape inside of spaghetti squash. The insides will pull like spaghetti noodles. Add the noodles from 1 half of a squash to the soup.
12) Allow to cook for 10 more minutes on medium-low.

When "noodles" are al dente, turn off heat and enjoy!!!

Rawr!!!!!
My Pastasaurus! My brother's lovely girlfriend, Allie gave it to me for Christmas last year!!! Love it! 

Tips:
a) Remove the seeds from the squash before roasting, makes for easier removal of "noodles".
b) You can make this simple soup with anything you have around your kitchen. Feel free to add potatoes, celery or broccoli.
c) If you are not a "salty" person, you can also sub the stock for low-sodium stock or remove the bouillon cube.
d) If you want a Pastasaurus, here is the Amazon link.

Chili: Part 2!

Out of chaos comes clarity! My life has been crazy, crazy, crazy lately! I was inspired to revamp my chili recipe after meeting with a nutrition client last night. It is a combination of my own recipe and some inspiration from a fabulous site called: cookingcomically.com. The writer of that blog is a creative and hilarious cook and his recipes kill! Enjoy!!!!!!

Ingredients:

3 T olive oil
1 package soy crumbles
1 cup water
1 chopped green pepper
½ chopped red pepper
½ chopped yellow pepper
½ white onion chopped
½ red onion chopped
6 stalks celery, chopped
2 cups pasta sauce
1 can no added salt kidney beans, drained
1 can butter beans, drained
1 T red crushed red pepper flakes
1 T onion powder
1 T garlic powder
1 T paprika
1 T cumin
1 T sugar
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp black pepper

Directions:

Get up close and personal with your food!

In a large pot, add 3 T olive oil at medium heat.
Add both varieties of chopped onion and allow to simmer until edges start to become somewhat golden.
Add soy crumbles and water to pot. Stir so crumbles break apart.
The contents of your pot will begin to sizzle. Add water, celery & chopped peppers. Cook for about 5 minutes or until vegetables are soft.
Drain and add kidney & butter beans to chili mixture. Stir well.
Add 2 cups of pasta sauce to mixture. Stir well.
In a sealable container such as a zip baggie or plastic container, mix all dry seasonings together in this container. Seal and shake it up!
Add seasoning to the chili mixture and stir well.
Reduce heat and stir occasionally. Cook for about 30-45 minutes.
Serve hot & enjoy!

Tips/Tricks:
1)The sauce used in the images above is homemade. If you do not have access/time to homemade sauce, try to find one that contains little sugar and preservatives. The less junk in your chili, the better!

2) If you are NOT vegetarian and would like to add ground meat to this recipe, I would suggest first cooking the meat and draining it before adding to mixture. My recommendations would be ground turkey/ chicken.

3) I love to enjoy my chili with a corn muffin. Until I perfect a recipe, I swear by Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix. It take 15 minutes to prepare and it really delicious! No high fructose corn syrup, too!

4)  Try topping this fabu dessert with fat free cheese, sour cream or enjoy with whole grain crackers.

5) Chili is wonderful to freeze! Make this whole recipe and freeze for a great go-to lunch or dinner!

Three Bean Chili with Low-fat mozzarella

Three bean chili w/ low-fat mozz

Here is the recipe: 1 can crushed tomato
1 can whole peeled tomato
1 can kidney beans (No added salt,in water)
1 can chick peas (No added salt, in water)
1 can cannellini beans (No added salt, in water)
1 tbsp red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
5 stalks celery
2 carrots
1/2 onion
2 sprigs of basil
1/2 green pepper
1 tbsp black pepper
salt to taste

Pour oil into a large pot and add garlic cloves. 
Allow oil to simmer and add the whole can of crushed tomato.
Using a knife, roughly chop the whole tomatoes into the pot. 
Gently rinse both cans with a small amount of water and add to pot. 
Drain all 3 cans of beans and add to the pot. 
In a food processor grind up the celery, carrot and onion. Add. 
Tear basil off of the stems and add. 
Add remaining seasonings and stir. 
Reduce heat to low and sit for 1.5 to 2 hours. 
Add low-fat mozzarella cheese to top or serve with a freshly baked corn muffin! 

** Using cans packed in water with no salt greatly reduces sodium intake of a normal chili. If you prefer to use dried beans: soak beans overnight in bowl. Be sure the beans are covered by an additional 1/2 amount of water to absorb. Cook the beans in the tomato mixture. 

** This dish is super flavorful and does not need a lot of salt, so taste it first and then add salt sparingly.


Sorry about the weird font/highlight color. I copied my recipe from my Facebook page!  Enjoy!

Spicy Pumpkin Soup

My pumpkin obsession continues! I have been wanting to dive into my pumpkin baking but always end up with excess pure pumpkin. I found a great recipe from Lisa Lillien's first recipe book, Hungry Girl- Recipes and Survival Strategies for Guilt Free Eating in the Real World (Amazon.com Link!). The book is really good and offers recipe ideas that are practical and often include kitchen staples! Love it!

So I modified the recipe a little bit because I did not have some of the ingredients but it turned out to be a hearty but not heavy soup that will be delightful tomorrow during our rainy day.

Ingredients
-16 oz. pure pumpkin
-16 oz. low-sodium vegetable broth (or chicken broth if you like)
-15 oz. black beans drained and rinsed (1 average size can)
-1 cup sweet corn (I used canned but use a fresh ear if you have it!)
-1/2 tsp cumin
-2 cloves of garlic minced
-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
-1/4 cup prepared salsa (any spice level you prefer)
-8 oz water
-1 tsp olive oil
-Optional- dollop of fat-free sour cream or plain fat free Greek yogurt

Pour oil into a medium saucepan. Add garlic and allow to simmer.

Add chicken broth, water, cumin and red pepper. Bring to a simmer.

Mix pumpkin until smooth (will look watery). Add in corn, beans and salsa.

Stir and simmer for 15 minutes.

Serve with/without sour cream and enjoy!!