Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

December 3, 2009 at 10:18 am (Main Dish, Soup)

Source:  Whole Foods

Ingredients

1 (16oz) package dried green split peas, rinsed
2 cups, or 1 package smoked turkey sausage or turkey kielbasa, sliced
1 cup sliced baby carrots
1 cup chopped yellow onion
2 ribs chopped celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
6 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Add all ingredients except sausage to a slow cooker and stir.  Cover and cook on high 4-5 hours or on low 8-10 hours.  Brown the sausage, and before adding it to soup, puree the soup if desired.

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Butternut Squash Soup

September 26, 2009 at 3:55 pm (Main Dish, Side Dish, Soup)
Tags:

Source:  Cooking Light September 2009

Yield

4 servings (serving size: about 1 cup soup and 1 toast)

Ingredients

  • Soup:
  • 1  tablespoon  butter
  • 3 1/2  cups  cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
  • 3/4  cup  chopped carrot
  • 1/2  cup  chopped sweet onion
  • 2 1/2  cups  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
  • 1/4  cup  half-and-half
  • 1/8  teaspoon  salt
  • Toasts:
  • 4  (1-ounce) slices French bread
  • 3  ounces  thinly sliced Swiss cheese

Preparation

1. To prepare soup, melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add squash, carrot, and onion; sauté for 12 minutes. Add chicken broth, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in half-and-half and salt.

2. Preheat broiler.

3. Place squash mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape), and secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth.

4. To prepare toasts, arrange French bread on a baking sheet. Broil for 1 minute or until lightly toasted. Turn bread over, and top evenly with Swiss cheese. Broil for 1 minute or until bubbly. Serve toasts with soup.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 297
Fat: 10.7g (sat 6.7g,mono 2.3g,poly 0.4g)
Protein: 11.8g
Carbohydrate: 42.4g
Fiber: 4.9g
Cholesterol: 33mg
Iron: 2.3mg
Sodium: 645mg
Calcium: 315mg

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Peanut and Squash Soup

September 26, 2009 at 3:33 pm (Soup)
Tags: ,

Source:  Cooking Light December 2007

Yield

6 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2  teaspoons  peanut oil
  • 4  cups  (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash
  • 1  cup  chopped onion
  • 2  tablespoons  minced garlic (about 6 cloves)
  • 1/2  teaspoon  salt
  • 1/2  teaspoon  ground cumin
  • 1/4  teaspoon  ground coriander
  • 4  cups  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
  • 3/4  cup  reduced-fat creamy peanut butter
  • 2  tablespoons  tomato paste
  • 1/2  teaspoon  crushed red pepper
  • 1/4  cup  chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add squash and next 5 ingredients (through coriander); sauté 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Add broth, peanut butter, tomato paste, and pepper, stirring well to combine; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes or until the squash is tender. Sprinkle with cilantro.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 264 (38% from fat)
Fat: 11.2g (sat 2.4g,mono 5.2g,poly 3.4g)
Protein: 11.3g
Carbohydrate: 34.6g
Fiber: 6.4g
Cholesterol: 0.0mg
Iron: 2.3mg
Sodium: 621mg
Calcium: 111mg

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Quick Black Bean Soup

September 26, 2009 at 2:57 pm (Main Dish, Soup)
Tags:

Source:  Cooking Light December 2008

Yield

4 servings

Ingredients

  • 1/4  cup  chopped red onion
  • 1/4  cup  water
  • 1  teaspoon  ground cumin
  • 1/4  teaspoon  ground red pepper
  • 1  (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
  • 2  (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed, drained, and divided
  • 2  teaspoons  fresh lime juice
  • Cooking spray
  • 1/4  cup  (2 ounces) finely chopped reduced-fat ham (such as Hormel)

Preparation

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large saucepan. Add 1 1/2 cans beans; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Place bean mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Return soup to pan. Add remaining 1/2 can of beans to pan; cook 2 minutes. Stir in juice; set aside.

2. Heat a small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add ham to pan; cook 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Ladle 1 cup soup into each of 4 bowls; top each serving with 1 tablespoon ham.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 105 (8% from fat)
Fat: 0.9g (sat 0.3g,mono 0.4g,poly 0.1g)
Protein: 9g
Carbohydrate: 20.3g
Fiber: 7.1g
Cholesterol: 8mg
Iron: 2.4mg
Sodium: 713mg
Calcium: 56mg

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Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

September 26, 2009 at 2:51 pm (Main Dish, Soup)
Tags: , ,

Source: Cooking Light, December 2008

We started this soup by making stock on a Sunday, which made the house smell really good, then finished the soup on Monday.  It turned to be a rainy and cool day–a great soup night.  When we first put the orzo in, it didn’t seem like much so we added more–don’t do that–it’s plenty!  We ended up adding more liquid to make more soup, but the orzo really expands.

photo(21)

photo(22)

Yield

8 servings (serving size: about 1 3/4 cups soup)

Ingredients

  • 1  (4-pound) whole chicken
  • 2  carrots, peeled, cut in 1-inch pieces
  • 2  celery stalks, cut in 1-inch pieces
  • 1  medium onion, peeled and sliced
  • 6  garlic cloves, crushed
  • 4  sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 2  teaspoons  whole black peppercorns
  • 2  bay leaves
  • 6  cups  water
  • 1 1/3  cups  chopped carrot
  • 1 1/4  cups  chopped onion
  • 1  cup  chopped celery
  • 2  teaspoons  salt
  • 8  ounces  uncooked orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
  • 1/4  cup  chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 2 1/2  teaspoons  grated lemon rind
  • 1/4  cup  fresh lemon juice
  • Lemon wedges (optional)
  • Coarsely cracked black pepper (optional)

Preparation

1. Remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken. Place chicken in a large Dutch oven. Add 2 chopped carrots, 2 chopped celery stalks, and next 5 ingredients (through bay leaves) to pan. Add 6 cups water; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes.

2. Remove chicken from pan; place chicken in a bowl. Chill 15 minutes. Discard skin; remove chicken from bones, discarding bones. Chop chicken into bite-sized pieces; cover and chill. Strain broth mixture through a sieve into a large bowl; discard solids. Cool broth mixture to room temperature. Cover and chill 8 to 24 hours. Skim fat from surface; discard.

3. Add enough water to broth to equal 9 cups; place broth mixture in a large Dutch oven. Add 1 1/3 cups carrot, 1 1/4 cups onion, 1 cup celery, and salt to pan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add reserved chicken, and simmer 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Keep warm.

4. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Add pasta to pan with chicken and broth mixture; stir in parsley, rind, and juice. Garnish each serving with lemon wedges and cracked black pepper, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 235 (20% from fat)
Fat: 5.2g (sat 1.3g,mono 1.8g,poly 1.1g)
Protein: 21.3g
Carbohydrate: 24.6g
Fiber: 2.3g
Cholesterol: 53mg
Iron: 1.1mg
Sodium: 679mg
Calcium: 39mg

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Barley and Beef Soup

September 26, 2009 at 2:33 pm (Main Dish, Soup)
Tags: ,

Source:  Cooking Light March 2009

Yield

6 servings (serving size: 1 3/4 cups)

Ingredients

  • Cooking spray
  • 2  cups  chopped onion (about 1 large)
  • 1  pound  chuck steak, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 1/2  cups  chopped peeled carrot (about 4)
  • 1  cup  chopped celery (about 4 stalks)
  • 5  garlic cloves, minced
  • 1  cup  uncooked pearl barley
  • 5  cups  fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
  • 2  cups  water
  • 1/2  cup  no-salt-added tomato puree
  • 1/2  teaspoon  kosher salt
  • 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
  • 2  bay leaves

Preparation

1. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chopped onion and beef to pan; cook 10 minutes or until onion is tender and beef is browned, stirring occasionally. Add chopped carrot and chopped celery to pan; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in garlic; cook 30 seconds. Stir in barley and remaining ingredients, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 40 minutes or until the barley is done and vegetables are tender. Discard bay leaves.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 275
Fat: 5g (sat 1.6g,mono 2.3g,poly 0.5g)
Protein: 21.8g
Carbohydrate: 36g
Fiber: 8g
Cholesterol: 43mg
Iron: 3.1mg
Sodium: 649mg
Calcium: 57mg

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Black Bean Soup

September 22, 2009 at 1:35 pm (Soup)

Source:  Cooking Light, March 2009.
Yield: 6, 1 cup servings

This is the second time we’ve made this easy and delicious Black Bean soup, but I forgot to post the recipe last time.  Dried beans are one of the cheapest things you can buy, and I also like that this soup doesn’t have all that many ingredients like other black bean soups.  Those soup recipes are probably good, but our goal was to find something very easy that I could get started in the crock pot in the morning before I left for work.

While we planned to cook this to have for lunch several days this week, the timing of making soup in the crock pot all day yesterday was perfect–our evening plans were called off because of the rain, and it was a dreary and wet night–perfect for soup!  Luckily our house and neighborhood are weathering the flooding just fine, so we had a lazy soup night in our pajamas.  The soup is actually pretty thick, and was even thicker today for lunch, so I would probably suggest adding some extra water or broth to it when you reheat it–it will make it more soup like and stretch it further.  As it is, it’s more like really awesome black beans than soup, but that’s fine too.

photo photo(2)

Ingredients

  • 1  pound  dried black beans
  • 4  cups  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
  • 2  cups  chopped onion
  • 1  cup  water
  • 1  tablespoon  ground cumin
  • 3  bay leaves
  • 1  serrano chile, finely chopped (we substituted 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper instead)
  • 2  tablespoons  fresh lime juice
  • 1  teaspoon  kosher salt
  • 1/4  cup  chopped fresh cilantro
  • 3  tablespoons  reduced-fat sour cream
  • Cilantro sprigs (optional)

Instructions

1. Sort and wash beans; place in a large bowl. Cover with water to 2 inches above beans; cover and let stand 8 hours. Drain.

2. Combine beans, broth, and next 5 ingredients (through chile) in an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW 10 hours. Discard bay leaves. Stir in juice and salt. Ladle 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 6 bowls; sprinkle each with 2 teaspoons chopped cilantro. Top each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons sour cream. Garnish with cilantro sprigs, if desired.

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Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

February 17, 2009 at 11:26 am (Main Dish, Soup)
Tags: ,

So this is the part where I have to confess that I cooked something with Velveeta cheese last night. The recipe came out of Cooking Light, which is not a place you usually see Velveeta cheese.  I would probably use some other cheese (like Colby since it melts well) in the future.  Despite my desire to rise above processed foods, Velveeta cheese sure is  good.

I liked this soup a lot.  It wasn’t the best soup ever, but the best soup ever wouldn’t have skim milk in it for one thing. Robert and Julia ended up at our house about the same time this was done cooking, so they ate with us and we still have plenty of leftovers. It probably had a few too many onions floating around in it for Julia, but nobody complained and Rhiannon even had 2 bowls. 

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked wild rice
Cooking spray
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cuts fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups cubed baking potato
3 cups 2% reduced fat (we used skim and it fine)
1/3 cup all purpose flour
10 ounces light processed cheese (such as Velveeta light)
2 cups chopped roasted skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 2)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1.  Cook rice according to package directions, omitting any salt and fat.  Cook the chicken as well, unless you are using leftover roasted chicken.

2.  Heat a large dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Coat pan with cooking spray.  Add onion and garlic; saute 3 minutes. 

3.  Add broth and potato; bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until potato is tender.

4.  Combine milk and flour in a separate bowl, stirring well with a whisk.  Add the milk mixture to the potato mixture; cook 5 minutes or until potato is tender.

5.  Remove from heat, add cheese, stirring until cheese melts.

6.  Stir in rice, chicken, and pepper and serve. 

Yield

8 servings, 1 1/4 cups each

Source:  MyRecipes.com daily email, originally from Cooking Light, September 2004.

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