Mixed Veggie Tomato Soup

I created this recipe because on now onto my second week of Weight Watchers.  I think it's really great because keeping track of my points is forcing me to track my veggie intake, and think of ways to incorporate as many as I can throughout the day.  Mainly because almost all veggies are 0 points and they help curb cravings.  For example, I carry around a bag of cut veggies with me daily, that way when I am hungry or feel like munching I go for the bag of veggies instead of going into the nearest Duane Reade and  buying candy.  That's what I used to do, no more of that!  So anyway, I wanted to create a soup using as many vegetables as possible and have it be really filling.  I think I accomplished what I wanted, here's the recipe for it.  Each serving is a cereal bowl filled with the soup, there's no measurement here, sorry!  P.S. this recipe makes about 10 humongous cereal bowl servings, each filled with lots of veggies! That's a points plus value of 4 for you Weight Watchers people! Feel free to add more veggies if you like! Enjoy!

Side angle view, see all the veggies, beans, and parmesan?? YUMMY!

Mixed Veggie Tomato Soup
(makes 10 humongous servings)
1 spanish onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 bunch Kale, leaves removed and chopped
1 head cauliflower, chopped small
1 large zucchini, chopped small (or 2 small)
1 bag shredded cabbage or 1 head chopped
1 can (2 cups) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 can (2 cups) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 large (12oz) can diced tomatoes
4 tablespoons tomato paste w/100% tomatoes
3 chicken bouillon cubes
6 cups water

In a large soup pot saute the chopped onion in the olive oil for about 7 minutes then sprinkle with the 2 teaspoons salt.  Now add all the chopped veggies, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, bouillon cubes, and water.  Cover and let soup come to a boil, for about 30 minutes. Make sure the to let lid sit a bit off the pot for venting.  Add chickpeas and beans and let simmer on medium-low heat for another 15 minutes.  Enjoy!  Sprinkle 3 teaspoons of grated parmesan cheese, if you like for an added points plus value of 1!

Turkey Chili

Last night I made turkey chili for dinner, and then I had it today for lunch too, click here for photo.  It was the perfect night to have a warm and hearty bowl of chili.  And my goodness, I did enjoy!! I followed this recipe from Epicurious but added ground turkey and some extra spice using a jalapeno pepper! and more cayenne pepper as well.  If you don't prefer your chili to be spicy or if you are a vegetarian simply follow the recipe on Epicurious.  Enjoy!

Turkey Chili

(Makes 4 main-course servings)

1 pound ground turkey, cooked, in 2 tablespoons olive oil and put aside

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onions 
1 2/3 cups coarsely chopped red bell peppers (about 2 medium)

1-2 jalapeno peppers, chopped6 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon kosher salt2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 15- to 16-ounce cans black beans, drained, 1/2 cup liquid reserved
1 16-ounce can tomato sauce

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions, peppers, and garlic; sauté until onions soften, about 10 minutes. Mix in chili powder, oregano, cumin, and cayenne; stir 2 minutes. Mix in beans, 1/2 cup reserved bean liquid, cooked ground turkey, and tomato sauce. Bring chili to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until flavors blend and chili thickens, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. 

Ladle chili into bowls. If desired, add chopped cilantro, sour cream, grated cheese, and/or green onions to your bowl!

Carrot Ginger Soup

I love soups during these cold Winter days.  I've made Butternut Squash soup, Potato Leek Soup, Poblano Potato Soup, and French Onion Soup.  Now I'll share with you the recipe for a Carrot Ginger Soup.

Carrot Ginger Soup

(makes 10 cups)

2 medium onions, chopped

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 2-inch knobs of ginger, peeled and grated 

2 lbs baby carrots

2 tablespoons chicken consomme + 6 cups water OR 6 cups chicken/vegetable stock + 2 kosher teaspoons salt

pepper, to taste

Saute onions in olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat until translucent, about 10 minutes.  Add freshly grated ginger to the pot and stir.  Add baby carrots and cover with your preferred liquid and seasonings (either water+consomme or stock+salt).  Cover and let boil for 1 hour, or until the carrots are fork tender.  If you want to make the cooking time less, slice the carrots.  

Use an immersion blender, food processor, or blender to puree soup into a velvety delicious soup full of flavor!  

There's only one knob of ginger here because at first I was only using one, but after I tasted the soup during cooking, i decided it needed more ginger so I added another!  Feel free to add as much as you can handle!

Before being blended  

Silky smooth Carrot Ginger Soup!  Delish!

Poblano Potato Soup

First off I want to wish everyone a healthy and happy new year!!  I am very excited to begin my journey through 2011!  Over the holidays I was away in Aruba relaxing and spending time with my family!  It was a great trip and very needed.  I came back refreshed and ready to get back to blogging.  So here I am...

While I was away I ate at this steakhouse called L.G. Smith's.  On the menu they have this wonderful poblano soup.  I ordered it for an appetizer and when it arrived I was surprised by how good and tasty it was!  I knew it would be very easy to re-create back at home. So for dinner on this snowy cold evening I decided to give it a whirl! I actually did give a whirl, in my new Vitamix blender.  If you are a fan of the Feed Your Sister page on Facebook you'd know that I purchased a Vitamix blender and am falling in love with it!  I've made ice cream, soup, and amazingly smooth smoothies.

Anyway here is a recipe I created for Poblano Potato Soup.  It's creamy without the creaminess.  It's extremely tasty without too much spice.  And it's not what you think a pepper soup would be at all!  So be brave and give it a try, even if you don't love peppers.

Poblano Potato Soup
(makes 4 cups)


2 medium onions, chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 poblano peppers, seeded and roughly chopped (leave some seeds in for extra spice)
2 yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 cups water + 1 tablespoon chicken consomme (OR replace with 3 cups vegetable/chicken stock + 1 teaspoon kosher salt)
Pepper to taste


Place chopped onions and olive oil in a pot and saute until onions are soft, about 10 minutes.  Add poblano peppers, potatoes, water or stock, and chicken consomme.  Let soup come to a boil and then reduce heat to medium and let simmer for about 30-40 minutes.  The potatoes should be fork tender and peppers should be soft.  Place contents of soup in two batches into a blender and puree until smooth.   You can also use an immersion blender to blend the soup.

NOTE: If using a Vitamix blender, pour everything into the 64 ounce container and blend on variable 1 and increase to 10, blend until smooth.

Isn't this the most gorgeous color green??

French Onion Soup

I recently purchased a bunch of these porcelain soup bowls at Sur La Table.  I was thinking I'd try to make French Onion Soup in them with the broiled cheese and all!  I've never made onion soup before so I went to one of my favorite sites, TasteSpotting, and searched through a whole lot of onion soup recipes.  Some called for beef stock others used veal stock.  Some used white wine and some used brandy, cognac, or sherry.  I really just kind of made up my own recipe. So here it is!!

French Onion Soup
(serves 4)


3 large white onions, chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 bay leaves
10 sprigs of fresh thyme, tied together using one of the sprigs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup dry sherry
3/4 cup dry white wine
4 1/2 cups water or stock of your choice. (If using water you will need to add 3 tablespoons Osem Chicken Consomme or 3 bouillon cubes)
To top the soup: (optional)
French baguette, sliced on the bias
1 1/2 cups shredded Gruyere cheese

Place first 6 ingredients together in a large soup pot.  Turn heat to medium-high and saute onions for about an hour, mixing every now and then.  The onions will turn a dark golden brown color.

Add the sherry and white wine to the pot and de-glaze.  Use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pot. Let boil for about 15 minutes.

 Now add the water or stock, if using water add the chicken consomme now as well.  Using a pair of tongs take out the thyme sprigs and bay leaves.  Stir and let boil for another 30 minutes.

Place soup in containers until ready to serve.  You can freeze soup up to 6 months.  

When ready to serve, place warmed up soup into 4 oven-safe bowls.  Bake slices of baguette, sprinkled with some olive oil in the oven at 375 degrees until crisp and golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.  Place toasted bread on top of soup and sprinkle it with cheese. Broil soup in the oven until cheese is golden brown and melty, about 5 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

Mejadra (Lentils, Rice, and Onions)

This is a dish my mom makes for my family.  It's a Middle Eastern dish that contains rice, lentils, and onions.  In this recipe I deconstructed it to make it a little healthier and easy for the non-cook.  You can have the lentils and the onions alone or on top of rice, white or brown, or even quinoa!  I bet it even would be great over a salad too!  Here's a link to Wikipedia to read more about this dish and where it comes from etc.

Mejadra
(serves 2-3)


1/2 cup dry lentils (I used a variety of lentils)
1/2 of a large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups of cooked rice or quinoa (I used 1 Uncle Ben's Ready Brown Rice Pouch)

Boil the lentils in a pot for about 20 minutes until tender, drain and put aside. In another pot saute the chopped onions with the olive oil on low heat for about 15 minutes.  Keep an eye on the onions and mix them around every few minutes.  They should be a dark brown, see photo. Pour the cooked lentils into the pot of the sauteed onions and add the salt and pepper.  Add the cooked rice to the pot, stir, and serve!!  Enjoy!

Sauteed onions

Cooked lentils

Mix it together

And...It's as easy as that!!  All you need to do now is mix it with cooked rice and enjoy!

Butternut Squash Soup

This recipe is so simple, and only requires 3 ingredients!!  Do you believe it??  You should!!  I've made this soup for a long time now...I think it's my friend's favorite soup that I make.  You can bet that if they know I have just made a batch I can expect a few people to schlep all the way to the Upper East Side of NYC to have some.  It's really healthy and low in calories.  I figured out the calorie count per cup, and it came out to about 243 calories.  This recipe makes about 11 cups of soup.

Butternut Squash Soup
(makes about 11 cups)

1 large onion, chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 (20 oz.) packages of peeled and cut up butternut squash or 2-3 whole butternut squashes, cut into large chunks
4 tablespoons of Osem Chicken Consomme or 4 chicken flavored bouillon cubes
water (enough to cover the squash in the pot)

Saute the chopped onion and salt with the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat, about 10 minutes or until soft.  Add the two packages of butternut squash and then fill the pot with water until the squash is just covered.  Add the 4 tablespoons of chicken consomme and stir.  Let pot come to a boil and then simmer on medium heat for about 40 minutes.  When the squash becomes soft and mushy, turn the heat off and use an immersion hand blender to puree the soup in the pot.  Sprinkle with chopped chives, cilantro, or parsley (if you desire some greens) and serve. Enjoy!!

NOTE: If you want a thinner soup, add more water to the pot after it has been pureed. You might need to adjust the amount of salt to taste.  If you want a thicker soup, add another package of squash to the pot and let boil with the rest of it. Also you might need to adjust the salt.

I was able to fill all these containers and then still have a good portion for lunch tomorrow!