Simple soups make a tasty, warm dinner
The last spell of rain and a new cookbook prompted me to try a
bunch of soup recipes for the week. I often buy the Food Network
Magazine when I see it at the check-out at the grocery store. The
cover recipe always looks tasty and I enjoy looking through the
tips on cooking as well as kitchen utensils. Well, just recently,
Food Network released a book that includes 250 of the recipes from
the magazine.
Simple soups make a tasty, warm dinner
The last spell of rain and a new cookbook prompted me to try a bunch of soup recipes for the week. I often buy the Food Network Magazine when I see it at the check-out at the grocery store. The cover recipe always looks tasty and I enjoy looking through the tips on cooking as well as kitchen utensils. Well, just recently, Food Network released a book that includes 250 of the recipes from the magazine.
The best thing about the book is that each recipe has a picture included with it. It brings to book form one of my favorite things about watching cooking shows – seeing what a dish looks like when it is complete. The book is divided into sections around main ingredients or the type of meal – soup, salad, appetizer. It was easy to pick out a few recipes to try, with the pictures as a guide. I picked out recipes that all had different flavor profiles and they turned out well. The pistou soup was especially tasty, with fresh vegetables and a light tomato broth. We were concerned that it wouldn’t have much flavor since the broth is mostly made with water – but the tomato paste that is added in gave it a lot of taste. Using store-bought pesto made the soup a quick one to make.
The other recipes were also simple to make and tasted great, even the day after as leftovers.
Pistou soup
Recipe courtesy of Foodnetwork.com
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 carrots, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 to 3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbsp. tomato paste
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 lb. green or yellow wax beans
1 small zucchini or yellow summer squash
1 15-oz. can white beans or chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 c. broken spaghetti or other small pasta
3/4 c. store-bought pesto
Grated parmesan cheese and crusty bread, for serving (optional)
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and onion and cook, stirring constantly, until the onion is lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, tomato paste and 1 tablespoon salt and cook 1 more minute. Add 7 cups water, cover and bring to a boil. Uncover, reduce the heat and simmer 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, trim the green beans and zucchini and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Stir into the prepared broth along with the beans and spaghetti. Simmer until the pasta is al dente, about 10 minutes.
When ready to serve, whisk 1/3 cup pesto into the soup. Ladle into bowls and top with the remaining pesto. Sprinkle with parmesan and serve with bread, if desired.
Per serving: Calories 479; Fat 30 g (Saturated 7 g); Cholesterol 15 mg; Sodium 1,922 mg; Carbohydrate 39 g; Fiber 9 g; Protein 17 g
Chile-chicken posole
Recipe courtesy of foodnetwork.com
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts, diced
1 tsp. dried thyme
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 large white onion, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (remove seeds for less heat)
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 6-oz. cans whole green chiles, drained
1 c. fresh cilantro
4 c. low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth
2 15-oz. cans hominy, drained
Sliced avocado and radishes and/or baked corn chips, for garnish (optional)
Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon thyme, and salt and pepper to taste; set aside.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, jalapeno and garlic and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a blender, then add the chiles, cilantro and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon thyme and puree until smooth. Return to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the sauce thickens and turns deep green, about 5 minutes.
Add the broth, hominy and chicken to the saucepan. Cover and simmer until the chicken is tender, about 10 minutes. Garnish with avocado, radishes and/or corn chips, if desired.
Per serving: Calories 385; Fat 10 g (Saturated 2 g); Cholesterol 91 mg; Sodium 1,591 mg; Carbohydrate 43 g; Fiber 8 g; Protein 36 g
Slow-cooker pork stew
Recipe courtesy of Foodnetwork.com
1 lb. fingerling potatoes
3 carrots, cut into 2-inch chunks
2 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch chunks
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and grated
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
3 bay leaves
1 bone-in pork shoulder or pork sirloin roast (2 to 2 1/2 lb.)
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1 14-oz. can diced tomatoes
Combine the potatoes, carrots, celery, garlic and ginger in a slow cooker. Toss in half of the flour and season with salt and pepper. Scatter the bay leaves over the vegetables.
Season the pork generously with salt and pepper, sprinkle with the thyme and allspice and toss with the remaining flour to coat. Place the pork over the vegetables in the slow cooker. Add 2 cups water and the tomatoes, cover and cook on low 8 hours.
Discard the bay leaves. Remove the pork roast and slice or pull the meat off the bone into large pieces. Serve in bowls with the vegetables and broth.
Per serving: Calories 634; Fat 29 g (Saturated 10 g); Cholesterol 210 mg; Sodium 601 mg; Carbohydrate 30 g; Fiber 5 g; Protein 61 g
Melissa Flores can be reached at [email protected]. She writes a blog at http://melissa-movielines.blogspot.com where she writes about her experimentations with new food ingredients, movies, TV and more.
