With the cold evenings the last week, soups seemed to be in order. One of things I like about soup recipes is that I can often come up with a way to make them in the Crock Pot so that it requires just chopping up vegetables the night before and then throwing some ingredients in the slow cooker the next morning. It’s great to come home to a hot meal without a lot of effort.
The recipe I found for sweet potato and lentil soup is already adapted for the slow cooker, so it made it easy. When we made the recipe at my house on the weekend, we did alter it to leave out the butter and curry powder since we don’t really like the curry flavor. We also used chicken broth instead of water to give it a little more flavor since we skipped the curry powder. The soup is packed with vegetables, but what really made it work was the fresh squeezed lemon juice and cilantro that is served on top of the hot soup after it’s ladled into bowls.
Last weekend my mom cooked up a mushroom, beef and barley soup that is low on calories, but big on flavor. The recipe incorporates some of the same basic vegetables as the lentil soup, but has a lot of flavor from the mushrooms and sirloin.
I helped a friend make the lentil soup this weekend, cutting the recipe in half so that he wouldn’t have four servings of the same soup to eat in one week. Since it is hard to buy just the right amount of produce for a small meal, we also picked out a chicken-fried rice recipe that can be cooked later in the week that will use up the surplus carrots, celery and ginger. Recipes such as the fried rice are great to use up leftover vegetables since almost any produce will work in it.
Slow-Cooker sweet potato and lentil soup
Recipe courtesy of Food Network
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
3 medium carrots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 stalks celery, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 leeks, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (white and light green parts only)
3/4 c. dried yellow or red lentils
1 4-inch piece ginger, peeled and finely grated
1 tsp. curry powder
Kosher salt
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
Juice of 1/2 lemon, plus lemon wedges for serving (optional)
1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
Combine the sweet potato, carrots, celery, leeks, lentils, ginger, 3/4 teaspoon curry powder and 1 teaspoon salt in a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker. Add 6 cups water and stir, then cover and cook on low, undisturbed, 8 hours.
Stir the soup vigorously with a whisk to make a rough puree. Thin with hot water, if desired.
Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon curry powder and cook until the curry powder is slightly toasted, about 1 minute. Stir the curry mixture into the soup and add the lemon juice, cilantro, and salt to taste. Serve with lemon wedges.
Per serving: Calories 257; Fat 4 g (Saturated 2 g); Cholesterol 8 mg; Sodium 580 mg; Carbohydrate 45 g; Fiber 10 g; Protein 12 g
Chicken fried rice
1 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
2 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce, plus more to finish the dish
1 carrot, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
3 chicken tenders, diced
½ onion, chopped
½ tbsp. chopped fresh ginger
1 large red bell pepper, diced
3/4 c. fresh pea pods, halved
5 button mushrooms, cut into quarters
1 bunch of scallions, white and green parts sliced thinly
3 cups cooked brown rice
2 eggs
Cook rice according to package instructions or in a rice cooker.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in the diced chicken and cook until it starts to brown, about five minutes. Add in the onion, carrot, celery, bell pepper and peas. Cook until the onions turn translucent, about four minutes. Add in the mushrooms, scallions, ginger and 2 tbsp. soy sauce. Add in rice. Saute all together for about three minutes. Crack one egg into the pan and scrambled it. Add more soy sauce to taste.
Cook longer for more tender vegetables or less time if you prefer the vegetables crisper.
Mushroom, beef and barley soup
Recipe courtesy of Relish
½ lb. sirloin steak, cut into 1 ½-inch pieces
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 c. diced onion
1 c. diced carrots
1 12-ounce package mushrooms, coarsely chopped
½ c. uncooked barley (quick-cook barley or whole barley can be used)
1 10.5-ounce can fat-free, lower sodium beef broth
5 c. water
1 tsp. coarse salt
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 c. chopped Swiss chard (optional)
Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add beef and sauté until brown. Add onion and carrots; sauté about seven minutes. Add mushrooms; cook, about eight minutes.
Add barley, broth, water, salt and pepper; stir to combine. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 40 minutes or until barley is tender. Stir in Swiss chard, if using, and cook five minutes. Makes about six cups. Serves six.
Per serving: 296 calories, 12 g. fat, 31 mg. cholesterol, 21 g. protein, 28 g. carbs, 7 g. fiber, 933 mg. sodium.
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