Cream of Broccoli Soup (Sparkpeople Recipe)

I served this soup in whole wheat bread bowls. (Heidi's bread recipe makes fantastic bread bowls.)

Makes 4-1 cup servings

2 tsp unsalted butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 large head of broccoli, florets separated from the stalks (about 4 cups)
1 large or 2 small russet potatoes, peeled and diced (1 cup)

2 cups homemade, low-sodium, or no-salt-added chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup fat-free evaporated milk
½ tsp white pepper
¼ cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1.Place a large saucepan over moderate heat. Add butter and cook until melted. Add the onions, reduce heat to low, and cook until onions are tender, about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Add the broccoli, potato, and stock; stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 20 minutes.

3. Uncover the soup and remove from heat. Puree with an immersion blender, or carefully transfer the soup to a blender or food processor to puree, then return the soup to the saucepan.

4. Stir in the evaporated milk, season with pepper, and add 2 tablespoons of the cheese to the soup. Simmer for 1 minute. Serve hot, garnished with the remaining cheese.

Per Serving: 178.1 calories, 4.6 g total fat, 13.9 mg cholesterol, 156.3 mg sodium, 23.5 g total carbs, 4.6 g dietary fiber, 10.2 g protein

Galvin, Meg (2011-10-04). The Sparkpeople Cookbook: Love Your Food, Lose the Weight (p. 159). Hay House. Kindle Edition.

Potato and Broccoli Soup

If you're like me, you hate to waste all those broccoli stems, which makes up most of your bunch of broccoli. This recipe makes use of them, as well as the florets.

2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 3/4 pounds broccoli, thick stems peeled and diced (about 2 cups), tops cut into small florets (about 1 quart)
1 1/2 pounds boiling potatoes (about 5), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
3 cups water
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
DIRECTIONS
In a large pot, melt the butter over moderately low heat. Add the onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic, broccoli stems, potatoes, broth, water, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are almost tender, about 10 minutes.
In a food processor or blender, pulse the soup to a coarse puree. Return the soup to the pot and bring to a simmer. Add the broccoli florets and simmer until they are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir 1/4 cup of the grated Parmesan into the soup, and serve the soup topped with the remaining cheese.
VARIATION:
 If you'd prefer a completely smooth soup, add the broccoli florets to the pot after the potatoes have cooked for five minutes, and continue simmering until all of the vegetables are tender, about five minutes more. Puree the soup until smooth. Serves 6.

Cover-and-forget-it beef and veggie stew

Cover-and-forget-it beef and vegetable stew

2 lbs. boneless beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 large baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
6 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
2 parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 med. onion, chopped
2 c. tomato sauce
1 c. water
1 tsp. sugar
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 tbsp. quick cooking tapioca

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Coat a heavy 3-quart casserole dish with oil.   Put meat in casserole and top with the potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and onion.
In a small bowl, mix together the tomato sauce, water, sugar, salt, pepper and tapioca and pour over the meat and vegetables.
Cut a piece of parchment paper large enough to overhang the top of the casserole by 2 inches all around.  Press the paper onto the top of the beef and vegetable mixture and tuck it down around the sides of the contents.  cover the whole thing, using the cover of the casserole dish or aluminum foil.
Bake for 2 1/2 to 3 hours at 325 degrees or 4 to 5 hours at 300 degrees.

Meatball Minestrone

I got this one from FamilyFun. It was really easy, and really good. I recommend using frozen meatballs. Also, I didn't have any orzo pasta on hand, so I just broke up spaghetti noodles instead. :)

Serves 6

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 carrots, thinly sliced
4 cups chicken broth
14-1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes in their juice
15-1/2-ounce can beans, rinsed and drained
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 cup orzo pasta
2 cups meatballs
Grated Parmesan


In a large pot, warm the olive oil over medium-high heat, then sauté the onion and garlic until softened, about 2 minutes.

Add the carrots, chicken broth, diced tomatoes in their juice, beans, Italian seasoning, and pasta. Bring the soup to a boil.

Reduce the heat and add the meatballs. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until the meatballs are heated through and the pasta is tender. Serve topped with grated Parmesan.

Nutritional Information
Per serving (1-1/3 cups): Calories 405 ● Total Fat 14 g (22% DV) ● Saturated Fat 5 g (24% DV) ● Cholesterol 95 mg (32% DV) ● Sodium 1489 mg (62% DV) ● Total Carbohydrate 42 g (14% DV) ● Fiber 6 g (24% DV) ● Sugars 6 g ● Protein 28 g (55% DV) ● Vitamin A (74% DV) ● Vitamin C (20% DV) ● Iron (20% DV)

Cream of "Chicken" Soup

I've discovered making bean flour in my wheat grinder, and I tried this recipe. It takes 1-2 min. boiling time. You can also use it to thicken soups instead of using flour. No soaking overnight and cooking for an hour or more.

1 c. bean flour (white beans are mildest in flavor)
4 c. water or milk
1 T chicken bouillon
dash pepper
1/4 c. dried onion (I used fresh)

Mix dry ingredients. Stir 1/2 c. of liquid into dry mixture until mixed. Add remaining liquid. Heat in medium-sized pan, stirring as it heats (med. heat). As it reaches boiling point, it will thicken. Boil about 1 minute. If too thick, add more liquid.

Yummy vegetable soup

This recipe is both healthy and yummy. I love the tomato-basil base.

Garden Vegetable Soup (Weight Watchers recipe)
(Serves 4)

1 cup sliced carrot
1/2 cup diced onion
2 cloves garlic (minced or pureed)
3 cups broth (beef, chicken, or vegetable)
1 1/2 cup diced green cabbage
1/2 cup green beans
1 cup broccoli
1/2 cup (4 oz) tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup diced zucchini

In a large saucepan, sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, saute carrots, onion and garlic over low heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add broth, cabbage, beans, broccoli, tomato paste, basil, oregano, and salt. Bring to a boil.

Lower heat and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes or until beans are tender. Stir in zucchini and heat 3 to 4 minutes. Serve hot.

Curry Pumpkin Soup

I went on the hunt the other day for a low fat pumpkin soup and found this one. It turned out soooooooooooo good. Mike loved it too. We actually fought over the one remaining leftover serving of it tonight. (We ended up sharing. haha.) It goes perfectly with garlic bread. YUM!!

1Tbsp Olive Oil
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of Garlic
1 T curry powder
1 tsp cumin
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
1 12oz can evaporated fat free milk
salt and black pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large sauce pan over med. heat. Add garlic and onion and cook until softened. Stir in curry powder and cumin and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken broth and pumpkin. Reduce heat to low and let simmer 20 minutes. Add evap. milk and let cook for 2 minutes.

Split Pea with Barley Soup

This soup has been one of our family's favorites for a long time. It fills you up without using too many of your calories for the day. It makes a lot, so you people with smaller families should half the recipe, and you'll still probably have leftovers for lunch the next day... or two. I usually make half-whole-wheat breadsticks and cut up some fruit to go with it.

8 cups water
1 pkg (16 oz) dry green split peas, rinsed
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup uncooked barley (find this either where the oatmeal is or with the flour and other grains)
4 chicken bouillon cubes or 4 tsp chicken bouillon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups cubed cooked ham (I use John Morrell 12 oz diced ham--it's usually in the meat department)

In a large pot, combine all ingredients except ham. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until soup reaches desired thickness. Add ham and cook until thoroughly heated. Remove bay leaf and serve.

Makes 10 cups.

Nutrition Info:
Serving size - 1 cup
Calories - 228
Total fat - 1.6 g
Saturated fat - .3 g
Trans fat - 0 g
Cholesterol - 12 mg
Sodium - 673 mg
Carbohydrate - 38.4 g
Dietary fiber - 13.4 g
Sugars - 5.6 g
Protein - 16.8
Vitamin A - 1%
Vitamin C - 4%
Calcium - 4%
Iron - 14%

Basil Tomato Soup

Now that it's getting so cold, soup's good to warm you up. I have about 10 recipes for tomato soup, but I'm usually in too big a hurry to do anything exotic. Here's a quick and easy one for winter that we really like.

1 quart bottled tomatoes (In season, I use fresh tomatoes.)
6 basil leaves
1 c. half and half*
salt & pepper to taste

I use my handy stick blender to blend the tomatoes in the pan along with the basil leaves. Or use regular blender. Heat through, add cream... (It curdles, but I again blend it till it's smooth.) *I often substitute 1/2 c sour cream or 1/2 c. heavy cream for the half and half, depending on what I have on hand. We like to eat it with grilled cheese sandwiches.

Crock Pot Potato Chowder

I'm not a big soup person, but I really liked this soup from "Real Mom Kitchen". It was really yummy. I think the cream cheese is what made it so good to me. I am a big fan of cream cheese.

Crock Pot Potato Chowder

8 cups diced potatoes
1/3 cup onion, chopped
3 knorr boullion cubes (these are two teaspoons in size, so I used 6 teaspoons of my boullion powder)
6 cups water
1 10 3/4 ounce condensed cream of chicken soup
1 8 ounce package cream cheese
1/2 lb. of bacon, cooked and crumbled
Dried parsley or sliced green onions for garnish-optional

Combine potatoes, onion, water, boullion, and chicken soup in the crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until potatoes are tender. Add cream cheese to crock pot and blend. Top with bacon and parsley or onions before serving.

Crockpot Taco Soup

32 oz can of tomato juice
1 can kidney beans - undrained
1 can pinto beans - undrained
1 can corn - undrained
1 lb cooked hamburger
1 can rotelle tomatoes
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 pkg ranch dressing mix
1/3 cup brown sugar

Mix all ingredients in the crockpot and simmer at least 5 hours. Serve with sour cream, grated cheese, and taco chips.

(This recipe was also in the Winder 4th Ward Cookbook, donated by Chris Zito.)

Homemade Noodles

4 eggs, beaten
2 t salt
1/2 c milk
4 c flour

Combine egg, salt and milk; add enough flour to make a stiff dough. Roll out dough very thin on floured surface. Let stand 20 minutes. Use pizza cutter to cut dough in to noodles. Drop into boiling water. Cook until tender.

Confetti Chili

Danette's recipe...very good!

1/2 lb hamburger
1 c onion
1 c chopped red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves minced
3 t chili powder
1 t cumin (optional)
1/2 t salt
1/2 t dried oregano leaves
1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can black beans (or dark bean)
1 19 oz can cannelloni beans (or light bean)
1 c frozen corn

Brown hamburger, onions, bell pepper, and garlic. Drain. Stir in all ingredients, except the corn. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Add corn. Cover and simmer 8 more minutes.

Clam Chowder

3 cans (6 1/2 oz) minced clams
2 c onion, chopped fine
2 c celery, finely diced
4 c potatoes, diced
3/4 c butter
3/4 c flour
1 qt half -n- half cream (I usually use whole milk)
1 1/2 t salt
dash of pepper
1/2 t sugar

Drain juice from clams and pour it over the vegetables in medium sauce pan. Add enough water to barely cover vegetables. Simmer, covered, over medium heat until the potatoes are tender. In the meantime, melt butter, add flour and blend. Cook a minute or two. Add cream and cook, stirring constantly until smooth and thick. Add undrained vegetables and clams. Heat through. Season with salt, pepper and sugar to taste.

Cheesy Potato Soup

This is a recipe I got from Danette...one of my favorite soups.

4 c potatoes
1 c celery
1 c carrots
1/2 c onions
3 c water
2 t salt

Boil veggies in water (with the salt) about 10 minutes.

1/2 c butter or margarine
1/2 c flour
1 qt milk
1 lb grated cheese (about 2 cups)
1 c chopped ham

In 2 quart sauce pan, melt butter on medium heat. Remove from heat and add flour and salt. Put back on heat and stir until smooth. Add milk. Bring to a boil. Boil for one minute. Add to undrained vegetables. Fold in cheese and ham. Stir until melted.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

This is the original recipe. I usually substitute chicken broth for half the milk, and skip the cream. I think the broth adds better flavor.

3 1/2 cups broccoli
1 cup butter
1 cup flour
6 2/3 cups of milk
3/4 cup cream
salt
pepper
grated cheese

Steam broccoli. Set aside. Melt butter. Whisk in flour until smooth. Whisk in milk/cream or broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Stir often, covering in between. When soup is thickened add broccoli. I like to puree mine, but is good with bigger pieces of broccoli as well. Serve with grated cheese.

Favorite Soups

Potato Chowder (or maybe it's considered corn chowder. Who knows.)

2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
2 cups milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 (15 ounce) cans whole kernel corn, drained
2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS
Place potatoes, carrots, celery, onion and salt in a large pot with water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine butter, milk and flour in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir constantly until smooth and thick.
Pour milk mixture into cooked vegetables. Stir in corn and cheese until cheese is melted. Serve.

tortilla soup with chicken and lime
This makes a big pot of soup.

12 cups water
6-8 chicken bouillon cubes
1 can (14.5oz) mexican style stewed tomatoes with juices (or whatever kind of stewed or diced tomatoes you have on hand.)
1 med. onion, thinly sliced
1 med. green pepper, thinly sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 med. carrot, sliced
1 clove of garlic
2 bay leaf leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper (optional)
12 ounces shredded cooked chicken
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (or abt. 1 1/2 T dried)
1/4 cup lime juice
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream (I use the light or low fat kind)
tortilla chips

Directions:
Combine water and bouillon in a large sauce pan and bring to a boil. Add sliced veggies, bay leaf, garlic, cumin and red pepper return to a boil. Reduce heat simmer 15 minutes or until carrots are done.

Add tomatoes, shredded chicken, cilantro and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle soup into bowls and top with sour cream, cheese, and tortilla chips.

Really your supposed to fry tortilla strips in olive oil, but I am too lazy to do that much work. :)

Pasta Fagioli Soup

Mom, Dad, Kacey, Justin and Bradon came over for family night dinner. We tried this soup and it was yummy! Not one of my kids said, "Ewww, I hate this!" or,"I think I'll just wait til breakfast." Maybe they were just being polite in front of our company, who knows. Anyway, we had it with our favorite bread sticks. The recipe comes from the cookbook Girlfriends on the Go, which is a fabulous freezer recipe cookbook.

1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup grated carrots (I buy the shredded ones)
1 cup diced celery
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 (15oz) cans beef broth
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp fresh parsley, chopped (I used dried parsley)
1/2 tsp hot sauce (Tabasco)
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 small bag shell pasta
Cook noodles according to package directions (I slightly undercook mine). Place all ingredients in a large pot. Mix together. If freezing, place in freezer bag. To prepare: thaw and let simmer until vegetables are tender (30-45 min).