Between the finches visiting our bird feeders and the trees starting to blossom, spring is certainly in the air here in northeastern Georgia. We’ve even managed to eat a couple of dinners outside on the deck, though we had to wear light jackets and sweaters. Even though it’s warming up, there’s never a bad time for a hot bowl of chili, especially on Meatless Mondays when you can substitute healthy tofu and beans for ground turkey or beef.

This vegan chili recipe from the folks at House Foods is high in protein and low in fat. With the extra vitamin C from the chili pods and the capsaicin revving up your metabolism, House Foods’ Tofu Chili is packed with both flavor and health benefits. House Foods Premium Tofu is non-GMO verified, made from certified organic soybeans grown in the US, kosher-verified and gluten free.

While great on its own, try serving the tofu chili on brown rice or quinoa.

Tofu Chili

Recipe by House Foods

Ingredients:

• 1 package House Foods Tofu Extra Firm, drained and cubed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3/4 cup onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (1 large clove)
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1  16-ounce can kidney beans
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1 can low sodium tomato sauce
• dash paprika

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot.  Add onion and garlic and sauté until tender. 
2. Add vegetable broth, bell pepper, jalapeno, chili powder, cumin, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce and kidney beans, stirring to combine.
3. Add tomato sauce and simmer for about 30 minutes or until kidney beans and peppers are cooked through.
4. Add cubed tofu and cook additional minute or two.  Serve and enjoy!

Recipe and photo provided by House Foods and used with permission.

Meatless Monday: Tofu Chili #vegan #glutenfree is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

There’s nothing better than homemade vegetable soup on a cold winter’s night. Or when you just got your braces tightened, like my son Nathan, and want something easy to eat. Luckily, this Hunt’s Signature Recipe is as easy to make as it is to eat. All you need to do is cut up a large zucchini, carrots, and an onion, add some spices and Hunt’s Tomatoes, a little water, and some frozen corn and you’re ready to go. With all these heart healthy vegetables, this is a terrific recipe to celebrate American Heart Month, too!

But before I share the recipe with you, could you take a minute to fill out a quick survey about tomatoes? Thanks!

Yes, you can make soup from scratch on a weeknight!

We’re all busy, busy, busy especially on weeknights when everyone’s coming home starving from work or after school activities. To cut the prep time in half, use frozen precut zucchini, onions, and carrots. Just adjust the timing to completely cook through the vegetables.

If you have a little extra time, make a double batch and freeze half. That way, you have a batch ready to go on those nights when you’re too busy to cook. Just defrost and heat up the soup in the microwave or on the stove top.

Finally, a few pointers. First, adding freshly grated Parmesan cheese to your individual soup bowl is so worth the calories. Yum! It’s easy to grate a bit over your soup bowl. However, you can save time by buying a container of grated, fresh Parmesan at the grocery store. (Please don’t use that weird powdered “Parmesan” that comes in cans in the spaghetti sauce section. The fresh stuff is so much tastier.)

Second, if you think the vegetable soup may be too spicy for you or your family, cut back on the ground red pepper. Instead, have a bottle of hot sauce on the table for those who like their food spicy and hot!

Third, smoked paprika is different from regular paprika. Its smokiness adds a lot to this soup recipe, so it’s worth buying if smoked paprika is not already in your spice cabinet.

Hunt's® Fire-Roasted Tomato Vegetable Soup

Hands On: 35 | Total: 45 | Makes: 6 servings (1-1/2 cups each)

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons Pure Wesson® Canola Oil
• 2 cups chopped zucchini
• 1 1/2 cups chopped carrots
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
• 1 can (14.5 ounces each) Hunt's® Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes, undrained
• 2 cups Hunt's® Tomato Sauce
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add zucchini, carrots and onion; cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.
2. Add paprika and red pepper; cook 1 minute more or until fragrant, stirring constantly. Add corn, undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce and water; bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 10 minutes for flavors to blend.
4. Ladle soup into bowls; sprinkle with cheese.

Nutritional information

Per serving:

• Calories 159
• Total Fat 7 g
• Saturated Fat 2 g
• Cholesterol 5 mg
• Sodium 837 mg
• Carbohydrate 20 g
• Dietary Fiber 5 g
• Sugars 8 g
• Protein 5 g

Percent Daily Values*: Vitamin A 116%; Vitamin C 25%; Calcium 12%; Iron 7% (Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.)

Remember, Hunt's diced, whole, stewed, and crushed tomatoes are naturally peeled with steam – FlashSteamed  – not with chemicals like some other brands use. Plus, they add no artificial preservatives in the process. So you can feel good about using 100% natural Hunt's tomatoes in your recipes.

_________________________________

Disclosure: I’ve been compensated by Hunt’s for my time and efforts on their behalf. All opinions and experiences are my own.

Hunt’s® Fire-Roasted Tomato Vegetable Soup #HuntsRecipes is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Do you have leftover cans of pumpkin from Thanksgiving? Use up a few in this gluten free soup recipe created by Jennifer Cafferty for San-J. For Meatless Monday, pair the soup with a salad and some nice bread.

Also, if you or a family member has a food sensitivity to peanut butter, try sunflower butter instead and omit the peanuts from the optional garnish.

Creamy Peanut and Pumpkin Soup

Recipe by Jennifer Cafferty of GFreelife.com

Serves 6 – 8

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon smoky paprika
• 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, divided
• 1 12-ounce can pumpkin
• 1 14.5-ounce can low-sodium, gluten free chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons San-J Thai Peanut Sauce
• 2 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• Chopped chives and peanuts, for garnish (optional)

Preparation:

1. Heat a 4 quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the oil and onion and stir occasionally while sautéing for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds, making sure not to burn the garlic. Stir in the paprika.
2. Add half of the can of tomatoes with the juice (save the other half for the end of the recipe), pumpkin, broth, San-J Thai Peanut Sauce, peanut butter and brown sugar. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.
3. Using a hand-immersion blender, blend the soup until creamy. Add the remaining tomatoes and stir. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Ladle into bowls.
5. If desired, sprinkle with chopped chives and peanuts as a garnish.

Recipe and photo used with permission. © 2012 San-J International. All rights reserved.

Creamy Peanut and Pumpkin Soup #meatlessmonday #glutenfree is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

I loved okra even before we moved to the south. So when I saw a recipe for Okra Soup on Close to Home, my assigned Secret Recipe Club blog, I knew this would be a perfect fall time soup.  I’ve taken Maria’s version that is based on this recipe at Saveur.com and made some changes like using pancetta instead of bacon and fresh thyme from the garden instead of dried.

To save time, I used fire roasted diced tomatoes instead of whole, peeled tomatoes so I wouldn’t have to crush them by hand. I also used pre-diced pancetta (mostly because it was on sale, but bacon would be OK, too). However, the real time saving trick was to use frozen, diced okra. Since fresh okra costs twice as much as frozen, it’s also a way to cut costs. Finally, you don’t want to boil the okra into a mush. I like the okra to be cooked through, but still have a crunch to it.

I made a double batch so we’d have lots left over for lunches. (You can freeze half, too.) I’ve been heating a batch up in the microwave each morning for my son, Nathan to take to school. He says it’s the best soup I’ve ever made.

Okra Soup

Based on a recipe from Saveur.com via Maria at Close to Home

Double batch – serves 12-16

• 4 tablespoons canola oil
• 6 ounces pancetta, chopped into small pieces
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, finely chopped
• 12  cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 ribs celery, finely chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 pounds frozen, sliced okra
• 12 cups chicken stock
• 4 – 14.5 ounce cans fire roasted, diced tomatoes

Directions:

1. In a large soup pot, heat oil and bacon over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, until fat renders, about 5 minutes.
2. Add thyme, garlic, onion, celery, and bay leaf, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in tomato paste. Cook, stirring, until caramelized, about 2 minutes.
4. Add okra, chicken stock, and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, until okra is slightly tender but not mushy, about 20-30 minutes.

More from the Secret Recipe Club!

Want to join the Secret Recipe Club? You can sign up here.

Healthy fall dinners: Okra Soup #secretrecipeclub is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Did you have a chance to vote for my Wholly Guacamole Gazpacho recipe yet? You can VOTE here or below once per day until September 6, 2012.

I really enjoyed cooking with Wholly Guacamole as it’s a quality product made the way I would make guacamole from home with natural, fresh ingredients and no preservatives or additives. I love the convenience of using them, too. Did you know that Wholly Guacamole products can be stored unopened for up to three months in the freezer? So there’s no excuse to not having some on hand for after school snack or a quick and easy party appetizer.

Speaking of quick and easy, my Wholly Guacamole Gazpacho is just that. Check it out and VOTE!

Wholly Guacamole Gazpacho

There’s nothing more refreshing – and healthy – than gazpacho soup. This gazpacho recipe goes “South of the Border” with the addition of Wholly Guacamole dip.

Makes 5 one cup servings

Directions:

1. Place tomato, cucumber, cilantro and vegetable broth into a blender or food processor. Blend into smooth.
2. Pour pureed vegetables into a large bowl. Add WHOLLY GUACAMOLE dip, lime juice, salt and ground cumin to bowl and stir until all ingredients are combined. Chill until serving time.
3. Pour Wholly Guacamole Gazpacho into bowls and garnish with a sprig or two of cilantro. Serve and enjoy!

Wholly Guacamole: it’s a whole lot more than dip. Vote for my Wholly Guacamole Recipe below and I could win one of three fantastic prizes! Click here for more fun and easy Wholly Guacamole recipes!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Wholly Guacamole. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Wholly Guacamole Contest Rules.

Do I #rocktheguac or what? Vote for me in Wholly Guacamole’s Rock the Guac recipe contest is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

There’s nothing more refreshing – and healthy – than gazpacho soup. This gazpacho recipe goes “South of the Border” with the addition of Wholly Guacamole dip.

Wholly Guacamole Gazpacho

Makes 5 one cup servings

Wholly Guacamole: it’s a whole lot more than dip. Vote for my Wholly Guacamole Recipe below and I could win one of three fantastic prizes! Click here for more fun and easy Wholly Guacamole recipes!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Wholly Guacamole. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Wholly Guacamole Contest Rules.

Wholly Guacamole Gazpacho #RocktheGuac is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Last week Paul and I celebrated our 18th anniversary at Hugh Acheson’s 5&10 restaurant here in Athens, Georgia. It was a delightful meal of local and seasonal foods including an heirloom tomato gazpacho with avocado and chili that was out of this world. One sip and I thought to myself that I really MUST make gazpacho this summer. Not only is gazpacho’s delicious, refreshing and easy to make, but it’s a great way to sneak some vegetables into your family’s diet.

One recipe I’m considering making is Nathan Lyon’s Spicy Watermelon Gazpacho. Nathan is a classically trained chef known for simple, innovative cuisine featuring fresh, seasonal, local ingredients, which this recipe highlights. He’s also the host of Good Food America on Veria Living TV and author of Great Food Starts Fresh. Good Food America premieres on Veria Living July 7 at 9 PM. You can see a sneak peek here.

Spicy Watermelon Gazpacho

Recipe courtesy of Nathan Lyon

Yield: 2 to 3 servings

• 2 cups chopped watermelon, seeds removed, rind discarded
• 3 small cucumbers (Persian or Japanese) peeled, seeded, chopped roughly (1½ cups)
• 1 small yellow or red bell pepper, seeded and chopped roughly(1 cup)
• 1 medium tomato, seeded and quartered
• ½ small jalapeno, seeded, deveined, and chopped roughly (1 tablespoon, or more to taste)
• 15 medium-sized fresh mint leaves, chopped roughly
• ¼ cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro, plus whole leaves for garnish
• ½ small red onion, peeled and chopped roughly (⅓ cup)
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• 1½ tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (juice of half a lemon)
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1½ teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
• ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

Directions:

1. Add all the above ingredients to a blender or food processor. Work in two batches if necessary.
2. Beginning with the slowest speed, blend or pulse until the desired consistency is achieved. Blending for approximately 30 seconds should be fine. However, if you enjoy your gazpacho with more texture, b blend less.
3. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper and refrigerate until chilled. Serve topped with a cilantro leaf.

Picture courtesy of Nathan Lyon and used with permission.

Healthy soups: Spicy Watermelon Gazpacho is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Seafood gumbo is yummy, but not so good for you even though it’s filled with healthy ingredients like crab, shrimp and vegetables. However, it’s the flour-based roux, dark chicken meat, sausage and rice that add on the fat and calories. In this week’s episode of Recipe Rehab, Chef Aida goes head to head with Chef Jet to slash over 1,000 calories from the Edward’s family seafood gumbo. Who do you think should win?

I liked that Chef Aida used okra and kept the Andouille sausage in the gumbo. I thought that Chef Jet’s minimal use of brown rice was smart. I also liked that he used catfish instead of crab since it’s more affordable.

Original Seafood  Gumbo recipe

• Used 12 chicken thighs AND 12 chicken drumsticks (all fatty dark meat with skin)
• Used 2 pounds smoked pork sausage
• Used 2 pounds crab
• Used 3 pounds shrimp
• Used ¾ cup bacon fat
• Used 1 cup white flour
• Used beef bouillon cubes (super high in sodium)

Chef Jet’s recipe

• Eliminated the chicken
• Replaced pork sausage with turkey sausage and cut down to 9 ounces
• Replaced crab with 1 pound catfish fillets
• Cut back to 1 1/2 pounds shrimp
• Used 1 tablespoon each oil and butter and eliminated bacon fat
• Reduced flour to 1/4 cup
• Replaced bouillon cubes with low sodium chicken broth
• Added tomatoes

Chef Aida’s recipe

• Eliminated the chicken
• Reduced amount of pork sausage to 12 ounces
• Reduced amount of crab to 1 pound
• Cut back to 1 pound shrimp
• Used 2 tablespoons oil and eliminated bacon fat
• Replaced white flour with whole wheat and reduced amount to 1/2 cup
• Replaced bouillon cubes with low sodium chicken broth
• Added tomatoes and okra

Healthy Southern Seafood Gumbo from Everyday Health’s Recipe Rehab is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

For people living with lactose intolerance, Mexican food can be a problem because of the sour cream and cheese used. Luckily, Redwood Hill Farm and Green Valley Organics products like lactose-free sour creams, kefirs and yogurt that can be used in many Mexican dishes like Chilled Avocado Soup with Roasted Corn and Pico de Gallo Garnish (featured below), Chicken Tinga Tacos with Avocado Chile Crema and Chipotle Lime Slaw, and Individual Tres Leches Cakes - three terrific recipes for Cinco de Mayo.

Their Green Valley Organics real dairy products are lactose and gluten free. Their Redwood Hill Farm line of yogurt and kefir is made from Grade A goat milk, which is easier to digest for many people who are lactose sensitive since goat milk contains 25% less lactose than cow’s milk.

I love the ideas of cold soups in hot weather, don’t you? This lactose and gluten free recipe features the nutritional goodness of both avocado and pico de gallo. To save time, buy premade pico de gallo at the store.

If you’re lactose intolerant, have you tried Green Valley Organics or Redwood Hill farm products yet?

Chilled Avocado Soup with Roasted Corn and Pico de Gallo Garnish

Recipe and picture courtesy of Redwood Hill Farm

Print
Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 ears of corn, roasted on a grill and removed from cob OR
• 1 cup corn, fresh or frozen and thawed
• 1 large tomato, halved with seeds removed
• 1 small white onion, finely chopped (divided)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 4 teaspoons seeded and chopped jalapeno pepper (to taste, divided)
• 3 limes, juiced (divided)
• 3 ripe avocadoes, pitted and peeled
• 2/3 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup Redwood Hill Farms Plain Kefir
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup warm water or gluten-free chicken broth
• Salt to taste

Directions

1. To roast the corn on the stovetop, heat oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add fresh or frozen and thawed corn kernels and cook 5 to 7 minutes, until the corn is golden and toasted. Set aside.
2. To make the pico de gallo, chop tomato in to very small pieces and mix with onion (put 1 tablespoon onion aside for soup), cilantro and 2 teaspoons jalapeno pepper (to taste). Stir in lime juice from 2 limes and roasted corn, Add salt to taste and set aside.
3. To make the soup, place avocados, peas, kefir, cilantro, 1 tablespoon onion, 2 teaspoons jalapeno (to taste) and juice from 1 lime in a blender. Puree until smooth. Add warm water or chicken broth to thin out the soup. Add salt to taste.
4. Divide soup between four or six bowls and top with roasted corn and pico de gallo garnish. Serve with your favorite hot sauce.

Nutrition Grade N/A from CalorieCount

Weight Watchers POINTS = 6

Servings: Serves 4 to 6

• Calories: 285
• Calories from Fat: 162
• Total Fat: 18g
• Saturated fat: 2g
• Unsaturated fat: 16g
• Sodium: 134mg
• Total Carbohydrates: 23g
• Sugar: 11g
• Fiber: 12g
• Protein: 8g
• Cholesterol: 1mg

Healthy Cinco de Mayo: Chilled Avocado Soup #lactosefree #glutenfree is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Now that my kids are older, they love making ramen noodles on their own - even for breakfast! I just wish someone would develop gluten free ramen noodles, so I could enjoy them, too!

What’s your favorite way to enjoy ramen?

Who doesn’t love ramen? is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!