This Mama Cooks! On a Diet

Quaker Oats ABC Meatball Soup

Just a reminder that you have until midnight MT on October 30, 2008 to enter my Quaker Oatmeal Living Proof contest for one of two chances to win a one month supply of Quaker’s heart healthy breakfast products.

Quaker Oats has all kinds of yummy oatmeal recipes on their website. If you're looking for healthier ones, try searching under Heart Healthy, Lower Fat, Lower Sugar, or Low Sodium. Be forewarned that lower fat isn’t the same as low fat. Some of those yummy recipes are pretty high in calories, so check the nutritional information and plug the numbers into my online Weight Watchers POINTS calculator.

Here’s a healthy recipe perfect for fall. If you’re looking to lower the POINTS, omit the pasta and add more veggies. Just rename it Meatball and Veggie soup.

Get your greens in with green pea soup

Paul and I went out to Sugarbeet for a Friday night date. We sat outside and watched the trains go by. (Sugarbeet is in an industrial area of town.) I had oysters on the half shell, a scallop ceviche, a pea soup with dill, and a raspberry lemonade cocktail (lemon juice, raspberry liquor, and a raspberry vodka) Fabulous!

Here's a recipe from Epicurious and Bon Appetit that comes close to the soup I had. Each portion is 4 Weight Watchers POINTS and seems very easy to make.

Split pea and green pea soup with fresh dill
Bon Appétit, December 2006

Makes 4 to 6 first-course servings.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large leek (white and pale green parts only), chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup green split peas, rinsed
• 5 3/4 cups vegetable broth, divided
• 1 cup frozen petite green peas, thawed
• 5 tablespoons chopped fresh dill, divided

Directions:

1. Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add leek and bay leaf. Sauté until leek wilts, about 3 minutes.
2. Add split peas and stir to coat.
3. Add 5 1/4 cups broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low.
4. Cover and simmer until split peas are just tender, about 35 minutes.
5. Remove from heat. Transfer 1 cup soup solids, bay leaf, and remaining 1/2 cup broth to blender.
6. Add petite peas and 4 tablespoons dill. Puree until smooth.
7. Return puree to soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon dill.

Nutritional analysis per serving:

190 calories,
7.4 g fat
7.5 g dietary fiber
7.5 g protein

Weight Watchers POINTS per serving = 4

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The red soups of summer

Paul Simon may have sung, "Kodachrome, it gives us those nice bright colors.
Gives us the greens of summers. Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah!" But I think red is the color of summer, at least when it comes to these two low calorie, refreshing summer soups. Both are low in Weight Watchers POINTS, too!

Watermelon Soup with Floating Meringue
From Every Day with Rachael Ray (June-July 2008)
Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 14 cups seedless or seeded 1-inch watermelon chunks plus 4 cups small watermelon balls (from about 12 pounds watermelon)
• 1/4 cup sugar (use a no calorie substitute like Stevia)
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 8 meringue cookies (Try this recipe for 1 POINT Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies if you want to make your cookies from scratch.)

Directions:

1. Using a blender, working in batches, liquify the watermelon chunks with the sugar and lemon juice. Transfer the soup into a large bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
2. To serve, pour 1 cup watermelon soup into each of 8 small bowls, divide the watermelon balls among the servings and top each with a meringue cookie.

Weight Watchers POINTS = 3 (2 cups of soup and the cookie)

5 reasons why soup is healthy for dieters and everyone else

I'm having a get together next week and have decided to turn it into a "soup and salad" party. While doing my online research, I found out that soup is an excellent food for anyone trying to lose weight or eat more healthfully. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Eating soup helps cut your intake of food. By having a bowl of low-calorie soup prior to a meal, you can cut your total mealtime intake of amount of food and calories. According to Penn State researchers, diners consumed 20 percent fewer calories when they had both the soup and entree compared to when they did not have soup. The authors cautioned people to pick low-calorie, broth-based soups that are about 100 to 150 calories per serving.

2. Soup is convenient. Thank goodness for Amy's Soups. Not only are they organic, but many of them are low calorie, low fat, high fiber, vegetarian, and delicious! According to The Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 97% of people who ate soup as part of a low-calorie diet thought soup was a valuable part of their weight loss plan.

Whether you buy Campbell's, Amy's, Progresso, or a store brand, there are many terrific healthy choices for soup. Read the labels, pick the healthiest ones, and stock your pantry! Canned soup takes a few minutes to heat up. So if you always have it around, you won't be as tempted to cheat. Plus, it's easy to take to work, and you can often find healthy soup on the menu at most restaurants.

Butternut squash soup

Butternut squash, how I love thee! This recipe came from Chef Rossi at Bust magazine. I've made it twice and it's fantastic. And according to Weight Watchers, it only has 2 Points per cup.

Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:

• four onions - either white or yellow
• three med/large butternut squash
• seasonings: salt, pepper, cumin, corriander, curry, ginger, etc. to taste
• veggie or chicken broth - enough to cover

Directions:

1. Chop up onions and sautee in olive oil until soft over medium high heat. This recipe makes a lot of soup, so use a large stock pot.
2. Peel butternut squash (a carrot peeler works best).
3. Cut in half and remove seeds. Cut into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces
4. Add squash to onions.
5. Add seasonings to taste. I really liked using 1 teaspoon curry, 1 teaspoon corriander, 1 teaspoon cumin, and fresh ginger slices. (I removed the ginger slices before adding the broth.)
6. Sautee until soft over medium high heat. Putting the lid on the stock pot helps cook the squash more quickly. Be careful not to burn the veggies.
7. Once the squash is soft, pour in enough broth to cover. Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Heat up until boiling, and turn down the heat to simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.
9. Use an immersion hand blender to puree soup. Don't have one? Then transfer to a food processor or blender to puree.
10. Serve soup hot or cold.

Picture courtesy of University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. 

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Cholesterol Down with some four mushroom barley soup

Yes, I'm still on my soup kick. After coming down with what my doctor thought was whooping cough for a month, it was so comforting to have soup to eat. It helped my recovery and at one point I was making two or three batches at a time.

This recipe comes from Cholesterol Down: Ten Simple Steps to Lower Your Cholesterol in Four Weeks--Without Prescription Drugs by Janet Bond Brill, Ph.D., R.D., LDN. Since the recipes are all about using antioxidants and high-fiber whole grains to lower cholesterol many of her recipes could be used those eating to lose weight.

And you Weight Watchers folks? Only 3 points for 1½ cups - boy I love soup!

Four-Mushroom Barley Soup
Warm and comforting, this soup is just the thing for a cold winter’s day.
Yield: 10 servings

Ingredients:

• 9 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• ½ ounce dried porcini mushrooms
• ½ ounce dried shiitake mushrooms
• ¼ cup canola oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 medium shallots, finely chopped
• 8-ounce package baby bella or cremini mushrooms, stemmed, cleaned, and diced
• 12-ounce package white button mushrooms, stemmed, cleaned, and quartered
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped into small pieces
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup whole-grain barley
• 1 bay leaf
• ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
• Shredded soy or regular part-skim mozzarella cheese, optional

Directions:

1. Heat 1½ cups chicken broth. Add porcini and shiitake mushrooms to broth and soak, covered, until soft, about 30 minutes. Remove mushrooms from broth and chop into small pieces; set aside. Strain soaking liquid and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add onions and shallots and cook until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the baby bella and button mushrooms and salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms are tender, about 10 minutes.
4. Add carrots and garlic, stir, and cook an additional minute.
5. Add remaining chicken broth, porcini and shiitake soaking liquid, porcini and shiitake mushrooms, barley, bay leaf, and thyme. Bring to a boil, stir, and cover; reduce heat and simmer about 1 hour.
6. Remove and discard bay leaf before serving. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese before serving, if desired.

Nutritional information per serving (1⁄10 of recipe, 351 grams or approximately 1½ cups soup): Calories: 157, Fat: 6 g, Cholesterol: 0 mg, Sodium: 744 mg, Carbohydrate: 20 g, Dietary Fiber: 5 g, Sugars: 2 g, Protein: 7 g

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Sunset's Soup Social - herbed carrot soup

Vegetable soups are powerful food this time of year. Not only do they warm you up on cold winter days, but they provide nutritional wallop - a great defense against viruses. And if you do get a cold or flu? Soup will always make you feel better. Make a double batch and keep half in the freezer just in case you or someone in your family gets ill or feels a cold coming on. (It's a great way to get rid of those old carrots in the vegetable bin, too.)

And not to worry - it's only four Weight Watchers Point per cup.

Herbed Carrot Soup
Prep and Cook Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes.
Yield: Makes about 3 1/2 qts.

Rather than stirring the herbs into the soup, try setting out bowls of dill and tarragon--along with some crème fraîche or sour cream for dolloping--and let guests do the garnishing themselves.

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 3 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced into
• 1/4-in.-thick rounds
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/3 cup long-grain rice (any variety)
• 2 to 3 tsp. coarse kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup crème fraîche or sour cream
• 1 cup fresh dill, chopped
• 1 cup fresh tarragon, chopped

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a large pot (at least 5 qts.) over medium-high heat, then add onions. Cook until onions are translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic, carrots, bay leaf, rice, 2 tsp. salt, pepper, and chicken broth.
2. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil, then reduce to medium-high and cook, uncovered, until carrots are tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool 10 minutes.
3. Remove bay leaf and purée soup in batches in a blender. Return soup to pot and set over low heat. Add whipping cream and 2 cups water (if soup looks too thick, add a little more water) and cook until warmed through. Season to taste with additional salt. 4. Serve soup hot, with crème fraîche or sour cream, dill, and tarragon.

Nutritional information:
Per cup

CALORIES 184 (54% from fat); FAT 11g (sat 7g); PROTEIN 4.3g; CHOLESTEROL 29mg; SODIUM 821mg; FIBER 3.3g; CARBOHYDRATE 17g

Sunset, JANUARY 2007

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Sunset's Soup Social - Split pea, beef and barley soup

I was eating soup at a restaurant the other day and realized what I thought was rice was barley, which was much more healthier and higher in fiber. I should use it more often. This recipe from Sunset magazine's January 2007 article on Soup Socials is a good start. It combines a classic split pea soup with one for beef and barley soup.

Best of all, one cup is only three Weight Watchers Points - so low you could treat yourself to several bowls and a glass of wine for dinner.

Split Pea, Beef, and Barley Soup
Prep and Cook Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes
Yield: Makes about 8 qts.

Based on a recipe from Lainey Feingold, this soup combines the best qualities of two classic soups: the heartiness of split pea and the rich, nutty flavor of beef and barley.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 pounds beef chuck, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1 1/2-in. pieces
• 5 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 large onions, chopped
• 1 leek, finely chopped
• 2 parsnips, peeled and chopped
• 5 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 cups green split peas (one 16-oz. package)
• 3/4 cup dried baby lima beans
• 3/4 cup pearl barley
• 5 carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into 1-in. pieces

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a 9- to 10-qt. pot over medium-high heat. Season beef with 1 1/2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. pepper, then brown on all sides in two batches. Set aside.
2. Add onions, leek, parsnips, celery, and remaining 3 1/2 tsp. salt and 2 tsp. pepper. Cook, stirring often, until onions soften, about 5 minutes. Return beef to pot and add split peas, lima beans, and 4 qts. water. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
3. Add barley and simmer 45 minutes. Stir in carrots and cook 20 minutes more. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper.

Nutritional information:
Serving size: 1 cup

CALORIES 155 (19% from fat); FAT 3.3g (sat 0.9g); PROTEIN 11g; CHOLESTEROL 18mg; SODIUM 401mg; FIBER 3.8g; CARBOHYDRATE 21g

Sunset, JANUARY 2007

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Sunset's Soup Social - Chinese Hot-and-Sour Soup

The wonderful thing about soup is how good it makes you feel on winter days. It's a wonderful dish if you're sick or just tired and cold from shoveling the driveway. And it's terrific for entertaining, too.

In their January 2007 issue, Sunset magazine did a feature on the Soup Social. You can make the soups ahead of time and reheat the night of the party. Just serve soup buffet style straight from pots on the stove. Have bread baskets, salads and condiments on a counter or on the dining room table. How easy is that?

I love the recipe for hot and sour soup. It's only 6 Weight Watcher Points per cup. You could probably make that even less if you used low-fat chicken broth, used 2 eggs and 2 egg whites, and substituted chicken for pork loin.

Chinese Hot-and-Sour Soup
Prep and Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Yield: Makes about 4 1/2 qts.
Serving size: 1 cup

Notes: The heat from the black pepper in this soup intensifies as it sits. If you plan to make the soup ahead of time or want a milder flavor, use 2 tsp. during cooking; then taste the soup before serving and add more pepper if you like.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds pork top loin, cut crosswise into 1/8-in.-thick strips
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons grated peeled fresh ginger
• 3/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup peanut oil
• 1 can (8 oz.) sliced bamboo shoots, drained and rinsed
• 12 cups chicken broth
• 3/4 pound shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 12 ounces firm tofu, drained and cubed
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• About 1 tbsp. freshly ground black pepper (see Notes)
  Chopped fresh cilantro and sliced green onions (pale green and white parts)

Directions:

1. In a bowl, toss pork with 1/4 cup soy sauce and ginger. Marinate 20 minutes. In another bowl, stir together remaining 2 tbsp. soy sauce, rice vinegar, cornstarch, sugar, and salt; set aside.
2. Heat peanut oil in a large pot (at least 5 qts.) over medium-high heat, then add pork and marinade. Cook, stirring constantly, until pork loses its pink color, about 4 minutes. Stir in bamboo shoots and cook 1 minute.
3. Increase heat to high, add broth, and bring to a boil. Add mushrooms, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook about 20 minutes. Add tofu and simmer 5 minutes. Add soy-vinegar mixture and simmer 5 minutes more; the liquid will thicken.
4. In a small bowl, beat eggs with sesame oil. Slowly pour eggs into soup in a thin stream while stirring soup very slowly in one direction. Add pepper, stir briefly, then simmer 5 minutes. Serve with cilantro and green onions.

Nutrional Information:
Serving size: 1 cup

CALORIES 244 (66% from fat); FAT 18g (sat 5.7g); PROTEIN 15g; CHOLESTEROL 80mg; SODIUM 890mg; FIBER 0.7g; CARBOHYDRATE 18g

Sunset, JANUARY 2007

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Cooking Light's Chunky Red Dal Soup

Here's another inspired vegetarian soup from the January 2007 issue of Cooking Light magazine. Since the soup is very low in fat and high in fiber, it's only 4 Weight Watchers Points per serving! Try it with a whole wheat pita and a carton of plain yogurt.

I found red dal at a local Asian market in their extensive Indian food section. The lentils are more orange than red, and were very reasonably priced. I'll be using the leftover dried beans in other lentil recipes instead of or combined with the normal brown lentils from the market.

Chunky Red Dal Soup
From Cooking Light
Yield: 5 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

This savory, Moroccan-spiced soup gets a flavor kick from harissa, a hot condiment made by preserving chiles in salt. Look for it in Middle Eastern markets, or substitute any chile paste.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup dried red lentils, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon harissa
• Chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook 6 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in ginger, paprika, salt, cumin, and pepper; cook 1 minute. Add 3 cups water, lentils, chickpeas, and tomatoes; bring to a boil.
2. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes or until the lentils are tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in lemon juice and harissa. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro, if desired.

Nutritional Information:

CALORIES 224 (8% from fat); FAT 2g (sat 0.3g,mono 1.1g,poly 0.4g); PROTEIN 12.9g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 54mg; SODIUM 496mg; FIBER 5.8g; IRON 2.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 38.9g

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