I love the different taste and texture the cabbage adds to this recipe. This soup is one that we love have extra for lunches during the week. Easy too reheat and for hubby to take to work with him so I don’t have to worry about what they are cooking at the station. lol

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil
4 pounds beef top sirloin steak, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
4 cups onion, chopped
4 quarts hot water
4 cups carrots, chunked
4 cups potatoes, chunked
4 cups cabbage, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
8 tsp. low sodium beef bouillon
1 tsp. pepper
4 bay leaves
6 cups low sodium tomato juice

Directions:

1. Warm the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the beef cubes and onion to the melted butter and cook 6 minutes or until the beef is browned on all sides and the onion is beginning to get tender.

2. Pour the water into the soup pot. Add the carrots, potatoes, cabbage and green pepper. Stir in the bouillon and pepper. Place the bay leaves into the pot.

3. Turn up to high heat and bring the mixture to a rapid boil. Reduce to medium low, cover the pot and simmer the soup for 30 minutes.

4. Pour the tomato juice into the pot. Re-cover and continue to simmer another 30 minutes or until the beef and vegetables are as tender as you like. Discard the bay leaves before serving.

Nutritional Information: (Approximate Values per one cup of soup)

123 calories; 4 g fat; 2 g saturated fat; 34 mg cholesterol; 428 mg sodium; 10 g carbohydrates; 2 g fiber; 12 g protein

Our house goes through a good amount of chili. It’s so versatile and easy to freeze for later meals as well. Chili definitely doesn’t have to be full of fat. Use a lean ground turkey and no one will be the wiser with how much flavor you are adding.

Ingredients

1 lb lean ground turkey
1 small onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 cans S & W Sante Fe style chili beans
1 16oz can stewed tomatoes
1 small jalepeno, seeded and diced

1. In a large pot, start to brown the ground turkey on medium. While there is still a little pink left in the meat, add the onions and stir several times to onions do not stick to the bottom of the pan.

2. Once onions are starting to turn a little clear add the green peppers. Saute the green peppers for about 2 minutes.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir together. Let simmer for an hour or more, stirring occasionally.

We love to serve this with a dollop of fat-free sour cream and maybe a little low-fat cheddar cheese. Add a couple of tortilla chips for some fun crunch or serve with warm cornbread.

This recipe can also be made in the slow cooker. Many times I’ll to the first 2 steps and then add all the ingredients into the slow cooker pot and set it in the fridge. Then before we leave for skiing in the morning I’ll put the pot on low and it’s nice and hot when we get home. Easily double the recipe and freezer for later meals.

Healthy Fish Chowder

Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter
1 onion, finely chopped
3 potatoes, diced
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 cups water
2 cups skim milk
1 lb fish fillets (fresh or frozen) – bones and skin removed
1 cup corn kernels
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
Fresh parsley chopped (optional)

Method:
Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the carrot, potatoes and onion and cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Pour 2 cups of water into the saucepan and simmer covered for about 20 minutes or until the vegetables are almost done cooking.

Add the milk, corn and fish and stir. Simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes longer until the fish is cooked through and starts to flake. Season with salt and pepper and add parsley. Serve with nice crusty bread!

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 pounds fresh, ripe Italian tomatoes, chopped (about 6 cups)
• 8 sun-dried tomatoes, soaked
• 1 cup soy milk
• Salt and black and red pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons fresh, chopped parsley, basil, or dill

Preparation:

1. Sauté onions in olive oil until soft. Add fresh tomatoes and stir until the mixture boils.

2. Remove the dried tomatoes from water and coarsely chop. Add them and their soaking water to the pot and cook, stirring briskly to prevent sticking.

3. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.

4. Add soy milk and season to taste with salt and black and red pepper.

5. Ladel into bowls and serve with chopped herbs sprinkled on top.

Ingredients:

1 T butter or olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 cups chopped kale
1 small yam, diced
1 T paprika
1 T curry powder
1 bay leaf
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 15 oz cans great Northern beans, drained
2 T red wine vinegar

Heat oil or butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent.

Add kale and cook until wilted. Stir in yam and seasonings.

Pour in broth and bring to a boil. Turn heat down until soup is at a simmer and cook 30 minutes. Add beans to pot and cook another ten minutes. Add vinegar, sea salt and papper.

Serve.

Are you looking for healthy, whole foods recipes? Visit Carrie Lauth at www.NaturalMomsRecipes.com

Ingredients:

3 tart apples (such as Gala or Mcintosh), cored
2 large russet potatoes
2 T olive oil or butter
1 T curry powder
2 t onion powder

Cook potatoes in a 350 oven for 30 minutes. Add apples to oven and cook another 30 minutes or until all are very soft. Cool until you can handle them, then scoop out flesh from apples and potatoes into a bowl and mash.

Heat oil or butter in a saucepan and brown curry and onion powders for a few seconds until fragrant. Stir in apple potato mash and 4 cups water. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.

Cover and cook on low for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Excellent when served with a bit
of fresh cream as a garnish.

Are you looking for healthy, whole foods recipes? Visit Carrie Lauth at www.NaturalMomsRecipes.com

Spring Onion Miso Broth and Tofu

Note: You should be able to find most of these ingredients in a health food shop or specialty section in your supermarket.  You can substitute the bok choy with any Asian greens.  Dashi is available in powdered form in many health food stores or Asian stores.  If you don’t have Dashi you can use vegetable stock in its place.

Ingredients:

1 bunch of spring onions (scallions)
A large handful of chopped fresh cilantro
3 thin slices of fresh root ginger (or ½ teaspoon dried ginger)
1 small red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced (optional)
5 cups of dashi or vegetable stock.
1 cup of bok choy (also known as pak choi), thinly sliced
1 cup firm tofu cut into small cubes
4 tablespoons red miso
2 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce (also known as shoyu)

Instructions:

Cut the green tops off the spring onions and thinly slice the rest.  Place the coarse green tops in a large pan along with the cilantro stalks, ginger, dried chilli and dashi or vegetable stock.  Heat the mixture gently until it comes to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Strain through a sieve and return clear broth to pan. Reheat until simmering.

Add the green portions of the sliced spring onions, with the chopped pak choi and tofu.  Cook over low heat for 2 minutes. In a separate bowl mix 3 tablespoons of miso with a little hot broth in a bowl and stir into the soup.  Add additional miso and soy sauce to taste.

Stir the coarsely chopped cilantro leaves into pan and along with the white part of the spring onions.  Cook gently for 1 minute and serve into warm bowls.  Sprinkle with thinly sliced chilli if using.

Winter Vegetable Soup

Note: This is a chunky vegetable soup and you can omit or add vegetables to suit your taste.  You can replace the potatoes for sweet potatoes for a sweeter tasting soup.  Leeks and winter cabbage also work well.

Ingredients:

1 medium cabbage cut into quarters
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 carrots, peeled and finely sliced
2 celery stalks, finely sliced
2 parsnips, peeled and diced
7 cups of vegetable or chicken stock
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 zucchinis, diced
2 cups of cauliflower florets
2 fresh tomatoes, seeded and diced
Salt and black pepper
Fresh chopped parsley to garnish

Instructions:

Slice the cabbage quarters into thin strips.  Heat the oil in a large soup pan and add the cabbage, carrots, celery and parsnips cook over low heat for approximately 10 minutes, stir often so vegetables don’t stick to pan. (you may need to add a tablespoon of stock).

Stir in the stock and bring to a boil.  Add the potatoes, zucchinis, cauliflower and tomatoes with a little chopped fresh parsley and salt and pepper to taste.  Bring back to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low.  Simmer for approximately 15 to 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender.

Serve into warm soup bowls and garnish with a little chopped fresh parsley.

Roasted Root Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cubed
2 carrots, peeled and sliced into thick rounds
1 large parsnip, peeled and cubed
2 leeks, thinly sliced
1 onion, peeled and quartered
2 bay leaves
4 thyme sprigs or 1 teaspoons dried thyme
3 rosemary sprigs or 2/3 teaspoons dried rosemary
5 cups vegetable stock
Salt and ground black pepper
Crème fraiche or sour cream to serve

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375F.  Pour the olive oil into a large bowl and add the vegetables, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Toss well until coated in oil.  Place the vegetables on a non stick tray in a single layer.  Roast the vegetables in preheated oven for approximately 45 minutes or until tender.  Turn them occasionally to ensure they brown evenly.

Remove from oven, discard herbs and transfer vegetables to a large pan.  Pour the stock over the vegetables and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for approximately 10 minutes.  Remove soup from heat and leave to slightly cool.  Transfer the soup to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

Return soup to pan and gently heat through. Serve into warm bowls and garnish with a swirl of sour cream or crème fraiche.

Roasted Pepper Soup

You can make this soup without roasting the peppers to save time but the roasting process gives the soup a rich, excellent flavor, worth the time.

Ingredients:

3 red bell peppers, washed and deseeded
1 yellow bell pepper
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 cups of vegetable stock
1 tablespoon plain all-purpose flour
Salt and black pepper to taste
Diced red and yellow bell pepper pieces to garnish
Plain yogurt or crème fraiche to garnish

Preheat the grill.  Wash and cut the peppers in half and remove stalks, core and seeds.  Arrange the peppers in a non stick baking tray (skin side up) and place under the hot grill.  Grill for approximately 8 to 10 minutes or until skins begin to char.

Transfer the peppers to a plastic or zip lock bag, seal and leave to cool.  Once cool (about 15 minutes) peel skins and discard.  Roughly chop the remaining pepper flesh and set aside.

Place the onion, crushed garlic and 2/3 of the vegetable stock in a pan.  Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until stock begins to reduce.  Sprinkle the flour into the pan and stir to reduce lumping.  Add the chopped peppers and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.

Let soup cool slightly and the transfer to a food processor or blender.  Blend until smooth.  Transfer soup back to pan and reheat gently, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve in warm bowls and sprinkle a few chopped peppers and a little yogurt in the center of each bowl if desired.