Tortellini in Broth

Tortellini in broth, who doesn't love that?!

I am on a diet, so I am not eating this, but my husband and son are not on a diet, and they like this. First I made my dinner:

2 ounces sweet potato, pureed
4 ounces ground turkey, sauteed with chorizo spices
6 spears asparagus, steamed
1 cup mixed sauteed bell peppers

Then the boys wanted something and we hadn't really given it much thought so it's off to the freezer to see what we have.

I almost always have homemade chicken stock, it is easy to make and there is no comparison to the canned or boxed garbage.

I heated that up and then put in a bag of Barilla 3 Cheese Tortellini.

Take a look at the front of this package. It says in very BOLD letters:

Dinner for 2 in 10 Minutes

Well, this is quite alluring isn't it? I can toss this in the stock and the boys will have dinner in 10 minutes.

Let's just take a look at the nutritional facts on the side.

It says that each serving has the following:

230 Calories

8 Grams fat

500 mg Sodium

32 Grams Carbohydrates

8 Grams protein

About what I would expect, you know pasta is high in calories and carbs. Not really too bad for a meal...(if you aren't on a diet).

But wait a minute, there is something wrong here. Look at the very top of the label. It says the serving size is 2/3 cup and there are 4 servings in the container!

This means that based on what it says on the front, you and one other person have just finished eating this because it was Dinner for 2 in 10 Minutes, and this is what you really consumed:

460 Calories

16 Grams fat

1000 mg Sodium

64 Grams Carbohydrates

16 Grams protein

Not only did they fool you into thinking it was a lower  calorie dinner, but had you been serving more than 2 people, you probably would have bought more of this pasta based on the front label, say three bags for 6 people. They screw you twice! You consume too many calories based on their label and spend too much money too.

Sneaky marketing that's what it is. No wonder why most of America is obese and dying of heart related disease.

Damn! Should have gone out for a burger!

Oh, plus they had this:

Good thing they aren't on a diet, they would not be very happy with the results.

If you eat packaged foods, please be very careful and thoroughly read the labels.

Halibut Soup

I love soup! I made this and enjoyed it quite a bit. It is an adaptation from a recipe from my cookbook "Gourmet Nutrition" by Dr. John Berardi.

I love his recipe but didn't have all the ingredients and I rarely run to the store for something when a craving hits, I just make due with what I have.

So how did I make this?

I first started out by hitting the fish market on the way home from work for some halibut, one of my favorites. Then I went home and looked in the fridge to see what jumped out at me.

I sauteed some chopped onion in coconut oil, then added garlic, smoked Spanish paprika and a few tablespoons chicken broth.

I added a few cups more chicken broth and an 1/8 cup quinoa and then simmered about 10 minutes, until the quinoa was cooked.

I added some chopped carrots, some peas and lots of chopped dried kelp. The kelp is a fantastic flavor! Then I let is simmer about 5 minutes.

I sauteed my halibut in a separate pan until just cooked through and then poured the soup into a huge bowl, pulled the fish apart into large chunks and added it to the soup.

Soup is so easy to make, by using some strong flavored ingredients such as onions, garlic and paprika, you are guaranteed a great broth.

The peas and quinoa serve as the starch, get used to eating your soups without bread!

Yam Noodles

I have written about Shiritaki noodles already, and these are similar, but they are made with yam flour and no tofu. They come in white or "black", although black is really brown as you see here above.

I didn't notice much difference in taste or texture and bought these because they were a bit thicker and I wanted some variety.

I was looking for a low to no carb meal and a quick one, so I made some chicken soup and it was good, not stellar but filled me up on a cold rainy day.

1 package yam or shiritaki noodles
4 ounces cooked ground chicken
2 cups Chicken broth

I  chose the ground chicken because I had it in the freezer and wanted to use it up. Cooked, cubed chicken would be just fine. I used chicken broth in a box, but homemade would be best, I don't always have homemade in my freezer though. Any kind of cooked vegetable would be great thrown in, but like I said, I was really, really hungry and needed food fast.

End result:

 

I will make it again, but allow myself a little time so I can add some more ingredients. Chopped green onion, slivered jalapenos and basil, maybe some sliced carrots, almost anything and it will become almost pho-like.

What was the breakdown?

Calories: 190
Protein: 27 grams
Fat:8 grams

Carbs: 7 grams

Basically the noodles are free food, hardly any calories or carbs...

Butternut Squash and Turkey Soup

This soup was very nice, creamy (yet no cream), spicy and very healthy.

It is from the Precision Nutrition Cookbook by Dr. John Berardi.

I love soup. I usually tend to make the broth based soups because I just cannot eat the cream, so having one with a creamy texture is great!

This is one I would make again, and it was easy to do.  This serves 8 ( a big guy gets double)


Soup Base:

1 Tbsp coconut oil
5 cups butternut squash (skin removed, roughly chopped)
1 cup roughly chopped onion
1 Tbsp grated or minced fresh ginger
1 Tbsp minced fresh garlic
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp nutmeg
5 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup water

Soup Garnish:

1 lb, 10 ounces ground turkey
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp cumin

Olive Oil cooking spray

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

 

Soup base:

Preheat large pot on medium high heat, add coconut oil and squash, saute until lightly browned. Add onion, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg and 2 Tbsp of broth; saute for 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Add remaining vegetable broth and water and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until squash is soft (approximately 30 minutes). Prepare garnish while soup base is cooking. Let soup cool a few minutes. Puree in blender or food processor until smooth and pour back into pot.

Soup Garnish:

Season turkey with salt, pepper and cumin. Preheat large non-stick frying pan on medium heat and lightly coat with spray. Saute turkey until lightly browned and completely cooked, breaking up meat into small crumbles. Add cooked turkey and cilantro to soup base. Reheat and serve immediately or portion soup into storage containers. To maintain tenderness of meat, avoid bring soup to a boil after meat has been added.

I make one batch, and do not add the garnish. I divide the base into 8 servings (7 containers and 1 small pot), and then mike the turkey and cilantro together, and divide that equally between the 8 containers. I have one bowl for dinner and other 7 go in the freezer for later.

Calories 219.8

fat 9.8 grams

carbs 14.3 grams

sugar 2.6 grams

protein 18.8 grams

Chilled Zucchini Soup with Purslane

Another great gift from my friend, a huge bag of fresh purslane. Most people have never heard of purslane, but they have probably seen it, it grows like a weed.

Once I was training on the football field with SC and I said "hey! look, you have purslane here!" I grabbed it popped it in my mouth and chewed, he was stunned.

He was more astonished not because I ate the weed from the ground, but because of what he has seen all the football players do out on that field ....he didn't think it was a very smart thing to do.

Condemned by some as an “unsightly, pervasive weed,” purslane is also a free backyard source of protein, vitamin E, vitamin C, and the best source of Omega 3 fatty acids of any leafy plant. There’s no reason to spend money on fish oil supplements if you have this tasty food source growing in your backyard or vegetable garden.

Whether you eat it raw in salads, stir-fried, or added to soups and sauces, purslane is a delicious addition to many recipes. It’s easy to grow, tastes great, and – best of all to anyone struggling with rising food prices – it’s free.

Also called Summer Purslane - purslane usually grows spread out flat on the ground. It can be found growing in almost any unshaded area, including flower beds, corn fields, and waste places. Purslane can be found growing in cold climate areas (e.g., Canada) as well as warm areas (e.g., the Caribbean).

It has been used in salads and as a medicinal plant (for people) for hundreds of years. Called Verdolaga in spanish, it is a vegetable green used in many Latin American countries. It is also popular as a salad green in France and other European countries. It is similar in taste and consistency to watercress. It can be eaten fresh or cooked and has no bitter taste at all. Since it has a mucilaginous quality it is great for soups and stews.

It has rosettes of fleshy, paddle-shaped leaves, each with a small (1/4” wide) yellow flower. It is grows low to the ground in large circular mats up to 1.2m across and it is succulent with short leaves less than an inch long scattered along its brownish stems. The flowers only open for a few hours in the morning sun and there are usually five petals but sometimes four or six. Its seeds are ovate to triangular, reddish brown to black and shiny. Each plant is capable of producing 240,000 seeds which are viable for up to 40 years. It is found in gardens and bare ground from June to October.

I made this soup the other night, delicious on a hot summer day. It is creamy, yet has no cream. The ingredients are ones people give you - zucchini and the purslane, which you can go find in your backyard! It is from the Food and Wine 2010 Annual Cookbook.

This soup does not have any characteristics of split pea soup, which I don't particularly care for. It is fresh and light. My 16 year son did not care for it, he would rather have a slab of meat, any meat. My husband loved it, in fact had some for lunch the following day.

6 servings 45 minutes plus 3 hours chilling time

1 Tbsp olive oil plus extra for drizzling (if desired)
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
1 large garlic clove, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 pounds small zucchini, thinly sliced (save aside a few shavings for garnish)
salt
1 1/2 cups water
1 Tbsp finely shredded basil leaves
1 cup ice
pepper
1 cup purslane leaves

In a large saucepan, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and cook over moderate heat until translucent, about 8 minutes. Stir in the thyme and bay leaf and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add the sliced zucchini, season with salt and cook, stirring occassionally, until tender, 10 minutes.

Add the water and bring to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat, discard the bay leaf and stir in the shredded basil.

Working in small batches, puree the soup in a blender until very smooth (do NOT try to blend any hot soup all at once, it will explode out of the blender, don't ask how I know this, just trust me!)

Transfer the zucchini puree to a glass bowl, add the ice and refrigerate the soup for at least 3 hours, until thoroughly chilled.

Season the soup with salt and pepper. Ladle into shallow bowls and top with a small handful of purslane leaves and zucchii shavings. Drizzle with olive oil and serve with a salad and crusty french bread.

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