Curried Chicken and Cauliflower Soup

This recipe is from the January issue of Clean Eating magazine. I enjoyed it quite a bit! 

I added more curry than the recipe called for, I seem to like things spicier than the average person.

I am a sucker for coconut milk and will make just about any recipe with that as an ingredient. I have never purchased the full fat version, there is no need to, the lite is just fine. 

Even then, it does have a large number of calories but this uses just a small amount. Not wanting to open a can and then throw everything but a couple tablespoons away, I decided to get an ice cube tray and fill it up with coconut milk! Each cube is 1 tablespoon. I froze them then popped them out and filled up a zip lock bag. I was actually quite surprised at how much flavor just a small amount adds to a dish. I will try this trick with other soups, especially since I have a bag full of frozen coconut cubes!

This serves 6 (makes 8 cups)

Total time is 25 minutes, a real quick dish.

Ingredients

• 1/6 cup Coconut Milk, Light
• 12 oz Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
• 4 cups Cauliflower,raw
• 1 cup Red Bell Peppers
• 9 oz Potato
• 4 cups Chicken Broth-fat Free, Low Sodium
• 4 tsp Spicy Curry Powder
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• 6 green onions, chopped
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• Plain fat free Greek yogurt

Directions

In a 4 qt pot heat coconut milk over medium heat, do not let it boil. Add cubed chicken breast and curry powder. Cook for about 6 minutes until lightly golden. Add cauliflower, bell pepper, potato and broth, cook on medium high until it boils. Cover pot and reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes.

When cauliflower and potatoes are tender, uncover & simmer for 1-3 minutes to thicken slightly. Season with black pepper,

Spoon into soup bowls, top with green onion and cilantro cilantro. Finish with 1/4 c nonfat plain Greek yogurt.

One serving is 1 1/2 cups soup and 1/4 cup yogurt

Calories: 186
Total Fat 4 grams
Saturated Fat 2 grams
Carbs 15 grams
Fiber 3.5 grams
Sugars 3 grams
Protein 24 grams
Sodium 131 mg
Cholesterol 33 mg

Curry Peanut Soup

Sunday afternoon it was rainy and I was in the mood for soup.  I love soup, it can warm the soul and fill the belly.

I cut this recipe out of the December issue of Oxygen magazine because it had something in it I love: Peanut Butter! It also costs $1.12 per serving, pretty darn cheap if you ask me!

I LOVED it!! I had it for meal #4 and will have it for dinner the next day. Of course, I made some changes and I will tell you about that once I write the recipe here.

Keep in mind that the nutritional breakdown is an estimate (from the magazine), because nothing is weighed, it cannot be exact. Unless you are in competition prep mode, there is no need to concern yourself with the fact that this is not exact. And, anyone in prep wouldn't be able to eat this anyway!

Makes 12 servings, ready in 40 minutes

2 Tbsps low sodium soy sauce
1 onion, chopped
2 small sweet potatoes, diced (I peeled mine)
1 large carrot, cut into half moons
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 lb small shrimp, cleaned and deveined
1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes
32 oz low-sodium vegetable broth
1 15 oz can low sodium garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped, fresh cilantro
3 Tbsps natural peanut butter
2 tsps curry powder

Heat 1/2 cup water and soy sauce in a large pot.

Add onion and sweet potatoes, cook 5 minutes over high heat, stir occasionally.

Add carrot, celery and red pepper. Cover and cook 3 minutes, stir occasionally.

Add shrimp and cook until white, 5 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes, stock, beans and cilantro.

Blend peanut butter with 1/3 cup water and curry powder, add to soup.

Stir to mix well, cover and simmer 10 minutes. Serve in 1 cup servings.

Calories 140
Fat 3 grams
Sodium 400 mg
Carbohydrate 15 grams
Fiber 3 grams
Sugar 3 grams
Protein 13 grams
Now, I didn't follow this recipe exactly, here is what I did.

I planned on making this and freezing it in single portion servings. I didn't want to freeze the shrimp (as shrimp is always frozen when you buy it anyway, it has just been defrosted).

I made the soup, omitting the shrimp. Then when I was ready to eat some, I added 1 cup of soup to a small pot and added 1/4 pound shrimp. I also want more shrimp than the recipe calls for...I found it to be a little thick, not quite enough broth for me, so in went a little tap water. I just heated it through and it was great.

Now what makes this so much more exciting (for me) is that Cooper tried it before I added the shrimp and liked it very much! David also liked it. Cooper said he would like me to get a nice, tender cut of beef, cook it so it was still pink, and then cut it into chunks. Add this to his soup instead of shrimp and he would be more than willing to have it for dinner, in fact, he said he would enjoy it very much. He liked the peanut taste and the mild curry flavor.

I made their soup with the beef, and it was great! I would eat it like that too.


So, shrimp in mine, beef in theirs and everyone gets a great bowl of soup!