Recipe Trifecta: Soup, Soup and Soup
The hubby and I decided to do a cleanse for a week, which required us to drink this unappetizing detox juice and cut out booze, meat, cheese and as much processed food as possible. We were on the hunt for things to eat and settled on a few soups that were not only hearty, but delish. Below are the three soups that kept us full for five days while we stared angrily at all the full bottles of wine in our bar.
Spicy Mulligatawny
Ingredients:
3 teaspoons canola oil, divided
½ pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces. *
*Vegetarian substitute: 1 large sweet potato chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 cup chopped peeled Gala or Braeburn apple
¾ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped carrot
½ cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped green bell pepper
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
1 (14-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup mango chutney
¼ cup tomato paste
Chopped fresh parsley (optional)
Directions:
1. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chicken, sauté 3 minutes. Remove from pan, set aside. If substituting with the sweet potato, sauté for 8 minutes before removing.
2. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a pan. Add apple, onion, carrot, celery, and green bell pepper; sauté 5 minutes. Stir in flour, curry, ginger, red pepper and salt; cook 1 minute. Stir in broth, chutney and tomato paste; bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat; simmer 8 minutes. Return chicken to pan; cook 2 minutes or until mixture is thoroughly heated. If substituting with the sweet potato, cook for an additional 15 minutes.
Sprinkle with parsley, if desired.
Recipe inspiration found HERE.
Moroccan Lentil Soup
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup carrot
¼ cup celery
½ ounces onion
2 tablespoons garlic
16 ounces lentils (2 cups)
28 ounces tomatoes with basil (3.5 cups or 2 cans)
32 ounces vegetable stock (4 cups)
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cayenne
1 can garbanzo beans
2 tablespoons cilantro
Directions:
1. Heat oil. Add mix (carrots, celery, onion and garlic) until soft.
2. Stir in lentils, tomatoes, stock, coriander, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, cayenne.
3. Cook uncovered 20-25 minutes.
4. Puree briefly.
5. Stir in garbanzo and cilantro.
Lo Note: I also blended the garbanzo beans because I’m not really into eating chickpeas whole…it’s just not my bag. Oh, and I used a potato masher because who wants to transfer all that soup to a blender. Not me, that’s who.
Recipe inspiration found HERE.
Curried Butternut Soup
Ingredients:
Cooking spray
8 cups cubed peeled butternut squash (about 2 pounds)
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups peeled and chopped granny Smith apple
1 ½ cups finely chopped onion
½ cup thinly sliced celery
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 garlic clove, minced
3 (14-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup grated extra sharp white cheddar cheese
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Arrange squash in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake for 45 minutes or until tender.
3. Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add apple, onion, celery and bay leaf; sauté 10 minutes. Stir in curry powder and garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add squash, broth, and salt; stir well.
4. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Partially mash mixture with a potato masher until thick and chunky; stir well with a spoon. Ladle soup into bowls and top with cheese.
Lo Note: Since we were going dairy free for the week and didn’t have any cheese with this soup, we substituted it with sautéed mushrooms and it was soooo good.
Recipe inspiration found HERE.
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