Vegetable Bean Soup

Vegetable Bean Soup. The original recipe was from Quick Cooking magazine but I made a few changes. This is a good low calorie dish. You can adjust the vegetable amounts as you like or omit and substitute for your own tastes. The original recipe called for barley but I substituted pasta 

2 tsp olive oil

1 1/4 cup diced carrots

3/4 cup diced celery

3 green onions diced

1 medium zucchini diced

1/2 cup fresh spinach diced

3 cans low far chicken broth

2 cups uncooked pasta 

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed 

1 can Italian diced tomatoes, undefined

Put olive oil in bottom of a large soup pot. Add carrots, celery and onions and sauté for 3-5 minutes. Add zucchini and spinach and cook a few minutes more until spinach is wilted. 

Add chicken broth and pasta. Cook until pasta is al dente. Add kidney beans and diced tomatoes and heat through. 

Provel Topped Tomatoes

Provel Topped Tomatoes

One of my favorite ways to cook tomatoes, especially when I have hothouse tomatoes that don't have much taste.  The heat brings out the flavor and the cheese complements the tomatoes very well.  You can also use shredded mozzarella. 

Tomatoes (I use plum or campari)
Provel ropes or shredded (if using ropes, dice into small pieces)

Slice tomatoes about 1/4 inch thick and place on a baking sheet.  Top each tomato with a layer of the cheese.   Bake or broil until the cheese has melted.  Serve warm.

Herbed Chicken and Rice

Herbed Chicken and Rice (Original recipe in Quick Cooking)



 

1/2 lb chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into strips
1 tbsp margarine
1 jumbo carrot, diced fine (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 large onion, diced fine
1/4 tsp marjoram
1/4 tsp thyme
1/8 tsp sage
1/8 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
2 cups water
2 cups instant rice

Melt the margarine in a large skillet.  Saute the chicken breasts for 3-4 minutes until no longer pink.  Add carrots and onion and cook for several minutes until carrots are tender.
Add water and herbs - bring to a boil.
Stir in rice, cover and set aside for 5 minutes.  Stir and serve.

(It was good but could have used a little more flavor. Next time I think I will replace 1 cup of the water with 1 cup fat free chicken broth and maybe increase the herbs to give it a little more flavor.)

 

Blueberry Streusel Yogurt Muffins

Blueberry Streusel Yogurt Muffins

Preheat oven to 375.

Muffins  -

2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Mix together in a large bowl

1 cup low fat yogurt ( I used blueberry Greek yogurt)
6 tbsp margarine, melted
1 egg
1 tbsp vanilla
Beat until blended.

Add yogurt mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients and stir just until mixed. 
Stir in
1 cup blueberries ( I used frozen but rinsed them with warm water to thaw them a little first)

Spoon into 12 greased muffin cups.   I used the paper liners but should have sprayed them with oil - the paper stuck on the bottom of the muffins and was quite a mess to remove)

Streusel topping -
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup margarine
Use a pastry blender or knives to cut the margarine into the flour and sugar until you have coarse crumbs.  Spoon onto the muffin tops.  There was plenty of streusel and I piled it on top.

Bake for 20 minutes (I had to bake 25) until golden brown.  Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a rack.