Ellie Krieger's Healthier Broccoli-Cheddar Soup for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

This week I was craving Broccoli-Cheddar Soup and since I wanted a healthier version without as much cheese and fat so I turned to Ellie Krieger for a healthier version.

Krieger's recipe reduces the amount of cheese and bulks the broccoli and the creamy factor out by adding white beans. Since you blend it all up, you won't know they beans are there and they add more fiber and protein. You can also grate extra cheese if you have any eaters who like to pile it on. ;-)

Broccoli-Cheddar Soup
From EllieKrieger.com
(Makes About 4 Servings)

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 large head broccoli, florets and tender part of stems, chopped (about 6 cups)
3 cups no-salt-added chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup canned, no-salt-added Great Northern or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup low-fat (1 percent) milk (I used coconut milk as that's what I had on hand)
1 cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese (3oz)
1 tsp powdered mustard
1/2 tsp salt + more as needed

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, stir in the onion and cook for about 4 minutes, until tender but not browned.

Add the broccoli, broth and beans; increase the heat to high and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Let the soup cool for 15 minutes, then puree it in a blender in three batches, until smooth. Wipe out the saucepan as needed.

Return the blended soup to the saucepan over medium heat. Once the soup is bubbling at the edges, reduce the heat to low. Stir in the milk, 3/4 cup of the cheese, the powdered mustard and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cook until just warmed through.

Taste and add more salt as needed. Divide among individual bowls or deep mugs, and garnish with portions using the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese. Serve hot.

Nutritional Information: Per serving: 290 calories, 14 g protein, 26 g, carbohydrates, 16 g fat, 7 g saturated fat, 25 mg cholesterol, 520 mg sodium, 7 g dietary fiber, 9 g sugar

Notes/Results: A simple and good broccoli soup. The cheese flavor is there--just not overpowering it like it can in the full fat version. Since my local store had bags  frozen broccoli on sale, it was both cheaper and faster (no chopping!) to use it instead of a head of broccoli. The soup is nice and creamy, rich and satisfying and I'd happily make it again.

I'm linking up at I Heart Cooking Clubs where it is Potluck week with any recipe from any of our 20 featured chefs--like Ellie Krieger. 

Let's see who is in the Souper Sundays kitchen this week!

Nancy of Colors 4 Health is here with a post on How to Make Scrumptious Hummus and a Recipe Round Up. Nancy says, "Hummus tastes delicious smeared on veggies or bread, as a dip on a crudités platter, stuffed in a wrap, English muffin, bagel, pita pocket, or as a sandwich filling. Hummus looks and tastes fabulous atop luscious salad greens as well. Hummus is a food that's economical and good for your waistline as well as your pocketbook."

Thank you to Nancy for joining me this week! 

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here.
If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a happy, healthy week!

 

Thai Red Curry Tofu & Veggie Noodle Soup for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

It's a humid 86 F. degrees today and I was craving a lime-spiked Thai red curry but I wanted to spend as little time in the kitchen as possible. This simple curry soup from Donna Hay is fast, easy and delicious.

The recipe had chicken in it which I replaced with pressed tofu and I added more veggies: carrot, cabbage, red pepper, baby boy chow and canned baby corn and straw mushrooms.

Thai Red Curry Tofu & Veggie Noodle Soup
Slightly Adapted from Donna Hay.com
(Makes 4 Servings)

1/3 cup store-bought red curry paste, or to taste
(I added one silk of lemon grass, bruised + 3 kaffir limes leaves torn)
1 (15 oz) can coconut milk
3 cups broth or water
3 cups vegetables of choice (I used straw mushrooms, baby corn, sliced carrot, red bell pepper, sliced green cabbage & baby bok choy)
200 g thin dried rice noodles, cooked
1 lb firm tofu, pressed and cubed
1 Tbsp lime juice, or to taste
(I added soy sauce to taste)
salt and black pepper to taste
cilantro and Thai basil leaves to serve
crispy fried scallions to serve

Place the curry paste in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until fragrant.

Add the coconut milk and water and bring to the boil. Add the vegetables and cook for 5 minutes. Add the noodles, tofu, lime juice, soy sauce, salt and pepper and cook for a further 1 minute, or until heated through.

Divide the noodles between serving bowls and top with the coriander and crispy shallots to serve.

Notes/Results: Such a quick and easy soup that is light but satisfying and refreshing with the lime juice and coconut milk. The original recipe used cooked chicken and broccolini as the vegetable but I think soups like this are a good way to work lots of veggies you need to use up--so throw them in, the more the merrier! I was craving baby corn and had a can of it and a can of straw mushrooms in my pantry so I added them too. The spice level is based on the red curry you use, so you can adjust the amount or serve with Sriracha for some extra heat. I would happily make it again.

Linking up with I Heart Cooking Clubs where our theme is "I Wish I Was...!" with dishes from places we like to be or visit.

Let's see who is in the Souper Sundays kitchen this week!

Debra of Eliot's Eats is here with a stew inspired by a recent book review. She said, "We’ve been eating a lot of eggplant lately (from the garden) so I was intrigued by the “baby eggplant drizzled with pomegranate molasses.” I wanted something for a meal so I landed on Eggplant & Tomato Stew With Pomegranate Molasses even though it is a Farsi dish. I thought that Hannah and the children  might be able to harvest eggplant and tomatoes from their rooftop garden and cook up this vegetarian stew for dinner, even during the hard times. ... I served it over brown rice. It was delicious. I may be in love with pomegranate molasses. Since it made four servings and I stretched it with the rice, I froze the rest. I can’t wait to try this again this fall."  

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor says, "Slow Cooker Santa Fe Chicken from SkinnyTaste is a meal I had been wanting to try for quite awhile. Definitely a keeper. I was inspired to try this slow cooker recipe to evaluate if it’s an easy camping meal. It is! Instead of hauling the slow cooker along I think I’ll be preparing this the night before we leave for a longer trip. That way it’s dinner one night and can be easily packed in Tupperware. ... This is very soupy so you can enjoy it as a soup or put rice in your bowl and ladle the mixture over that.  It would also make a good enchilada stuffing!"

Thank you to Debra and Tina for joining in! 

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here.
If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a happy, healthy week!

 

Cheese Tortelloni Soup with Artichoke Hearts & Spinach: Pantry Ease for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

It's the thick of August and normally my soups this time of year are lighter broth soups or cold soups but this week I was craving pasta and tomato sauce and since I had a coupon for fresh pasta, I decided to make Cheese Tortelloni Soup with Artichoke Hearts & Spinach.

What makes this soup good for summer is that it comes primarily from pantry or fridge ingredients and is really mostly about dumping it all together with a good mix of herbs and spices and it's ready pretty quickly, making time spent chopping or over the stove pretty minimal.

Cheese Tortelloni Soup with Artichoke Hearts & Spinach
By Deb, Kahakai Kitchen
(Makes About 6 Servings)

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp fennel seeds1/2 tsp celery seed
a pinch of red pepper flakes, or to taste 
1 jar good pasta sauce (I used a vodka sauce)
1 can diced, fire-roasted tomatoes + liquid
1 4 oz can of tomato sauce3-4 cups veggie broth
1 can artichoke hearts, halved or quartered 
4 cups baby spinach, chopped
1 (20 oz) family pack of 3-cheese tortelloni
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper 
fresh basil leaves & grated parmesan cheese to garnish

Heat a large soup pot over medium high heat. Add oil and then add the onion and cook about 7 minutes until translucent and soft. Add the garlic and all spices and cook another 1 to 2 minutes. Pour the tomato sauce into the pan and add the diced tomatoes and their juice, tomato sauce and broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes until flavors meld. 

Turn up heat to medium high and when soup is starting to bubble, add the artichoke hearts, spinach and tortelloni and cook about 5-6 minutes minutes, until tortelloni is done. Taste and add salt and pepper as desired. Ladle into bowls and top with fresh basil and a grating of Parmesan cheese. Enjoy.

Notes/Results: Creamy and flavorful but not two heavy, it's a very tasty soup. I like the tangy brine of the artichoke hearts and the cheesy filled pasta. If you don't have fresh basil you could stir in pesto for a little herby zip. Such a low-effort soup to make, I'm going to be very happy packing this for lunch this week. I would happily make it again. 

My friend and most loyal Souper Sunday's contributor is hanging out with me in the Souper Sundays kitchen, lets see what she brought!

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor shared these sandwich-ish treats, saying "An experiment I tried was using my dough cutter and made Empanadas with Black Beans, Cheese and Rice. I should have used pizza dough or bread dough but this came out visually pleasing.  

Thank you to Tina for joining in! 

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here.
If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a happy, healthy week!

 

Quick Pinto Bean Soup with Pickled Onions for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

I just can't seem to get back on my well-thought-out soup making groove lately. This was a challenging week for me for reasons not worth going into and Saturday I went to the store with no inspiration to shop with and no desire to be there. Sunday I was challenged with even getting started in the kitchen until after 3:00 PM so I needed something quick. I went to the pantry and looked at my cans of beans and settled on a Quick Pinto Bean Soup inspired by a Mark Bittman article.

Bean Soups can sometimes lack the zip of acidity, so I decided to use a red onion in my veggie drawer and make a lime-pickled onion recipe from Rick Bayless to top the soup. I first made it a couple of years ago to top his mushroom tacos and I make them often ever since.

Mixed Bean Soup or Stew 
Adapted from MarkBittman.com
(Makes 2-3 Servings)

In a couple tablespoons of olive oil, cook a diced onion, carrot, and celery stalk until the vegetables soften, then add about four cups of precooked or canned beans (navy beans, cannellini beans, black beans, pinto beans, black-eyed peas, kidney beans, or chickpeas) with some of their liquid, a couple cups of water or stock, two bay leaves, and a sprig of fresh thyme. Bring to a boil and cook until the flavors blend and the beans are warmed through; add more liquid to achieve the consistency you like. Season with salt and pepper, remove the bay leaves and thyme sprig, and serve.

What I did: cooked a diced onion until softened and added two cans of low-sodium pinto beans and their liquid, one can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes and their juices, one can of mild diced green chili and about 1/2 tsp each of cumin, coriander, celery seed, dried oregano, and Aleppo pepper, and two cups of vegetable stock. Brought soup to a boil and cooked it about 20 minutes until the flavors blended. I blended about two ladles of the soup in the blender and added it back to the pot, seasoning with salt, pepper and lime juice to taste. Served with Fritos.

-----

Pickled Red Onions
Recipe from From RickBayless.com
(Makes about 1 cup) 

1 small red onion, peeled and cut in half
1/2 cups fresh lime juice
salt

With a knife or food processor, thinly slice the onions. Scoop into a non-reactive bowl. 

Pour boiling water over them, count to 10, then immediately pour the onions into a strainer. Shake off all the water, pour the onions back into the bowl, pour on the lime juice and stir in the 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. 

Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. The onions will last for a week or more in the refrigerator.

Notes/Results: Just simple and good, a basic bean soup but lots of flavor from he spices and lime juice. You could of course add other veggies, a protein, or anything else you like to the soup or the top of the soup--if my avocado was ripe it would go on top. Even stirring in some rice would be good. I would make it again.

I am sharing these recipe for Mark Bittman's bean soup and Rick Balyless's pickled onions at I Heart Cooking Clubs where it is Taco Night! this week. The onions are excellent on tacos!

Let's have a look in the Souper Sundays kitchen!

Shaheen from Allotment2Kitchen shared these sandwich-ish Pea, Feta and Mint Crescents, saying, "These Turkish pastries were made from scratch. The golden puffy pasty was made with some yogurt and filled with  pea, feta and mint combination. Taste of Summer indeed and it made for a lovely light lunch. I tried to find a link to the original recipe on the website to share with you, but it's not there."  

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor brought Broccoli and cheese Soup with Outback Croutons and said, "I made a broccoli and cheese soup for lunch this past week. My feeling is it's never too hot for soup. I don't want to eat it outside, on the patio in this weather, but a hearty bowl of veggie goodness is a great lunch anytime. ... There was a bit of Outback bread leftover from last week's baking and I thought it would make remarkable toasted croutons for the soup."

Debra of Eliot's Eats made tasty Grilled Banh Mi Sandwiches with Pickled Veggies, saying, "Every so often, The Hubs will put out a special request, do all the shopping and pitch in with the cooking. Most of these requests involve grilling. The most recent suggestion for dinner was a Banh Mi sandwich, but as mentioned above, he wanted to grill it.  I did some research and we came up with this recipe."

Thank you to everyone who joined in! 

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here.
If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a happy, healthy week and be well!

 

Cold Cucumber Yogurt Soup: Quick & Refreshing for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

This week, I bring you the soup I tossed together while waiting for Hurricane Douglas to approach Hawaii. As a mentioned in my update to last week's post, the storm bypassed the islands and we got really lucky.

This is a simple and refreshing cold soup and my attempt to use two softening cucumbers and some Greek yogurt nearing its best-by date. Onion, rice vinegar and a bottle of freeze-dried dill rounded out the flavors.

Cold Cucumber Yogurt Soup
By Deb, Kahakai Kitchen
(Makes 4 Serving)

1 small sweet onion, chopped
2 large English cucumbers, peeled and chopped (reserved some diced cucumber reserved for serving)
8 oz plain Greek yogurt
2 Tsp dried dill or 1 Tbsp fresh dill, or to taste
1 Tbsp rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. Taste and add additional vinegar, dill, salt and pepper to taste. Chill for at least 3 hours before serving and serve topped with reserved diced cucumber. Enjoy.

Notes/Results: I know that not everyone loves a cold soup or cucumbers, but they sure make for a simple cool, refreshing and really tasty soup. The vinegar and yogurt give it a brightness and the dill compliments the cucumber with its herby flavor notes. It takes all of about 10 minutes to put together and then just time to chill it. I will happily make it again.

We have some good friends in the Super Sunday kitchen this week--some that have been gathering since last week. Let's have a look at what they brought!

My friend, the lovely Tina of Squirrel Head Manor brought a salad and a sandwich this week. Her salad is one of my favorites Pea Salad, that she served with roasted chicken. Tina says, "For the life of me I can't find a recipe for the pea salad I had in mind so....I improvised.  Actually it's not like this is a hard salad to put together but I swear, think I saw one in Lee Bailey's cookbook or maybe Jacques Pépin.... No matter. ... This is a cold salad so for those us in the sweltering northern hemisphere, this is a perfect side dish. I can't call this a recipe as it's such a simple thing to toss together."

Tina also brought this delectable Avocado, Tomato & Cheese Melt. She says, "Let's talk lunch! It's an easy lunch you can make at home or on the road.  Do I post a recipe for this?  Nope - it's dead simple. ... This is vegetarian but you can obviously add any of your favorite ingredients like bacon. Oh, mushrooms would work for me too...or grilled or carmelized onions. Next time..............."

Beth Fish Reads joined us last week with these yummy-looking Faux Cubanos, saying "I did things slightly different from the recipe in the book. I don't know if our pitas were bigger than theirs, but we needed extra cheese and ham to cover the bread. So where the recipe says two slices of cheese and ham, we used three. Also, I am not a fan of mayo so we cut the ingredients in half and used the sauce on only one sandwich. Mr. BFR said the sauce was good. The photo is scanned from the cookbook because I was way too lazy and too hungry to set up a photo shoot.

Shaheen of Allotment2Kitchen shared Courgette Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce last week, saying, "Food at home this week has been light and simple all this week, because of my sensitive belly. The natural flavours from the vegetables and  fresh herbs came through in this Courgette and Tomato Pasta.  I also liked that the courgettes retained a bit of crunch.  Even though I was enjoying this colourful plate, I was struggling to eat everything on the plate, so the remainder was decanted into a tub and put in the fridge, either for later in the evening if I got hungry again or for the following day for lunch." 

Judee of Gluten Free A-Z Blog stopped by this week with Vegan Peach Caprese Salad with Cashew Basil Dressing, saying "I have my kids for dinner (on the deck) every Friday night. With the unbearable heatwave we have been having, salads are what we feel like eating. I made my salad vegan, and added a delicious sweet cashew dressing, but you could easily add mozzarella cheese balls or slices if you eat dairy." 

Thank you to everyone who joined in! 

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here.
If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a happy, healthy week!