My Soup Recipes

Several of you have asked me for a couple of my soup recipes.  Here are a few of my favorite!!

There are tons of tomato soup recipes out there, this is some version of one that I found and originally posted on January 6th, 2010.  I use a handheld immersion blender (only like $30 and TOTALLY worth it).

Tomato Soup

2 cans (28 ounces each) of diced tomatoes
3 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 yellow onion chopped
2-3 cloves diced garlic
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Hot sauce
Pepper and salt
Additions to the old recipe I made this time:
Half a block of cream cheese
A package of feta crumbles

Open and drain both cans of tomatoes, reserving the juice for later. Spread tomatoes out on cookie sheet and season with salt and pepper (don't be afraid to be generous). Place in preheated oven (375) for 20 minutes. (the idea here is to give them a roasted flavor, but you can actually buy fire roasted...so you may be able to skip this step, unless of course you are using fresh tomatoes...which you could)

During that time, put a little olive oil, the onion, and the garlic in a dutch oven/big pot and sauté onions and garlic until tender (5-7 minutes). Add celery and carrots and continue to cook and sauté until they are tender (about 5-7 minutes). Add chicken broth and tomatoes (from the oven) and the tomato juice you set aside into pot. Add pepper and salt to taste. You can add a little garlic salt if you want. The recipe called for 4 drops of hot sauce, but I added a little more. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Throw in the cubed cream cheese and mix until blended.

Use your hand held blender stick (immersion blender) to puree soup (you could transfer to a blender but that's no fun!) You will need to do this for sure, or your soup will not be the correct consistency.

Taste and season with salt, pepper, or hot sauce until you like it.  Toss in the feta.

Even with the cream cheese and feta, if you can yield 6 -8 bowls, that brings the calories in around 200-220 per serving.  Not too shabby.

Creamy Chicken Divan Soup

This is my favorite.  It is so good.  I have found that using a rotisserie chicken makes it much better.

Ingredients2 tablespoons butter
1 medium-size sweet onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1 (48-oz.) container chicken broth
2 (12-oz.) packages fresh broccoli florets (about 12 cups)
1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, cut into cubes
4 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 (8-oz.) block sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation1. Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add onion, and sauté 5 to 6 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and red pepper, and cook 2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth and broccoli. Cover and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium, and cook 10 to 15 minutes or until broccoli is tender. Stir in cream cheese.

2. Process mixture with a handheld blender until smooth. Add chicken and shredded cheese. Cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately with almonds, if desired.

Note: If you don't have a handheld immersion blender, let mixture cool slightly; process mixture, in batches, in a regular blender until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides as needed. Return mixture to Dutch oven, and proceed as directed.

I actually stuck to the recipe (pretty much). I added more garlic then it called for, I used a liberal amount of ground black pepper, and I bought a rotisserie chicken and chopped it to bits.

Sometimes, if I am feeling really naughty, I throw in more of the sharp shredded cheese.  I can usually make 7-8 to go containers of soup, around 325 calories each.

Creamy Black Bean Soup

1 medium onion, diced (watch your thumbs)
1 clove garlic, diced
1 tbls olive oil
3 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3-4 cups chicken broth
1 can Rotel
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin *
Lime juice

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil over medium/high heat for 4-6 minutes until tender. Add beans, broth, rotel, chili powder. Cover and bring to boil. Remove lid and reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Squirt in some lime juice. Puree with hand blender (or regular blender). Serve with cheese, sour cream, blue chips, etc!

Super low in calorie.  You would need to check for exact count, but I get about 8 take to work containers out of it, at around 200-250 calories a serving (of course that is before anything I might add like cheese or sour cream).

Taco Soup

1 can whole kernel corn
1 can pinto beans
1 can chili beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans (drained, rinsed)
1 can rotel
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can chicken broth
1 package Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning
2 packages Taco Seasoning
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, diced

Brown beef and onion. Put in big pot. Add everything else. Bring to boil, let simmer for at least an hour (you could make this in a crock pot also). All those beans add up to a good amount of sodium, but it makes A LOT, so you can put them in little bowls and freeze them for a take to work or quick lunch kinda thing!

You can really play with what kind of beans you use.  I usually switch it up. This is fun to bring to work bc when you reheat it, it smells so so good!

White Bean Sweet Potato Chili-Crockpot

I am making this one tonight, and have not tried it...but I will let you know tomorrow.  I found the recipe in my Oxygen magazine this month. 

1 cup navy beans
1 yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
4 cups chicken broth
2 cans diced green chiles
2 sweet potatoes
1-1.5 diced chicken
1 tblsp cumin
1 tblsp oregano flakes
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups chopped kale (I left this out bc I am scurrred)

Soak the navy beans overnight.  Drain water and put at bottom of crockpot.  Cover with about one cup chicken broth.  Toss in the diced onion, diced garlic, cubed chicken breast, and cubed sweet potatoes.  Pour in remaining broth.  Stir in cumin, oregano, cinnamon, and green chiles.  Salt and pepper.

Cook on low for 8 hours.  10 minutes before serving, mix in chopped kale (again...Amy no likey this idea). 

If you yield 8 servings, that is 140 calories a serving!  I figure even if we just get 4 BIG bowls, that's only 280 calories a serving.  Not too shabby.  Of course it may taste like caca....and then it won't be that cool.

Stay tuned.

The containers I use for my soup:

They are ziploc twist tops.  They are awesome and heat in the microwave nicely. They measure 2 cups.

Some bandsters may not want to do soups, depending on what level of restriction you are at.  The creamy soups theoretically will not satisfy your physical hunger for long bc they will move through your band quicker than say a solid.  But some of the soups, like the taco, the sweet potato, or even the creamy chicken divan...can be chunky.  I find them very satisfying.  And it is SO nice to be able to freeze them so I can just grab and go.  That way I have no excuses for not bringing my lunch.