TIME FOR SOUP

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Spinach & Rice Soup

Here’s a soup to feed your body and soul. Fresh flavors, low in fat and carbs, and nice textures to warm you from the inside out and leave you very satisfied. Enjoy with some homemade bread or rolls, or your favorite salad, and it’s a complete meal.

Ingredients
3 strips of diced turkey bacon
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 chopped leek
6 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 15-ounce can of chickpeas, drained
2 cups of cooked Texmati white, brown, wild & red rice blend
2 6-ounce bags of baby spinach leaves
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
soy parmesan

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the oil and add the onion, cooking until tender, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and the leeks, cook and stir occasionally until the leeks are tender.
Add the broth and the rosemary.
Bring to a boil.
Add the cooked rice and the drained chickpeas and return to a boil.
Reduce the heat.
Mash some of the chickpeas with a masher, right in the soup pot, to thicken the soup.
Stir the spinach into the soup, and cook for about a minute until just wilted.
Season with salt and pepper.
Ladle into soup bowls, garnish with optional soy parmesan, and serve immediately.
Makes 4 servings.

Steak and Red Pepper Soup

Wowsers! Mmm mmm good!


Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Serving for Two

Ingredients:
2 Tbls. Olive oil
Sirloin beef sliced & cut to small bite size (strip or tips will also work) – 1 pound
2 can cream of potato soup
2 (fill empty soup cans) with (6 oz) V-8 juice
Hand full of fresh parsley chopped
2 large red pepper – seeds removed - cut into small bite size
(if your kids don’t like em then put them in the food processor
to keep the great flavor and hide em from their site)

Directions:
Cut beef across grain into thin strips. Heat Olive oil in large skillet.
Stir-fry beef in hot oil 2 to 3 minutes. Remove and reserve.
Heat potato soup, V-8 juice (NO don’t add water) and chopped parsley - Heat to boiling; reduce heat and cover. Simmer 5 minutes.
Add beef. Simmer 3 minutes.
Add red peppers and let soup rest 3 minutes. (no heat)

Serve with spinach salad and crusty dark bread

White Bean With Greens Soup

This southern Italian soup features creamy white beans.
Choose from Great Northern beans, cannellini beans,
or any other white bean you happen to have on hand.

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds Swiss chard, escarole, or beet greens, trimmed
6 cups chicken broth
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 cup cooked white beans
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
Grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish
Red-pepper flakes, for garnish

Instructions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat.
Add the greens and cook for 7 minutes, or until barely tender.
Drain the greens, squeezing out as much water as possible.
(This can be done several hours before cooking in the soup.
It is not necessary to cut the greens, because they will break
apart while they cook in the soup.)
Bring the broth to a simmer in a large pot over medium-high heat.
Add the garlic and greens.
If using canned white beans, place them in a strainer and
rinse them under cold running water to remove excess sodium.
Add the beans to the broth.
Simmer gently, partially covered, for 10 minutes.
Sprinkle with the salt and pepper to taste.
(Do not add the salt before the soup has finished cooking, or it may become too salty.)
Ladle the soup into heated bowls. Pass the cheese and pepper flakes at the table.

Nutritional Information:
79 calories
2 g total fat (1 g sat)
0 mg cholesterol
12 g carbohydrate
6 g protein
4 g fiber