Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 jalapenos, finely diced
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
• 2 limes, juiced, plus wedges for garnish
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 (8-inch) flour tortilla, grilled, cut into thin strips

Directions

In a large saucepan heat the vegetable oil. Add the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Once the onions have softened add the garlic and jalepenos and cook for another minute. Pour the chicken broth,tomatoes and beans into the pot and bring to a boil. Once at a boil lower heat to simmer and add your chicken breasts. Cook the chicken for 20 to 25 minutes. Once chicken is cooked remove from pot. When cool enough to handle shred it and set it aside. Add lime juice and fresh cilantro to the pot. In a serving bowl add a mound of shredded chicken. Ladle soup over chicken and top with a lime wedge, and grilled tortilla strips.

Italian-Style Soup with Turkey Sausage

Makes 8 (1-cup) servings.

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon olive oil
8 ounces sweet or hot Italian-style turkey sausage, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices (watch your labels)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can (32 ounces) reduced sodium chicken broth
1 can (15 1/2 ounces) red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) no salt added diced tomatoes, undrained
1 teaspoon McCormick® Oregano Leaves
1 teaspoon McCormick® Rosemary Leaves, finely crushed
1 teaspoon McCormick® Thyme Leaves
1 package (6 ounces) baby spinach leaves  (kale would be good too)
1/2 cup uncooked small pasta, such as mini bowties or elbows (sub for a whole wheat version)

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oil in large saucepan on medium heat. Add sausage; cook and stir 3 minutes. Add onion; cook and stir 3 minutes longer or until onion is tender and sausage is browned.

2. Pour chicken broth, beans and tomatoes into saucepan. Stir in oregano, rosemary and thyme. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 10 minutes.

3. Stir in spinach and pasta. Return to boil on medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 10 minutes or until pasta is tender.

NUTRITION INFORMATION

Calories: 135
Fat: 3 g
Carbohydrates: 16 g
Cholesterol: 9 mg
Sodium: 599 mg
Fiber: 4 g
Protein: 11 g

Chef's Note: This soup was lip smacking good. I did double the amount of pasta and used kale. I will double the amount of diced tomatoes next time that I make it too. Also, I think that fresh herbs would be better than dried but that is normally the case anyways. I would make this again without question as well as serve it to any guest. It's that good!

Sausage and Barley Soup

This soup reminds me of an altered version of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana (the online copy cat version is great by the way). For that reason I would sub the spinach for Kale.

Cooks Beware: Pay careful attention to the ingredients in sausage. You will want to make sure that you are not buying a product with nitrites, nitrates, high sodium, or monosodium glutamate (MSG). I have to shop for my sausage at a different grocer to be sure to eliminate these ingredients but it's well worth it. You might want to make buying sausage like this a rarity and only enjoy this soup on occassions. Ok, on with the recipe...

Ingredients


Cooking spray
6 ounces turkey breakfast sausage
2 1/2 cups frozen bell pepper stir-fry (such as Birds Eye)
2 cups water
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1/4 cup uncooked quick-cooking barley
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh baby spinach (Kale instead? I love this stuff)

Preparation

1. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add sausage; cook 3 minutes or until browned. Remove from heat.

2. While sausage cooks, place stir-fry and 2 cups water in a blender; process until smooth. Add stir-fry puree, tomatoes, and barley to sausage in pan. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat; cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in spinach; cook 1 minute or until spinach wilts.

Nutritional Information

Calories:145 (24% from fat)
Fat:4g (sat 1.5g,mono 1.2g,poly 0.5g)
Protein:9.9g
Carbohydrate:17.9g
Fiber:2.6g
Cholesterol:33mg
Iron:1.6mg
Sodium:493mg
Calcium:53mg

Source: Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast, Oxmoor House, APRIL 2009
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1895927

Kale Soup

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 cup diced red onion
2 garlic cloves, chopped
8 cups curly green or red kale, stemmed and chopped (see note)
4 cups fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 pound yellow-fleshed potatoes, peeled and cut in 3/4" cubes
1 (14.5 oz.) can no salt added diced tomatoes
1 tsp. Spanish paprika (Spanish pimentón)
Salt and ground black pepper

In small Dutch oven or large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring often, until onion is soft, 3 minutes.

Add half the kale and stir to coat with oil. Cook until kale has collapsed, 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add remaining kale and cook until collapsed, 2 minutes.

Add broth. Bring liquid to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add potatoes, tomatoes and paprika. Cover and simmer until potatoes and kale are tender, about 20 minutes longer. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper.

Divide soup among 6 deep soup bowls and serve.

Makes 6 servings
Per serving: 150 calories, 5 g total fat (1 g saturated fat), 23 g carbohydrate,
5 g protein, 4 g dietary fiber, 350 mg sodium.

Note: To stem kale, hold the leaf in one hand with stem pointing up and fold the leaf closed like a book. Firmly holding the leaf, with your other hand and starting at the base of the leafy part, pull the stem away.

Source: American Institute for Cancer Research
http://www.aicr.org/site/News2?abbr=pr_hf_&page=NewsArticle&id=17133&news_iv_ctrl=1088