Carrot & Apple Soup

Served with Sun Dried Tomato Cream Pasta

This soup was light, sweet and savory and incredibly simple to make. I reduced the amount of butter called for but I would imagine replacing it with a quick spray of non-stick cooking spray would do just fine as well. Using sweet potatoes or butternut squash in place of the carrots would probably be an excellent variation of this soup.

 

 

 

Carrot & Apple Soup 

Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 3 large golden delicious apples, peeled and chopped into 1" chunks
• 2 pounds carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/2" chunks
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp sweetener such as Splenda (or sugar, agave nectar, etc.)
• 1 tsp peeled and minced or grated fresh ginger
• 2 cups water
• chives, chopped for garnish, optional
• half & half or creamer for garnish, optional, I used one of the individual half & half tubs compliments of my office :)

Sunday Dinner: Tomato & Cheese Pie with Bean & Corn Chowder

I swear my bf thinks I'm a nut but I can't help myself. I love holidays, special occasions and festivals and everything themed that goes along with them. I was completely unprepared for Cinco de Mayo and the Kentucky Derby this year but who says you can't celebrate after the fact? And pardon me for bragging but I did call the winning horse so even more reason to make a feast. The menu: Bean & Corn Chowder, Tomato & Cheese Pie and a Coconut Ambrosia Salad for dessert. The Tomato & Cheese pie was the biggest hit, but I really liked all three. I would normally make a lot healthier, lower cal versions of these, but I went with what was on hand and we made this our lunch/dinner for the day.

Bean & Corn Chowder

A dairy free "chowder" that's very healthy and excellent as leftovers!

Servings: 8

• Non-stick cooking spray
• 3 carrots, peeled, cut in half lengthwise and sliced into 1/4" pieces
• 1 large celery rib, cut in half lengthwise and sliced into 1/4" pieces
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large can pink beans, drained and rinsed (Rinsing canned beans reduces the sodium content by up to 40%)
• 2 packages frozen corn
• 2 cups water
• 32-oz. container vegetable broth (approx. 4 cups)
• 2 tsp no-calorie sweetener
• 1 1/2 tsp seafood seasoning such as Old Bay
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper 
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, if desired

Vietnamese Sweet & Sour Soup

"Holy sh*t!"

Pardon my French but that was my honest reaction when I tasted this. I was dying to have the vegetable soup from World Resource Cafe on Lincoln Road, which closed down over a year ago & I couldn't seem to find any other restaurant that had a vegetarian soup with that exact taste. On this occasion I set out to recreate it myself. The sweet, sour and hot flavors are incredibly satisfying. The best part about this recipe is that it took hardly any time at all. Whether or not this soup would be considered Vietnamese, Thai or whatever, I'm really not sure, but the most similar recipe I found called it Vietnamese.

Vietnamese Sweet and Sour Soup

Yield: 6-8 servings

• 1 1/4 quarts (5 cups) water
• 1 quart (4 cups) vegetable broth                                   
• 1 tsp ground peppercorn
• 2 tsp sea salt                                   
• 7 tsp Thai Tom Yum powdered soup mix (found at an Asian grocery store, although you may be able to find in the ethnic food section of a regular grocery store, I haven't looked)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 Tbsp lemon grass paste (found in a tube  next to the fresh herbs in the produce section) 
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 20-oz can pineapple chunks, with syrup
• 1 8-oz package bean sprouts
• 1/2 large sweet onion, chopped into about 1" square pieces
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced 
• 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 tsp tamarind paste concentrate* (My mom picked it up for me at an Indian grocery store. Can likely be found at an Asian grocery store as well; if you use the powder I believe you are supposed to triple the amount, but do some trial and error)