Classic Tomato Soup

Classic Tomato Soup Recipe 
Adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Café
Makes 6 Servings

2 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons light butter
1 onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream

In a colander set over a large bowl, drain canned tomatoes, pressing lightly to release juices. Transfer tomato juice to a large measuring cup and add chicken broth. The mixture should measure 3 1/2 cups. Set liquid and tomatoes aside. In pot, melt butter in a 4-5-quart pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook until it is softened, 5 minutes. Add 2/3 of tomatoes, the bay leaf and brown sugar. Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, the tomatoes are sizzling and fragrant. The mixture will be very thick. Stir in tomato paste and flour. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to darken, 1-2 minutes. Slowly stir in reserved tomato juice/broth mixture, the remaining tomatoes, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until slightly thickened, 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat. Discard bay leaf. Puree soup in batches (in a blender) Stir in cream and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm.

Nutritional Information: 203 calories, 23 carbs, 11 fat grams and 4 protein grams.

Review: LOVED - had so much flavor and tasted 'restaurant' to me. The cream probably did it. Very healthy servings, and with the calories being where they are you have room to add a 200-calorie grilled cheese to it. PERFECT cold-weather food or in my case, pregnant food - this baby loves some tomato soup! Great classic i'll be making again and again. I bet it freezes good, too - yum!

Lemony Chicken & Rice Soup

Lemony Chicken & Rice Soup
Makes 4 Servings
Adapted from What’s Cookin’ Chicago

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup carrot, finely diced or matchsticks
1 pound chicken
1 cup long grain rice
5 cups chicken stock or broth
1/4 cup lemon juice (fresh - juice from 2 lemons)
2 tbsp heavy cream
1/2 cup spinach (optional)
2 tbsp minced fresh parsley (optional)
8 oz. mushrooms (optional)

Heat a large pan (with lid) over medium high heat; add oil. When oil is hot, add garlic and onion. Cook until softened, 5 minutes. Add chicken and brown slightly, then add carrots and rice. Stir to toast the rice for a minute. Add chicken broth and lemon juice to the pot. Bring to a boil and stir. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the rice cooks completely. Add cream. Continue cooking and stirring for 2-3 minutes, then garnish with parsley and serve.

Nutritional Information: 358 calories, 44 carbs, 5 fat grams and 35 protein grams.

Review: Big fan! I will say that the mushrooms gave it a different taste, but I made it without and you got much more of a lemony taste. I thought it had a great flavor, and loved the parsley with lemon taste, and that little bit of cream went a long way, too. I think it's a great fall dish and of course anything with rice is a win for me. My recommendations would be to make sure the chicken is more shredded then diced, use fresh lemon juice, and make sure you cook the onions and carrots to where they're soft not crunchy (which is why i'm a fan of matchstick carrots - easier to cook!).

A bite - yum!

Spinach & Mushroom Frittata

Spinach & Mushroom Frittata
Makes 6 Servings
Recipe adapted from Finecooking.com

2 tbsp light canola butter
8 oz. mushrooms
3 oz. baby spinach leaves, thinly sliced
½ cup thinly sliced fresh chives
Kosher salt
10 large eggs
2 tbsp heavy cream
6 slices turkey bacon
6 English Muffins

In a large skillet, melt1 tbsp butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and sauté for 6 minutes. While mushrooms cook, heat bacon in microwave and dice. Set bacon aside. In a large bowl, toss hot mushrooms with sliced spinach. Stir in bacon, chives and ¼ tsp salt. Heat broiler on high. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, cream, 2 tbsp water, ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Stir in mushroom mixture. In the same skillet, heat remaining tbsp butter over medium-high heat, swirling pan so butter coats the sides. Add eggs to pan and sprinkle with ¼ tsp pepper. Cook until eggs begin to set and the bottom turns brown, occasionally lifting the sides with a spatula to let uncooked egg run underneath, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to oven-save rectangular dish sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, and put in broiler.Broil until eggs are almost fully set and the top puffs and browns, 1 to 5 minutes. Check frittata every minute to avoid overbrowning. Divide into 6 servings and serve in toasted English muffin.

Nutritional Information: 317 calories, 27 carbs, 14 fat grams and 20 protein grams.

Review: I loved this! I thought the little bit of whipping cream added a lot, and it tasted fluffy and flavorful. I think my favorite part were the big mushrooms! Sometimes I would eat this in the muffin, or sometimes on the side of a muffin cut in half with a bit of fat-free cream cheese. It reheated well and tasted great. I also liked that it didn't require a cast iron/oven-ready skillet, since I still don't have one yet. I will say that it took a bit of prep, but not too much, especially considering that it feeds 2 people breakfast for 3 days! I'd make it again for sure.

Indian Chicken and Spinach Curry

Indian Chicken and Spinach Curry
Recipe adapted from Food and Wine Magazine/Cooking Light
Makes 4 Servings

1 tsp canola oil
½ cup onion, diced
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp coriander
½ tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
2 jalapeno peppers, seeds and ribs removed, minced
½ cup tomatoes, diced
½ cup heavy cream
¼ tsp cinnamon
1 cups water
3-5 oz. spinach
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into strips
1 cup basmati rice

Cook rice per package instructions. In a large pan, heat oil over low heat. Add onion and cook for 3 minutes. Add garlic and ginger; cook for another 2 minutes. Stir in cumin, coriander, paprika and salt. Cook 1 minute, then stir in jalapenos, tomatoes, cream, cinnamon and water. Add spinach, then cover, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove lid, stir in chicken, cover again and simmer for 10 minutes until chicken is no longer pink.

Nutritional Information: 410 calories, 44 carbs, 12 fat grams and 31 protein grams.

Review: WOW!!! We loved this one - had a lot of fire with the jalapenos and the cream just really made it taste super sinful and "restaurant-like" per Austin. It tasted almost Thai like, but of course without the coconut taste from coconut milk since it used heavy cream instead. We loved it over the basmati rice, and the chicken was super tender from being cooked in the sauce. Use as much spinach as you like - I stuck on the low side because I worry about it's strong flavor's impact. But honestly, it blended so well and just added great, filling protein - yay! This dish is an absolute keeper - there is nothing I would change!

P.S. I apologize in advance for the not-so-fabulous pic - I left my camera at work and had to use a low-pixilated one! :(

Chicken Curry in a Hurry

Chicken Curry in a Hurry
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light recipe
Makes 4 Servings

2 tsp olive oil
½ cup yellow onion
2 tsp curry powder
½ cup fat-free plain yogurt (fage 0%)
¼ cup heavy cream
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 pound chicken, cooked in salt and pepper and shredded
3 cups white rice, dry
¼ cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 7 minutes. Sprinkle with curry powder and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add yogurt and cream and simmer gently for 3 minutes. Stir in salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Divide the rice (and chicken among individual bowls, spoon the sauce over the top, and sprinkle with the cilantro.

Nutritional Information: 464 calories, 60 carbs, 8 fat grams and 30 protein grams.

Review: YUM! This one wasn't as good as the tikka masala I made the same night, but hello - it was 'in a hurry' so obvi a lot less went into it. Also, they're so different, this is a yellow, curry powder-based sauce whereas that was a red/tomato-based sauce. I did think this has a lot of flavor - the onions came out nicely at the end and the sauce, while there wasn't a lot, was thick and easily covered all of the rice and chicken once stirred. I will definitely have this and won't change a thing - i'm also so glad I was able to use heavy cream, but still have the recipe around 450 calories - YUM!

Lemon Chicken Spaghetti

Adapted from Rachel Ray

Lemon Chicken Spaghetti

Makes 4 Servings

Salt
16 oz. chicken, diced cooked in salt and pepper
8 oz. spaghetti
1 tbsp olive
2 tsp minced garlic
½ tsp red pepper flakes
Zest/juice of 1 lemons
3 tbsp heavy cream
¼ cup parmesan, divided
½ cup basil, finely diced

Cook diced chicken in a medium-sized pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray over medium heat. Cook pasta according to instructions. Reserve ½ cup cooking water. Heat olive oil, garlic, red pepper, lemon zest and juice and heavy cream. Str for 2-3 minutes. Add 2 tbsp parmesan and ¼ cup basil. Stir for 1-2 minutes. Add pasta and cooking water. Stir for 3-4 minutes. Divide into four servings, add four ounces chicken to each, and top with remaining parmesan and basil.

Nutritional Information: 431 calories, 39 carbs, 12 fat grams and 39 protein grams.

Review: This one was great! The zest made it super powerful and lemony, and the spice helped add to that so flavor wasn’t an issue. I will say that after reheating it wasn’t as creamy as the cream kind of stuck to the noodles, but I still liked it. Next time, I’m going to try a smaller noodle and call it Lemon Chicken Penne or whatever – this will reheat better – no doubt. I will definitely make this recipe again.