Butternut Squash and Zucchini Soup – Another Low Sodium Choice

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Butternut Squash, crockpot, low sodium, slow cooker, soup, vegan, vegetarian, zucchini

I’m still on my quest to make tasty, low sodium meals for my inlaws. In cooking for others, in addition to my own brood at home, I’ve found the slow cooker to be an immense help! I load it up in the morning and let it cook all day and by dinner time, I’m still up for cooking dinner for our household. Today’s meal was a delicious, hearty squash soup that would be a great autumn meal! I love the warm, fresh flavor of butternut squash and that beautiful orange color makes for stunning soups! This recipe is very low sodium. You can add some, if that’s not an issue for you, but this was pretty tasty as is. As I always like to say, play with your food! This soup is a perfect opportunity to play with your herbs and spices.

I didn’t happen to have any carrots on hand, but those would have been a great add to this soup! This recipe coud easily be adapted to be vegan friendly.

Butternut Squash and Zucchini Soup

2 zucchini, thickly sliced

1 medium butternut squash, cubed

2 potatoes, peeled and cubed

1/2 large white onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, mince or pressed

2 tsp garlic and herb Mrs. Dash

1 tsp Table Blend Mrs. Dash

2 tsp fresh thyme, removed from stems and chopped

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp cardamom 

1/4 tsp Chinese five spice

5 cups chicken or vegetable broth (I used some of my homemade chicken broth, so I know there was no salt)

1/2 cup fat free half and half

Add all ingredients except the half and half to your slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until all veggies are tender. Add half and half for the last 15 minutes of cooking time. I have an immersion blender, so I used this right in my slow cooker pot to blend this up and make it a smooth texture. You can also transfer to a blender or food processor in small batches and blend until smoot. As always, be extremely careful when transferring and blending hot liquids. Hold that lid in place, so hot liquid doesn’t explode into your face!!!

Be careful and enjoy!

Broccoli and turnip soup

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Broccoli, Green, healthy, low-fat, soup, turnip, vegan, vegetarian

 

This recipe comes from another blogger. I thought it looked like a great spring soup. It could even be served with Easter dinner. I love the color! And this recipe can easily be adapted to be a vegan dish.

Though I have not posted anything for a while, I keep cooking and taking photos when I try new recipes. I am now working (it’s been already a year and a half!) and I don’t have much time for innovation but now and then I cook new stuff. This winter, I started to cook soups. This […]

https://petitefrenchy.wordpress.com/2016/03/19/broccoli-and-turnip-soup/

The Goal is Scrumptious: Zuppa Toscana

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Bacon, Cooking, potatoes, recipe, sausage, soup, spinach, the goal is scrumptious

  

When I saw this post I knew it was something I would have to try. It sounds fabulous and I have been all about the good soups this winter!

Recently we sampled a version of zuppa toscana, a type of Italian cream soup, at a friend’s house.  One of our hosts was the first to taste it.  After one bite he apologized.  “Oh, sorry guys.  It’s a little spicy.” Still crunching away on my salad, my reply was, “No worries!  We like spicy.”  This is true.  My husband, […]

https://quirkyandwonderful.wordpress.com/2016/02/10/the-goal-is-scrumptious-zuppa-toscana/

Turkey & Red Lentil Soup – Savory and Hearty Goodness!!!

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Cooking, Food, red lentils, soup, Sweet potatoes, Turkey, vegan, vegetarian

  
I had some red lentils left over from the soup I made a few days ago. I thought I might as well throw those in a pot and get creative. I didn’t feel like going vegetarian this time, so I added some ground turkey, but you could leave that out of the recipe. This turned out to be a very savory, hearty and delicious dinner for my family. They really enjoyed it! This recipe could easily be adapted to make it vegan friendly.

As I frequently do, I thought I would sneak some vegetables into the soup. This kept it to a one pot meal, so all I had to do was serve the soup and folks could grab a slice of the bread I made to go with it. I happened to have sweet potatoes on hand, so I diced a couple of these up and added them to the soup. After cooking with the lentils for quite a while, these sweet potatoes melted like butter in your mouth when eating the soup. Yumm!!!

Now I got creative with the spices in this version. You might not have some of the spices I used in your pantry, but that’s OK. As I always say, play with your food! Give your spices a smell and taste a little and see if you think it would add an interesting dimension to your dish. You might discover a new flavor profile that you love!

Turkey & Red Lentil Soup

1 ½ cups red lentils

5 cups chicken or vegetable broth

2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

2 tsp cumin

¼ tsp saffron

¼ tsp cardamom

½ tsp ginger

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced or 1 tbsp canned, diced jalapeno

4 fresh basil leave, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, pressed or diced

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 red onion, diced

1 pound ground turkey

Salt and pepper to taste

I chose to cook mine in my Dutch oven on the stove top, but you could also put this in a slow cooker, but if you’re doing this you’ll want to cook it on low for 6-8 hours. Using the Dutch oven, my cook time was about 2 hours total.

Put lentils and broth in pot and bring to a simmer over medium low heat. Add next 9 ingredients (sweet potatoes, beans and spices) to lentil pot. In a frying pan, cook ground turkey and onions. Cook until turkey is browned and onions are soft and translucent. Add turkey and onions to soup pot. Continue to simmer. For the last 30 minutes, tilt the lid to allow some of the liquid to cook off. You may need to increase the heat a bit to maintain a simmer. You want to allow your lentils about 2 hours total cook time. Salt and pepper your soup to taste.

Enjoy!

Red Lentil Soup – An Awesome Lowfat, Yet Hearty Soup

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Cooking, cumin, Food, lentils, recipe, red lentil, slow cooker, soup, vegan, vegetarian

  
I don’t know why, but with all the soups I make I had not made lentil soup until just recently. I’ve used regular lentils and last night I made a red lentil soup that was just fantastic! I’m a convert! Lentil soup it is! This red lentil soup had a curry flair to it and was a little bit spicy, which I love!

Lentils are more than just a tasty soup ingredient. They are a very healthy addition to your meal. All types of lentils have similar nutritional values. They are virtually fat free and an excellent source of protein, iron, fiber and vitamin B.

This particular soup was very low in fat and calories. It could easily be made vegan by substituting vegetable broth for the chicken broth that I used.

I can’t take credit for creating this recipe. There was no author, but it came out of the Something Extra magazine that Raleys supermarket puts out.

Red Lentil Soup

2 tbsp olive oil

4 garlic cloves, diced or pressed

1 large onion, finely diced

3 carrots,  peeled and finely diced

1 – 2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely diced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

Zest and juice from one lemon

2 tbsp toasted cumin seeds (I put mine in a dry frying pan and sautéed over medium high heat for a couple of minutes until fragrant)

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1 tbsp ground cumin

5 cups vegetable or chicken broth (I used my home made turkey broth)

2 cups red lentils (I found these in the bulk section of my grocery store)

2 tbsp tomato paste

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, cook for 5 minutes or until onions are translucent.
2. Add all ingredients, except salt and pepper, to slow cooker and stir. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Add salt and pepper to taste at the end of cooking time. 

As shown in the picture, I served mine with sliced avocado. The avocado cut the spice nicely. Cilantro would also be good.

Enjoy!

Immersion Blenders – A Must Have Kitchen Tool

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appliance, blending, Cooking, Dressing, Food, immersion blender, sauces, soup, tool

  
Once again’ I fear I am a bit behind the times, but better late than never, right?!? Until recently, I did not own an immersion blender. Since I got mine, it has become one of my favorite kitchen tools. Why is it so great you ask? Well let me tell you!

1. They’re not very expensive. You can buy yourself one of these bad boys for about $30. Some come with extra accessories and cost more, but you can get away with a basic version.

2. You can blend stuff right in the container you want it in; the slow cooker, a sealable storage container, your serving container, or the pot you cooked it in! My blender came with a large measuring cup that came with a lid. For cold items of a smaller quantity, I put all my ingredients in there, blend it and put the lid on to store it in the fridge.

3. It’s a convenient size and easy to clean. It’s way smaller than a food processor and the blade attachment comes off easily and goes in the top rack of the dishwasher. If you live in a place with a small kitchen and limited storage, the immersion blender is a great tool that take the place of larger stand blenders and food processors.

What can you make with this handy dandy gadget???

• Soups – My friend, Rachel Showers, makes this awesome curried carrot soup. The first time I made it, I had to transfer this piping hot soup between my slow cooker to the food processor and back again in several batches. Not fun and frankly a recipe for disaster!!! If I can find a way to burn or cut myself in the kitchen, it will be done! With the immersion blender, I can cook my ingredients in the slow cooker until tender and then stick that blender right in the slow cooker and blend it until it’s incredibly smooth!

• Sauces – I haven’t used it as much for this, but back around New Year’s Eve I made crab cakes. I wanted a sauce to go with them and I made this lemon garlic aioli. I’ve never made my own mayonnaise, so I did not know the heaven that was to come when I blended eggs with oil! The lemon and garlic made this sauce the perfect, tangy accompaniment to my crab cakes! And this is just one example of a sauce you could make.

• Salad Dressings – If you read my earlier blog entries, you’ll see a couple of salad dressing ideas I’ve mentioned where you blend different ingredients with bottled ranch dressing to jazz it up; herbs, avocado, salsa, etc.

• Whipped Cream

• Smoothies

Anyway, if you don’t already have one or are looking for a space saving appliance to help with your blending needs, I highly recommend this tool. There are a variety of models available at Amazon.com. This would make an excellent, reasonably priced gift for any cooks in your life or a nice present for yourself!

Word of Warning!!! ALWAYS unplug your immersion blender before cleaning or putting your fingers anywhere near the blade!!!