Low-Fat Broccoli Cheddar Soup: Of Cheese and Rock

Wednesday night, The Boyfriend and I jaunted off to Queens to play Rock Band with our friends A and A. I’m not a big video game fan, preferring to read, socialize, or hit myself in the head with a mallet. That said, Rock Band was the most incredibly fun game in the history of America, time, and space. Seriously, playing skee ball on a roller coaster in Oz wouldn’t even compare. I got to strum bass to a Pixies song, bang drums to an R.E.M. classic, and discovered that my vocal range most resembles that of ‘70s-era Ozzy Osbourne. Which, frankly, is a tad uncomfortable, but good to know for future karaoke parties/Black Sabbath auditions.

Our impromptu evening of RAWK curbed my cooking plans, so I was forced to make Cook’s Country Low-Fat Broccoli Cheddar Soup late last night instead. (And lemme tell you - nothing endears you to a roommate faster than running a blender at 11pm.) The soup is part of my self-imposed Use More Cheese mandate, as one of the drawbacks of writing a healthy cooking blog is the general absence of face-loving, soul-warming, high-in-fat foods like bacon, chocolate, cheese, and bacony chocolate cheese. Cooking Light’s Fresh Tomato Lasagna, Cheesy Eggplant Bake, and Light Mac and Cheese have also been also part of the effort.

Which brings us back to the soup. I liked it! It made a healthy, gloriously green side or main course, with enough frommage-y goodness to keep me from feeling like I was drinking a salad. There are, as always, a few notes:

1) Leeks are dirty, dirty birds, so they have to be cleaned pretty thoroughly before adding to a recipe. I use Lidia Bastianich’s method, which can be found here.

2) I didn’t puree the soup well enough at first, which resulted in something not unlike leaf-strewn rainwater. It took a few minutes on ICE CRUSH to finally get a smooth consistency, but the extra choppage was worth it in the end.

3) Both leeks and broccoli were pretty pricey in my ‘hood this week, and I’m betting that better shoppers could make this schlamiel for about two bucks cheaper.

Cook’s Country kindly provided the nutritional information, so only the price calculations are listed below. Happy weekend, everybody! (And go play Rock Band. Seriously. Now. Run.)

Low-Fat Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Makes 6 (large) servings
Adapted from Cook's Country.
Note: I know this picture is terrible. Please, please make it anyway. You won't be sorry.

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
2 leeks, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise and sliced thin
1-1/2 pounds broccoli, florets chopped, stems peeled and sliced thin
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth (or veggie)
1 cup water
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
¾ cup fat-free evaporated milk
4 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)
salt and pepper

1) In a large pot over medium heat, warm butter until melted. Add leeks and broccoli stems. Cook around 8 minutes, or until both are a tiny bit soft. Add garlic. Cook about 30 seconds to 1 minute, until fragrant. It will look like this:

Add broth and water. Jack up heat until everything starts to boil. When that happens, drop heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer around 8 minutes, or until broccoli stalks are pretty soft. Then, add broccoli florets. Cover again and cook another 5 minutes, until those are tender, too.

2) Kill heat. Add soup to blender. Blend/puree the heck out of it, until there are no broccoli bits left. I can't emphasize this enough: it should be totally, completely smooth. Add mustard, milk, and cheese to blender. "Puree until cheese is melted." Salt and pepper to taste. (You can do this in two batches. Whatever you do CC says, "make sure to fill your blender no more than halfway with hot soup.")

Very special note: this soup will last a few days in the fridge, but be careful reheating. Boiling it will cause the cheese to do weird things, so cook leftovers over medium-low.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving
210 calories, 11 g fat, $1.34

Calculations
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter: $0.05
2 leeks, white and light green parts only: $2.00
1-1/2 pounds broccoli: $2.97
2 garlic cloves: $0.06
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth: $1.00
1 cup water: FREE
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard: $0.18
¾ cup fat-free evaporated milk: $0.37
4 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1 cup): $1.25
salt and pepper: $0.03
TOTAL: $8.01
PER SERVING: $1.34

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Guest Post From Rachel, The CHG Gourmet: Italian White Bean and Spinach Soup

Because I am a dorkus with a penchant for glossy paper, I get some of the food rags delivered to casa de la CHG Gourmet. Among others, Gourmet, Bon Appetit and Food & Wine all grace my doorstep monthly. Yes, I know I’m killing trees, but there’s something really satisfying about gawking at pretty, shiny pictures and getting to dog-ear pages; I suppose this is what comes of not getting to read enough Tiger Beat as an adolescent.

Of all these mags, Cook’s Illustrated is my clear favorite. I’ll go one further: I have a full-blown crush on CI. If I could personify it, CI would be the unattainable, hunky, early-30’s professor who knows just about everything and totally gets you. On the other hand, Cooking Light would be the smart-but-underachieving annoying back-row slacker with an undiagnosed case of ADHD.

Since CL can be so hit-or-miss, I’m floored when the mag does something right—and *boy* did it do something right. The November issue boasts a feature with Alexandra Jamieson, she of the vegetarian cookery and the Morgan Spurlock wedlock. Man alive, can that woman cook. Case in point: her delicious foods helped Morgan regain his girlish figure after his month of bodily abuse, courtesy of Mickey D’s. (And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, rent Super Size Me right this instant. Go. Now. I’ll wait.)

Anyway, Alex is the very definition of CHG standards. She’s big on making flavor paramount, sacrificing fat, and proving that it can be done on a shoestring. In any event, that wily minx actually convinced me to try a CL recipe, and boy, am I glad I did.

Alexandra Jamieson’s Italian White Bean and Spinach Soup (adapted slightly for my pantry)
Makes 6 servings (serving size: 1 cup)
Adapted from Cooking Light.


1 1-oz. package of dried shiitake mushrooms [Note: Kris and I joined Coscto several years ago, and purchased a mammoth bag of dried shiitakes for next to nothing. This is a great use for those bulk buys.-Rachel]
2 cups boiling water
2 tsp. olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups chopped fresh spinach, or 10-16 oz. of frozen chopped spinach
1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
¼ tsp. dried thyme
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 15.5 oz. can of cannelloni beans or Goya small white beans
14 oz. of organic vegetable broth
Kosher salt to taste

1) In a small bowl, mix mushrooms and boiling water. Cover and leave about 15 minutes. Drain mushrooms, reserving liquid. Once mushrooms are drained, chop them up and set aside.

2) In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook 5 minutes, until onions are soft and mushrooms are tender. Add reserved mushroom juice, spinach, rosemary, thyme, black pepper, beans, and broth. Bring to a boil. Cover, turn heat to medium-low, and simmer about 10 minutes. Season with salt. Serve with thyme and a little red pepper.

Cooking Light’s Nutritional Breakdown:
CALORIES 78 (22% from fat); FAT 1.9g (sat 0.3g,mono 1.1g,poly 0.4g); PROTEIN 2.8g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 42mg; SODIUM 261mg; FIBER 2.9g; IRON 1.3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 13.5g

Approximate Calories, Fat, Weight Watchers Points Value, and Price per Serving
78 calories, 1.9 g fat, Points Value: 1

Calculations
1-oz. dried shiitake mushrooms: $0.58
2 tsp. olive oil: $0.06
1 cup chopped yellow onion: $0.20
2 garlic cloves, minced: $0.10
16 oz. of frozen chopped spinach: $1.49
1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary: $0.25
¼ tsp. dried thyme: $0.05
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper: $0.01
1 15.5 oz. can Goya small white beans: $0.69
14 oz. of organic vegetable broth: $0.30
Kosher salt to taste: $0.01
TOTAL: $3.74
PER SERVING (TOTAL/6): 78 calories, 1.9 g fat, about $0.62

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Lentil Soup: Friends, Romans, Christmasmen, Lentil Me Your Ear

(Apologies for the title. Punnerific!)

Just in time for the holidays, it’s the Christmasiest dish of all: Lentil Soup!

Okay, not really. While Lentil Soup doesn’t scream O Come All Ye Faithful, it is most definitely a meal for frigid December nights – a dense, stewy comfort food that may not be fancy enough to serve guests, but does just fine for on a random Wednesday.

Like every other food that's not pasta or chicken, I’m kind of new to lentils. They careened into my life during a braising class about a year ago, like some savory, wine-infused comet. Needless to say, Cabernet Sauvignon + veal stock + anything = highly satisfying, so my introduction was totally jolly and very bright. However, I do understand why some might have an aversion to lentils. Honestly, they’re kind of dry, and there’s only so much you can do to make ‘em kick. BUT, prepared with some flair (FLAIR!), they’re pretty palatable. Good, even.

This dish fits the flair bill. (The flair bill? Okay, I’ll go with it.) It’s an All Recipes special that starts with a rough mire poix and then simmers long enough to infuse everything with a gentle, savory flava.

Based on reviewer comments, I reduced the olive oil by half, opted for diced tomatoes, substituted chicken stock for half the water, and chose balsamic vinegar over red wine vinegar. They were all good suggestions, though I might cut back on the vinegar. It nearly overpowered the other flavors.

Based on my own preferences, I nixed the spinach called for in the original recipe. I’m raw spinach’s biggest fan, but the cooked stuff seriously grosses me out. I vividly remember accidentally biting into a diner spinach roll a few years ago and nearly spitting it back at my sister. She was not pleased, but – yick.

Also? I think I may have finally learned how to “salt and pepper to taste.” This is very exciting, since I formerly interpreted that particular direction as “salt and pepper until your tongue turns into a raisin.” My new understanding is that salt should be applied enough to highlight and strengthen a flavor, but not become a flavor in itself. Three cheers.
So - here it is. Hope you like it, and I'll be back late next week with new posts. Happy holidays!

Lentil Soup
Makes six large servings
Adapted from All Recipes.

1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 cups dry lentils
8 cups water (OR 4 cups water and 4 cups broth)
2 tablespoons vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1) In a large pot or dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, and celery. Saute until onion is soft and tender, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, bay leaf, oregano, and basil. Saute another 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2) Add lentils. Stir. Add water and tomatoes. Stir again and bring to a boil. Once soup begins boiling, drop heat to medium-low and simmer for a minimum of 60 minutes.

3) When soup is just about done, stir in spinach and continue cooking until it wilts. Add vinegar. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price per Serving
356.5 calories, 7.2 g fat, $0.69

Calculations
1 onion, chopped: 46 calories, 0.1 g fat, $0.15
2 tablespoons olive oil: 239 calories, 27 g fat, $0.16
2 carrots, diced: 50 calories, 0.3 g fat, $0.20
2 stalks celery, chopped: 11 calories, 0.1 g fat, $0.40
2 cloves garlic, minced: 9 calories, 0 g fat, $0.10
1 teaspoon dried oregano: negligible fat and calories, $0.02
1 bay leaf: negligible fat and calories, $0.03
1 teaspoon dried basil: negligible fat and calories, $0.02
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes: 82 calories, 0 g fat, $1.39 (ouch)
2 cups dry lentils: 1356 calories, 4.1 g fat, $0.48
4 cups water: negligible fat and calories, free
4 cups chicken stock: 346 calories, 11.5 g fat, $0.92
2 tablespoons vinegar: negligible fat and calories, $0.24
salt to taste: negligible fat and calories, $0.02
ground black pepper to taste: negligible fat and calories, $0.02
TOTAL: 2139 calories, 43.1 g fat, $4.15
PER SERVING (TOTAL/6): 356.5 calories, 7.2 g fat, $0.69

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Mm-mm Good: Egg Drop Soup

In college, when money seemed trivial and our appetites were never-ending, my roommates and I ate a LOT of Chinese food. We’d file into the Main Street restaurant, place our orders with the brilliant 10-year-old girl behind the counter (definitely a future Nobel Laureate), and settle down for heaping mounds of Sesame Chicken and Fried Rice. In retrospect, I’m not sure how our metabolisms kept up. Maybe they didn’t. Maybe that’s why my butt reached epic proportions after graduation.

Nowadays, ordering Chinese food is a different ball of wax for me. It’s one of the rare takeout experiences during which I can score giant containers of healthy eats for a few bucks. Steamed vegetables and meats, brown rice, a wide array of soups and sauces – places like Wo Hop and Dah Lee have it all, and the food’s made right there, to boot. Bonus.

Yet! Yet. I’ve found there are a few dishes that can be duplicated at home for less money. In the case of this All Recipes Egg Drop Soup, it saves about ten cents a pint off the cost. That doesn’t sound like much, but consider:

-You don’t have to tip a delivery man.
-It takes less time than ten minutes.
-All the ingredients are guaranteed fresh.
-You can alter it to your liking.
-There’s less waste.
-Taste-wise, it’s comparable to any restaurant.

Not bad for what looks like a pot of water and eggs, huh? I suggest pairing it with Light Chinese Chicken and Broccoli for a grand ol’ time.

AllRecipes graciously calculated the fat and calories, so only the price is added below. I should add that this isn't my picture. I forgot to take one (duh), so this is from Flickr.

Egg Drop Soup
4 servings, about 1 cup each
Adapted from All Recipes.

4 cups chicken broth, divided
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives or scallions
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 eggs
1 egg yolk

1) In large saucepan, combine 3-1/4 cups chicken broth, salt, ginger, and chives. Bring to a boil.

2) In a small bowl, combine remaining broth and cornstarch. Set aside.

2) In a different small bowl, whisk eggs and yolk together. Very slowly, drizzle egg into boiling broth. (It will cook instantaneously.) When all the egg is gone, slowly whisk in the cornstarch mixture, until the soup hits your preferred consistency. Serve hot.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price per Serving
94 calories, 5.8 g fat, $0.45

Calculations
4 cups chicken broth: $0.92
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger: $0.01
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives (I used green onions): $0.35
1/4 teaspoon salt: $0.01
1-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch: $0.03
2 eggs: $0.34
1 egg yolk: $0.16
TOTAL: $1.82
PER SERVING (TOTAL/4): $0.45

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An E-Mail Miracle: Curried Sweet Potato Stew

About four or five years ago, I seriously embarked on a weight loss plan and signed up for eDiets. I did it mostly for the free body profile and never used the service, opting for Weight Watchers and self-tracking instead. (Which worked! Whee!)

Since then, I’ve received an e-mail from the company every. Single. Week. Normally, this would annoy my face off, as I generally trash any corporate ads without “FREE METS SEASON TICKETS FOR YOU, KRIS” plastered across the top. In this case, it would have been an awful mistake, like the AOL/Time Warner merger or hot pants.

Stunningly, eDiets' weekly missives are varied, educational, and even kinda fun. The best feature is undoubtedly the Food Hall of Shame, where readers submit their crazy-gross guilty pleasures (scrambled eggs and syrup, pickle and yogurt milkshake, etc.), but the healthy recipes always looked nice, too. I just never got around to trying one until this week. And you know what? Me like.

The first thing that struck me about Curried Sweet Potato Stew was the scent, since I began by sauteing a mirepoix with ginger and a bay leaf. After about twenty minutes, it assumes a fiery orange color, which definitely makes it one of the prettier meals on Earth. Finally, the taste enters the picture. It’s warming and exotic, with a touch of Thai in there (from the ginger and curry, I guess). For next time, I would double the lentils and add another cup of sweet potatoes for hardiness. The Boyfriend suggested reducing the liquid more and pouring over rice, and I could see that working well, too.

Yet, even without the alterations, this was a satisfying, thrifty late-Autumn meal, especially with a few Ritz thrown in for effect. All in all, a pleasant surprise, a lot like the eDiet e-mails themselves. Ahhh.

(NOTE: I don’t work for the company. Really. I swear.)

Curried Sweet Potato Stew
Makes 3 large, dinner-sized servings
Adapted from eDiets.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup diced carrot
1/4 cup diced celery
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
1 bay leaf
pinch of red pepper flakes
1-1/2 cups peeled and cubed sweet potato
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 cup dry white wine
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup brown lentils
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt to taste
plain yogurt of sour cream (used light sour cream)

1) In a large pot or dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, ginger, bay leaf, and red pepper flakes. Saute until veggies are soft, about 8 or 10 minutes. Add sweet potatoes and curry powder and saute 1 minute. Pour in wine and cook until nearly evaporated, stirring occasionally. Add broth, tomatoes, and lentils. Drop heat to medium and simmer about 30 minutes uncovered, until both lentils and sweet potatoes are cooked.

2) Remove pot from heat. Add lemon juice, salt, and half the cilantro. Serve, topped with sour cream and the rest of the cilantro.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price per Serving
408.3 calories, 14.8 g fat, $1.15

Calculations
1/2 cup onion: 24 calories, 0 g fat, $0.10
1/4 cup carrot: 13 calories, 0.1 g fat, $0.12
1/4 cup celery: 4 calories, 0 g fat, $0.15
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger: 5 calories, 0 g fat, $0.10
1 bay leaf: negligible fat and calories, $0.03
pinch of red pepper flakes: negligible fat and calories, $0.01
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil: 243 calories, 27.5 g fat, $0.04
1-1/2 cups sweet potato: 172 calories, 0.1 g fat, $0.55
1 tsp. curry powder: negligible fat and calories, $0.02
1/4 cup dry white wine: 48 calories, 0 g fat, $0.27
4 cups chicken broth: 346 calories, 11.5 g fat, $0.92
1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes: 25 calories, 0 g fat, $0.20
1/4 cup brown lentils: 271 calories, 0.8 g fat, $0.06
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro: 1 calorie, 0 g fat, $0.48
juice of 1/2 lemon: 6 calories, 0 g fat, $0.25
salt to taste: negligible fat and calories, $0.01
3 Dollops light sour cream: 67 calories, 4.5 g fat, $0.15
TOTAL: 1225 calories, 44.5 g fat, $3.46
PER SERVING (TOTAL/3): 408.3 calories, 14.8 g fat, $1.15

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The Boyfriend, Miso Soup, and Giving Thanks

Instead of listing 5,000 different recipes for cranberry sauce or waxing poetic about perfectly seasoned stuffing (I’ll leave that to the experts), for this pre-Thanksgiving post, I’m gonna chronicle what I’m grateful for this year. Here goes:

• Family, friends, and good health
• Road trips
• Paying off college
• Becoming a slightly better cook
• The blogging dealie (good times and neat people)
• Alton Brown
• The Office (Now in reruns. Give the writers their due, dangit!)
• The failure of the Bratz movie
• This year’s lack of smarmy, gloating Yankee fans
• Johnny Depp’s 20th consecutive year on the “Dudes I’d Smooch” list (A record!)
• New Arcade Fire AND Radiohead albums
• No new Creed albums
• Our apartment not burning down when that weird socket thing happened
• My Cabbage Patch Kid's 23rd birthday (Mah little girl’s growin’ up!)
• The Boyfriend

In regard to that last one, I'm a pretty smitten kitten. TB and I have been co-habitating for almost five months now (dating for 18), and the gloppy loveyness grows everyday. (You may stop reading now to vomit.) What’s more, he’s totally obliterated my long-held theory that I unconsciously seek men who can’t cook. Blessedly, he knows a pot from a pan, the definition of “simmer,” and all how to tell if jambalaya is going to suck or rule.

Years ago, when TB was living alone in Queens, still months away from the Spain trip that would effectively end his vegetarianism, he cooked regularly for himself. This miso soup was a menu mainstay. Oh, there are glammed-up versions out there that aren’t quite as spartan, but his four ingredient concoction gets the job done (hardcore). It’s runs about a third of the price of what a Japanese restaurant would serve, to boot.

Anysways, he's a good egg, and I'm thankful he's around - for the miso soup, happy times, and otherwise.

(Side note: I could have bought the tofu for about a dollar cheaper, saving a quarter off each bowl. Alas, I lack forethought and should be whippened.)

The Boyfriend’s Bare Bones Miso Soup
4 servings – 1 cup each

4 cups water
¼ cup white miso paste (we used Shiro miso – Kris)
About 7 or 8 oz soft tofu, cut in 1/3” cubes (we used Nasoya – Kris)
2 green onions, sliced diagonally into ¼” pieces

1) Bring water to a boil.

2) Drop in green onions and tofu, and boil for 4 or 5 minutes (stirring lightly on occasion so tofu doesn’t stick to bottom.)

3) Drop in ¼ cup miso paste and stir until dissolved.

4) Serve.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price per Serving
85 calories, 3.1 g fat, $0.87

Calculations
4 cups water: negligible calories and fat, $0.00
¼ cup miso paste: 159 calories, 4.8 g fat, $0.49
About 7 or 8 oz soft tofu: 165 calories, 7.5 g fat, $1.50
2 green onions: 16 calories, 0.1 g fat, $0.70
TOTAL: 340 calories, 12.4 g fat, $2.69
PER SERVING: (TOTAL/4): 85 calories, 3.1 g fat, $0.87

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Easy Peasy: Nigella Lawson's Easy Pea Soup

(Before we get started with today's recipe - a happy, happy "hi" to y'all coming over from Meredith's blog, Like Merchant Ships. She was extremely generous with her linkage, and for that, I'm way grateful.)

“Pea Soup” is a less-than-appetizing title for anything about to be placed on a dining room table. On the upper end of the intellectual spectrum, guests will confuse it with fog. At the lower end, your company may never stop giggling. Yet, this version, from Nigella Lawson (as interpreted by Serious Eats) will make friends, family, and pets forget all about the name.

Boasting a lovely, Kermit-reminiscent shade of green and a staggering prep time of 15 minutes (five of them spent doing dishes), Nigella's Pea Soup is one of the simplest, most rewarding comestibles I’ve ever had the pleasure of wolfing down (the other being Bobby Flay’s Parmesan Crusted Portobello Mushrooms with White Truffle Oil).

Fast dishes aren’t supposed to be this good. Cheap ones shouldn’t taste this classy. Peas legendarily suck. Yet, against all odds, Nigella won my heart. And possibly my Boyfriend. He loved it, especially paired with lasagna and a crunchy side salad.

Next time you have to prepare an upscale soup at breakneck speed, try it out. A few suggestions, though:

1. Puree the everloving heck out of it. Otherwise, you’re left with a slightly mealy texture that becomes less appealing with every leftover sampling.
   
2. Should you go heavy on the cheese, ease up on salt. Parm is kind of salty anyway, and its flavor shines through in the dish.
   
3. If you have an aversion to, allergy of, or deep-seated enmity toward peas, it might be best to skip the soup entirely.

P.S. I paid a ridiculous amount for both the stock and the peas (which I thought were on sale), so I’m thinking that a better shopper could make this cost about half the price that I did.

Easy Pea Soup
4 servings – 2/3 c each
Adapted from Nigella Lawson/Serious Eats.

2 cups vegetable stock
3 cups frozen peas
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
2 teaspoons Olive oil
4 teaspoons Parmesan cheese

1) In a medium saucepan, heat stock over medium-low heat. Pour in peas and cook until just tender.

2) In a blender, process peas and stock until totally smooth. When almost finished, add balsamic vinegar and mix a little more.

3) Season with salt and pepper. Serve topped off with a little olive oil and paremesan cheese (1/2 teaspoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of parmesan per serving worked well for me. - Kris)

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving
131 calories, 3 g fat, $0.71

Calculations
2 cups vegetable stock: 30 calories, 0 g fat, $1.09
3 cups frozen peas: 374 calories, 1.3 g fat, $1.43
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar: 10 calories, 0 g fat, $0.07
Salt and pepper: negligible fat and calories, $0.03
2 teaspoons Olive oil: 80 calories, 9 g fat, $0.06
4 teaspoons Parmesan cheese: 28 calories, 1.9 g fat, $0.14
TOTAL: 522 calories, 12.2 g fat, $2.82
PER SERVING (TOTAL/4): 131 calories, 3 g fat, $0.71

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Chicken Noodle Soup for the Failure’s Soul

(This title is particularly relevant to yesterday's NL East ballgames. Who replaced Tom Glavine with my my 90-year-old Aunt Dot?)

Usually, when I mess with recipes, the results leave something to be desired.

Like that Amazon Cake where I doubled the sugar and upped the oil content by half? Dad had a fine birthday pudding that fateful year.

Or how about the time with the Weight Watchers Macaroni and Cheese? In retrospect, substituting fat-free singles for low-fat cheddar was a bad idea. (Mmm … orange plastic …)

Ooo – then there were those Cooking Light zucchini chips where I decided SALT WAS NO OBJECT, and the end product was akin to licking the inside of a McDonald’s french fry bin.

Yeah. My record kind of stinks. If I was a baseball club, I'd be the September 2007 Mets (with better pitching). Last week though, the semi-evil machinations worked. I took Sarah Moulton’s Old-Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup, played with a few of the directions, and came out with something vaguely edible. No – that’s selling it short. It was actually GOOD.

Starting with the basic recipe, I reduced the butter, used stock I had in the freezer, dumped in leftover meat from last week’s Roast Chicken with Grapes, halved the whole thing, and only followed the latter half of Sarah’s directions. The results were a hearty, high-end chicken noodle soup that went swimmingly with a small side salad. Though I was initially alarmed by the calorie content, my fears were for naught since the soup was a meal in itself.

So, take THAT, Self Doubt! Cram it in your ear, Low Expectations! Blow it out your rear end, Part of My Brain That Insists I Endanger the Lives of All I Hold Dear When I Go Near a Stove! This worked! And it will for you, too. (No orange plastic, I promise.)

Two quick side notes:

1) This is a make-and-eat-immediately dish. The leftovers are all right, but don’t really qualify as soup, since the noodles absorb what’s left of the liquid. And there's a slight congealing issue, but that's best left unexplored.

2) A store-bought quart of chicken stock will reduce the fat and calorie total pretty significantly, but will detract from the taste overall.

Sara Moulton’s Heavily Revised Old-Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup
4 servings – Packed 1 cup each
Adapted from Sara Moulton.

1 quart chicken stock, plus more in case you need it
10 oz. roast chicken leftovers (no skin, trimmed of fat) cut into pieces
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 carrot, peeled, thinly sliced
1 celery stalk, sliced
1 teaspoon butter
1/2 cup mushrooms, quartered
1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
4 ounces dried egg noodles
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

1) In a large stock pot, bring broth to a rolling simmer. Drop in onion, carrots, and celery, and cook about 8 or 10 minutes, until vegetables soften.

2) In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms. Saute 5 or so minutes, until they start browning. Add lemon juice and stir.  Pour mushroom-lemon mixture into broth.  Then add noodles, parsley, and chicken. Simmer another 5 minutes, or until noodles are tender, adding more broth if needed. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving
345 calories, 9.3 g fat, $0.75

Calculations
1 quart chicken stock: 346 calories, 11.5 g fat, $0.92
10 oz. roast chicken meat leftovers: 531 calories, 20.5 g fat, free (leftovers)
1/4 cup chopped onion: 12 calories, 0 g fat, $0.08
1 carrot, peeled: 25 calories, 0.1 g fat, $0.11
1 celery stalk: 6 calories, 0 g fat, $0.20
1 teaspoon butter: 34 calories, 3.8 g fat, $0.03
1/2 cup mushrooms: 8 calories, 0.1 g fat, $0.75
1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice: negligible calories and fat, $0.06
4 ounces dried egg noodles: 419 calories, 1 g fat, $0.50
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley: negligible calories and fat, $0.33
TOTAL: 1381 calories, 37 g fat, $2.98
PER SERVING (TOTAL/4): 345 calories, 9.3 g fat, $0.75

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Of Sisters and Soup: Butternut Squash and Pear Soup

Two years younger, two inches shorter and a pack-a-day smoker, my sister L can (and will, if provoked) kick the everloving crap out of me in a fair fight. Sure, she’s a softball pitcher and ex-lifeguard and I have the biceps of an anorexic Woody Allen, but there’s no worldly explanation for her superior strength, speed, and skill - especially because her diet blows.

Somehow, the woman has become the family jock even though all her meals end in “tot.” A notoriously choosy eater, L actively rejects vegetables, fine cheeses, braised meats, and homemade sauces for cereal, boxed pasta, and Diet Coke. (Not together, like in a slurry. That would be gross.) She made fun of me on Thanksgiving for adding shallots to gravy, and pooh-poohs all edibles that don’t have a mascot. When I told her about this post, L cooed, "Ooo - you have to write how I tell you to stop putting shit in my food." In sum, she hates healthy, home-cooked, perservative-free cuisine.

But she likes this soup.

I wasn’t expecting much when I plopped a bowl in front of her last year, so when L raised those expertly-plucked eyebrows, smiled, and delivered an approving, “This is really good, Kris,” it was as if God himself had given me the thumbs-up from on high. It made me jig in my parents’ kitchen, and I don’t even know how.

Adapted from Dave Lieberman’s Butternut Squash and Pear Soup recipe, it’s sweet but not cloying, and marries the fruit and vegetable with happy, soul-warming results. Plus, it makes a fine first course, but can also act as a main in a pinch. To save cash and calories, I took out Dave’s cream and rosemary, and added a dash of pumpkin pie spice for extra flava.

L's coming to visit this week, and I have a batch all ready for her. I was considering whipping up a whole fancy meal, but this just might do for now. Baby steps, you know.

(P.S. Buying pre-cut vegetables is not the most frugal thing, but butternut squash is hell to butcher. I’ve never been able to slough the skin off with a vegetable peeler, and have come close to losing limbs in the chopping process. If you’re cool with it, go crazy, but if you want to save time and precious blood, grab a box of supermarket-sliced chunks.)

(P.P.S. Must ... work on ... food ... photography...)

Butternut Squash and Pear Soup
Makes 9 servings, 1 cup each
Adapted from Dave Lieberman.

4 tablespoons butter
2 medium onions, diced
1 medium butternut squash peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
4 pears, peeled and chopped into roughly 1-inch pieces
1-quart (4 cups) low sodium chicken (or veggie) stock, or enough to cover
Dash of pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg or cinnamon
Salt, freshly ground black pepper and granulated sugar

1) In a large stockpot or dutch oven, heat butter over medium-high until melted. Drop heat to medium, add onions, and cook until soft and a little translucent. Add squash and pears and sweat for another 15 or 20 minutes.

2) Add stock and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until squash is tender.

3) If you have an immersion blender, great – use it. If not, process half the batch in a blender until smooth. (Be very careful here, lest the blender spill over.) Remove and process the other half. Add both halves back into pot.

4) Season with spice, salt, pepper, and sugar to taste.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price per Serving
191 calories, 6.4 g fat, $0.63

Calculations
4 tablespoons butter: 400 calories, 44 g fat, $0.37
2 medium onions: 92 calories, 0.2 g fat, $0.60
1 medium butternut squash: 562 calories, 1.2 g fat, $2.20
4 pears: 322 calories, 0.7 g fat, $1.52
1-quart (4 cups) low sodium chicken stock: 346 calories, 11.5 g fat, $0.92
Dash of pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg or cinnamon: negligible fat and calories, $0.02
Salt, freshly ground black pepper and granulated sugar: 50 calories, 0 g fat, $0.05
TOTAL: 1722 calories, 57.6 g fat, $5.68
PER SERVING (TOTAL/9): 191 calories, 6.4 g fat, $0.63

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Stock in the Name of Love: Chicken Stock from Scratch

When I was first told that homemade stock was tastier, cheaper, and easier than buying a big ol’ can, I almost burned the messenger for blasphemy. (I couldn’t help it. I was feeling burny.)

Since the urge to set things aflame never fully subsided, I decided to test it out on said homemade stock. I grabbed a chicken skeleton, some leftover skin (both from Marcella Hazan's Roast Chicken with Two Lemons), and stuck it all in a pot with a few vegetables and some water. An hour later, the arson urge was gone, the apartment smelled like Per Se (er, not that I’d know), and I was beating The Boyfriend off with a ladle.

In other words, the stock was stellar, and I was a moron.

Since then (let’s call it “last week”), I’m a homemade stock convert. My freezer’s full of stock popsicles (stocksicles), and a pesto recipe has already benefited greatly from the brew. Going forth, I’ll use it whenever possible.

A quick note about the attached recipe: though Calorie King estimates homemade stock at 43 calories and 1.4 grams of fat per cup, it’s really tough to compute the count accurately. Subsequently, I left those numbers out of the calculations (though I’m guessing both are pretty low).

Chicken Stock
Makes 7 cups
Adapted from Tyler Florence.

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 carrots, cut in large chunks
2 celery stalks, cut in large chunks
1 onion, halved
1 garlic bulb, halved
1-1/2 lbs reserved chicken bones and various parts
2 quarts cold water
4 sprigs fresh parsley
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves

1) In a large pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add carrots, celery, onions, and garlic and saute for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. (If you're afraid of the garlic burning, add it during the last 30 seconds.) Add chicken bones, water, parsley, thyme and bay leaves. Turn heat to low and simmer for 1 hour. Strain the stock into a large bowl. Throw the solids out.

2) Place in fridge overnight. Skim out anything on top before bagging/storing it. Will keep for a few days in the fridge or an eon in the freezer.

Approximate Price Per Serving
$0.23

Calculations
2 tablespoons olive oil: $0.16
2 carrots, cut in large chunks: $0.24
2 celery stalks, cut in large chunks: $0.25
1 onion, halved: $0.18
1 garlic bulb, halved: $0.25
1-1/2 lbs chicken bones and parts: FREE (leftover from paid-for chicken)
2 quarts cold water: FREE
4 sprigs fresh parsley: $0.15
4 sprigs fresh thyme: $0.30
2 bay leaves: $0.10
TOTAL: $1.63
PER SERVING (TOTAL/7): $0.23 `

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