Tasty Treats By Michi

I'm back!  Wow, I cannot believe I haven't updated my blog in over two months! For the last couple of months I have been eating the same ol' same ol'. Nothing new and exciting, and definitely nothing that was blog-worthy. I was just completely uninspired to make anything new that I came across. 

That was until I went to my sister-in-law's house for dinner about a week ago. Lynn is an incredible cook and every time I go to her house I get to try a new delicious and diet-friendly meal.  This time it was Ina Garten's Mexican Chicken Soup. I absolutely love Ina and had spotted this recipe before, but just hadn't gotten around to trying it.  What a treat!  The soup is light, a little spicy, and very healthy.  It's delicious as an appetizer or as a meal and I think it's a good soup to eat year round since it's not heavy at all. 

I made the soup a little healthier by using skinless chicken breasts and also by choosing fat free toppings.  I hope you enjoy this soup as much as I did! 

Ingredients for Soup: 

• 2-3 large chicken breasts, bone in, skin OFF
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups chopped onions (about 2 onions)
• 1 cup chopped celery (2 stalks)
• 2 cups chopped carrots (4 carrots)
• 4 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 1/2 quarts chicken stock (I use organic)
• 1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes in puree, crushed
• 3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced 
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander seed
• 1/4-1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Ingredients for Toppings:

• Fat free cheddar cheese
• Fat free Greek yogurt 
• Avocado, sliced
• Baked tortilla chips (optional)

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Remove the skin from the chicken breasts, brush the breasts with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper on both sides. Bake the chicken for 35-40 minutes, or until the breasts are cooked through.  Set chicken aside and let it cool. 

Meanwhile, prepare your vegetables.  Chop the onions, carrots and celery. Mince the garlic and jalapenos.  Finally, crush the tomatoes.  To crush the tomatoes, pout the can into a bowl and smash the whole tomatoes with a fork. 

Then, heat three tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat in a large pot or dutch oven and cook the carrots, celery, and onions in the pot for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are crisp tender and the onions are starting to brown. Add the garlic to the pot and cook for 30 more seconds. 

Next, add the tomatoes and their puree to the pot along with the chicken stock, jalapenos, cumin, coriander, 1 teaspoon of pepper, and the cilantro. Bring the soup to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer for 25 minutes. 

Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred it with your hands (or a fork and knife) and add it to the pot.  

Serve the soup with a little bit of sliced avocado, a dollop of yogurt and some cheddar cheese.  Yum! 

*Updated on 01/14/10*

My dad owned a restaurant pretty much my entire life and this restaurant had the best potato soup, by far.  I almost never went there without ordering it.  Of course, it was loaded with butter and cream so I haven't had it in years.  

Yesterday, I decided to attempt to remake the soup into a low fat version at home.  I was really wary of how it would taste because of the fact that I was cutting out basically all of the important fats.  I honestly thought that I might end up throwing away a couple of pounds of potatoes, along with a lot of onions and other ingredients. Amazingly, the outcome was creamy, rich, and delicious!  The fat free half and half actually worked as a substitute, along with the low fat buttermilk. The toppings made all the difference too, the turkey bacon on top was the perfect flavoring to add that little extra "something" to every bite.  I definitely recommend this recipe.  It was so good that in two days, the huge pot is practically gone.  I thought I would be freezing half of it, but there is barely any left! 

Ingredients for Soup: 

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 
• 2 large white onions, chopped 
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup fat free half and half (any brand that doesn't have mono & diglycerides, like Publix)
• 1 cup 1% buttermilk (McArthur)
• 1/2 cup of Nonfat Greek yogurt (Oikos)
• 2 pounds Idaho potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes (I only had Yukon Gold), washed, peeled and cubed into large bite-sized pieces 
• 1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning 
• 1/4 tsp hot sauce (Cholula is our favorite)
• 32 ounces of Organic Chicken Broth 

Ingredients for Toppings:

• Fat Free Cheddar Cheese, shredded (Kraft of Lifetime)
• Nonfat Greek Yogurt (Oikos)
• Green onions, chopped
• 98% Fat Free Turkey Bacon, chopped and cooked

Peel and chop the onions and set aside.  Wash, peel, and chop the potatoes into large bite-sized cubes.  This soup is not creamed at all, so the chunks cannot be too large to eat. 

Heat olive oil over medium low heat.  Toss the onions in the olive oil and saute for a few minutes until soft and translucent.  Add the flour to the onions, stir to coat the onions and then saute for 5 more minutes.  After that, add the chicken stock, half and half, buttermilk and yogurt and stir continuously until smooth. Finally, add the spices, hot sauce, and potatoes. Stir some more and then cover the soup and simmer on low for 45 minutes to an hour, until the soup has thickened and the potatoes have cooked.  Stir the soup occasionally and check the flavoring before serving. Add more salt or hot sauce if necessary. 

While the soup is simmering, cook the bacon.  Chop the bacon and saute in a nonstick pan with some canola oil cooking spray until browned and cooked through and set aside.  Chop a couple of green onions and set aside as well.  

Serve the soup hot with toppings.  Enjoy this amazing and hearty soup! 

You know when it's freezing outside and all you crave is some delicious soup to warm you to the core?  Well, I actually don't know what that's like. You know why? I live in South Florida! However, this soup was absolutely perfect and definitely hit the spot, even on a warm 87 degree Florida day. :)

We paired the soup with some Italian bread toasted with garlic, oil, and mozzarella, and then topped with basil and tomato.  This little sandwich was to die for! Even with fat free mozzarella cheese! I found a new brand of fat free cheese that is now my favorite.  

My husband actually thinks this soup tastes like the old Olive Garden minestrone soup.  He loved it!  We froze half of it to have it again in a couple of weeks and I can't wait to enjoy it for the second time! :) 

Ingredients for Tomato Soup: 

• 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 gloves of garlic, minced 
• 2 34 oz jars of Classico Tomato & Basil Pasta Sauce
• 1 32 ounce box of Swanson Organic Chicken Broth
• 2 15 ounce cans of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed 
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1.5 cups of Barilla Bitalini Pasta
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients for Mozzarella, Tomato, & Basil Sandwich: 

• 1 loaf of Italian bread
• 4 ounces or 1/2 a block of Lifetime Fat Free Mozzarella Cheese
• A few fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 tomato, sliced into circles 
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced 
• 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil 

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  

Warm the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat.  Add the carrots, onion, and garlic and saute until soft, about 5-10 minutes.  Add the jars of tomato sauce, chicken broth, cannellini beans, red pepper flakes, pasta, and pepper.  Simmer for about 15-20 minutes. 

While the soup is simmering, put the minced garlic in a small bowl with the olive oil.  Cut the loaf in half and then in half again, like a sandwich.  Then, using a brush, brush the garlic and oil all over the inside of the bread.  Add about three pieces of mozzarella to each piece of sandwich, along with a little more oil, and three or four leaves of basil.  Wrap the sandwiches in foil and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese is soft and melted.  Remember, it's fat free cheese so it won't melt the same as regular fat cheese, but it will be soft.  

After the sandwiches are done, add some tomato slices to each sandwich and serve along side with the soup.  This makes about 8 servings of soup, so save some room in your freezer to have some more soup later! 

I love cooking things that can be turned into other meals!  After you make some roasted fall vegetables, you can take a few cups of the vegetables and turn it into a delicious soup for another meal.  I served this at Thanksgiving one year as an appetizer and it got rave reviews.  I also love eating this soup for lunch with some pieces of a toasted baguette.  


Ingredients: 

•  6 cups of roasted fall vegetables (see recipe in previous blog entry)
• 1 tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1/2 of a lemon)
• 1/4 cup of 2 percent milk
• 1 tsp of sugar
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper

Directions: 

Working in batches, puree vegetables with a blender.  I put 3 cups of vegetables in the blender with 1 cup of water.  Pour each batch of the puree with a fine mesh sieve into a large saucepan, pressing the puree through with a spoon or spatula.  Discard any chunks that wont fit through the sieve. 

After you have finished pureeing all of the vegetables, heat the soup on medium heat.  You may need to thin the soup with a little bit more water if necessary.  Then add the lemon juice, milk, salt, pepper, and sugar.  The salt and pepper is to taste, so don't be afraid to ad a lot of it if necessary! 

Serve the soup with some toasted bread or crackers.  Enjoy!