Showing posts with label onion. Show all posts

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Soup

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!  December flew by and was full of shopping, decorating, eating, and celebrating (as it should be).

My mom in front of her tree - 1956.  My niece in front of my mom's tree - 2012.

But ....after a few too many days of cheese, crackers, cookies, and chocolate, I decided to make this soup to help me get back on track.  It comes from a vegetarian cookbook my friend sent me as part of an awesome fall care package.  I chose to try this recipe first because it's low fat, full of fiber, and very filling.  It makes 6 generous servings, each one being 6 weight watchers points plus.  I made a few changes based on what I had in the house (canned beans in stead of dry, previously caramelized and frozen onions instead of raw) but stuck to all of the original ingredients.

What you will need:

2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed (3 cups)
1 medium onion, cooked (1 cup)
2 cups water
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut in 1/2 inch pieces (between 1 and 2 cups)
3 large sweet potatoes (about 4 cups)

SAUCE
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
1 can diced or crushed tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne


Put 2 cups of water in a soup pot and bring to a boil.  Add cooked onion, carrots, and sweet potatoes, and reduce heat to low.  Cover and let cook for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes, add beans and let cook for an additional 15 minutes.  If you like more of a stew consistency, drain excess water from pot.  I did this twice while making this soup because I like a thicker consistency.

Start to make sauce while soup is cooking.  Heat oil in a small skillet over medium heat.  When hot, add tomatoes, garlic, oregano, cumin, salt, and cayenne.  Reduce heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes.  When your 15 minutes on the soup is up, stir tomato mixture into it and let it cook for another 15 minutes for the flavors to blend.


Chicken Fajitas

I've made these fajitas a few times and a few different ways based on what I had at home. They are a take on Skinnytaste's Chicken Fajitas and very simple and quick to put together. They are great topped with Pico De Gallo, stuffed into a tortilla, or eaten plain.

Here's what you will need:

16 oz boneless skinless chicken tenderloins (or chicken breasts)
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 limes, juice of
2 teaspoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder

(you may want to add other types of peppers or spices to fit your taste)

In a medium non stick pan, cook chicken over medium heat in the juice of two limes.  I started doing this recently to avoid using oil and it gives the chicken a great flavor.



Shortly after putting chicken in the pan, add cumin, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.  In a medium sized bowl, toss chopped peppers and onions with 2 teaspoons olive oil, salt, and pepper.



When the chicken is done cooking, remove from pan and put the pepper and onion mixture in. Saute until tender. 



 Meanwhile, you can shred your chicken.


When the peppers and onions are done, mix them with your chicken and enjoy! 



Curried Coconut Lentil Soup

I've been looking for some fall recipes and found one that I thought sounded perfect for this dreary, rainy day. It WAS perfect.  Curried Coconut Lentil Soup.  I must admit I have never [knowingly] eaten lentils, cooked with coconut milk, or curry powder.  I know, kind of weird, but I'm still pretty new to cooking.  These flavors, along with all of the others in this soup, were amazing together.  I only made one addition to this recipe and followed the original cooking directions. I  would highly recommend making this!

                                  

What you will need:

2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup coconut milk (I used Trader Joe's unsweetened from the shelf)
3 cups water
1 cup red lentils, rinsed (I used Trader Joe's split red lentils)
1/4 yellow onion, chopped
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1 cup fresh or frozen peas (I used frozen)


First, saute the garlic and olive oil over low heat in a medium to large pot for 2-3 minutes.  Then, add tomato paste, curry powder, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and salt, and saute for another few minutes.  Stir constantly.


Next, add water, coconut milk, garbanzo beans, onion, lentils, and peas.  Bring to a gentle boil and cook for 15-20 minutes uncovered.  Stir occasionally.  Remove from heat and enjoy!



This made 4.5 cups worth of soup for me.  With it being 4 servings (a little over a cup in each), each serving has about 310 calories, 17 grams of protein, 45 grams of carbs, 6 grams of fat, and 12 grams of fiber. 7 WW points plus - not too bad!



Thank you, Molly Alice Nests, for this recipe!  Be sure to check out her blog for the original recipe and much prettier pictures.

Cucumber Salad

Ever since I started Weight Watchers, I've gotten really excited about finding foods and dishes that are 0 or very few points (naturally).  This cucumber salad only has 3 points for the entire recipe and it's very easy to put together.  It's a great side dish for summer barbecues or asian themed dinners.

What you will need:

1 large cucumber (I used about 3/4 of one I had in my fridge)

1/4 large onion (I used white, but you could also use red)

1/2 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Nakano Rice Vinegar all natural

1 teaspoon sugar

First, slice your cucumber and onion as thinly as possible.


In a medium sized bowl, toss cucumber and onion.  Then, add salt, rice vinegar, and sugar.  Toss one more time to coat.


This made a quick and easy side dish to my Pork Gyoza Pot Stickers from Trader Joe's.  Enjoy!

Pico de Gallo

As much as I'd love to be making some fall recipes now that it's September, it's still about 90 degrees and extremely humid outside.  So, for now I decided to keep my canned pumpkin in the cabinet and make some pico de gallo.  I mainly followed the recipe by The Pioneer Woman.  I only used 2 jalapeños instead of 3, but it is still very spicy! I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to spicy foods - but I am trying to get better, so I did keep the seeds in.  If you want to take down the heat, you can take the seeds out of the jalapeño before you chop it.  Also - whenever you chop hot peppers, try to wear thin gloves.  I am new to using them in recipes and recently found this out the hard way.

This pico de gallo is extremely fresh, low calorie, and 0 weight watchers points! Enjoy!



What you will need:

5 roma tomatoes

  (or an equivalent in another type of tomato - I used 1 roma tomato and lots of grape tomatoes I had to use up)

1/2 large onion


2 jalapeños (more or less depending on desired spiciness)


Approximately 1/2 cup of cilantro


1 lime (juice of)


Salt (to taste)


None of these ingredients need to be exact - feel free to add or take away depending on what you have on hand.



Take tomatoes, onion, jalapeños, and cilantro and chop, chop, chop.  Then, put all chopped ingredients into a large bowl.  (I need to learn how to chop things into smaller pieces.)



Then, add juice of one lime or add juice to taste.


Last but not least, add salt to taste. 
That's about it! Use as a dip, topping for tacos or fajitas, or eat by the spoonful!


*I used this tonight on top of our chicken fajitas - yum!