Simple & Light Sunday Soup

Yesterday afternoon, I was a bit hungover and still full from a big brunch of migas at The Shed. It was a surprisingly cold and really windy day (hello, beginning of the windy season in the desert!) and I was tired and just wanted to make a quick, kind of soothing dinner. I also wanted something light and healthy-tasting, so I threw together this easy Asian-inspired soup in about 20 minutes and it came out really well. It has just a few ingredients, but it's fairly flavorful due to the pepper flakes and the garlic.

lame cellphone pic

Soothing Spinach, Leek & Tofu Soup
hands on time 20 minutes
total time: 15-20 minutes

1 leek (or onion)
couple of handfuls of fresh spinach, torn
1 block of extra firm tofu, pressed
4 cups broth
1 good, heaping tbsp of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 or 2 tsps of soy sauce
sprinkle of powdered ginger (optional)
couple sprinkles of red pepper flakes
salt to taste
pepper to taste
green onions as garnish (optional)

1. Press the entire block of tofu between two heavy plates for a half an hour or so.
2. Chop the white and light green part of the leek into rounds; discard dark green portion.
3. Combine oil, garlic and leeks in a medium-sized pot; saute until leeks are soft, about 5 minutes or so.
4. When the leeks are soft, add in the spinach and stir to coat the leaves with oil. Cook until spinach leaves are just wilted.
5. Add in broth, pepper flakes and ginger; cook on low medium heat for about 10 minutes.
6. Taste; if it seems underwhelming, add in some soy sauce for a bit more flavor.
7. Chop pressed tofu into small squares and add to the mixture, cook for another 5 or so minutes.
8. Add more of the pepper flakes, ginger, soy sauce, salt and pepper, to your liking. The flavor should be noticeable, but still pretty mild.

Feel free to make this spicy if you like spicy; I always feel like eating spicy food helps me get rid of all of the toxins I take in during a night of drinking, so I made mine really spicy last night.

This would also be good with onions, bok choy, swiss chard, or any other combination of oniony-type vegetables and greens. If you don't like tofu, you could easily substitute in rice or quinoa, but I like the texture and added protein of the tofu here. I'd steer clear of noodles for this soup, as the whole point of it is that it's really light: pasta adds some some bulk that is kind of the antithesis of this soup.

What do you like to eat for a hangover? I used to swear by greasy stuff like burgers and fries, but now I feel like lighter stuff makes me feel better faster. Plus, soup is hydrating!

Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Soup

This is an incredibly easy and surprisingly tasty recipe. I made it on a Friday night (when I was staying in, lame), but I will probably make this pretty frequently now that it's getting cold outside---just put the stuff in the crockpot in the morning and have a hot, spicy soup ready to eat when I return from class.

sorry for the lack of pictures. The blue stuff is blue corn tortilla chips

Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Soup
Hands on time: 5-10 minutes Total time: 3-6 hrs


1 can chicken or vegetable broth
1 can chopped green chilies (the teeny can)
1 can or jar of enchilada sauce (I used 505 brand)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can or package of frozen corn
2 cups water
3-4 cups shredded chicken (more, if you want it)
couple tbsps of garlic
cumin and chili powder to taste (at least a tsp each, I'd say)
optional: 1 onion, finely chopped and quickly sauteed in olive oil before putting it in the crockpot
optional: cilantro for garnish

1. Put the chilies, sauce, tomatoes, corn and chicken into the bottom of the crockpot.
2. Add the broth, water, and spices.
3. Cook on high heat for 3 hours or low heat for 6 hours.

If you wanted, you could add some pre-cooked rice or quinoa in there, as well, about a half hour before you're ready to eat it. I like putting tortilla chips in the bottom of the bowl before I put the soup in, then topping it off with some shredded Mexican cheese.

Things To Do With Summer Tomatoes aka I Hope You Like Basil

Tomatoes have been my favorite food since I was a little girl; I never go more than a few days without eating them in one form or another, and I always have them in my kitchen. To me, they're a staple (just look back at my previous recipes). Late summer is basically heaven for my tastebuds, as tomatoes are at the peak of their growing season, abundant in number and with the best flavor they'll have all year.

Tomato Salad: pretty much my favorite food in the world

Sunday Summer Tomato & Bread Soup
serves 4
This is a perfect soup to make on a Sunday afternoon. I meant to write this post yesterday and call it "Sunday Soup & Other Stuff," but I had way too good of a time at the Hatch Chile Festival and went to bed super early. Labor Day is really like Sunday take two, though, so I'm going to pretend "Sunday Soup" still applies. I went to the Farmer's Market (the one here in Las Cruces is really awesome) and bought 1.5 lbs of cherry tomatoes for $2.  I was wondering what to do with them when I remembered this recipe, which I adapted. I think you could easily make this recipe using regular tomatoes, as long as you seed them first.

1 lb cherry tomatoes
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 tbsp garlic
1 cup broth (vegetable or chicken, your choice)
2 tbsps olive oil
2 handfuls of stale bread
a bunch of fresh basil
salt
pepper
Italian seasoning

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prick each of the cherry tomatoes (I used both red and yellow) with a toothpick once or twice. In a roasting pan, add the tomatoes. Glug on some olive oil, sprinkle some salt and pepper, and strategically place basil leaves.

I lost my camera, so this picture was taken on my phone

3. Roast for 20 minutes or so, or until tomatoes are slightly shrunken.
4. While cherry tomatoes are roasting, saute the garlic in 1 tbsp of olive olive in a soup pot, then add the canned tomatoes.
5. Add 1/2 a can (14 oz) of water, plus 1 cup broth. Bring to a boil.
6. Stir in some salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.
7. Turn down heat and let simmer for 15 minutes or so.
8. When tomatoes are done roasting, add to pot. Then gently stir in the bread and some chopped basil.
9. The soup may need a bit more salt or Italian seasoning, but you should definitely serve it with fresh parmesan on top.

About to stir the bread in

I didn't have any stale bread, so I toasted some pre-sliced whole-wheat to put in the soup. This was not the best choice; baguette or Italian bread would work better here. I actually overdid it with the bread and my soup ended up pretty thick, so watch yourself with the bread handfuls. You'll want to make sure you still have some broth left by the end of the recipe.



This is an ideal summer soup, because it cooks up fast (not a lot of time sweating over a hot stove) and it's fairly light. According to Cheap Healthy Good, it has 402 calories per serving.

Tomato Salad
serves 1-2 as a side dish
If tomatoes are my favorite food, this is probably my favorite way to eat them. This simple salad is always part of my go-to meal, sometimes as a side dish, sometimes as the actual main dish. My grandmother would always make it for me when I came to visit as a child, and I continue to love it fiercely. I eat it year-round, but it is particularly wonderful during the summer, when fresh basil and tomatoes are both in season.

;


2-3 tomatoes, diced (works well with tomatoes of all sizes except cherry or grape)
glug of good-quality olive oil
glug of balsamic vinegar
5 or so leaves of fresh basil, chopped
salt
pepper

1. Dice the tomatoes and put into a bowl, being sure to get all the good juice in there too.
2. Glug some olive oil over them--enough to make them oily, but not so they're swimming in it.
3. Glug some balsamic vinegar over that--not too much, but to your liking.
4. Stir, then taste to see if the oil-vinegar ratio is correct; if not, add more of either one.
5. Add the salt and pepper and basil, stir again.
6. Let sit for a few minutes so the flavors can combine.

It's also quite possible to make this with dried or dehydrated basil, which I frequently do in the winter. Substituting garlic salt is delicious, as is adding in some chopped mozzarella. It's the best over bread (if you've ever eaten bruschetta, this is basically the way to make it), which you can then use to sop up the salty-vinegary-basily tomato juice when you've eaten all the actual tomatoes. Tomato Salad is also pretty healthful, as the main ingredient is your average 50-calorie tomato. Fast, simple, cheap, and flavorful.

Spinach-Leek Egg Drop Soup

I kind of combined a few recipes to make this, namely this one and this one. I added the leeks and the spinach, because I really like leeks and because I eat spinach with basically everything. I also think they look pretty in the soup.

Unlike most soup (which I find tends to be most flavorful 1-2 after days initially cooking), this soup tastes the best when eaten immediately.


Spinach-Leek Egg Drop Soup

Ingredients:
2 cans of low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
2 tbsps cornstarch
1 leek, chopped
4-5 handfuls of fresh spinach, torn (2-4 cups)
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
garlic salt to taste
1 tsp ground ginger

You will also need a fork. Conveniently, I used the one I had just whisked my eggs with.

1. Put the broth into a soup pot on medium-high heat. Let it warm up a little.
2. Chop leeks and tear spinach; add to broth.
3.In a small bowl, combine the water and the cornstarch, then add to broth and stir.
4. Add salt and ginger. Stir again.
5. Crack eggs into bowl (or, in my case, a really large measuring cup with a spout. Spout is good for pouring the eggs in) and whisk until blended.
6. Turn off heat. Don't forget to do this!
7. Slowly, very slowly, pour the eggs into the broth (here comes the weird part) through the tines of the fork. This keeps the eggs from meeting the water too fast, and it also seperates them into smaller "ribbons." It should take 2-3 minutes to pour all of the eggs in.
8. Periodically while pouring the eggs, stir the soup in one direction.
9. When all eggs are gone, stir and eat! Optional: more garlic salt

A bonus to this recipe is that it is extremely low in calories. A leek has about 54 calories, baby spinach has 15 calories per 2 cups, and eggs are about 100 calories each, with one yolk being about 54. The brand of broth I used (Albertson's Fat Free) has about 10 calories per can. I'm not good at math or at figuring out servings, but it's pretty clear that this is a healthy soup.

Some people have referred to this soup as "girl food," but the soup is way more filling than it looks, due to the protein in the eggs. I like to eat it with toast.