Author: lydiakj

Healthy recipes and all my thoughts about physical and mental health.

Lentil Soup for the Soul

Well, I’m sick. It never fails, every year I deal with minor seasonal allergies on and off throughout the fall and then boom, Thanksgiving gets here and I get bronchitis or pneumonia or the plague (or whatever). Hopefully this year it won’t be that bad. Usually in the past I’ve been travelling for Thanksgiving, or I was busy with school, or both, so I always blamed my annual illness on stress. This year I’m not in school or travelling, so I’m really hoping it doesn’t get any worse. So far, I’m not so sick that I can’t function, but I’m still sick enough that all I really want in life is a big bowl of soup and my mommy.

Luckily, two nights ago I made a really great Lentil Curry Soup, which turned out to be even better this afternoon when I reheated it. I think my body predicted this illness and so it encouraged my brain to make a huge batch of soup ahead of time. That’s totally plausible, right?

Lentil Curry Soup

Continue reading “Lentil Soup for the Soul” →

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100 Ways to Stock a Kitchen

Over the last few months I’ve been slowly collecting a set of cookbooks I’ve never opened. I always think they look like a great and wonderful idea, until I get home and realize I already have the entire Internet and my own imagination. But over the summer, a friend was getting married and to go with the little mixing bowls she had on her registry I got her this really cute cookbook from Crate & Barrel:

I thought it was so cute (and relevant) that I bought a second one for myself. Then it went on the shelf with all the other rarely opened cookbooks. But the other day I was bored and noticed it, so I opened it up, and in the first chapter, the author goes through all of the ingredients she thinks are absolutely necessary. No respectable cook, she says, should live without these things.

Going through her list, I found some of her must-have ingredients were no brainers. Cumin, duh. Sea salt, duh. Garlic & ginger, double duh. But then other things went from duh to “huh?” They were things that would never occur to me to keep, nor did they seem so vital, useful in enough different ways to warrant having these things constantly on hand. Some examples of the huh items were anchovies, tapenade and seven different kinds of vinegar. That seemed extreme to me until I realized I have four or five already.

So this list of kitchen essentials got me thinking, what are my own kitchen essentials? Are my must-haves totally weird, too? What is my kitchen’s equivalent to “seriously? tapenade?” Once every month or two I will go on a big grocery spree to restock all of the things I use all the time (which inevitably always run out at the same time, right?) and I realized, I definitely have my own list of kitchen ingredients I wouldn’t want to go without. Some get more frequent action than others, but I would be annoyed if I discovered any of these were missing. If you’ve read more than two entries of this blog I seriously doubt the list will feature any surprises.

 Notes:

  • 100 seemed like a lot to me, but then I thought about it and with all the little things like spices and condiments, it’s not really that much.
  • Okay it’s actually more like 103…I forgot some essential essentials and added them in.
  • There are a few things I will always buy organic–spinach and other greens, soy & meat products–and some things I never will, like bananas and avocados, because the part we eat is protected by the thick outer layer and because conventional tastes just as good (or better). Generally I specified if something should be organic on this list, but that is a personal decision depending on how paranoid environmentally-conscious you are and how much money you want to spend.
  • I also included things like English muffins, which I probably haven’t included on the blog before, but I do use at least once a week.
  • There were a couple other things I wanted to include because I use them frequently but only seasonally, like peaches, or that can’t really be kept stocked because they’ll go bad, like salmon.
  • Obviously this list is designed to my particular tastes. If you like a lot of meat or hate spicy things, this will need some tweaking.

The most important thing to note about my list is that there are very few things that are processed, and what is processed is only marginally so. A lot of things I would have bought from a conventional vendor I’ve started trying to make myself (like hummus and salad dressing). I have observed so far in my journey that cooking from scratch and eating as many whole foods as possible is really the best thing to keep me feeling strong and healthy. With the exception of a few additional items: granola bars, one or two organic frozen meals in case of emergency, and an occasional box of crackers, this is pretty much all I keep around. If I keep other things, I’ll eat them. Having a very specific list like this helps curb temptation.

I don’t know if this will be helpful to other people. But even if it isn’t, I think it’s a good idea to take a catalogue of all of the things you use on a regular basis. Making sure they are always on hand will a) make meal preparation way easier b) enable spontaneity in your kitchen goings-on and c) hopefully allow you to avoid opting for takeout because, “we’re out of everything, ugh!” or snacking on unhealthy stuff because, “there’s seriously nothing to eat!”

Personally this has been an important lesson for me to learn, and an on-going challenge to really adhere to. But honestly, organization has been key to my success so far. If I make sure I have everything I’m going to need for the week, and plan ahead a lot of the things I intend to eat, I am a lot less likely to stray from my goals. I will stick to the plan, when there is one. When there isn’t one–anarchy! Chaos! Nobody wins (except maybe saturated fat and the pizza industry). So far, this particular list has been good to me. Sticking to these foods, most of which are fruits, vegetables and nuts & seeds, I feel better physically than I probably ever have before. Even within the list, I use bread crumbs and brown sugar a whole lot less frequently than I use apples and spring mix. The goal of a good grocery trip, a stocked kitchen, and this entire blog is just to enable a lifestyle that is as healthy and nutritious as possible, and to cut out as many possible deterrents as I can from getting where I want to be.

-lj

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Fairy Tale Breakfast Foods

Ahh the elusive day off. Is there anything in the world better than a day of no earthly responsibilities after a too-long work bender? After working 11 straight days, including about 35 hours just this past weekend, I had huge aspirations for my day off. I was going to stay in bed at least until the p.m. hours, and then watch 8 to 10 hours of TV on DVD. Sadly, my body was not really into that idea and I woke up at 9, feeling like I had an overwork hangover.

I stayed in bed a little longer, checking social media, election polls, online gossip magazines–basically the entire Internet, but really, lounging in bed until mid-afternoon just was not as appealing in practice as it was in my head. Not to mention I was starving. So, I got up to scavenge the kitchen for food, which was a little tricky because groceries were pretty sparse.

The best thing about taking a day of rest and actually planning on wasting the whole day is that if a project ends up being way longer than I want it to, who cares? I’m just getting a little behind in my schedule of nothing. Oh man, breakfast took an hour to make? That only gives me two hours to sit around listening to music and playing Spider Solitaire until I need to start marathoning tv shows instead. It’s gonna be tight, but I think I can still squeeze everything in!

So I was looking through the fridge, determined to find something satisfying that wouldn’t require putting real pants on leaving the house. Also, since it was my day off I wanted something kind of extravagant. We’re not talking eggs benedict or a full Irish breakfast, but just something more satisfying than a glass of grapefruit juice and a banana.

Blueberry Almond Porridge

During the fridge hunt, I found several fruits and vegetables that are, to me, more later day foods. Why is it we’re programmed to associate certain foods with certain times a day? If an apple is too heavy for breakfast why would anyone ever want a pancake?

The only “breakfast fruit” I found were some blueberries that needed to be used asap. They looked like they must’ve been on their last good, mold-free day. But since I wanted something more than raw fruit, I reserved the blueberries and took to the pantry. I found a box of steel cut oats, which I had tried in something else a couple months ago. I remembered liking them the other time I tried them, but I didn’t remember anything else about them.

So to jog my memory, I read the box, which informed me the best method for making steel cut oats is to make a porridge!

Seriously, I thought porridge was not a real food but just something they talk about eating in little kids’ stories. Next you’re going to tell me that curds & whey is a real thing too.

Without even knowing really how it would turn out, I felt like porridge was exactly what I was looking for. Something warm and bold and vaguely rustic. The perfect thing for a cool autumnal day where you refuse to wash your hair and intend to stay under a blanket forever.

To be honest, I’m still not positive this was actually “porridge” or if there is a difference between porridge and steel cut oatmeal, but whatever it was, it was delicious.*

*Okay so based on a Google images search I might have overcooked this, but my instructions are for legit porridge. Promise!

Blueberry Almond Porridge

Serves: 3-4. Prep Time: <;5 minutes. Cook Time: approx 45 minutes.

Ingredients:

  • 1 Cup Dry Steel Cut Oats
  • 2 Cups Water
  • 2 1/2 Cups Unsweetened Almond Milk
  • 1/4 Cup Raw Sliced Almonds
  • Dash Salt
  • 1 Cup Blueberries, washed
  • 1 Tablespoon Honey
  • 2 teaspoons Vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
  • 1 Tablespoon Baking Stevia (or light brown sugar)
  • 2 Tablespoons Chia Seeds

In a medium saucepan, add water & milk and bring to boil. NOTE: I recommend doing this on the notch below high heat because I learned the hard way that almond milk is a very um, needy boiler.
While the liquid is coming to boil, combine honey, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and stevia, stir until the spices are blended in, and set aside.
Once the milk and water are boiling, add the oats and almonds. Continue boiling the oats (and almonds) until they don’t look like little pebbles and start to look more fluffy. Expect this to take about 10-15 minutes. Stir frequently while this is happening to avoid a) the oats sticking to the bottom of the pot and b) the liquid running over.
Once the oats seem thicker and softer, add in the blueberries and sweetening mixture. I poured the blueberries into the pot in a big lump and then poured the sweetener directly on top of them before mixing everything in with the oats.

Turn the heat down to low, and let everything simmer 25-30 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated. At about the 20 minute mark of simmering, stir in the chia seeds. Make sure to mix until they are evenly distributed.
Now that I’m thinking about it, and writing this all out, it’s really a matter of preference how liquid-y you want your porridge to be. I let mine simmer for a full half hour, but next time I will probably take it off the burner five minutes earlier so it’s creamier. Then again, it was super tasty the way I made it so maybe it doesn’t matter that much. Just don’t forget to keep stirring regularly.

Feel free to add some honey, syrup or brown sugar to it once you’ve served it. I totally did (1 teaspoon honey).

I really enjoyed this porridge. Hot cereal with fruit has become one of my favorite brunch-hour items. I’ve read reviews where people don’t like steel cut oats because they are too hard or chewy. I think for a lot of people it’s one of those things where they eat them because they are trendy amongst the healthy-eating crowd. But I liked them a lot. I think this slow boil-to-simmer technique (and using milk instead of just water) really helped soften them up. I like that they are a more substantive food than regular oatmeal. A little tiny bit of chewing never hurt anyone. Unless you’re being eaten by a predator, I guess. Back to the recipe, adding the vanilla really brought out both the almond and the blueberry flavor.

Plus, it is really very clean and diet-friendly. The whole thing is about 290 calories, with 9 grams of fiber and 10 grams of protein (for about 3/4 of a cup after it’s finished). All the protein and fiber make it very satisfying. (Other than a banana it was the only thing I ate until dinner.) It helps that it is very flavorful so it was a nice thing to take my time with. Like I said, it’s perfect for a lazy, leisurely day off kind of day.

It’s nice too that even though it takes a while, it also takes very little effort. I am definitely going to keep this one around for later occasions.

-lj

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The Holiday Challenge

Wow okay. So despite my early week efforts, the past few days were not my greatest, nutrition-wise. Between Halloween and stress with work, I feel like I ate 100 mini candy bars. Obviously Hopefully that is an exaggeration, but then again, any amount greater than like 5 is too much.

Side Note: Is Trick or Treating not as big of a deal as it was in the 80s and 90s? Because I live in a huge neighborhood and we had maybe 20 kids.

So if Halloween is any indication, the holidays are going to be a formidable challenge. Three really bad days are okay. Three really bad months? Train wreck. Monumentally not okay. So now I have two goals: Prevention and Preparedness. Yes, I am forming a task force of one to combat Holiday Season Malnutrition.

I think the strategy here should be threefold. Each element to the plan is probably obvious, but obvious and easy are not the same thing. If they were, we wouldn’t be here. Everyone knows to eat fruits & vegetables instead of sugar & carbs. The challenge is doing what we’re told.

So, my Obvious Plan for Prevention & Preparedness (the O.P.P. …P.)

1. Exercise! Exercise provides negative calories. Granted, exercise doesn’t combat the actual badness of indulgent food, but it at least combats the most glaring problem: the excess calories. So if I know I am going to be indulging a bit extra one day, I should workout a bit extra that morning. You would think I would have been doing this all along, but it’s time to be a lot more conscious of this strategy now that my healthy living is in peril. Anyway, I’m a lot less inclined to binge when I’m feeling all good from that workout high.

2. New things to try instead. Thanksgiving is probably the biggest holiday in my family. My parents always said it was the only one we were absolutely required to come home for. There is probably some kind of psychological causal linkage there, given that Thanksgiving’s only tradition is the plentiful feast. It is literally an entire national holiday devoted to overeating! And at our Thanksgiving, like probably your’s and everyone else’s, it’s not as if we’re overeating a bunch of raw fruit. At least, at our house it’s all homemade and there are quite a few vegetables, but there’s still a lot of simple carbs and butter.

I already have some ideas in mind for healthy alternatives to some things. And for the things I would really miss, like my mom’s stuffing, I will just have spend some time meditating to the mantra “PortionControl…PortionControl…PortionControl.” Maybe that should actually be it’s own step in this action plan.

So more exercise. Healthy alternatives to traditional holiday foods. And step 3.

3. Mental and Physical (and Digestive) Strength.This is where preparation comes into play. I’m gonna read some Michael Pollan. I’m gonna get back into my old routine. In fact, I’m gonna step up my old routine! I am going to try to do everything I can to live as healthily as possible for the next three weeks. And then the month after that. And then forever and ever until this time next year. To make up for the insane amount of sugar I consumed this past week, I’m going to try hard to avoid it altogether for most of November. I’ve been fairly lax, allowing myself things like frozen yogurt and other, similar seemingly-harmless things lately. But it’s pretty easy to see how with an already lackadaisical (thank you spell check) attitude, a holiday season where we celebrate glutton could really push me over the edge and back into bad patterns. I’ve come way too far to let that happen, and hence, my task force and the Plan.

I’m pretty excited actually. Just like with the exercise, the more in tuned I am to eating healthy, the less likely I am to lose my way. Plus, I think I am more likely to succeed when the challenge seems more cumbersome. “Eat healthy” is too broad, and too subjective. Eat like you’re stranded and living alone on a desserted island? That’s a challenge I’m into.

So now that I have a solid strategy, I am pretty confident that the rest of the holiday season will be less catastrophic than Halloween turned out to be. I am excited, like I said, for all the steps, but I am especially looking forward to seeing what I can do with step 2.

xoxo.

-lj

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It’s the Great Pumpkin

Three posts in one week! Can you tell I’m procrastinating on my actual work?

Working from home has both costs and benefits. The benefits are that I can wear sweatpants whenever I want and if I want to run errands or workout (or write a blog post) in the middle of the day and work in the evenings, that is totally fine as long as I meet my deadlines. The costs are that I am always near the kitchen and there is endless opportunity for distraction.

One of those distractions this week was pumpkin carving! It’s Halloween and for the first time in a long time I live in a neighborhood with kids around so I thought it’d be nice to be a tiny bit festive. So, I braved the residual wind and awfulness we are getting from Sandy in search of a pumpkin. Sadly, it turns out when you wait until October 30 to buy your pumpkin, there are not a lot of options left, which meant the one I found was smaller than I’d hoped. But, on the bright side the lovely but disgruntled Target employee at checkout didn’t bother to weigh mine, so I got it for about 80% off asking price. Bonus!

When I got it home I sketched out some different design ideas and finally settled on one of the easier ones. But apparently pumpkin carving is a much more involved process than I thought it was. I hadn’t carved a pumpkin in like two decades, and back then I’m pretty sure my mom did all the prep stuff for me. (This time she refused.)

Pumpkin Night Light

When I was done carving I was very pleased with myself for making such a cute (or at least not-terrible) pumpkin, and so was still in a creative mood. I looked to the mess of pumpkin guts still laying on a cutting mat on the table, and it occurred to me that just tossing all of it would be super wasteful. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but I started by at least cleaning it up. I took a fork and combed all of the seeds out of the pulp.

I wanted to use both the seeds and the pulp but there was not very much of the latter. Or at least it didn’t look like much to me. The seeds, however, looked relatively ripe and plentiful. So I washed them off a bit and laid them out flat on a plate to dry while I finally got back to work figured out what to do with them.

Deciding what to do with them was sort of a process. At first I had some really grand ideas for using them as an ingredient in a couple of different elaborate autumnal dinner entrees, but I am pretty busy this week (despite contrary evidence) so I set those ideas aside for another time. I also wanted to make sure the pumpkin seeds were actually featured in whatever I was going to make, since the whole point is that I personally culled them from this fresh pumpkin. Just adding them as a garnish to my salad was not a good enough showcase.

Then I thought about making a trail mix. I love trail mix. I have a bag of fresh cranberries in the fridge and thought about learning how to make craisins, but again, I’m busy and this is supposed to be about the pumpkin seeds. I needed to shift focus. Finally, I accepted Occam’s culinary razor, and decided to roast them.

Plain old roasting is boring though. Definitely not worth an entire blog entry, nor all the consideration I had already given them. So I had to at least spice them up a bit.

I generally am more in favor of salty snacks than sweet ones. But I kind of wanted to keep the pumpkin-y thing going and use pumpkin spice flavors. Which led to the decision to just do both! Why not? Cinnamon and cayenne are both great detoxifiers and have been used together in the past, in molé for instance. Not that I know how to make that. Basically, in this recipe I added a bajillion different flavors and just hoped for the best.

I will admit that if you are really trying to watch your sugar then these should be a rare indulgence rather than a regular treat, but in comparison to all the processed Halloween candy and baked goods floating around this time of year, these Spicy Candied Pumpkin Seeds are certainly a healthier option.

Spicy Candied Pumpkin Seeds

Now, I have never “candied” anything before. If you happen to be a gourmet chef, culinary school student or otherwise very in tuned to cooking vocabulary, then maybe these are not candied per se. But who cares, they are freaking delicious.

Spicy Candied Pumpkin Seeds

My pumpkin yielded almost exactly 1+1/2 cups of uncooked seeds, which is almost exactly 1 cup of cooked seeds. A serving size is 1/4 cup of cooked seeds. (I wanted to eat the whole cup all at once, but we’ll stick with 1/4 for calories’ sake.)

Serves: 4

  • 1+1/2 Cups uncooked Pumpkin Seeds (if from an actual pumpkin then they should be washed and mostly dried)
  • 1+1/2 teaspoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1 Tablespoon Dark Brown Sugar (or Brown Splenda, if you prefer)
  • 1/8 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (or to taste)
  • 1/4 teaspoon Chili Powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon Ground Clove
  • 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon Cocoa Powder (unsweetened)
  • 2 teaspoons Honey
  • 1+1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract (Quick Caveat: I actually spilled the vanilla into my mixture accidentally so there might have been more (or less). But I’m saying 1.5 t.)
  • Sea Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 325.

In a small bowl or mixing cup, add 1 teaspoon brown sugar, plus all spices. Mix together. Add the vanilla, honey and 1 teaspoon EVOO. Mix it all until it is the consistency of a dressing.

It looks like brownie batter. It was hard not to lick the spoon.

Spread a piece of parchment paper over a baking sheet. Lay out the pumpkin seeds on the paper. Drizzle the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of oil over the seeds, stirring them to make sure all the seeds are coated (at least a little). Spread out the seeds so that they are as close to a single layer as possible. Add salt. Drizzle the spice mixture over the seeds. Use a brush or spoon and stir to even the sauce over all the seeds. Again, spread the seeds into a single layer if possible. (The seeds will stick together so just do your best.)

Bake seeds for 15 minutes. At 15 minute mark, stir seeds, and again spreading them as flat as possible, sprinkle the remaining two teaspoons of brown sugar over the baking sheet. Bake for another 10 minutes or until they are done. (You can do a taste test. They are done when they are crunchy and do not split apart when you bite into it.) Make sure to watch them in the last 5 minutes to avoid burning them.

Remove from the oven when they are finished baking, and let sit, on paper, another couple minutes. Stir them around a little to make sure they are all done, and to break them apart if they’ve stuck together.

I highly recommend eating them while they are still warm. They are good later on as a cold snack but the warm ones were phenomenal. (I suppose you could re-warm them in the oven for a few minutes.) I had to tear myself away before I ate 3/4 of the batch in one sitting.

Even if you eat two servings though, it won’t be the end of the world. One 1/4 cup serving is about 190 calories. Since they are seeds, they have around 14g of fat, but they also have 10g of protein and 5g of fiber. Those are some serious seeds!

I enjoyed this whole pumpkin thing. I like any project where you can use the refuse for something completely different and just as exciting! Making a pumpkin-related food was not my starting goal, I just wanted to do something artsy. But I’m glad my art project was edible, because man those seeds are delish.

-lj

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Heatin’ Up

I hate cold weather. Especially when it is cold and gray. So every year I dread midwestern winters, where the sun hibernates from November to March. Even with the excitement of the holidays, I can’t help the sense of impending doom when I can’t walk around the house barefoot anymore and I have to get out an extra blanket for my bed.

Last week it was 80 degrees and sunny, which was beautiful and refreshing at the time, but now that it’s back to 50 and cloudy the nice weather seems more like a tease, and the cold gray weather feels somehow worse. Of course, it could also have something to do with the fact that I’ve had a minor sinus infection for like two weeks, which I also blame on the cooler weather. I will say I am lucky at least that I’m not living in the middle of a superstorm, and my sincere condolences (and apologies for being a sissy) to anyone who is.

The point of all this mid-autumn whining is that last night I needed some comfort food. Something warm and delicious and soothing. We have a couple of family recipes for soup, but nothing I was really in the mood for. Lately, I am perpetually hungry for Mexican food. We also have a great family recipe for tacos, which I frankly cannot believe I haven’t posted before. That sounded good, but again, I really wanted soup! Tacos are more of a summery food to me. So I thought about how I could compromise, and I thought of a nice, creamy tortilla soup. Since I had never made it before, I did what I always do and took to the Internet.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I based my recipe off of the chicken tortilla soup by the Pioneer Woman but I made some changes to make it a little healthier and a little cleaner. (Although the original recipe is pretty healthy in its own right.) Mostly I just added some vegetables and cut some sodium. I also added Greek Yogurt (surprise, surprise) to give it some creaminess.

This soup is fantastic. It is the ultimate diet food success: it is super healthy but doesn’t taste like it. It is low fat, low sodium and low carb, which is quite an accomplishment for such a hearty soup. Altogether a one and a half cup serving has 350 calories, but considering how much goes into it, I think that’s pretty light. It is definitely a meal all on its own. I also avoided using any processed foods, and stuck with (almost) all fresh ingredients instead, so I could keep it clean. Especially considering how good it tastes, I would say it is a diet-friendly success.

Pre-garnishing

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Serves: 5 (makes about 7.5 cups)

  • 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Taco Chicken (See Below)
  • 3 Cloves Garlic, Minced
  • 1/2 Cup Diced White Onion
  • 1/4 Cup Diced Red Bell Pepper
  • 1/4 Cup Diced Green Bell Pepper
  • 1 Cup Diced Tomatoes
  • 1 Tablespoon Finely Diced Fresh Jalapeño
  • 2 Cups Organic Low-Sodium Vegetable Stock
  • 2 Cups Water
  • 1 Cup 0% Organic Plain Greek Yogurt
  • 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
  • 2 Cups or 1 Can Organic Black Beans, rinsed
  • 1/2 Cup Corn (I use Fresh Market Organic Frozen Yellow Corn Kernals)
  • 1 Cup Finely Diced Zucchini (Basically 1 whole small one)
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Coriander
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Chili Powder
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt
  • Dash Cayenne
  • 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch, mixed with 1-2 Tablespoons Water
  • 5 Corn Tortillas (1 per bowl)
  • Avocado Slices for garnish (optional)
  • Organic 2% Grated Cheese for garnish (optional)

Taco Chicken (This is specifically modified for the soup. It’s basically halved from my normal recipe, and usually I use diced chicken instead of shredded, so no broth in that one.)

  • 2 Cups Broth or Stock (I used Organic Low-Sodium Vegetable Stock)
  • 2 Boneless, Skinless Organic Free Range Chicken Breasts (about 12 ounces total, raw)
  • 1 Teaspoon EVOO
  • 2 Teaspoons Chili Powder
  • 1 1/2 Teaspoons Cumin
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Paprika
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper
  • 1 Teaspoon Cornstarch, mixed with 1 Tablespoon Water
  • 1 Cup Water

Directions for Chicken: In a medium saucepan, bring broth and chicken breasts to rapid boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and let simmer for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked enough to shred. Drain the broth. With a fork, pull on the chicken breasts until it comes apart into shreds. It should be broken apart enough to work as little pieces in the soup.

In a saute pan, heat oil on medium-high heat. Add the chicken, followed by the spices. Stir until the chicken appears covered in the spices, then add the water. Let simmer just a few minutes (maybe 3) then add the cornstarch. Stir well, so chicken is evenly coated in the liquid. Let simmer another 5 minutes or until the water evaporates enough so it is a more sauce-like consistency. But make sure not to let the chicken overcook. It should not be in the saute pan more than 10 minutes total.

Directions for Soup

  1. Preheat the oven to 400˚ F.
  2. Prepare the chicken as described above.
  3. Dice vegetables and mince garlic while the chicken is simmering.
  4. In a large pot (I used a 4 Quart stock pot) heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil on medium-high heat.
  5. Once the oil is hot, add the onion, bell peppers, jalapeño, tomato and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent and tomatoes are a stewed consistency.
  6. Add in chicken, using a rubber scraper to add all of the sauce as well.
  7. Add the vegetable stock and water. Stir. Let everything cook together for a minute.
  8. Add the tomato paste. Stir well, until the paste is completely integrated into the soup. Let cook a minute or two to let the flavor of the paste sink in.
  9. Add the coriander, chili powder, cayenne and salt. Stir well. Again, let it blend into the rest of the soup for a minute or two.
  10. Add the black beans and corn. Stir until they are evenly distributed in the pot.
  11. Add in the Greek Yogurt. Stir until it is melted and blended and the entire soup has a lighter color and thicker consistency.
  12. Prepare the tortillas by laying them out on a large piece of foil. Brush them lightly, using the remaining 1/2 Tablespoon of olive oil. Each tortilla should be nicely coated in oil, but not too soggy with it. Then lightly salt each one. Stick them into the oven. Cook about 8 minutes or until crisp. (If you prefer a prettier display you can slice the tortillas into strips before baking, but I kind of like the crumbier effect of breaking them apart after baking.)
  13. Add the zucchini.
  14. Add the cornstarch. Stir well.
  15. Lower the temperature and let the soup simmer for a few minutes.
  16. When the tortillas are beginning to brown along the edges and appear crisp, remove from oven. Break apart if you did not do so before baking.
  17. Scoop soup into a bowl, top with tortilla bits.

*Garnish with avocado, cheese or whatever else you fancy. Or garnish with nothing at all! I will say the avocado was a fantastic addition because it cut a little of the spiciness and add some extra creaminess, so I highly recommend sticking with that.

All mixed up and ready for eating!

I really loved this soup. I am very excited about how well it turned out because there are a lot of cold months ahead before the warm ones come back to me, and I think this recipe will really come in handy. I know it looks a little daunting with the number of ingredients and steps in the recipe instructions, but basically here’s all it is–just put everything in a big pot, in the order it is listed in the ingredient list, stirring and resting a minute between each new step. So, it ended up being one of my easier and faster endeavors of recent memory.

Plus, even with the cheese and avocado garnish it is still very reasonable health-wise. I baked a couple extra tortilla chips to use in place of bread, and those suckers are tasty, too. The soup is fairly spicy, but it is easily adaptable. Add less chili powder or cayenne, or skip the jalapeno. On the other hand, you could add more of those things if you don’t think it’s spicy enough. It would go really great with some mixed greens and the spicy balsamic vinaigrette I wrote about the other day. It also is just as fantastic reheated the next day, so it is a great lunch option too.

I am a little worried about how I will fare in the cold months ahead. Last year I ran away to my parents’ home in Texas, but they moved back here recently and now we are all without refuge! Thus, I am sure I will be on a constant mission to find warm, comforting foods that still meet all of my requirements for clean and healthy living. I will just have to hope they all turn out as successful as this one did!

-lj

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