Tag Archives: soup recipe

SuperFoodie: Southwestern Sweet Potato Chickpea Soup Recipe

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Sweet potatoes. It’s hard to believe that I strongly disliked them until just a few years ago. I thank some overly sweet marshmallow sweet potato casseroles for the aversion and an amazing array of more savory dishes for my newfound love. In fact, I adore sweet potatoes so much today that they are my go-to carb source for pre-marathon race fuel. Plus, my recipe for Spicy Beef and Sweet Potato Samosas almost won me a million dollars in the Pillsbury Bake-Off.  Oh, some other potato appetizer won, but that’s okay — I still stand by the funky orange tuber!

sweet-potatoes (1)

Not native to America, the sweet potato was brought over by Columbus from the West Indies. Thriving in many parts of the country, folks during the Revolutionary War relied on this early “superfood” as a primary source of nourishment. One physician during the era anointed the tuberous root as an “indispensable vegetable” and I couldn’t agree more. The sweet potato is loaded with calcium, potassium and vitamins A and C. The Center for Science in the Public Interest rates sweet potatoes as the number one most nutritious vegetable on the planet because they such are so nutritionally rich. Sweet potatoes rate low on the glycemic index which keeps blood sugar levels from spiking. Sweet potatoes have a glycemic load of just 17 while a regular white potato comes in at 29. Finally, a carbohydrate you can feel great about eating!

Since I was planning soup as our main dish for dinner, I wanted to add something to maximize the protein – chickpeas seemed an innocuous ingredient choice that would pump up the overall protein by 6 grams per serving (for a total of about 18 grams per serving) without altering the taste.  Knowing my family likes slightly spicy, southwestern flavors, I also added just enough Ancho chile powder to take down the sweet a notch without making it “hot.”  Soup’s on — hope you enjoy!

ancho sweet potato chickpea soup

 

spicy sweet potato and chick pea soupUpdate March 2017: This soup was featured in Taste of Home’s Healthy Cooking Annual Recipes cookbook.

 

 

 

 

 

Southwestern Sweet Potato Chickpea Soup Recipe

  •  1 ½ pounds sweet potatoes, halved lengthwise (about medium)
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons ground Ancho Chile pepper
  • 4 cups vegetable stock (eg: homemade, canned or reconstituted)
  • 1 15-oz can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 ounce fresh Parmesan cheese, shaved (about 1/4 cup)
  • 2 green onions, bubs and greens sliced

Place potatoes, cut sides down, in an 11 x 7-inch microwave-safe baking dish. Add 1/4 cup water; cover with plastic wrap. Microwave at HIGH 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Cool slightly; discard potato skins.
Heat stock pot over medium-high heat. Add oil; swirl to coat. Add onion; sauté 1 minute or until translucent. Stir in cumin and Ancho powder. Scoop sweet potatoes out of skin and add to pot along with stock and chickpeas.

Place half of sweet potato mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters); blend until smooth. Pour pureed soup into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining mixture. Stir in salt.
If serving as an entrée, divide soup evenly among 4 bowls (6 to 8 bowls for soup course); sprinkle Parmesan cheese evenly over top. Garnish with sliced green onions.

Oh, and if you’re in a breakfast-for-dinner mood don’t miss my “Top of the Morning” Sirloin Sweet Potato Hash, it’s great way to fuel up for the weekend and the leftovers make fast and filling breakfast tacos come Monday.

leftover-beef-sweetpotato-hash

Lightened Yet Still Loaded Baked Potato Soup Recipe

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There’s nothing more soul-satisfying on a cold winter night than a nourishing bowl of soup for supper. And for those who know me even just a little bit, will confirm that I’m that always-freezing chick who is bundled up in long johns and ready to slurp soup anytime the thermometer plunges below 70 F degrees.  Soup is a beautiful thing. Not only is soup easy to whip up and low-mess (it’s a one-pot meal), the leftovers are often better the next day. For dinner tonight I made Lightened Yet Still Loaded Baked Potato Soup, a recipe I tweaked and adapted from a 10-year old recipe in Cooking Light magazine (9/2007).

Don’t worry about sabotaging your diet with this make-over recipe; it’s relatively low in calories and fat compared to the naughty restaurant equivalents. For example, 12-ounces of Baked Potato Soup at Outback Steakhouse has an impressive 514 calories and 53 grams of fat (24 saturated) compared to this lightened version that has just 346 calories and less 11.7 grams of fat (7.3 saturated). Calorie-counters could always skip the bacon, but that wouldn’t be any fun.

By the way, if you’re already drooling over the tantalizing photo, you can thank my dear mom and dad for helping get your appetite worked up – they gifted me with a brand new camera for my food photography! Kisses!

 

Lightened Yet Still Loaded Baked Potato Soup Recipe

  • 2 ½ lbs Russet potatoes
  • 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 6 cups 1% reduced-fat milk
  • 1 cup (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese, divided
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup (8-ounces) light sour cream
  • 1/4 cup chopped green onions
  • 6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

Wash potatoes and pat dry. Pierce potatoes with a fork and microwave together for 15 – 20 minutes (turning every 5 minutes) until tender. Cool to handle under cold water.  Peel potatoes; coarsely mash in large bowl.

Place flour in a large Dutch oven or stock pot; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly, approximately 8 – 10 minutes. Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.

Stir in sour cream. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated taking care not to let soup  boil. Ladle 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 8 bowls. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoon onions, and about 1 tablespoon bacon.

 

 

 

 

‘Fall’ in Love With Black Bean-Pumpkin Soup

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Even though it’s really not that cold yet in my part of the world, I’m ready to slurp me some soup. I love making a hearty soup for dinner; it is soul satisfying and the leftovers are always better the second day!  I came up with this Black Bean-Pumpkin Soup recipe last autumn when they finally put the canned pumpkin back on the store shelves. I’m like Bubba Gump for this ginormous squash – pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin smoothies, pumpkin lasagna, pumpkin enchiladas and more. You could bake and smash your own pumpkin, but who has that kind of time? Try this healthy, vegetarian recipe tonight. It’s packed with protein from the beans and loaded with vital vitamins from the pumpkin. The dollop of light sour cream adds a satisfying touch and eliminates the need for any kind of fattening topping.

 

Black Bean-Pumpkin Soup Recipe

  • 2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained
  • 2 medium onions, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 3 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
  • 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 tablespoons bourbon, optional
  • 1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
  • 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
  • 1/2 cup roasted salted pumpkin seeds

Place beans and tomatoes in a food processor; cover and process until blended. Set aside.

In a Dutch oven, saute onions in oil until tender. Add garlic and cumin; saute 1 minute longer. Stir in the broth, pumpkin, vinegar, pepper and bean mixture. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Stir in bourbon if desired. Garnish each serving with sour cream, green onions and pumpkin seeds. Yield: 8 servings (2 quarts).

Nutritional Facts: 1 cup equals 238 calories, 8 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 5 mg cholesterol, 716 mg sodium, 30 g carbohydrate, 9 g fiber, 13 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1-1/2 starch, 1-1/2 fat, 1 lean meat, 1 vegetable.