Tasty Tuesday - Tons o' Veggie Vegetable Alphabet Soup

I missed the past few weeks with recipes because the things I was making didn't turn out very good. But I have a good one this week that I'm really happy about it. Plus, I really like the sounds of "Tasty Tuesday" over "Recipe Wednesday" so I'll be posting new recipes on Tuesday now.

The website that I'm using for weightloss, SparkPeople.com has a recipe website as well called SparkRecipes.com. I've really been wanting a hearty veggie soup lately so I started looking on there. While I found some REALLY good one's I decided that I wanted to make my own, picking and pulling from the things I liked in those. I also added some few things too, which makes this recipe pretty much my own!! As I've said before I'm not really good at coming up with my own recipes so this is great! I'm starting to feel more courageous with me cooking :).

This recipe made a TON of food and totally overflowed my crock pot so I had to transfer it to a big pot!

One of the things I really like about using SparkRecipes is that they calculate all of the nutritional info and give  the per serving breakdown (which is what I post with each recipe on here).

Here's my recipe for Vegetable Soup! Happy eating!

1 serving = 2 cups (recipe will make 8 servings)

   

- 28oz can diced tomatoes

- 32oz vegetable/chicken/beef broth (recipe uses veg)

- 3 cups water

- 3 large carrots, diced

- 2 stalks celery, diced

- 1 medium onion, diced

- 1.5 lb red potatoes, diced

- 1 leek, sliced (white part only)

- 1 tsp fresh thyme

- 5 cloves garlic

- 3 tsp Mrs. Dash Table Blend (or your favorite seasoning)

- 1 zucchini, chopped

- 2 cups peas

- 2 cups corn

- 2 cups green beans

- 1 bay leaf (1/2 tsp crushed)

- ½ cup alphabet pasta (or similar small pasta/rice)

1. Combine broth, water, diced tomatoes, carrots, celery, potatoes, leek, onion, thyme, garlic, Mrs. Dash, and bay leaf in a large crock pot. Stir well. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours.

2. Add corn, zucchini, peas, and green beans. Stir well, recover and continue cooking on high for 1.5 hours. (This is when I had to move mine to the bigger pot. I cooked it on a medium/high level)

(OVERFLOW!!!)

3. Add pasta, cover and cook for another 15mins.

 

Serve in a bowl and enjoy! Perfect for warming tummies on a cold day!

*If you used a full bay leaf remember to remove it before serving.

**I served with french bread that I sprinkled some freshly grated Parmesan cheese on and toasted.

Recipe Wednesday - Herb Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables

Ahhhh chicken; my favorite meat by far. There was a brief 6 month period of my life where I was a vegetarian and chicken was the thing I missed most. In fact, it was practically the only meat I ate for 10(ish) years of my life! Through eating all of that chicken I had never cooked a whole chicken until this recipe and I am quite pleased with how it came out. Just like last week's recipe, this one is from "Cook This, Not That. Kitchen Survival Guide".

* 2 clovers garlic, minced
* 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary, thyme, parsley, oregano, basil OR sage (you only need one of these. If you do dried, use 1 tsp instead. I used thyme)
* 1 lemon
* 1 tbsp olive oil
* 1 whole 4lb chicken (make sure it's completely defrosted)
* salt and black pepper
* 1 large russet potato, sliced into 1/8" rounds
* 2 onions, quartered
* 4 large carrots cut into large chunks (I did 2 BIG handfuls of baby carrots)

1. Preheat oven to 450degrees. Mix garlic, selected herb, lemon zest, juice of lemon, and half the olive oil in a bowl.

2.  Working on the chicken, gently separate the skin from the flesh at the bottom of the breast and spoon in half the herb mixture; use your hands to spread it around as thoroughly as possible. Spread the remaining half over the top of the chicken and season it with plenty of salt and pepper.

 

3. Mix the potato, onions, carrots, remaining olive oil, and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Arrange the vegetables in the bottom of a roasting pan and place the chicken on top, breast side up. Roast 20 - 30 minutes, until the skin is lightly browned.

4. Reduce the oven temperature to 350degress and roast for another 30 minutes or so. The chicken is done when the juices between the breast and the leg run clear and an instant-read thermometer inserted deep into the thigh reads 155degrees.

5. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before carving. Serve with the vegetables.

Overall, I am very happy with how this came out. However, next time (to save some cals/fat) I might try this with 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken.

Here's the nutritional info (provided by the book)

Servings per recipe = 4

Cal = 420
Fat = 10g

Saturated Fat = 2g

Sodium = 610mg