hungry poodle

California Pizza Kitchen is one of my favorite casual restaurants. If you sit at the counter, as we do, you can watch the staff prepare many of the entrees right in front of you, which I like because it means that what you see is what you get. No surprises, just fresh, real food. Most of it is quite healthy too.

Although pizza is the house specialty, their soups and salads are far from afterthoughts. My favorite soup is the Dakota Smashed Pea and Barley Soup. It’s fat-free, vegetarian and completely filling and delicious. Think about it–how often do you see a fat-free soup on the regular menu of a popular restaurant?  The usual fare is baked potato (cream-laden) or bisque of some sort (ditto).

Here, from California Pizza Kitchen’s, “Pasta, Salads, Soups and Sides” cookbook, is the soup. It’s simple, but to me, that’s what makes it inspired.

1 lb. dried split peas, sorted and rinsed
1/2 cup pearl barley
8 cups water (or half water, half low-sodium chicken broth, as I do)
2 bay leaves
1 t. salt
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. chopped fresh thyme (or 1 t. dried)
2 t. minced garlic
1/2 t. rubbed dried sage
1/4 t. cumin
1 1/2 cups diced carrots
2/3 cup minced onion
1/3 cup finely diced celery
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions

In a large pot combine the split peas, barley, water (and/or broth), bay leaves, salt, soy sauce, thyme, garlic, sage and cumin. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to a bare simmer, cover and cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the carrots, onions and celery. Cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender, 20 to 30 minutes more. Adjust seasonings, adding more salt if necessary (usually the case for me). Discard the bay leaves. Garnish each serving with sliced green onions.

(Pea soup thickens as it sits, so you’ll probably have to add more water or broth when you heat it up. For a smoother texture, puree the soup with an immersion blender.)

Serves: 8

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Five days into the new year and already December feels like a distant memory. I think my brain has been dulled by too much of everything. Too many expectations, too much preparation, too much family (you know what I mean) and of course, too much food. Way too much food.

Let’s face it, in January we have to pay the piper for the pounds we likely packed on in December, and that won’t happen without some dietary changes. It can be doubly difficult to get back into healthy eating in January when we’ve become accustomed to consuming larger amounts of rich foods during the holidays, and returning to our pre-holiday portions can make us feel deprived.

Does the title of this entry tell you where I’m going with this? Vegetable soup is one solution that may help get us back on track and keep us filled up. Weight Watchers has several great zero-point vegetable soups on their web site.

Mexican Chicken Soup variation

This version is from Good Housekeeping. Their basic recipe is highly adaptable to variations, which I’ve included below. I’ve also added my own variation of Shrimp Creole that I improvised on a whim. It was fabulous and so easy. No further vegetable chopping–you just add the shrimp and lots of hot sauce and serve with brown rice. (more…)

Here, as promised, is the beginning of what I hope will be a culinary plethora of soup recipes to start out the new year. The high in Kansas City today will be about 13 degrees F. Thus soup isn’t just nourishment; it’s a body warmer.

Giada De Laurentiis is not only the most beautiful cook on the Food Network. She’s also a very accomplished Italian chef. I’ve never tried a recipe of hers that wasn’t fabulous. Here is an adaptation of her winter minestrone soup. She sauteed 3 oz. of chopped pancetta with the onions, but I left it out because it’s difficult to find and adds extra fat which I’m trying to avoid right now ( ! ). If you’ve got some leftover holiday ham, you can chop some up and add it for a meatier flavor.

Swiss chard is becoming more of a staple in my soup repertoire.  My mother never cooked with it and so I didn’t either until about a year ago. It’s worth the effort of seeking it out. There are different varieties of chard, based on the color of its center stem. There’s the plain green, the red and the rainbow. Red chard is widely available, but any variety will do. Be sure to tear out the center stems before chopping the leaves, as the stems can be tough even when cooked.

1 T. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb. Swiss Chard, tough center stems removed, leaves coarsely chopped
1 large russet potato, peeled and cubed
1 (14 1/2 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 fresh rosemary sprig, (I used 1 t. dried Italian seasoning)
1 (15 oz.) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (you can use any white bean)
2 (14 oz.) cans reduced sodium chicken broth
4 T. Parmesan cheese, grated
2 T. chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven. Add onion, carrots, celery and garlic and saute until onion is softened, about 10 minutes. Add the Swiss chard and potato and saute for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and rosemary (or dried seasoning) and continue cooking until Swiss chard is wilted, about 10 minutes.

Puree 3/4 cup of the beans with 1/4 cup of the broth in a processor until smooth. Add the pureed mixture to the soup along with the remaining broth and simmer until the potato is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the whole beans and parsley. Simmer until the beans are heated and the soup is thickened. Season with salt and pepper and serve topped with grated Parmesan cheese.

Serves: 6

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New Year’s Eve is almost here and many of us are contemplating the standard resolution of losing weight. I actually believe in making resolutions. They’re sort of like promises one makes to oneself, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

More on that in my next entry, but for now, here’s the first in what will most likely be a long line of soup recipes to start off the new decade on a healthy note. Soup is not only good for you (think of all the vegetables you can sneak in), but it’s full of fiber, it’s filling, it can be made on the weekend and taken to work all week, the list goes on and on.

I was going to make a lentil soup, but during Christmas week Lizzie and I had a bowl of soup at a restaurant that was a combination of split pea and lentil. It was delicious. Following is my take on it.

You don’t have to use half split peas and half lentils. The two legumes are interchangeable, so you can use all of one or the other if you wish.  I also seasoned this soup with garam masala, an Indian spice mix that resembles curry. You can use thyme if you prefer a more traditional spin, but if you like Indian spices, try this. It’s a delightful change of taste. Oh, and I almost always add a dash of crushed red pepper to my soups.

Split pea/lentil soup in a Christmas gift bowl from Lizzie

1 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 t. Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 t. thyme or seasoning of your choice (I used 1/2 t. garam masala)
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 cup lentils
1 cup split peas
10 cups low-salt chicken broth

Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until onion is softened. Add the garlic, salt and pepper and seasoning of your choice and saute until all the vegetables are tender, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Add the tomatoes with their juices, the split peas, lentils and broth.  Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and simmer over low heat until the split peas and lentils are tender, about 30 to 45 minutes. If soup becomes too thick, add more chicken broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves: 8

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