Random Recipe to Love!

I thought you might need another vegan, gluten-free soup to try this week so I wanted to share this one from the Vegetarian Times. It's super easy to make, cheap and only gets better overnight. It also is PACKED with protein, calcium, beta carotene and so many other yummy vitamins and minerals. Let me know what you think or if you added any of your own twists!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil (or if you are eliminating oil from your diet, just use water)

1 white onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

3 cups kale, chopped (I used a whole head of lacinato or dino kale)

1 yam, diced (I left the skin on for added nutrients)

1 tablespoon smoked paprika (or just use regular if that's what you have)

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 bay leaf

4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth

2 15.5oz cans of no-salt-added Northern or Navy Beans

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Method

First, heat the oil or water in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook on medium high heat for 8 minutes, or until lightly caramelized, stirring often.

Then add the kale and cook for about 4 minutes or until it's wilted. Stir in yam, paprika, curry powder and bay leaf, cooking for 1 minute more.

Add broth, and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 30 minutes or until kale and yam are tender. Puree 1 cup of the beans with 3/4 cup of beans in a blender or food processor. Add puree and the rest of the beans to the soup and simmer for about 10 minutes. Then add the vinegar and serve!

Yum! This soup has:

165 calories, 9g protein, 2.5g fat, 0mg cholesterol, 300mg sodium (it says more on the veggie times website bkz they use regular beans!), 10g fiber

Enjoy!

Soups at Home Save on SODIUM and on Your Wallet

This soup looks familiar right? Amy's Organic soups can be found in Whole Foods Market, Wegmans (in the Nature's Market section) and all across the country in health food stores.

So why should you care about Amy's soups?

Because if you want to lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle you need to keep your sodium intake to 1500mg or less a day, as regulated by the USDA. (I would suggest keeping it to even less) And considering

ONE TEASPOON OF SALT=2200mg of sodium

you might want to watch how much sodium is in your food.

And please don't say to me "Well, I'm good-I NEVER add salt to any of my foods." PLEASE. Even if you don't, you're not off the hook. So please, please, please read on to see how you can make simple changes that can have dramatic effects on your health.

Also, I also want to clear up confusion about Sea Salt, Himalayan Salt and other types of salts that are supposedly healthy. Salt is salt folks. If you are getting too much sodium in your diet, using a salt that has nutrients in it won't make a difference. Instead, get your low amounts of daily sodium from nuts, seeds and other plant sources that will offer you way more nutrients with each bite.

Ok so processed foods are jam-packed with sodium. After all, salt is what was first used to cure meats and preserve them for a while back in the day right? What do you think is happening now? Salt, chemicals and other things are being used as preservatives and we are feeling the effects. But the reality is, we are all busy and often need to have certain processed items in our pantry. Let's now check out one that is presumably healthy.

1. First, take a look at the nutrition label on this can of Amy's Fat Free Chunky Vegetable Soup. Check out the "servings per container," there are 2!!! That means if you eat that whole can (which most of us would) you need to double all of the information on the label. Sneaky...

2. Second, let's check out the sodium. It is 680mg for only ONE SERVING. If you were to only eat half the can of soup, you would be ingesting HALF of your daily allotment of sodium. Better hope you don't eat much else that day. But who wants to starve for half a can of soup? Ew. Now imagine if you eat the whole can of soup, 1360mg of sodium in only one can. That is all you can have ALL DAY. Bummer. Or make a better choice. Do the math and limit your sodium intake to 500mg per meal per day OR just eat lots of fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, beans and grains and you won't have to worry.

3. Third, check nutrition labels on all processed foods. You'll be surprised what's hiding. Today we focused on sodium, in the future we will go over other things!

Right now you may be asking-what's the big deal about eating salt or taking in too much sodium anyway?!

Well, if you don't think hypertension (high blood pressure), weight gain, obesity, increased risk of heart disease and stroke, among other things, are a big deal, then you don't have to worry. Otherwise, just be conscious of what's going in your belly.

To help get your soup fix and save on both salt and money, try making soups at home, then freezing them! Here's a recipe that I love from Whole Foods Market with only 190mg per serving and lots of flavor!

Ingredients

1 ounce (about 1 cup) dried porcini mushrooms or other dried wild mushrooms

3/4 cup unsalted cashews

6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, divided

3 rutabagas, peeled and finely chopped (or just use potatoes)

1 onion, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped

zest and juice of 1 lemon, divided

3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Method

Put mushrooms in a bowl, cover with 1/2 cup boiling water and set aside to let soak 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a blender, combine cashews and 2 cups of broth and blend until very smooth, about 1 minute. Pour cashew mixture into a large saucepan and add rutabagas (or potatoes), onion and remaining 4 cups broth. Remove mushrooms from the bowl with a slotted spoon, cut them into bite-size pieces and add them to the pot; carefully pour in the liquid the mushrooms soaked in, being sure to leave behind any grit that has settled in the bottom of the bowl.

Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, lower heat and simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes. Add bell pepper and lemon juice and simmer 3 minutes longer. Serve garnished with chives and lemon zest. Enjoy!