{dairy free} Creamy Potato Soup

Creamy potato soup...with ZERO dairy...yep! I have accomplished it. This isn't completely meatless as I used chicken stock.  I think it adds nice flavor (without adding butter).  I wanted to try to get it completely dairy free, but still seem like a comfort food. 

{dairy free} Creamy Potato Soup

Ingredients: 

• 6-8 gold potatoes (scrubbed and diced with skin left on)
• one small onion (chopped)
• 1 Tbps Organic EVOO (I recommend Kirkland brand at Costco)
• one small leek (whites/light greens only, chopped, rinsed)
• 4 garlic cloves(minced)
• 1 tsp thyme
• 2 cups plain rice milk
• 2 cups organic low sodium chicken stock

Directions:

1) Saute leeks and onions in EVOO and garlic in a large pot. 
2) Add thyme, potatoes, rice milk, and chicken stock to the pot. 
3) Cook until potatoes are tender. 
4) Ladle out about 3 cups into Vitamix and blend until creamy. Pour the mixture back in to pot. Salt and pepper to taste.

Top with green onions (and cheese if you if aren't wanting to keep this dairy free). In my opinion it's just as food without the cheese in this recipe. 

Serve with bread (or clean crackers) and large salad.  ENJOY. 

NOTE: Make sure to soak the leeks after they are chopped to get all the dirt off of them. Then rinse. Make sure you use gold potatoes as they have a more creamier taste. 

{clean} Chicken Rice Soup

I love soup. I wish my family loved it as much as me, but that won't stop me from making it over and over. Maybe one day they will all come around.

This soup is based on the one I made called Not Yo Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup {Soup}. I love this soup because I usually always have the ingredients on hand, which is how this recipe was born out of convenience. 

 Please forgive me for the poor image, my good Nikon camera is down. I must get it fixed!

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbps Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 4 celery stalks
• 3 medium carrots (peeled)
• half sweet onion (more if you wish)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 - 1 cup kale ( I used frozen, chopped)
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups Organic low sodium chicken stock
• 1 tsp Parsley
• 1 tsp Oregano
• 1/2 tsp Thyme
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
• 1/2 cup dry brown rice (cooked, not sure measurement after it was cooked)
• 1/2 breast of organic chicken (cooked, this was leftovers)

Directions:

1) Rough chop celery, carrots, onions, kale, and garlic. Then add that to pan with EVOO.

2) Saute for a few minutes over medium heat (I am terrible at watching the time). 

3) Then add 2 cups water, parsley, oregano, thyme, pepper, and salt and simmer (covered) until veggies are very tender.

4) Pour hot mixture into Vitamix (or similar high speed blender) and add cooked chicken and chop (speeds 1-3) veggies in the soup mixture and chicken for a few seconds to a minute until it's the consistency you want.

5) Pour soup back into pan and add chicken stock and rice. Simmer on stove until ready to serve.

NOTE: You really can do this in a few different ways and get the same result so do what works best for you. Salt and Pepper to taste.

Enjoy! 

{clean} Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup

I LOVE soup. I LOVE soup during the winter months especially. Soup makes great leftovers and it's easy to make large amounts to freeze. 

This recipe is so simple my 8 year old could make it. Seriously! Next time I will prove it. I was inspired to make this after a visit to Trader Joe's. They had a soup sample going on using their Organic Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Soup (the one with approx 3000 mg of sodium in the box-gasp!). It was for a creamy chicken soup that was loaded with cream cheese and sodium.  This recipe takes the sodium and dairy down, way down and removes the chicken. I added in black beans to mine for protein and fiber. I didn't even bother noting the beans in the title of this soup because you don't even really notice they're in there. A secret ingredient!

You will need only 4 ingredients! I'm not kidding.

{clean} Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup

Ingredients:

• 32 ounces TJ Organic Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Soup
• 2 cans Fire Roasted Tomatoes
• 1 can Fire Roasted Diced Green Chile (regular if you can't find fire roasted)
• 1 can Black Beans (low sodium), rinsed

Directions:

1) Add all ingredients to a blender. Blend until smooth.

2) Pour into stove top pan and heat until perfect temp. (OR if you have a vitamix you can cook it in the Vitamix for super easy clean up)

3) Serve.  

NOTE: If you aren't watching your dairy intake you could top with dollop of Greek yogurt, sour cream, or grated cheese.

We served this along side Chipotle Gouda grilled cheeses (and fresh fruit).  I highly recommend you try the Boar's Head Chipotle Gouda cheese.  It's amazing. If you do not have a Trader Joe's near you for the soup, look for the Pacific Natural Foods brand of soup in the all natural section of your grocery store.

{clean} Leek and Potato Soup

This recipe is adapted from The Eat-Clean Diet (Expanded Edition) Book.  In the book it talks about how consuming onion is a great way to boost the immune system and fight disease.  If you don't know what a leek is, yes it's from the onion family.  I had no clue when I began this journey. YUM!

{clean} Leek and Potato Soup 

Ingredients:

• Approx. 3 cups of leeks (whites only) coarsely chopped and rinsed thoroughly *
• 4 medium baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks*
• 1 Tbps extra virgin olive oil*
• 3 tsp unsalted butter*
• 1/4 cup chopped sweet onion*
• 4 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 tsp thyme
• 8 cups low sodium, low fat chicken broth or homemade stock*
• 1 tsp sea salt  
• black pepper to taste

*use organic if possible

Directions:

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat olive oil and butter. Add leeks, potatoes, onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 to 10 minutes until soft. Add stock to saucepan and bring to a boil. Once mixture has come to a full boil, reduce heat and cook for another 30 minutes until all vegetables are soft. Puree soup with blender or food processor. 

TIP: Dice leeks and emerge in water, drain and rinse again. Sand and dirt can easily get trapped between the leek leaves. 

NOTE: If you are looking for a rich potato soup this is not it. This is a low calorie option. 

Vegetarian Chipotle Chili

 I think I have been watching too many Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives lately on Food Network.  It seems they are always making some sort of soup or chili and it makes me want to jump in the car for a taste.  This chili has a nice smoky chipotle flavor with a hint of sweetness from the cinnamon (which I saw being used on the show). 

I made it on the stove top, but if could easily be made in a slow cooker.

Vegetarian Chipotle Chili

Ingredients:

• 3 cans {organic} Tri-beans blend (I use Kroger Simple Truth brand), rinsed
• 26 oz {all natural-low sodium} diced tomatoes (I used this Pomi brand, which was a gift from a neighbor)
• 32 oz {all natural} vegetable broth
• 6 oz {all natural-low sodium} tomato paste
• 1 bag (approx. 2 cups) roasted frozen corn (Trader Joe's)
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 yellow pepper, diced
• 1 small sweet onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 Tbps cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder (Kroger)
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1)Put all ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for about one hour. Or as long as your heart desires.

NOTE: I put my vegetables in the blender/processor to save time and eliminate chopping. Pulse the vegetable to the desired consistency.  You can add more chipotle chili powder if you like it HOT! If you don't have a Kroger near you, you can use any three cans of beans you like. Make sure to read labels because many of the canned beans on the market are loaded in sodium.  I bet it would be even better if you used dried beans in the slow cooker.

Here's an informative blog entry regarding BPA in canned foods and health related issues, such as heart disease and diabetes. She actually suggests the Pomi brand: BPA and Canned Tomatoes. I'm thankful for awesome neighbors that drop {clean} goodies off at my door for me to try. I will be ordering some of these or checking out Trader Joe's for boxed tomatoes. 

Not Yo' Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup {soup}

There is something about Campbell's chicken noodle soup that my daughter loves. There are many things I hate about it. It was my mission to make a chicken noodle soup that was packed with nutrition and met her criteria. She doesn't like chunks of celery, carrots, onion, etc in her soup. She wants chicken, broth(very little) and noodles.

The sodium in prepackaged foods is appalling.  It's not easy to actually figure how many servings are in a can since there is 10.75 ounces in each can and a serving size is 1/2 cup. I managed to do the math and the original Campbell's chicken noodle soup has 2,290mg a can (and that is what we do, eat the whole can)!!!  It's recommended that a HEALTHY individual gets LESS than 2,300mg of sodium DAILY (the less the better). 1,500mg a day or less if you are over 51, black, have high blood pressure, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease.

And, I know what you may be thinking, there is a lower sodium option. Not to my surprise it comes in at 1,485mg of sodium. Just shy of the TOTAL daily intake for those of you over 51. 

But wait, there's more...There is a Campbell's HEALTHY CHOICE option too. Brace yourself for this people, it contains High Fructose Corn Syrup. I think I missed the memo on HFCS becoming healthy. Also, it has 925 mg of sodium.

This is the one my daughter likes. It comes in at 1,080mg a can.

Ok, now that that is out of the way. I will get to MY recipe. 

Not Yo' Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup {soup}

This soup comes in at 1,240mg of sodium for the WHOLE BATCH! That comes out to roughly 200mg a serving. The best part of it all is: my daughter LOVES it! Finally, success. This soup has carrots, celery, onions, and garlic in it too! No lie. Thanks to my new high speed blender I whipped all of those into a nice broth.  I no longer try to sneak food into my daughter's foods (she's 7), instead I educate her on creative ways to eat foods. With that being said, she was there to push the ON button to the new blender to see all the veggies "disappear". It was cool! (I still try to fool the 3 year old, that boy is picky) He managed to eat a few bites of the soup before eating yogurt. Seriously!

Ingredients:

(Makes approx. 6 large servings)

• 3 {organic} chicken breast,cooked
• 1 Tbps Olive oil
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 3 celery stalks, roughly chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2 medium carrots, peeled & roughly chopped
• 1 tsp dried parlsey (fresh herbs would be even better)
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 32 oz {low sodium} chicken broth
• 12 oz No Yolks noodles

Directions:

1)  Add olive oil to a hot soup pan. Then add garlic, celery, carrots, and onion.

2) Saute over med/high heat for approx. 5 minutes. Stirring often.

3) Add vegetables to a high speed blender.

4) Add all herbs, salt, and pepper to blender.

5) Add chicken brother to blender.

6) Blend until all ingredients turn into a broth. Set aside.

7) In the same hot soup pan cook No Yolks noodles until done in boiling water. Drain and return to pan.

8)Add prepared broth to the noodles.

9)Pulse the cooked chicken in the blender until desired size is reached. Add to soup.

10) Stir and serve.

NOTE: If you enjoy chunks of vegetables in your soup(like I do), take the time to mince or chop them. Then saute them until fork tender in the pan before adding the broth.

Also, I just cooked my chicken breast in a pan (with a little water) in the oven on 400 until done. Easy Peasy.

{clean} Veggie Soup

It's soup season in Indiana folks, whether we like it or not. Time to heat up the kitchen with some nutrient rich {clean} Minestrone Soup.  This is a great recipe for Meatless Mondays.  Do your health a favor and dump the meat each Monday of the week. It's a great way to jump start your week into making positive food choices.

If you can chop vegetables and operate a can opener you can make this recipe. Yes, it's that simple.

{clean} Veggie Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbps Olive Oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups Organic Vegetable Broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 zucchini, peeled and chopped
• 2-3 med golden potatoes, chopped
• 1 can {all natural} tomato paste
• 1 can {all natural/no salt added} petite tomatoes, with juice.
• 1 tsp ground thyme
• 1 Tbps fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp rubbed sage
• 1 can {organic} Cannellini beans, rinsed and drained 
• 2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

1) Add oil and garlic to large stove top pot. Saute for 1-2 minutes on medium heat.

2) Add all ingredients to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and allow to cook for 2 hours (the longer the better). Stir occasionally.

3) After vegetables have reached the desired tenderness serve and top with fresh Parmesan cheese if you please.

NOTE: I bet you could just throw this all in the crock pot, put it on low and walk away for 8 hours and it would turn out just fine. (add the pasta uncooked though) I might actually try this next time in the crockpot.

Feel free to add more or less of certain vegetables. I tend to double up on many to make a large quantity of soup to last all week long.

2012 UPDATE: I no longer make this soup with pasta. It is highly processed so I try to limit pasta to times when I feel it's really necessary (like with spaghetti) and even then I use spaghetti squash often for me instead of the pasta or mix 50/50.