Chicken Soup with Spinach and White Beans

Fall is in the air—football is going strong, leaves are turning, and the air holds a welcoming chill. With the change in season comes weekends in the kitchen creating soup recipes. Today, I craved a warm, hearty chicken soup. Spinach seemed a perfect accompanying ingredient. The rest just came naturally.










Chicken Soup with Spinach and White Beans

½ tablespoon olive oil
½ tablespoon Smart Balance (or other buttery spread)
1 cup each chopped carrots, onion and celery
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
1/3 cup dry white wine
3 cups water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup fresh chopped parsley
4 cups homemade chicken stock (or stock in a box)
1 (10 oz.) box frozen spinach, thawed and drained
3 cups cooked, shredded chicken
2 cans great northern beans (drained)
Freshly ground black pepper
Fresh, shaved Parmesan cheese

In a large stock pot, sauté carrots, onions and celery in olive oil/Smart Balance for about 10 minutes. Add garlic, bay leaf, and thyme, and sauté for about one minute. Deglaze pan with white wine and cook until wine has reduced. Add water, salt, parsley and chicken stock. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until carrots are tender. Add spinach, and cook until tender; about 5 minutes. Add chicken and beans, and heat through. Adjust seasoning and add pepper. Garnish with shaved Parmesan cheese and serve with crusty bread.

Beans--Healthy, Nutritious, Delicious!!

I love beans—all kinds of beans. In fact, I love them so much, I’ve begun taking a bit of time each weekend to prepare a big pot to enjoy the following week. I cook a different type each weekend...pinto, navy, black...I can serve them with any meal, but I especially love a cup of beans with a sandwich or wrap instead of chips—healthy, nutritious, delicious!

Dried beans are the only way to go for me; they’re inexpensive, and I think they taste better than canned or frozen. Here is my recipe for white beans. The root vegetables and herbs make this dish extra flavorful.

White Beans with Herbs and Vegetables

1 pound dried white beans
4 cups water
1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
½ medium-large onion, peeled
1 bay leaf
1 carrot, cut into chunks
1 stalk celery, cut into chunks
2 cloves minced garlic
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon dried marjoram
2 teaspoons salt
Fresh cracked black pepper
Smart Balance, butter, or other spread

Prepare dried beans for cooking according to package directions (either quick or overnight soak). Add beans to large pot, along with water and chicken stock (add more stock later if needed). Add remaining ingredients. Simmer over low heat according to bean directions or until tender. After beans have cooked, adjust seasoning and add butter.

Note: Freeze leftover beans in baggies to enjoy later. Next week, prepare a different kind, and freeze. Continue to rotate out.

Impromptu Pizza--Making Do in a Pinch

I was all set for Pizza Friday…Sauce. Check. Toppings. Check. Refrigerated pizza dough??? Yikes! I’m out! In a pinch, I went for my go-to bread I always have on hand—whole wheat pita bread.

Tonight’s toppings were Mediterranean—left over from a recent Greek salad: chicken, sundried tomatoes, kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, purple onion and feta. Pesto sauce was the foundation for this pie.

Not knowing quite what to expect, I was thrilled that this impromptu pizza was delicious! Got two thumbs up from Gary, so I knew I’d hit a home run. The whole wheat pita bread was super-crisp and much lighter than the refrigerated pizza dough. Plus, it’s whole grain, all natural, and low fat. This means I can eat twice as much, right?

Whole Wheat Pita Pizza

Whole wheat pita bread
Sauce of your choice
Toppings of your choice
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Preheat oven to 400. Place pita bread on a greased baking pan; poke with fork to prevent puffing. Place in preheated oven for five minutes. Remove and top with your favorite sauce (pesto, tomato, garlic/ranch dressing). Add your favorite toppings. Top with cheese, and bake until cheese is melted and bread is crispy. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil before serving.

Greek Salmon Salad

We love our salads and must incorporate them into our dinner menus at least twice a week. I recently had all the ingredients on hand for something Greek, and here’s what resulted. Pretty tasty if I say so myself!

Greek Salmon Salad

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon dried dill weed
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and fresh ground pepper

Salmon filets
Cavender’s Greek Seasoning
Sundried tomatoes, chopped
Purple onion, sliced
Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
Artichokes hearts, chopped
Feta cheese, crumbled
Romaine lettuce

For dressing, combine red wine vinegar, mustard, oregano, and dill weed in bowl. Whisk in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Season salmon filets with Cavender’s Greek Seasoning, and sauté in olive oil until desired doneness—I prefer about three minutes on each side depending on thickness of salmon—I like my salmon slightly pink inside.

Combine lettuce, tomatoes, onion, kalamata olives, artichokes and feta cheese in a salad bowl and drizzle with dressing. Toss and plate. Top each salad with a salmon filet and garnish with dried or fresh parsley.

Delicious, Simple Roast Chicken

Really, there is no easier (or healthier) way to prepare chicken than roasting. Literally, you can have a chicken in the oven in 10 minutes—come back in an hour and a half, and it’s done to perfection. Serve it as a main course, or use to make quick lunches during the week. This is my go-to, so easy recipe for perfect roast chicken.

Lemon Garlic Roast Chicken

1 (5 lb. – 6 lb.) whole chicken
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon, halved
6 large cloves garlic, smashed
Olive oil

Remove giblets from chicken, rinse thoroughly, and dry inside and out with paper towels. Place chicken on large, foil-lined baking sheet (place chicken on a small rack if you have one). Liberally salt and pepper inside of chicken. Fill cavity with garlic and lemon. Tie legs together with cooking twine. Drizzle olive oil over chicken. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Tuck wings under to prevent burning. Place chicken in 425 degree oven and roast for 1 ½ - 1 3/4 hours or until juices run clear when cut between thigh/leg and breast. If chicken begins to brown too much while roasting, cover breast area with foil. Allow to rest for 20 minutes.

Fruit Smoothies--Perfect Way to Start the Day

As health-conscious as I try to be, I can’t seem to bring myself to eat fruit the way I should. With good intentions, I buy it—then it just sits in my fruit bowl until it passes its prime, and I throw it out. Determined to find a way to get my daily allowance of fruit, I now start off each day with a homemade smoothie. For convenience, I use frozen fruit; however, bananas are the foundation of my smoothies. Here's my trick: I purchase ripe bananas in bulk, peel and chop up, put the slices into baggies, and pop them in the freezer. Bananas add frothiness and a sweet balance to tart fruits.

Fast, simple and healthy, smoothies are the perfect way to start the day. Here are two of my favorite recipes:

Tropical Fruit Smoothie

1 cup skim milk
8 slices frozen banana
*2-3 each strawberries, pineapple and mango chunks

Combine all ingredients in a blender, and process until smooth.

* from Kroger's Private Selection Fruit Blend for Smoothies

Blueberry Peach Smoothie

1 cup skim milk
8 slices frozen banana
3-4 slices frozen peaches
1 generous handful frozen blueberries

Combine all ingredients in a blender, and process until smooth.

Each recipe makes 2 small or 1 large serving. Adjust ingredients for your perfect consistency and to suit your individual taste.