waltondammerung

Soup night

Okay, so this may not seem like the best time of year to extol the virtues of hot, spicy soup. But, given the cold snap here lately (in the lower 50s for like the last four months straight. and DRIZZLY if not outright rainy!) I've been in kind of a soup and hot tea mood. Yesterday evening I made a recipe from SHAPE magazine that was really easy and very tasty, even though I forgot the couscous. I added mozzarella cheese on top instead of yogurt:

Vegetarian Chili with Couscous
3 teaspoon olive oil
½ cup onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded & minced
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon salt
28 ounce diced tomatoes , canned
28 ounce vegetable broth or water
15 ounce black beans, canned
15 ounce white kidney beans (cannellini), rinsed and drained
15 ounce red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
¼ cup uncooked , whole wheat couscous
4 teaspoon nonfat sour cream
4 teaspoon chopped chives
Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add onion, green pepper, garlic, and jalapeno and saute 2 minutes. Add herbs & spices and salt. Stir well to coat vegetables. Add tomatoes, broth, and beans, and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, 3 minutes. Add couscous and simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Ladle chili into bowls and top servinces with 1 tsp each sour cream & chives.

I've been getting my one-year subscription to SHAPE for almost two years now. Not a bad deal for getting suckered by schoolkids selling door to door. This was my second foray into SHAPE's recipe recommendations. I've been clipping the tasty ones dutifully and ditching the rest of the magazine, but for some reason I had never tried any of their recipes until last week. This one for a chicken wrap is definitely going to make it into my lunch rotation (as is the soup, since I froze the leftovers):

Spicy Chicken-Salad Wrap
½ cup low-fat mayonnaise
1 tsp curry powder
3 tablespoon red onion, diced
¼ cup dried cranberries or dried cherries
2 cup chicken, pre-cooked
1 nectarine, diced
4 6-inch tortillas
½ cup arugula or mixed baby greens
salt & pepper to taste
Mix mayo, curry powder, onion, and cranberries together. Add chicken chunks and mix well. Gently fold in nectarine pieces and add salt and pepper. Set aside.

Put lettuce or arugula on tortillas, add chicken mix, wrap.