Fitness Food and You

The best thing about making soup is that there are no rules–you can tweak any recipe to make it your own. This is a wonderful soup recipe! If you don’t want to use sausage, substitute ground turkey or chicken. I didn’t want to be bothered making the panko garnish, so I just sprinkled the soup with Parmesan cheese and it was perfect. I also used Swiss chard instead of the escarole and pinto beans instead of cannellini. Have fun with this!! REALLY DELICIOUS!

ingredients

1 lb. sweet Italian sausage

¾ cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), divided

6 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided

8 garlic cloves, divided

Kosher salt

1 medium head of fennel with fronds

2 medium onions

½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

½ cup dry white wine

1, 4-oz. piece Parmesan with rind

1, 15-oz. can cannellini (white kidney) beans

1 small head of escarole

directions

Cut shallow slits in each sausage link, then remove sausage from casings; transfer sausage to a medium bowl. Add ½ cup panko, 2 Tbsp. oil, and 2 Tbsp. water. Peel and finely grate 1 garlic clove on a microplane into bowl. Season lightly with salt and mix with your hands until breadcrumbs are evenly distributed.

Portion meat into small meatballs about 1″ in diameter (oil your hands to help with rolling if mixture gets sticky) and transfer to a plate.

Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a Dutch oven over medium. Add meatballs, spacing evenly apart, and cook undisturbed until first side is dark brown, about 5 minutes. Using tongs, turn meatballs and cook until other side is also well browned, about 4 minutes. Transfer back to plate and set aside.

Remove pot from heat and prep the rest of the soup ingredients: First, remove fennel fronds from 1 head of fennel and save for garnishing the soup. Cut fennel head in half lengthwise. Cut a V-shaped notch in each half to remove the core. Place halves cut side down, then thinly slice crosswise.

Peel and trim 2 onions. Cut in half lengthwise and coarsely chop. Smash 6 garlic cloves (keep remaining clove for the end) and peel. Place Dutch oven back over medium heat and add fennel, onion, and smashed garlic; season with salt and ½ tsp. red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are golden brown and softened, 6–8 minutes. Stir in ½ cup wine and scrape bottom to dissolve any remaining stuck-on browned bits. Add 8 cups water; season generously with salt. Slice down along Parmesan rind to remove and add to soup; set cheese aside. Bring to a simmer, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Cook uncovered until broth is golden and flavorful, 25–30 minutes. Season with more salt if needed.

Open 15-oz. can beans and pour into a strainer or small colander. Rinse beans and shake to remove excess water, then transfer to pot along with meatballs. Bring back to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until broth is slightly thickened from beans and meatballs are cooked and have released some of their flavor into the broth, 10–15 minutes.

While soup is simmering, separate leaves from 1 head of escarole and rinse to remove any dirt. Tear into small pieces, then stir into soup in batches to wilt. Remove soup from heat.

Heat remaining 2 Tbsp. oil in a small saucepan over medium. Finely grate remaining 1 garlic clove into skillet. Add remaining ¼ cup panko. Season with salt and cook, stirring often, until panko is golden, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Prepare your other garnishes: Finely grate about ½ cup cheese from reserved hunk of Parmesan (you might not need it all). Finely chop fennel fronds. Taste soup and season with salt if needed. Ladle soup into bowls and top with chopped fronds, grated cheese, and toasted panko.

(Recipe found on https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/low-commitment-wedding-soupIf you click on the link you will see a video of this recipe—very helpful!)

I wasn’t expecting to love this dish as much as I did! IT’S UTTERLY DELICIOUS!! It’s also very easy to make and fun to eat! This is a keeper! Give it try–you might be surprised too!

ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound ground chicken

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, diced

¼ cup hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

1 tablespoon Sriracha, optional

1 (8-ounce) can whole water chestnuts, drained and diced

2 green onions, thinly sliced

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 head butter lettuce

directions

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Add ground chicken and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the chicken as it cooks; drain excess fat.

Stir in garlic, onion, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ginger and Sriracha until onions have become translucent, about 1-2 minutes.

Stir in chestnuts and green onions until tender, about 1-2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.

To serve, spoon several tablespoons of the chicken mixture into the center of a lettuce leaf, taco-style.

(recipe found on https://damndelicious.net/)

This is one of the most popular NY Times recipes and for good reason! It is easy to make and beyond scrumptious. The ingredients work magically! This one is a keeper!! 

ingredients

3 ½ pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken parts

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

6 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt and black pepper

½ cup white wine vinegar

1 ½ cups green Castelvetrano olives, crushed and pitted

2 garlic cloves, finely grated

1 cup parsley, tender leaves and stems, chopped

directions

Heat oven to 450⁰ F. Place chicken on a rimmed baking sheet and toss with turmeric and 2 tablespoons olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Make sure chicken is skin-side up, then pour vinegar over and around chicken and place in the oven.

Bake chicken, without flipping, until cooked through and deeply browned all over, 25 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine olives, garlic, parsley, the remaining 4 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl; season with salt and pepper.

Once chicken is cooked, remove baking sheet from the oven and transfer chicken to a large serving platter, leaving behind any of the juices and bits stuck to the pan.

Make sure the baking sheet is on a sturdy surface (the stovetop, a counter), then pour the olive mixture onto the sheet. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, gently scrape up all the bits the chicken left behind, letting the olive mixture mingle with the rendered fat and get increasingly saucy. Pour olive mixture over the chicken, then serve.

 (recipe found on https://cooking.nytimes.com)

A client of mine made this salad during the holidays and it was a major hit!! Feel free to play around with the ingredients–I’m going to add more spinach. The ingredients work magically!

salad ingredients

5 cups (1 ½ lbs) cubed butternut squash, cut into ¾ inch pieces

1 ½ Tbsp olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

10 oz baby spinach

1 ¼ cups pomegranate arils

4 oz goat cheese or feta, crumbled

dressing ingredients

½ cup olive oil

¼ cup red wine vinegar

3 Tbsp minced shallot

2 ½ Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp dijon mustard

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

directions: 

For the butternut squash: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place squash in a mound on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper to taste and toss to evenly coat in oil. Spread into an even layer.

Bake in preheated oven 15 minutes then remove from oven and toss. Return to oven and bake until tender, about 10 minutes longer. Allow to cool several minutes before adding to salad.

For the Salad: In a large salad bowl toss together spinach, squash, ½ of the pecans and ½ of the pomegranate arils.

Drizzle with desired amount of dressing and gently toss. Sprinkle with remaining pecans, pomegranate arils and goat cheese and serve immediately.

For the dressing: Combine all dressing ingredients in a blender and season with salt and pepper to taste (about ½ tsp salt ¼ tsp pepper). Process until well emulsified.

 (recipe found on https://www.cookingclassy.com/)