Potato Leek Soup

Thanks for the delicious pic, Steph!
www.stephanieleigh.com

About 10 years ago, I had what I think was Potato Leek Soup once. I actually think it was vichyssoise, which is (I think) COLD potato leek soup. It was awful. Cold and so salty I could barely stomach 2 spoonfuls. So since then, I have been deathly afraid of the dreaded potato-leek combo.

Enter my new kitchen toy: the immersion blender. I have been eyeing one for a while ever since I decided that I would attempt to make my own baby food. I finally got one 2 weeks ago and I have been dying to puree everything in sight. I solicited for recipes in my Facebook status and several versions of the potato-leek combos were thrown back at me. No thanks.

THEN, I was helping a friend cook an anniversary dinner for her husband and she wanted to make potato leek soup. Argh...potato and leeks: my archenemy of the food combination world. I remembered that it would be hot and we could control the salt content. It came out pretty good and I really liked it, but it tasted a little too much like mashed potato soup, probably from the butter and whole milk we used. So here is my lighter, less-mashed-potatoey version. A definite keeper! I just can't get enough soup in the winter!

P.S. Happy Anniversary, Steph and Ian!

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 leeks, white and pale green parts sliced thin (discard leaves)
1 large carrot, sliced
1 large celery stalk, sliced
2 cups water
2 cups chicken broth
3 medium Yukon potatoes (about 1 pound), cubed
1/4 cup fat-free milk
1/4 cup (loosely packed) fresh parsley leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large stockpot over medium high heat. Add leeks, carrot and celery. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, until soft (do not brown).

Add water, broth and potatoes. Cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove from heat. Add milk and parsley. Using an immersion blender, puree soup until texture is smooth and even throughout. Careful not to overblend as the potatoes can break down too much and get gummy. Stir in dried dill and salt and pepper to taste.

Yields about 8 servings (3/4 cup per serving).

WW info:
flex - 2.5 points per serving
core - included

Creamy Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

Oh, picture, wherefore art thou?
Thou was not taken because we were too hungry to wait for pics
when we ate it the first time, and then I froze the remainder too quickly.

As I've said before...is there anything more soul-warming than a nice thick bowl of soup on a blustery winter day? Well, other than a kitten on your lap, or a roaring fireplace, or a toasty laptop on your lap....

I saw this recipe in a recent issue of Rachael Ray's magazine and let's face it—while RR pushes fresh ingredients, she's not exactly pushing low-cal, low-fat options. Nonetheless, I love her despite her annoying perkiness. And I love the ease of her recipes. I thrive on the challenges of figuring out how I can make them (and anyone else's) more "figure-friendly." And interestingly enough, the recipe she printed was actually a remake of an even fattier reader submitted recipe.

This soup was soooooo good. And hearty! My husband and I actually ate it for dinner one night on its own. And soup is rarely enough to serve as the main course around here. Enjoy!

1 ounce mixed dried mushrooms
7 cups fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 large carrots, peeled and sliced
1 onion, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
6 ounces long grain and wild rice mix
12 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 (4 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast
1/2 cup light cream
salt and pepper to taste

Place the dried mushrooms and 1 cup chicken broth in the bowl of a food processor, and soak for 10 minutes. Process until coarsely chopped; set aside.

In a Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add carrots, onion, and thyme and cook for about 5-7 minutes. Add processed mushrooms, stir, and cook for one minute.

Stir in 5 cups of chicken broth, rice and mushrooms and bring to a boil. Add chicken breast, lower heat to a simmer, and stir occasionally. Simmer for about 25 minutes, or until rice is tender and chicken is cooked through. Transfer cooked chicken to a plate and shred; add shredded chicken back to the pot. Stir in the cream, remaining cup of chicken broth, season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 5 minutes.

Yields 8 servings (1 serving=1 heaping 1/2 cup plus about an extra 1/4 of broth)

WW info:
4 points per serving

Pasta e Fagiole

Mmmm....soup. I heart soup. Thick, hearty, stomach-filling soups. But I rarely eat it when I go out. I'm a big believer in that soup must be homemade. And lately I've been watching way too many reality TV shows about restaurants (can you say Kitchen Nightmares?) to know that most things in restaurants are not homemade.

While pregnant, I went to the Olive Garden for the Soup & Salad lunch deal with a few coworkers. I had the Pasta e Fagiole for the first time (first time ever...not just at the OG) and I fell in love! I soured the internet looking for a copycat recipe and found this one. It's not the same as the OG, but its pretty damn good.

12 oz extra-lean ground beef
1 cup celery, finely chopped
1 cup carrot, finely chopped
1 cup onion, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 (12 oz) can of V8 juice
1 (15 oz) can of tomato sauce
1 (28 oz) can of diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can of cannellini beans, drained
1 (15 oz) can of kidney beans, drained
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 (15 oz) can of fat-free, low sodium beef broth
4 oz diatali macaroni

Heat a large stock pot over medium heat. Add beef; break up and cook until cooked through. Drain fat.

Add celery, carrot, onion and garlic and saute for about 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, except macaroni, and bring to a boil. Turn down heat to low and simmer for one hour.

After 50 minutes, boil macaroni and cook to al dente. Drain well, and add to soup. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Yields 8 hearty servings.

WW info: 5 points per serving.

Vegetable Tortellini Soup

picture coming soon....

Ladies and gentlemen, the Foodie Fashionista is back....for now. I haven't been cooking much at all over the past month as I have been very busy with work and somewhat under the weather, so when I am cooking, it's usually stuff I've already made in the past, which requires very little thinking.

So, while I've fallen behind in my cooking, I've also fallen behind in reading about other people's cooking. I must have near 1,000 blog updates to sort through in my Google Reader. While digging through some earlier today, I found this kitchen sink–type soup in Apples and Oranges. I altered it slightly (for instance, I added more tortellini to beef it up and make it more a meal). It came out delicious. I can't wait for lunch tomorrow!


1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 carrots, sliced into discs
1 celery stalk, diced
3 small white or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced
1 (15 oz) can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup frozen corn niblets
3/4 cup frozen green beans
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 (15 oz) cans reduced sodium, fat-free chicken broth
3/4 cup crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 cup dried tortellini
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a stock pot. Add onions; cook for 5 minutes until soft. Add garlic, carrots, celery, and potatoes. Cook for another few minutes; add beans, corn, green beans, diced tomatoes (with liquid), broth, and crushed tomatoes. Stir well. Add seasonings and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and add the tortellini. Cook until the tortellini is cooked through. Season to taste with salt and pepper (and basil, oregano, and thyme if desired).

Yields 6 servings.

WW info:
core: 1 point (for tortellini); all included (without tortellini)*
flex: 3 points
*To beef up the soup without tortellini, try 2/3 cup of whole-wheat elbow or alphabet macaroni

Better Than Big Barry's Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

My husband is a soup person. Loves his soup. And I've been on a big homemade soup kick lately, but he hasn't really taken to any of them since they are all a little too healthy for his style. Quinoa Corn Chowder? Nope. Tuscan Bean Soup? Definitely not. Chicken Noodle Soup? Oh yeah. When he finally wandered into the kitchen to see what I was up to and saw the soup in the pot, he eyes nearly bugged out of his head, into the pot of soup.

So, the story begins with Matzoh Ball Soup. My favorite soup in the whole wide world. It was the 1,000th time I was making matz0h balls (first time blogging though) and I still wasn't quote ready to tackle the homemade soup element of it though.

Our story continues with Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. By now I'm starting to feel my way into homemade soup, but I'm still not quite there so I mix in some chicken broth and use sparing amounts of raw chicken and water. Something about the raw chicken in the soup wasn't rubbing me right.

But yesterday I was planning ahead to Friday, when I will home sick half the day after having a (hopefully painless) procedure. Hmm...what could I have on hand that will make me feel better? Duh...soup. So I leave work and I call Grandma from the car, who is always on-hand for cooking consultation as she doesn't really leave her house much anymore. Grandma gives me the shopping list, of which I already had most of at home except the cheesecloth (to strain out the fat at the end), dill, turnip, and an ingredient described like this: "That other root vegetable that goes in soup...the one with the green fringe on top. Just throw the whole thing in...fringe and all. You'll know what I'm talking about when you see it at the market. If you can't find it, ask an employee or an old lady. They should know what goes in soup." Ummm....the employees in my market don't speak English really and I'd bet the old ladies don't either. And if they did, I highly doubt they would know what goes into old fashioned chicken soup. Needless to say, I came out root-less (and its not a parsnip or a turnip, according to Grandma). I also had some concerns when I asked where to find cheesecloth, I was told to ask at the deli counter or look in the dairy aisle. My reply: "Um, it's not cheese you know." Butcher counter guy's reply: "It's not?" Oddly enough, I found it hanging on a hook over the hot dogs...across from the cheese. What are the odds?


OK, so we're home...we're cooking....and you are wondering why the hell this soup is called Better than Big Barry's Chicken Noodle Soup. So my husband begs for a bowl the second it is ready to eat. I try to tell him that it should be eaten tomorrow after it sits, but he will have none of that. So I made him a small bowl. One bite and his eyes lit up like he had just gone to heaven. He exclaimed, "This is even better than the soup at Big Barry's!!!!" So now, us both being Jewish New Yorkers, I'm assuming that Big Barry's is a Jewish deli somewhere out on Long Island near where he grew up. OH. NO. Big Barry's was a COWBOY WESTERN THEMED restaurant from his childhood. He proceeded to go into great detail about this place for about 20 minutes. I have known him for 12 years and I have never seen him speak about anything with such enthusiasm. The jail cell where he had a birthday party, the cowboy-costumed waiters, the food served in cast iron skillets, the "gunman" in the watchtower on top of the restaurant with his shotgun aimed at the parking lot, and last but not least...the chicken noodle soup served in big tin mugs. Before yesterday, it was apparently the best soup in the world.

And now I can say with great pride and enormous pleasure that my soup tops that. Yee haw!

1 (3 pound) roasting chicken
2 large carrots, chopped
2 large celery stalks with leaves, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 parsnip, sliced in half vertically
1 turnip, sliced in half
3 garlic cloves, peeled
several springs of parsley and dill
10-12 cups cold water
salt and pepper to taste
4 ounces pasta (optional)
cheesecloth

Place chicken, vegetables, and herbs (reserving a few springs of dill) in a large stockpot. Add enough cold water to cover all the contents of the pot. Bring to a boil and turn down to simmer; cover pot, but vent to allow steam to escape. Simmer for about 90 minutes.

After 90 minutes, remove chicken from the soup. Remove as much meat as possible and discard skin and bones. Remove turnip and parsnip and discard. Find garlic cloves (they should be floating near the top) and smash them against the side of the pot and mix the smashed garlic into the soup. Add chicken meat back to soup; season with salt and pepper and add leaves of reserved dill springs. Add pasta and bring back to a boil; boil until pasta is cooked through.

Remove pot from heat and cover top surface of soup with cheesecloth. Push cloth down into soup until it sits just below the surface. Allow to cool completely, preferably overnight. Slowly lift cheesecloth up, separating the fat from the top surface of the soup. Reheat to serve.

Yields 10 servings.

WW info:
core - all included (without pasta); 1 point with pasta
flex - 3 points per serving (including pasta)

Quinoa Corn Chowder

Is there anything more tummy-warming than chowder on a cold winter day? I'm not a huge fan of corn chowder, but I am a big fan of quinoa and I'm always looking for new ways to use it. I don't have a huge stockpile of recipes incorporating it since it is often used in place of rice or couscous and I don't use either of those ingredients much (brown rice makes an appearance on our table when a stir fry makes its way to our table, but that's pretty much the extent of our rice consumption.)

I recommend using a Yukon Gold potato with this recipe, as it is very soft and part of it will disintegrate into the soup, adding to its thickness. You can slo sub the dried herbs for fresh, just be sure to double their amounts, as dried herbs are much more potent than fresh.

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small Onion, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove; crushed and minced
1 lg Potato; peeled and cubed
1 1/2 cups corn kernels
3/8 cups uncooked quinoa
2 cups fat-free, low sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
2 bay leaves
1 cup skim milk
1/4 cup diced red pepper
1 tsp fresh dill
1 tsp dried thyme
Salt and pepper; to taste

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute the onion, garlic, and red pepper until soft. Add the corn and potato, cook for another 5 minutes. Add stock, bay leaf and quinoa; stir well. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add milk, dill and thyme. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Remove bay leaves; add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with dill to serve.

Yields 4 servings

WW info:
core - included
flex - 3 points

East Hampton Clam Chowder

Ina Garten, I have no words. The Barefoot Contessa is one of those chefs that I watch on the Food Network that I watch knowing I'll never make any of her recipes. There was one episode where she used 9 sticks of butter in one meal! My arteries clogged up just watching. Last weekend, my husband and I were happily spending the whole weekend on the couch, vegging out in front of the TV. When Ina made this soup, my husband said, "Thats it? I thought chowder would be so complicated." I offered to try it this weekend (with slight modifications to accommodate my dietary preferences).



One word: wow! I cut down slightly on the amount of butter and flour and I used 2% milk instead of whole milk (which actually surprised me that she used. No cream for the Contessa?). I also used Yukon Gold potatoes instead of boiling potatoes. I thought this was a mistake at first because a lot of them broke down, but then realized that it was actually a blessing in disguise. The broken down potatoes help thicken the chowder, making up for the lighter milk and decreased amounts of butter and flour. I also used clam strips, rather than Ina's suggested whole-belly clams. The girl at the fish market recommended strips over the whole bellies. She said the whole clams would discolor the chowder and make it brown. The strips were a perfect choice. They also chopped them up for me. One less thing for me to do! I heart my fish market.

Original recipe

10 tablespoons light butter, divided
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
1 1/2 cups medium-diced celery (4-5 medium stalks)
1 1/2 cups medium-diced carrots (2 large carrots)
4 cups peeled medium-diced Yukon Gold potatoes (4 large potatoes)
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves (1/2 teaspoon dried)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 cups clam juice
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups low-fat 2% milk
3 cups fresh, chopped clam strips (approx. 1 1/2 pounds)

Melt 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) of the butter in a large heavy-bottomed stockpot. Add the onions and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, or until translucent. Add the celery, carrots, potatoes, thyme, salt, and pepper and saute for 10 more minutes. Add the clam juice, bring to a boil, and simmer, uncovered, until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

In a small pot, melt the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter and whisk in the flour. Cook over very low heat for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Whisk in a cup of the hot broth from the pot and then pour this mixture back into the cooked vegetables. Simmer for a few minutes until the broth is thickened.

Add the milk and clams and heat gently for a few minutes to cook the clams. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve hot.

Yields 10-12 servings (1 serving = 1 heaping 1/2 cup)

WW info: 4 points per serving.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

This was a hard recipe to type up since chicken soup os one of those things that you can use anything and everything. A few weeks ago, chicken breast halves were on sale at my local grocery store, so I bought a few pounds. I cooked a few breast right away, but removed the rib portions and froze them with the remaining breasts. I figured those little pieces could come in handy for something, like soup.

Last night I decided to make soup today, but I wanted to cook my chicken breast first. I rubbed them with a paste of olive oil, fresh rosemary, sage, and thyme and roasted them. Rather then throw the raw chicken into the soup, I roasted them ahead of time for 2 reasons: a) i'm still not quite there on the whole making soup 100% from scratch, and b) it gives the opportunity to add that extra flavor of the fresh herbs that cook into the chicken. It also makes the recipe easier to lend to using leftovers when they are available.

1 large celery stalk, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 parsnip, finely chopped
1/2 pound leftover chicken rib sections (removed from previously cooked chicken breasts)
cold water (about 2 cups)
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
1 Tbsp dried parsely
2 bay leaves
4 cups reduced sodium, fat-free chicken broth
2 cups cooked chicken breast, chopped or shredded
3/4 cup wild rice
1/4 cup long grain white rice*

*Substitute 1/4 cup wild rice to make this recipe 100% WW core.

Add chopped vegetables and raw chicken pieces to a large stock pot. Add cold water to the pot, just enough to cover the vegetables and chicken. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, parsely, and bay leaves. Cover and bring to a boil. Boil for about 45 minutes.

Remove chicken pieces. Add chicken broth, chopped chicken, and rice. Cover tightly and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for about an hour. Add more broth to reach desired consistency (recipe as is will make a thick soup).

Yields 10 servings (about 1 cup each).

WW info:
core - included (if not using white rice)
flex - 3 points.

Zuppa Toscano

Thanks to Joelen for the inspiration for this. I altered the recipe slightly (even thought I halved most of the amounts for less soup, i kept the original amounts of the mushrooms and spinach and I didnt cook the sausage as ground sausage...I left it in the casings and cut it up itno bite-size pices once it was cooked). I think this might become a new staple around here! My husband won't like it since he doesn't like sausage, but I think its fab. I was sort of hoping for a crsip, fall day today so I could curl up with a yummy bowl of warm soup, but its in the 70s (so bizarre for October in New England!). Don't worry...I'll enjoy it anyway!

48 ounces fat-free, reduced sodium chicken broth
1 large baking potato, peeled and diced
8 ounces sweet Italian chicken sausage (2 or 3 links depending on the size of each link)
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teapsoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 cups fresh spinach leaves
1/4 cup half and half

Boil potatoes in chicken broth in a 4 quart pot for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, place sausage links in a non-stick frying pan and heat over medium-high heat until browned on the outside. Transfer links to a plate and carefully slice each one down the center, lengthwise (be careful, since the inside won't be cooked through and still a little messy since it hasn't solidified yet), and transfer back to the pan, placing the inside face down to cook. Cook until brown. Transfer links back to plate (wash it first since the chicken was partially raw the alst time we used it!) and slice link halves into bite size pieces. Add sausage pieces to broth and potatoes. Add seasonings and mushrooms to soup and stir. Bring back to a boil and simmer until potatoes are fork tender and mushrooms are soft.

Stir in the spinach leaves; cook for 5 minutes.
Stir in half and half; cook for 5 minutes and remove from heat.

Yields about 4-6 servings.

WW info:
3 points per serving if yielding 6 servings.
4 points per serving if yielding 4 servings.

Japanese-Style Noodle Bowls

Growing up, I hated Chinese food, Japanese food...any Asian-style food really. It's still not my preference, but I'm learning to enjoy it. So when I saw Rachael Ray making noodle bowls with bok choy, I was inspired since: 1. I'm very into soup right now and 2. for some weird reason, bok choy is my husband's favorite veggie of the moment.

And hopefully, your green veggies will be a brighter green than mine since I put them in the pot too early.

non-stick cooking spray
1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 inches ginger root, grated
8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
48 ounces fat-free, low sodium chicken broth 2 tsp sesame oil
12 ounces chicken breast, sliced into 2" strips
9 oz Japanese or Chinese noodles (fresh, not dehydrated)
4 scallions, chopped
1 medium head of bok choy, sliced
6 ounces snow pea pods

Spray a large stock pot with non-stick cooking spray, Add vegetable oil abd heat over medium-heat. Add red pepper flakes, garlic, ginger and mushrooms. Add chicken broth and cover. Bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, heat the sesame oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add chicken strips and cook until browned. Add chicken to soup pot. Add one ladle's worth of broth to the skillet and deglaze any bits and flavor in the skillet. Add liquid back to the soup pot. Add noodles, bok choy, snow peas and scallions. When adding the noodles, separate them as you add them to the pot so that don't stick together when they cook. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Yields 5 servings.

WW info:
6 points per serving.

Tuscan Bean Soup (with Tomatoes)

After my Tuscan Bean Soup with Roasted Peppers came out too much like hot hummus (delicious, but very hummus-y), I decided that maybe it needed tomatoes instead of the peppers. Holy crap....I could eat the whole pot of this in one sitting.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 (14 oz) can of fat free, low sodium chicken broth*
1 (15 oz) can of cannellini beans
2-3 cloves of garlic, roasted
1 cup diced tomatoes (drained if using canned)
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup basil leaves, chopped

*To make this a vegetarian dish, use vegetable broth.


Add olive oil to a large saucepan and heat over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until they start to get translucent, about 5 minutes. Add a splash of chicken broth to deglaze the bottom of the pan; slowly add the rest of the broth. Stir in garlic paste from roasted garlic cloves. Add beans, tomatoes, basil and oregano. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove from heat. Ladle half the mixture into a blender and puree until you reach your desired texture. Carefully transfer hot liquid to another pot. Repeat process with 2nd half of soup mixture. Return all pureed soup to blender and puree for about 15-20 seconds. If mixture seems too thick, add chicken broth one tablespoon at a time until you have reached your desired consistency.

Return completed pureed batch to stove and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15-20 minutes; season with salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in fresh basil leaves right before serving and serve with a crusty bread.

Yields 4 half-cup servings.

WW info:
Core-all included
Flex-2 points per serving

Tuscan Bean Soup (with Roasted Peppers)

I had a random can of cannellini beans in the pantry and did not want to make bean dip so I thought I'd get creative. I searched for soup recipes but nothing really peaked my interest, so I just decided to throw my favorite flavors in the pot and see what comes out in the end.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 (14 oz) can of fat free, low sodium chicken broth*
2 cloves of garlic, roasted
1 (15 oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 small red bell pepper, roasted (about 5-6 strips)
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup basil leaves, chopped

*To make as a vegetarian dish, use vegetable broth.




Add olive oil to a large saucepan and heat over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until they start to get translucent, about 5 minutes. Add a splash of chicken broth to deglaze the bottom of the pan; slowly add the rest of the broth. Stir in garlic paste from roasted garlic cloves. Add beans, peppers, basil and oregano. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove from heat. Ladle half the mixture into a blender and puree until you reach your desired texture. Carefully transfer hot liquid to another pot. Repeat process with 2nd half of soup mixture. **Always be very careful when transferring and pureeing extremely hot substances. It is safest to do this process in small batches.**

Return completed pureed batch to stove and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15-20 minutes; season with salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in fresh basil leaves right before serving and serve with a crusty bread.

Yields 4 half-cup servings.

WW info:
Core-all included
Flex-2 points per serving

Matzoh Ball Soup

Ok, this recipe is half homemade like your grandma would make, and half Sandra Lee! I've always made matzoh balls by cheating (read: canned chicken broth and matzoh ball mix) since the first time I tried to make them from scratch, it was a total bust. Bu that was like 8 years ago and this time I was feeling inspired to at least try to get half of it done the right way. I'm not quite ready to jump into homemade chicken soup, but I was all about the matzoh balls. I even googled "perfect matzoh balls" for tips.

End result: yummy, fluffy balls. ;)

Matzoh Balls
4 eggs, separated
1 tablespoon shmaltz (chicken fat)
1 cup unsalted matzoh meal
1/2 teapsoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Soup
4 quarts low sodium, fat free chicken broth
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 small onion, sliced
1 (4 ounce) chicken breast

Beat egg whites in a bowl until fluffy (not stiff, just fluffy) and beat egg yolks and shmaltz in a separate bowl. Add yolk mixture to whites and stir well. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Place mixture in refrigerator for an hour.

Add all soup ingredients to a large pot and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cover. When chicken breast is cooked through, remove and shred. Add shredded chicken back to the soup.

Using a tablespoon, measure out matzoh ball mix and roll into balls. Do not compact the balls to much. Drop into simmering soup. Cover pot, but vent lid. Simmer for about 45 minutes.

Yields about 20 matzoh balls.

WW info: 3 points per serving.