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Weight Watchers Cooking Take 2: Zero Point Soup

9 Apr

I was told that there was a mysterious “Zero Point” soup recipe out there… and I figured “hey… I like soup. And I like making soup. And I really like the idea of eating meals that I don’t have to count towards my points!” So I went in pursuit of zero point soup.  Turns out there are several, but the “Italian Veggie” sounded best to me so I set to it.

It’s so easy and quick to make. Lots of fresh veggies. 

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RECIPE
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This is the original recipe as I found it:

Italian-Inspired Zero POINTS Value Soup
Makes 12 servings

POINTS® value | 0 per serving

Ingredients

  • 2 cups escarole, chopped (I used cabbage instead)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup onions, chopped
  • 2 cups baby spinach
  • 2 small zucchini, cubed
  • 1 medium red pepper, chopped (for allergy reasons, I ommitted this)
  • 2 cups fennel bulb, thinly sliced (one bulb)
  • 6 cups vegetable broth (I used fat free chicken broth)
  • 28 oz canned diced tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (ommitted for obvious reasons)
  • 2 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp fresh oregano, finely chopped (I used dry)
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (I went dry due to available ingredients)
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil

Instructions
Put escarole, garlic, onions, spinach, zucchini, red pepper, fennel bulb, vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, red pepper flakes, thyme and oregano into a large soup pot; stir to combine. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, partly covered, for about 10 minutes.

Stir in salt, black pepper, parsley and basil. Serve.

Serving size: about 1 cup

Variations:
They used the POINTS Tracker to calculate the following additions to an individual 1-cup serving:
1 1/2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese, POINTS value: 1
2 oz cooked chicken sausage, POINTS value: 3
2 Tbsp cooked chickpeas, POINTS value: 0.5
2 Tbsp cooked orzo, POINTS value: 0.5
2 small, store-bought turkey meatballs, POINTS value: 2

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The most amazing recipe I’ve ever shared

5 Apr

I read about this mysterious “one ingredient ice cream” on TheKitchn.com and was shocked to learn that the one ingredient was… bananas.  How can you possibly make ice cream out of JUST bananas?  Well… turns out not only is it possible… it’s just about the most amazing thing I’ve ever made.  I am so enthralled with this that I bumped all my other posts to share it with you.  And the best part? It’s good for you!  Figure one banana per serving and I calculated it to be just 2 points (and less than 100 calories)!

The instructions were pretty easy sounding… take bananas… freeze (great way to keep bananas on the verge of over-ripening anyway)… put in food processor… blend until creamy.  My bananas probably should have defrosted a bit before I tried this, however, after some tenacity I got it to this state…

And that made me nervous.  How was this ever going to be CREAMY?  Wouldn’t it be chunky? Or gritty? Or… well… NOT ice cream?

Oh no… 5 minutes later it was downright creamy. 

And then I took my spoon and I dug right in.  Holy crap. This was even better than the moment I discovered Krispy Krack Kale.  Holy cow! 

I have since made it twice more… once with peanut butter (4 points with one tablespoon per banana) and once with peanut butter and chocolate chips (5 points with the same amount of peanut butter plus 1 tablespoon of chocolate chips per 2 bananas).  Use my new favorite, Better’n Peanut Butter, and you can get the PB and Banana combo for jut 3 points!

And then I decided that I couldn’t sit over my counter with a spoon in the food processor forever, so I pulled out the ice cream scooper for the real test…

It scooped beautifully.

Go make this.

Now.

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Weight Watchers Cooking Take 1: Chicken Tagine with Apricots and Almonds

31 Mar

While I found a number of sites that have Weight Watchers Point Values listed with their recipes, there are very few curated recipes that say which ones are actually GOOD.  (I want an AllRecipes.com style sorting for recipes with points!)  One of the few places I found was a thread on Chowhound that discusses some good and bad recipes.  It was here that I found a recipe that sounded right up my alley.  I love chicken with fruit. 

I browned the chicken cubes in whole wheat flour which really added a great extra flavor to the chicken.  I also used cooking spray instead of oil since it’s 0 points.  But watch your cooking spray! I learned that more than 5 seconds of spray means you have to add a point.

When I added the apricots to the chicken, it smelled great. 

We had leftover rice (from the stir fry) so I added half a cup to my meal (2 points). 

Honestly, this recipe was absolutely sensational. I would make this even if I’m not on a diet! It is so delicious and perfectly balanced. 

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RECIPE
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Chicken Tagine with Apricots: 5 points (6 pts. if you decide to add oil to cook the chicken, I went with cooking spray)

Ingredients:

  • 4 oz. dried apricot halves
  • 1 cup fat-free chicken broth
  • 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1” cubes
  • 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour (I actually used whole wheat flour which was VERY tasty!)
  • 1 medium onion chopped
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp. honey
  • 1/4 cup slivered or sliced toasted almonds
  • 1/8 tsp. salt or to taste
  • 1/8 tsp. fresh ground pepper or to taste

Directions:

  1. In a saucepan, bring the chicken broth and apricots to a simmer and then set aside.
  2. Toss chicken with flour
  3. Coat a large, nonstick saucepan with cooking spray and place over high heat
  4. Sautee chicken until coated chicken until golden brown – about five minues
  5. Add diced onion, reduce heat to medium low and cook until onions are soft, about 10 mins.
  6. Add cinnamon and honey
  7. Stir in apricots, broth and almonds
  8. Season to taste with s&p.
  9. Simmer 5-10 minutes

Serves four (I found the servings a bit small on gym day, so I went with a serving and a half and put down the 7.5 points that time… still easy amount of points to work with!)

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