Recipes

As I come up with new recipes (especially for vegetables), I will post them here. If anyone out there has some good veggie recipes, let me know. I really dislike steamed vegetables. I prefer my veggies disguised in cream or cheese sauces. That lifestyle has got to go, but I need flavor in my food. On that note, I cannot eat really, really spicy hot foods because that throws me into an asthma attack, but mildly spicy-hot is great.

SOUPS

Being sick has helped with one thing–I am becoming addicted to hot soup–not the creamy kind since that won’t help with my bronchitis, but the broth-based soups that are healthy and fairly low-cal. Two of my favorites right now are beef & barley soup and split pea soup…both are easy, easy to make and taste great.

Beef & Barley Soup

• Approx. 1 lb beef (stir fry or stew cubes) cut into small pieces
• two medium onions
• 2-3 cloves of garlic minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 4 carrots (peeled and sliced thinly)
• 2 celery stalks (sliced thinly)
• 2/3 – 3/4 c. pearl barley
• beef broth (low sodium/fat free)–as needed
• water (as needed)

Brown beef with 1 tsp olive oil in stock pot. Add onions and sweat until clear. Add garlic. Then add barley, beef broth, spices, & water. Cook for about 40 minutes. Add carrots & celery. Cook until tender.

From the www.fitwatch.com Recipe Analyzer (see links for the a link directly to the recipe analyzer).

Nutrition Facts
Amount per serving
Calories:	194.8 kcal
Water	82.29 g
Carbohydrate* (52%)	25.84 g
Protein (30%)	14.54 g
Total Fat (18%)	3.82 g
Monounsaturated	1.7 g
Polyunsaturated	0.36 g
Saturated	1.32 g
Cholesterol	13.7 mg
Dietary Fibre	5.1 g
Alcohol (0%)	0 g
Vitamins
Vitamin A	1988.7 IU
Thiamin	0.1 mg
Riboflavin	0.13 mg
Niacin	3.06 mg
Pantothenic acid	0.42 mg
Vitamin B6	0.28 mg
Folate	24.51 mcg
Vitamin B12	0.84 mcg
Vitamin C	3.96 mg
Vitamin E	0.43 mg ATE
Minerals
Calcium	34.81 mg
Iron	1.74 mg
Magnesium	35.11 mg
Phosphorus	149.06 mg
Potassium	309.07 mg
Sodium	382.54 mg
Zinc	3.23 mg
Copper	0.19 mg

*	Note: USDA factors are used in calculating certain foods and do not necessarily follow the “4-4-9″ method. Percentages may not always add up to 100.
	Data source: USDA Nutrient Database, R17

Split Pea and Ham Soup

• 1 pkg split peas
• 1/2 pkg ham (cubed)
• 1 large vegetable bullion cube
• 2 bay leaves
• pepper & salt to taste
• garlic to taste
• 1 large onion
• 1 peeled and chopped red potato
• 4 peeled and sliced carrots

Clean split peas (look for stones). Saute onion in 1 tsp olive oil until clear. Add garlic. Add peas, ham, bullion, water (to cover plus about 1 inch) peas, & spices. Cook for about 20-30 minutes. Mash peas with potato masher. Add potato and carrots. Cook until tender.

From the www.fitwatch.com Recipe Analyzer (see links for the a link directly to the recipe analyzer).

Nutrition Facts
Amount per serving
Calories:	249 kcal
Water	127.46 g
Carbohydrate* (76%)	46.79 g
Protein (21%)	15.49 g
Total Fat (3%)	0.88 g
Monounsaturated	0.17 g
Polyunsaturated	0.38 g
Saturated	0.13 g
Cholesterol	0 mg
Dietary Fibre	16.5 g
Alcohol (0%)	0 g
Vitamins
Vitamin A	3764.55 IU
Thiamin	0.48 mg
Riboflavin	0.15 mg
Niacin	2.54 mg
Pantothenic acid	1.24 mg
Vitamin B6	0.24 mg
Folate	172.62 mcg
Vitamin B12	0 mcg
Vitamin C	13.08 mg
Vitamin E	0.26 mg ATE
Minerals
Calcium	55.36 mg
Iron	3.23 mg
Magnesium	82.5 mg
Phosphorus	254.28 mg
Potassium	899.62 mg
Sodium	181.48 mg
Zinc	1.96 mg
Copper	0.59 mg

*	Note: USDA factors are used in calculating certain foods and do not necessarily follow the “4-4-9″ method. Percentages may not always add up to 100.
	Data source: USDA Nutrient Database, R17

Stews

African Sweet Potato Stew (from http://www.cookingcache.com/soupsand/africansweetpotatostew.shtml)

I’m going to try this tonight. I will let you know how it goes. During college, I had a roommate from Ghana who made the world’s best and spiciest groundnut chicken stew. This recipe reminds me of Amma’s cooking. I will let you know if it is as good (or at least is edible).

FABULOUS! I added chicken and cooked it on high heat in a crockpot for 4 hours (used fresh sweet potatoes, baked them, then cubed and added them during the last 30-45 minutes of cooking). Left out the green beans. Used a little less liquid for the crockpot.

Yield: Makes 6 servings Ingredients 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups) 2 cups chopped cabbage (to save time, use packaged slaw mix) 3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 18-ounce can sweet potatoes, drained and chopped 1 14 1/2-ounce can tomato wedges or diced tomatoes, undrained 1 1/2 cups tomato juice 3/4 cup apple juice 1 to 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger root 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes 2 cups frozen cut green beans 1/3 cup natural peanut butter Directions Heal oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion; Cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes. Mix in cabbage and garlic; Cook, stirring, until cabbage is tender-crisp, about 5 minutes. Stir in sweet potatoes, tomatoes, tomato juice, apple juice, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Reduce heat to medium-low; Cover. Simmer until hot and bubbling, about 6 minutes. Stir in green beans and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Stir in peanut butter until well blended and hot, about 1 minute. Serve stew with crusty bread and a salad, or spoon it over rice or mashed potatoes. Comments Per Serving: 261 Calories; 8g Protein; 9g Fat; 40g Carbohydrates; 0 Cholesterol; 425mg Sodium; 8g Fiber.