Supercharged Mutant

This weekend, I was in H Mart, a supersized Korean supermarket in Niles, IL, when I spotted orange cauliflowers and decided to bring one home. Orange cauliflowers are the tastier offspring of a mutant orange cauliflower found in a Canadian field 30 years ago. The mutant was smaller and less flavorful than regular cauliflower so food scientists labored to improve upon the mutation, a gene that causes the cauliflower to store more beta-carotene, to come up with an orange cauliflower as tasty as the white stuff. Because of the extra beta-carotene, orange cauliflower is much higher in provitamin A than white cauliflower.

Since the weather turned chilly yet again today, I was in the mood for soup. I started with a spicy cauliflower soup recipe in Alice Water’s The Art of Simple Cooking. The resulting soup lacked body so taking Julie’s Spinach Chickpea soup as my inspiration, I added a can of rinsed and drained chickpeas. Just what it needed. Now the soup is tastier and has more protein and fiber.

As you can see, the soup is a vibrant orange. Feel free to make it with white cauliflower. The soup will still be a light yellow from the added turmeric and carrot.

Spicy Cauliflower Chickpea Soup
Serves 4

Prep: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes

1 T olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, coarsely chopped
1 tsp chili powder
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
¼ tsp turmeric
1 large head of cauliflower, color of your choice, coarsely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 ½ cups cooked or 1 15 ox can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups water

Optional garnishes: plain yogurt or low-fat sour cream, cilantro

Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, and spices and sauté until onion is soft, about five minutes. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. With immersion blender, puree until coarsely smooth. Top with optional garnish. Serve immediately.

Nutrition Info (per serving): 182 calories, 30g carbohydrates, 11g fiber, 10g protein, 5g fat, 1g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 422mg sodium

High-Fiber Flamingo Protector

Did you know that lycopene, the red carotenoid found in tomatoes, watermelon, and pink grapefruit, keeps pink flamingos pink? If they didn’t eat lycopene, they’d be white flamingos. Which begs the question, do flamingos eat tomato sauce?

In humans, lycopene is an antioxidant stored in our blood plasma, skin, and organs such as our liver, lungs, colon, adrenal glands, and, for those who have one, prostate gland. Studies are still ongoing but there is some evidence that lycopene may reduce our risk of vision loss, heart disease, and some cancers.

For reasons unknown, lycopene is best absorbed when we consume processed tomato products rather than raw tomatoes. One study showed 2.5 times higher lycopene absorption after eating tomato paste as compared to eating the equivalent amount of raw tomatoes.

Since it’s been kind of chilly here the last couple of days, chili is the best way I could think of consuming my lycopene this week. I like my chili vegetarian, yet meaty. I adapted this recipe from Robin Robertson’s Vegan Planet. She likes to use kidney beans but I prefer the pinto.

To supply the vegetarian meatiness, I used Lightlife Taco/Burrito Smart Ground, found in most major supermarkets.

Flamingo-Friendly Chili
Serves 6

Prep: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes

1 T olive oil
1 large onion, coarsely diced
1-2 T chili powder
½ tsp oregano
½ tsp cayenne pepper
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
6 oz can tomato paste
2 cups water
2 cups soy veggie crumbles
3 cups cooked or two 15 oz cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large stockpot. Sauté onions for five minutes until soft. Add spices, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove cover, add veggie crumbles, beans and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

Chili also freezes well.

Nutrition Info (per serving): 282 calories, 45g carbohydrates, 13g fiber, 21g protein, 0g fat, 0g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 625mg sodium

Edgy Veggies in a Bowl

Broccoli raab is broccoli with attitude. Easier to prep but with an edgier taste. Both are members of the Brassicus genus, meaning both are genetically inclined to provide some powerful health-protecting antioxidants.

While I’m a huge broccoli fan, one advantage of broccoli raab (also known as rapini) is that there's less fuss and muss prior to cooking. No peeling of the stems, no teasing apart of the florets. Just chop, chop, chop, go.

This has been yet another crazy week. I needed quick and satisfying veggies so I made an old comfort stand-by – Greens and Tortellini Soup. It’s hearty enough that I serve it as an entrée.


Greens and Tortellini Soup
Serves 3 adults or 2 adults and 2 kids

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

1 T olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves finely minced
1 lb broccoli raab chopped into approx 2” segments
6 cups vegetable stock
25-30 small tortellinis of your choice

Heat oil in large soup pot over medium high heat. Sauté garlic cloves for a minute and add chopped broccoli raab. Saute for another minute or two. Add stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add tortellini and simmer for another 8 minutes. Serve immediately.

Nutrition Info (per adult serving, reduce in half for kid serving): 320 calories, 36g carbohydrates, 8g fiber, 15g protein, 15g fat, 5g saturated fat, 80mg cholesterol, 654mg sodium

Notes:

• Broccoli also works well in this soup as do leafy greens. For leafy greens, like chard or spinach, add with tortellini.
  
• I use half a bag of Trader Joe’s Gorgonzola and Walnut Tortellini for this recipe.
  
• I also use a 4-quart container of Pacific Low-Sodium Vegetable Broth plus two cups of water.

Not Salad

I have a confession to make, a confession that's difficult for a dietitian to make.

I don't care for salads. At least not salad made up primarily of salad greens. Green salads are dangerous. I've been a witness too many times to salads weighted down beneath mounds of cheese shreds, bacon bits, and croutons bobbing along in a sea of fatty salad dressing.

And I understand the need to bury that salad. Many times green salads can be bitter. While I vow one day to address my green salad aversion (I love other vegetable salads like cole slaw, beet salad, and tomato salad), for now, I'm green salad averse.

Still, I think a meal is more satisfying and filling if there are some veggies to start. Which is why I love soup. Soup is a fabulous way to start a meal and to get a good helping of veggies.

My friend Julie was kind enough to share with me the other day her very popular spinach-chickpea soup recipe. I love it. It's hearty, high in fiber, and easy to make. And it freezes well too.

Julie's Spinach-Chickpea Soup
Serves 6

1 T olive oil
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, pressed or finely minced
1 1" piece cinnamon stick
1 T cumin seeds, toasted and ground
Black pepper to taste
14 oz can low-sodium diced tomatoes
14 oz can chickpeas rinsed or 2 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
10 chopped dried apricots
5 cups vegetable or chicken stock
10 oz fresh or frozen chopped spinach
Cayenne pepper or hot pepper flakes to taste

In a five-quart or larger stock pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute onions and garlic until onions are limp.

Add all remaining ingredients except spinach and cayenne and simmer for 20 minutes after bringing to a boil. Add spinach (no need to defrost frozen spinach since it'll defrost in the pot) and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Turn off heat and remove cinnamon stick (very important!!!). Puree in the pot with an immersion blender or pour into blender or food processor to puree. Add cayenne or hot pepper flakes to taste.

Nutrition Info (per serving): 167 calories, 30g carbohydrates, 6g fiber, 7g protein, 2g fat, 0mg cholesterol, 575mg sodium. To reduce sodium further, use homecooked unsalted chickpeas and use homemade or store-bought low-sodium stock or water.

Since we're talking soups, I should mention that I'm a big fan of the Penzeys soup bases. Making your own stock is always best but not always possible. Penzeys soup bases taste great and cost less that the equivalent amount of store-bought liquid stocks.