Saturday, March 27, 2010

Garden Vegetable Soup

One of my Singaporean friends here in Chicago gave me his slow cooker before he left Chicago. That was almost about a month ago and I have been thinking what to make with it. My friend makes delicious soups so I thought why don't I make another soup recipe. :) Considering I only have 2 soup recipes right now.

I wanted to make it a blend of traditionally Asian and Western flavors. And I realise I still my dill in the fridge (from the Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs recipe). And the rest is history as documented below. :)

A truly wonderful bowl of goodness! A super hassle free recipe that you can make while you catch up on your chores, go to work, play with your kids etc. Hearty and healthy in a single bowl. Make your week night a healthy night. Have your vegetables and eat it!


Ingredients (makes 3 to 4 servings):
1. 2 carrots, chopped into medium chunks
2. 3 to 4 stalks of celery, chopped into medium chunks
3. 1 medium potato, chopped into medium chunks
4. 1 small yellow onion, chopped into medium chunks
5. ½ cup firm tofu, cut into medium chunks
6. 2 tomatoes, chopped into medium chunks
7. 2 cloves of garlic, whole and smashed
8. ½ cup turnip, chopped into medium chunks (optional)
9. 4 cups of water
10. 1 stalk of dill
11. 1 bay leaf
12. Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
If you have a slow cooker, use it. If not, use a regular pot.

Slow cooker:
1. If you are using a slow cooker, put all ingredients into the pot and turn on high and cook for 4 to 5 hours or low for 8 to 10 hours.
2. Do a taste test before serving. Add salt and pepper to taste as desired.
3. Fish out dill and bay leaf before serving.

This is a wonderfully easy and healthy soup to make for week night dinners. You can put it in before you leave the house and by the time you get home from work, you will have a wonderful soup for dinner.

Regular pot:
1. If you are using a regular pot, put garlic, potatoes, celery, carrots and turnip (if using) and water in a pot and bring it to boil covered.
2. Add tofu, tomatoes, onions, bay leaf and dill and simmer (low heat) covered for 1 to 2 hours.
3. Do a taste test and add salt and pepper as desired. Add water if necessary.
4. Simmer covered for another hour before serving.

Nutritional value of this recipe:
There is only 95 calories in 1 serving (1 bowl)! Yet, it gives you 109%* of your daily vitamin A requirements, 36%* of your daily vitamin C requirements, 11%* of your calcium requirements, 7%* of iron requirements, 4.7g of protein and 3.5g of fiber.

No comments: