Today's Recipe: Tortilla Soup, and Yesterday's Green Lemonade Review

So today I cooked Tortilla Soup from the Appetite for Reduction cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz for dinner and must I say it is DELICIOUS. I love tortilla soup, but I'm picky about it. I don't like it too much on the tomato soup side, so I never order it when I'm at restaurants because I'm just not willing to take that risk. The only thing I would change about this recipe the next time around is I would scale down the spice. This baby has HEAT.








Vegan Tortilla Soup

Recipe courtesy of Appetite for Reduction




Ingredients:

1 tsp olive oil

1 small yellow onion, sliced thinly

2 jalapenos, seeded and sliced thinly

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped into 1/2 in. pieces

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp salt

24 oz whole tomatoes

24 oz vegetable broth

4 oz baked tortilla chips (~2 cups)

1 tbs ground cumin

1 (15 oz) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup frozen corn

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

juice from 1 lime 

Preheat a 4 quart pot over medium-high heat
Saute the onions, jalapenos and green pepper in the oil until the onions are translucent, about 5 min. use a little nonstick cooking spray or broth, if needed, to keep it from burning
Add the garlic, red pepper flakes and salt and saute for another minute
Break up the tomatoes with your fingers and add them to the pot, including the juice
Fill the tomato can with broth and add it in
Mix in the cumin
Crush 2 oz of the chips into crumbs and add to the pot
Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat to simmer, add the beans, corn and cilantro and simmer for 5 min.
Add lime juice, ladle soup into bowls
Crumble remaining chips over the top, garnish with cilantro and serve.


Yield: Serves 4











As for yesterday's green lemonade recipe? At the risk of sounding redundant there was too much green, not enough lemonade. I think the recipe could use more apple and lemon- but I have two more recipes to try out so hopefully I'll find my Holy Grail. Tomorrow I'll have another recipe and a review. Fingers crossed I find what I have been craving!

The Green Lemonade Trials, Part One

My blueberries are blooming, spring has sprung, and for me that brings a shift in diet. Instead of loading up on warm comfort foods I start eating more cool foods such as salads, and start drinking more juices. One of my favorite juices of all time is Green Lemonade. I love the tartness, and it's a great way to sneak those pesky vegetables into your diet. There are tons of green lemonade recipes out there, and this week it is my personal quest to discover the perfect green lemonade. I have a few recipes in mind, and below is the first recipe I am going to attempt. I'll follow up with my review of this recipe tomorrow. 

Green Lemonade
Taken from 101 Juice Recipes by Joe Cross

Ingredients (makes two servings):

-1 green apple
-2 handfuls spinach
-8 leaves kale
-1/2 cucumber
-2 ribs celery
-1 lemon

1) Peel lemon. 
2) Wash all ingredients
3) Add all ingredients through juicer and enjoy!

So easy. Now if only someone would clean up my juicer and my prep mess for me!


Nutrition per serving:
Calories: 74
Fat: 1g
Trans Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 0g
Sodium: 61mg
Carbohydrates: 17g
Fiber: 1g
Sugars: 7g
Protein: 3g

Pasta de Los Angeles Recipe from Appetite for Reduction- Or The Best Pasta Recipe in Existence

So today in my test kitchen I tried the "Pasta de los Angeles" recipe from Appetite for Reduction cookbook and I've got to say this has got to be my all-time favorite pasta recipe HANDS DOWN. I mean this stuff is DELICIOUS. The best. I could probably live off this crap. The recipe? Oh. Here it is:

Pasta de Los Angeles

8 ounces whole-wheat angel hair pasta
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup thinly sliced shallot
3 cloves garlic
1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus extra for garnish
4 plum tomatoes, chopped (about 3 cups)
½ teaspoon salt
Zest and juice from 1 lime
1 (16 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed (about 1 ½ cups)
1 bunch spinach, coarse stems removed (about 1 pound), washed well

1. Bring a covered to of salted water to boil for the pasta. Then prepare the sauce.
2. Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté the shallots, garlic and jalapeno in the oil for about 5 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and let cook for about a minute. Add the tomatoes, salt and lime zest (reserve the juice). Cover the pan and cook for 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally. The tomatoes should be nicely broke down and saucy, but some whole pieces remaining are just fine. Add the black beans.
3. By this time the water should be ready. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions.
4. While the pasta is cooking, add the spinach to the skillet, tossing to wilt. Once everything is added, cover and cook until the spinach is cooked down, about 3 more minutes. Squeeze in the lime juice. Turn off the heat. 
5. When the pasta is ready, drain and add to the sauce. Use a pasta spoon to toss it, making sure that the pasta is well coated. Serve immediately, garnish with extra cilantro if you like.

Per serving (when serving 8): Calories 220; Fat 1.75 g (saturated 0.25 g); carbohydrates 44.5 g (fiber 9.5 g); Protein 12 g; Sodium 200 mg; Vitamin A 125%; Vitamin C 50%; Calcium 10%; Iron 22%

So here's my subs: I couldn't find shallots so I used purple onions, I couldn't find whole wheat angel hair pasta so I used whole wheat plain ole' spaghetti pasta, and I used canned plum tomatoes. I also used baby spinach. I must say I think this is one of my favorite dishes sp far and can see it being a new staple. I would consider this recipe to be restaurant worthy. I can't say enough good things about it. Make this stuff. You'll love it.

Appetite For Reduction: 125 Fast and Filling Low Fat Recipes- The First Impression

Appetitive For Reduction: 125 Fast and Filling Low-Fat Recipes is written by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, which is also the author of Veganomicon and runs the website Post-Punk Kitchen, a goldmine for vegan recipes. It goes without saying that these are 125 recipes in this book, all ranging between 200 and 400 calories per serving. They are all plant based, low in saturated fat and sugar, and high in fiber. There are many gluten and soy-free options available for those with dietary restrictions. 

There are eight chapters in this book dedicated to different food groupings:
1: Full-On Salads
2: Totally Stuffable Sides
3: Rub-Your-Tummy Veggies
4: Main Event Beans
5: Sink-Your-Teeth-Into Tofu and Tempeh
6: Talk Pasta to Me (& Noodles)
7: Soul-Satisfying Soups
8: Comfort Curries, Chili, and Stews

There is a section explain nutrition and all of the recipes have the nutrition information per serving. Gluten-free, soy-free, items taking 39 minutes or less to cook, and recipes with downtime are all labeled with recipe icons. 

Walsh Pilates of Baton Rouge

Another fitness studio I frequent often is Walsh Pilates on Jefferson Highway in Baton Rouge. The studio is a classical Pilates studio featuring the reformer, the tower, the chair, and other classic Pilates equipment. My Instructor of choice is Melody Benton-Thompson, and I started by taking her Reformer/Tower Therapeutic Pilates classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, later progressing to her Pilates Reformer Level 2 classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11:00. As someone who took mat Pilates for years in college I thought I was totally ready for these classes, they would be a breeze, and I’d be in the most advanced classes within two weeks. Yep, that wasn’t the case! Turns out the difference between simple mat Pilates and Pilates on the equipment are so day and night they might as well be completely different disciplines. I was constantly challenged and tested in classes, and welcomed the challenges whole-heartedly. At times the machines and exercises tapped into my inner circus performer, which left me giggling. My OCD loves how clean the studio is, the instructors and students are all pleasant, and I love the individual attention I receive in my classes (classes are limited to four people, so no one is overlooked- very important for form and all sorts of good stuff). This is one of my favorite places to take classes in Baton Rouge and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a studio offering classical Pilates in a way Joseph Pilates would approve of.