Quick and Easy Italian Wedding Soup

Nothing warms the soul like a bowl of chicken soup.  It's nice to make the meatballs from scratch, and for variety use traditional escarole instead of spinach.  My quick version uses a couple of store bought conveniences for those nights when you need to have dinner on the table in a hurry!

Quick and Easy Italian Wedding Soup

serves 6

10 oz chopped frozen spinach
1 large egg(s)
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
8 cup(s) fat free chicken broth
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
6 serving(s) frozen  bite sized cocktail meatballs

Place chicken broth in a large pot and add the meatballs. Bring to a boil and simmer until meatballs are cooked through. Add salt and pepper (to taste). Add spinach and allow it to thaw and cook through. . Just before serving, bring the soup to a boil again. In a small bowl, break the egg and whisk it with a fork. Add the Parmesan cheese to the egg and mix together. Swirl the mixture into the boiling soup to create "noodles".

6 weight watcher points per serving

Sausage and White Bean Soup

This recipe is a new one but definitely a keeper!  When I posted a picture of the pot of soup on Facebook, it certainly got attention.

Sausage and White Bean Soup

1 onion, diced
2-3 stalks celery, diced
2-3 carrots, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt
pepper
olive oil

1 package (20 oz) Italian turkey sausage, mild or hot
28 oz diced tomatoes (2 x14 oz cans)
28 oz cannellini beans (2 x14 oz cans), rinsed and drained
1 quart fat free low sodium chicken stock

1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1/2-1 tsp dried rosemary
1 bay leaf

Heat a large heavy pot over medium heat. (I usually chop my vegetables while I am waiting). Drizzle a small amount of olive oil into pan. Add the turkey sausages and turn every few minutes until brown on all sides (8-10 min total). Remove sausage from pot and set aside. You can add a little more oil if needed here, then add onion, carrots, and celery, stirring frequently. Sauté for 5 -10 min until soft, over medium heat. Add salt, pepper, and garlic and sauté for a few more minutes— until you can smell the garlic.

Add the tomatoes, chicken stock and beans to the sautéed vegetables. Cut sausage into bite sized pieces and return to pot. Add basil, oregano, rosemary and bay leaf . Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 45 minutes so that the sausage can cook through and flavors can blend. If a foam develops on the top of the soup, skim it off periodically. Add more salt and pepper if needed.

When ready to serve, remove bay leaf and place into soup bowls, and enjoy.

This is a very hearty soup but it is also very light. You can fine tune the recipe to your liking.
I hope you like it!

Marietta's Turkey Chili

For my first post, I decide to give you all the recipe for one of the staples in my house.  It was my husband's recipe when I first met him, but over the years I have tweaked it to make it more figure friendly.  If you follow Weight Watchers, one serving of my recipe is 6 points; you can reduce the point value to 5 if you use 16 ounces of turkey instead of 20.

Marietta's Turkey Chili

serves 8

Cooking spray (or a drizzle of olive oil)
1 medium onion, chopped
16-20 ounces lean ground turkey
28 ounce can crushed tomatoes or tomato puree
28  ounces water
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
red pepper flakes, to taste
1 bay leaf
a dash of hot sauce
2 x 16 ounce cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained

Heat a large heavy pot on stove (Dutch oven is great for this).  Drizzle a little olive oil into the pot and add the chopped onion.  Allow the onion to soften over medium heat(until it is translucent).  Add ground turkey and stir frequently until the meat is browned.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Add tomatoes and water to the onion-beef mixture along with the chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper, bay leaf and hot sauce.  Mix well and then add in the beans, stirring one more time to blend well.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 30-45 minutes, until chili is at desired "thickness."