Souper! Take III

Another good day for soup. Rainy, cold, just yucky. I am attempting to make a pot of soup once per week, as it is so easy to prepare, cost effective, and good for lunch or dinner. I swapped the chicken with sausage to this one just because I had some in the freezer.

Chickpea Chard and Tomato Stew (with sausage)
Cooking Light May 2007

Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound ground chicken (or 3 Italian sausage links)
1/4 cup no-salt-added tomato paste
2 (15 1/2-ounce) cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
4 cups chopped Swiss chard
2 cups chopped tomato
1 cup water
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 (14-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

Preparation:

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add chicken; sauté 4 minutes (Or, remove sausage from casings, pull into clumps as you add to pan). Add tomato paste; cook 1 minute. Partially mash chickpeas with a potato masher. Add chickpeas, chard, and remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Gimme some more

I love granola. Absolutely love it. I used to buy it from the bulk bins at Whole Foods, but apparently they don't have those in NYC. Boo. So this weekend I made my own and it is equally delicious. You can add or subtract ingredients as desired. I used the base of the recipe from Cooking Light and then just add stuff I had from my pantry (dried coconut, whole almonds, walnuts, chopped dates). I love to eat this with milk for breakfast or for lunch with Stoneyfields vanilla yogurt.

Maple Almond Granola
Cooking Light

4 cups regular oats (I used Bob's Red Mill GF oats)
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup water (I used apple juice instead of water)
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil
Cooking spray
1 cup minced dried apricots (I swapped these for craisins)
1 cup raisins

1. Preheat oven to 325°.

2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl.

3. Combine water, honey, syrup, sugar, and oil in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Pour over oat mixture; toss to coat.

4. Spread oat mixture on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray.

5. Bake at 325° for 35 minutes or until golden, stirring every 10 minutes. Place in a large bowl; stir in apricots and raisins. Cool completely.

Note: Store in an airtight container for up to a week.