I’m so glad to have Amy from Parker Haus Roles on today to guest blog! I had never heard of volumetrics before she introduced everyone to it on her blog, but it definitely makes sense and Mike and I have actually been doing that ourselves for a long time! We’re big soup eaters in our household and we’ll definitely be giving this recipe a try!
Mandy and Mike prefer wine, Matt and I prefer beer but we all share a love of good food and healthy living. Over at Parker Haus Roles my husband Matt and I are making our first townhouse a home and cooking up good eats in the kitchen… well we haven’t been cooking much lately. 2011 started out extremely busy and we found ourselves eating out a lot. We also found ourselves with a few extra pounds as a result. In April we took the plunge and started a diet plan. Matt and I recently lost a collective 55 lbs. We’re coming off of our diet and starting to integrate cooking back into our routine, but now we are much more conscious of what we are cooking.
I recently introduced our readers to volumetrics concepts. Because of their high water content, non-creamy soups are wonderfully volumized food. The ratio of calories to grams of soup is low, meaning you can eat more soup for 200 calories than most other foods. Because you are eating more of the soup you are full and satisfied on fewer calories than if you ate 200 calories of crackers.
A couple weeks ago we found ourselves with fennel in our CSA box and some fresh dungeness crabmeat. As we typically do when we find ourselves with ingredients with no predetermined purpose we searched Epicurious for recipes which used both. The resulting meal Tomato, Crab, and Fennel Soup from Bon Appetit January 2011 was amazing, totally a 4 fork rated meal instead of the 3 fork rating that the recipe had on Epicurious. Ever curious Matt read all of the reviews to see why some people gave this soup a poor rating. We frequently find that people who do not have access to the right ingredients or the right quality of ingredients rate the recipe poorly. In this case many folks didn’t have access to fresh crab meat and supplemented canned crab meat. When the dish wasn’t spectacular and didn’t showcase the crab these folks resented buying expensive crab meat and rated the recipe lower.
We agreed that the recipe would be great without crab meat and with some other modifications to make it more healthy. For example, the original recipe calls for 1/4 cup of olive oil to saute the onions, fennel slices and garlic. If you are cooking with non-stick cookware there is no reason to use this much oil.
Tomato & Fennel Soup
adapted from Bon Appetit January 2011
2 tablespoons olive oil
3.5 cups chopped yellow onion
2 medium fennel bulbs with fronds; bulbs cored, thinly sliced fronds chopped and reserved
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 14.5 ounce cans diced Italian tomatoes in juice
2 cups (or more) vegetable broth
chopped fresh basil for garnish
Optional 2 Anaheim or Banana peppers chopped
A quick note on tomatoes. Matt and I recently traveled to Italy where we had the most amazing tomatoes. Italian tomatoes taste so different from the ones we grow here in the US that we feared we would be ruined on tomatoes for life. On our return we sought out Italian canned tomatoes in the grocery to see if they were as good as the ones we had in Rome. There are two brands that we like and suggest using: San Marzano and Carmelina. While the packaging leads you to believe both of these are products of Italy the small print on the back tells a different story. San Marzanos are grown in the US (the name itself refers to the type of plum tomato which is rumored to be the best for sauces). We prefer the Italian grown Carmelina tomatoes but the San Marzanos are a close second.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in heavy non-stick pot over medium-high heat. Add onions, fennel slices and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until onions and fennel are tender (about 15 minutes). Adjust heat accordingly if the onions and fennel start to brown.
Add tomatoes with juice and 2 cups of broth and peppers (optional). Bring to a boil then reduce the heat, cover and simmer about 15 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Divide soup among bowls. Sprinkle chopped fronds and basil as garnish.
Total Prep Time: 35-40 minutes
Yields: 4 large servings
Suggested side: Whole grain bread
Only 190 calories for a large bowl and just 8 grams of fat! Its also good to note that this recipe provides a quarter of your dietary fiber needs, 60% of your vitamin C, and 15% Vitamin A, Calcium, and Folate. The sodium could be reduced by using low sodium vegetable broth.
As much as I am in denial that summer is ending, fall is a great time to try soup recipes and volumize your meals!
Amy @ Parker Haus Roles Reply:
September 29th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
thats a great idea,
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