Start your winter fueling with performance-enhancing soups!

Now that you know all the nutritional benefits of soup for athletes (see last week's blog if you missed it), here are some recipes to try for winter fueling!

Vegetarian Chili

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil

½ onion diced

½ green pepper diced

4 cloves

5 Tbsp Chili powder

3 Tbsp cumin

Diced tomatoes (24 oz can) not drained

3 cans of various beans drained (black, Kidney, garbanzo, etc)

2 cups of broth (any kind) *may add more or less depending on thickness preference

2 small zucchini or ½ medium butternut squash diced

Instructions:

-Heat olive oil in large pot on medium heat and sauté onion and green pepper until soft, about 5-7 minutes.

-Add garlic and let simmer for an additional 2-3 minutes. Add spices to mixture and stir constantly to prevent burning. Stir until fragrant.

-Add diced tomatoes (with juice), beans, broth, and zucchini (or butternut squash).

-Cook for about 30 min or until completely heated through and zucchini (or butter squash) is soft.

*Add any type of meat as desired for additional protein. Example: ground turkey, ground beef, shredded chicken, etc.

*Add any additional veggies as desired. Example: corn, spinach, jalapeno, etc.

Source: Hannah Noonan, RD

 

 

Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 7 hours

Yield: 4 - 5 servings

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts

5 medium carrots, peeled and chopped (1 3/4 cups)

1 medium yellow onion, chopped (1 1/2 cups)

4 stalks celery, chopped (1 1/4 cups)

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

6 cups low-sodium chicken broth (3 - 15 oz cans)

1 cup water

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed

1/4 tsp celery seed, finely crushed*

2 bay leaves

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 cups uncooked wide egg noodles

3 1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Saltine crackers or parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)

Directions

-To a slow cooker, add chicken (un-cut), diced carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Drizzle olive oil over top then add in chicken broth, water, thyme, rosemary, celery seed, bay leaves and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook on low heat 6 - 7 hours.

-Remove cooked chicken and allow to rest 10 minutes, then dice into bite size pieces. Meanwhile, add egg noodles and parsley to slow cooker. Increase temperature to high, cover and cook 10 minutes longer (or until noodles are tender). Stir in lemon juice and toss in cooked, diced chicken. Serve warm with saltine crackers or top with Parmesan cheese if desired.

-I just crushed the rosemary in the palm of my hand then for the celery seed, I placed it in a ziploc bag and crushed it with the flat side of a meat mallet. (from website)

*You can swap egg noodles for whole-wheat noodles; they will just need a little longer to cook. This is will be a great source of carbohydrate and fiber!

*Add any veggies!! Spinach is great; just add it near the end when you add the pasta. Other ideas include corn, beans, lima beans, zucchini, peas, squash or what ever you like in chicken noodle soup. Again fresh or frozen would work!

Source: Cooking Classy http://www.cookingclassy.com/2013/11/slow-cooker-chicken-noodle-soup/

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

1 lb chicken breast cooked and shredded
1 15 oz can corn

1½ 15 oz diced tomatoes drained

1 can black beans, drained

6 cups chicken stock

½ tsp. cumin

½ cup onion chopped optional

1 small can diced green chilis

2 tsp. minced garlic

¼ tsp. chili powder

1½ tsp. salt

¾ tsp. pepper

monterey jack cheese, shredded

corn tortillas for chip topping we cut and fried corn tortillas

avocados cubed

Instructions

Cook and shred (or cube) chicken.

Add all the ingredients, except the cheese, corn tortilla strips and avocados to your crock pot. Cook on low for 8 hours (or high for 3-4 hours).

Add cheese just before serving.

To make this soup extra delicious, add some crunchy tortilla strips. Slice up corn tortillas with a pizza cutter. Flash Fry in hot oil and sprinkle on top of your soup. Add cubed avocados too!

*If cooking for 8 hours you add uncooked chicken breast to slow cooker. After cooking 8 hours, remove chicken shred and mix back into soup.

Source: http://lilluna.com/chicken-tortilla-soup-recipe/

Winter Lentil Soup (recipe adapted from Sara Quessenberry)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 leeks (white and light green parts), cut into 1/4-inch-thick half-moons

1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, drained

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 bunch kale, thick stems removed and leaves cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips

1/2 cup brown lentils

1 tablespoon fresh thyme

Kosher salt and black pepper

1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1 ounce; optional)

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook, breaking them up with a spoon, for 5 minutes.

Add 6 cups water and bring to a boil. Stir in the sweet potatoes, kale, lentils, thyme, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Simmer until the lentils are tender, 25 to 30 minutes.

Spoon into bowls and top with the Parmesan, if using.

Nutritional Information (per serving)

Calories 226;

Fat 4g

Sat Fat 1g

Cholesterol 3mg

Sodium 799mg

Protein 12g

Carbohydrate 38g

Fiber 7g

*Don’t forget you can use frozen kale!

*Another great recipe to add any vegetable or meat as preferred.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/article/healthy-eating-winter-lentil-soup?cid=dflo-pinterest-50712-LentilSoup



Be Extraordinary,


RDKate