Chilled soup (or apertif) recipes for this HOT HOT weather!  They look very good!  The carbs are mostly fiber and the recipes using yogurt are high protein.  Even higher is the one that uses chickpeas too!  Enjoy!  LOL

Recipes follow, but this link takes you to where i copied them.


http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/series/recipes_for _health/index.html


P.S.  AVA, I wonder how you would tweak the recipes that follow so that they were truly from a WLS standpoint.  Hmmm???

Chilled Pea, Lettuce and Herb Soup

This elegant soup is sweet and heavenly. The texture is silky and the consistency thick -- but only because there are lots of peas in it. I used water rather than stock when I tested this recipe, and it worked just fine.

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 leeks, white and light green part only, cleaned and sliced

Salt to taste

5 cups frozen or fresh peas (1 1/2 pounds, or 2 12-ounce bags frozen)

3 cups, tightly packed, coarsely chopped Boston or bibb lettuce

5 cups chicken stock, vegetable stock or water

1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh tarragon leaves

1/4 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves

1/4 cup chopped chives, plus additional for garnish

Chopped fresh tarragon, chives and/or mint for garnish

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy soup pot or Dutch oven. Add the leeks and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until tender, about five minutes. Add the peas, lettuce and stock or water, and bring to a boil. Add salt to taste, reduce the heat, cover and simmer five minutes. Remove from the heat. Drain through a strainer set over a bowl, and allow the vegetables and the broth to cool for 15 minutes. Taste the broth, and season as desired.

2. Working in batches, purée the vegetables and herbs in a blender with the broth and additional olive oil for two minutes until frothy and smooth. Pour into a bowl, and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings. Chill for several hours.

3. Serve, garnishing with additional chives, tarragon and/or mint.

Yield: Six regular servings or 12 aperitifs.

Advance preparation: You can make this dish a day ahead.

Nutritional information per serving (six servings): 183 calories; 1 gram saturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 milligrams cholesterol; 22 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 155 milligrams sodium (does not include salt to taste); 9 grams protein

Martha Rose Shulman is the author of “The Very Best of Recipes for Health."

 

Tomato-Cucumber Soup With Basil

By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN

Not quite a gazpacho, because it contains no bread, this is a summer soup that I can keep in the refrigerator and enjoy every day for lunch or dinner.

1 long European or 4 Persian cucumbers, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, quartered

2 slices onion, rinsed

2 large garlic cloves, halved, green germs removed

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Salt to taste

Slivered fresh basil leaves or very small whole basil leaves for garnish

1. Working in two batches, blend all of the ingredients except the basil leaves in a blender for two minutes or longer until smooth and frothy. Transfer to a bowl or container (a metal bowl is the most efficient for chilling), and chill for at least two hours before eating. Garnish each bowl or glass with slivered or very small whole basil leaves.

Yield: Four regular servings, or 8 to 12 aperitifs in shot glasses.

Advance preparation: You can serve this the day after you make it. Leftovers are good for two or three days.

Nutritional information per serving (four servings): 102 calories; 1 gram saturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 milligrams cholesterol; 9 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 10 milligrams sodium (does not include salt to taste); 2 grams protein

Martha Rose Shulman is the author of "The Very Best of Recipes for Health."

Gazpacho doesn't have to have bread. Andalucian style gazpacho does. Northern style does not.

Good to know!! I had no clue, and I gather the woman who wrote the recipe didn't either. LOL

What's the difference between the two styles? Do you have recipes?????

:-)

P.S. The author is not writing from a WLS point of reference either, so the recipes have to be tweaked a little here and there. Hope that's still okay. ;-)

Well, basically--bread vs no bread. People add stuff according to their family recipes--some have garlic, many do not, some have sherry vinegar, some do not, etc. Some garnish one way, some garnish another. I do have a recipe, but it's to taste since my first host mother the very first time I lived in Spain did not do anything by a recipe.

Hmmm... I wouldn't mind working with a list of ingredients... I seldom use measuring cups or spoons anyway.   If you have time...

I only briefly visited Spain on a family vacay when I was a kid.  Tell me about your visit!!  That's cool!  I hear there is no fat people there.  ;-)

I llived there twice--2000 and 2007. There are obese people in Spain, and Spain in particular has an enormous problem with eating disorders. It's just not as prevalent as in the US due to people being more mobile (easier to walk places) and because of eating disorders.

The ingredients are: tomatoes, peeled/seeded, green pepper, sweet onion, cucumber, extra virgin olive oil, wine vinegar (white, sherry, red, your choice), sea salt, cold water. It's blended with a stick blender, but I suppose a blender would work ok. It's somewhat thin, and people often drink it out of a cup. You can garnish with anything, but most commonly, it's garnished with the ingredients diced small or chopped fine. Some people put chopped egg as a garnish. My host mother had the most amazing recipes--pressure cooked chicken with olive oil and garlic, baked whole white fish, tortilla española, seafood stuffed piquillo peppers, paella.. I absolutely loved the food there. All the veggies and fruit were fresh and the meats were wonderful.

Wow.  Sounds terrific!  I bet you have very fond memories of being in Spain.  Two times, huh?  That's very cool.  Do you have pics on your Facebook?  I'm copying it over to my recipe folder now.  If I garni**** with a little diced cilantro, it will remind me of my salsa... watch, I'll be adding lime and cumin and oregano...      and maybe even OKRA.  Oh wait.  That has to be cooked.  :-(

Thank you!!!!

Chilled Yogurt Soup With Spinach and Chickpeas

By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN

I don’t know if you can call a cold soup comforting, but that’s the word that this soup brings to my mind.

1 bunch spinach, stemmed and washed, or 12 ounces baby spinach

1 to 2 large garlic cloves (to taste)

Salt to taste

3 cups plain yogurt

1 cup cold water

1 teaspoon cumin seeds, lightly toasted and coarsely ground

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Freshly ground pepper

Finely chopped dill or parsley for garnish

Optional: 1 to 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1. Steam the spinach until just wilted, about two minutes. Rinse with cold water, squeeze out excess water and chop. Set aside.

2. In a mortar and pestle, combine the garlic and a generous pinch of salt; mash to a paste. Stir into the yogurt. Add the water, and stir together. Add the cumin seeds, and stir in the spinach and chickpeas. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill several hours. If desired, add the lemon juice. Garnish each serving with chopped fresh dill or parsley and an optional drizzle of olive oil.

Yield: Serves four.

Advance preparation: You can make this soup up to a day ahead of serving, but the bright color of the spinach will fade. It’ll still taste great.

Nutritional information per serving (four servings): 222 calories; 2 grams saturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 11 milligrams cholesterol; 30 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 455 milligrams sodium (does not include salt to taste); 17 grams protein

Martha Rose Shulman is the author of "The Very Best of Recipes for Health."