Orange Wednesday: Sweet Potato Soup

This Sweet Potato soup is soooo yummy but not overloaded with calories. It's an ultimate winter food but I like it so much that would definitely eat it all the year round. This specific recipe of soup makes a perfect match for the Orange Wednesday as it contains sweet potatoes, a pumpkin and carrots.



Ingredients:

2 sweet potatoes
2 cups of pumpkin
2 carrots
1 celery root
1 large chopped onion
3 sliced cloves of Garlic
Chicken stock
Some fresh thyme
1/2 a cup of rose wine.
1/2 a cup of cream (15% fat)
1/2 tsp of nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp of oil olive

Directions:

Peel the sweet potatoes, the carrots and the pumpkin, and slice into large cubes.

Fry the onion in a pot with some olive oil until it gets yellow.

Add the garlic and the celery root, and keep frying for 1 minute.

Add the carrots, the sweet potatoes and the pumpkin, and keep stirring for 3 minutes.

Add some fresh thyme, the chicken stock and the wine, just enough to cover the vegetables, and bring to a boil.

Low the fire to medium hit, and cook for 40 minutes until the vegetables are soft.

Remove the pot from the fire, fish out the thyme and blend with a hand blender until you get a smooth cream.

Return the pot to the stove, add the cream, the nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.

Cook for 5 more minutes.

Serve hot and garnish with some fresh thyme, a few drops of olive oil and a splash of pepper and nutmeg.

Enjoy!

More Cooking Videos: Easy2Cook.tv

Read Also:

Add Color To Your Diet
Black Beans Soup Recipe
How To Cook Broccoli Properly
Free Organic Vegetable Gardening At Home

Black Tuesday: Black Bread Sandwich Ideas

What makes a sandwich both healthy and delicious? Here are a few tips for making your sandwich good for your diet menu and yummy.



First, make sure you use a proper bread. As a big fan of Russian Black Bread, I would recommend trying to make a sandwich with this kind of bread. However, using any whole-grain bread is also OK.

Second, choose your favorite vegetables for a filling. Think of fresh, thinly sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, crunchy carrots and onions - what can be healthier?

Next, you should pick low-fat products for the nutritious part of your sandwich. Nonfat cheese, eggs and mushrooms could be good for vegetarians; chicken, turkey and low-fat beef - for meat eaters; tuna, salmon and sardines - for fish lovers. Avocado works well in sandwiches too, although it's high in fat, so try to avoid eating avocado snacks too often.

Finally, don't forget about the dressing. Olive oil works well with all veggies, pesto sauce is usually combined with tomatoes and some types of cheese, low fat mayonnaise could be used for an egg salad sandwich and lemon juice, of course - it's a must when it comes to a fish sandwich.

The variety of healthy sandwiches is really huge, you just need to find your favorite and put it in your lunch box! Healthy diet IS fun, isn't it?

Read Also:

Add Color To Your Diet: BLACK Tuesday
Top 5 Reasons Why Green Vegetables Are Good For You
Green Monday - Easy & Healthy Avocado Recipe
Free Organic Vegetable Gardening At Home

Black Tuesday: Black Beans Soup Recipe

This Black Beans Soup recipe is the first in the Black Tuesday menu. It's especially comforting when the weather is cold.

Ingredients

250 g black beans, rinsed and soaked in the cold water for 12 hours

2 tbsp olive oil

1.5 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 dried chili pepper, peeled and sliced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 celery stick, finely chopped

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp lemon juice

Yogurt or sour cream and parsley for garnish

Directions

In a large saucepan heat the olive oil, add onions and saute until golden. Add garlic, chili pepper, carrots, celery and stir. Pour in the broth, add beans and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Season with cumin, oregano, salt and pepper. Reduce heat, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender, about 1 1/4 hours. Put a half of the soup to a blender. Puree until smooth and return to the saucepan, mix well. Add the lemon juice and adjust seasonings. (If the soup looks too thick add some water to desired consistency).

Top each serving with a sour cream or a yogurt and a parsley.

And have a Happy Black Tuesday!

Read Also:

Add Color To Your Diet: BLACK Tuesday
Best Green Vegetables for Your Healthy Diet
How To Cook Broccoli Properly
Free Organic Vegetable Gardening At Home

Green Monday - Easy & Healthy Avocado Recipe

Is your diet boring and exhausting you? It shouldn't be! Let's add some color to your diet!

Continuing talking about green vegetables and their health benefits, I'd like to share with you my favorite quick and healthy avocado recipe. Remember that about 75% of an avocado's calories come from fat (the good one but still...) So don't overdose and everything will be fine.

The best and actually the only commonly used avocado recipe is a Guacamole. Many others are just different variations of this great recipe. It can be called "Avocado Dip", "Avocado Salad", "Avocado Relish" and even "Avosalsa" :)

Of Aztec origin, Guacamole was originally made by mashing ripe avocados, with a molcajete (mortar and pestle) and adding tomatoes and salt.
To this basic recipe I usually add a minced onion, some lemon juice and olive oil. To make your meal a bit more nutritious use also boiled eggs (also finely chopped). Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and serve with dark (full-grain wheat) bread. Your 100% healthy avocado snack is ready.

If you're going to make Guacamole to feed your baby, please have a look at this recipe.

Red Sunday - Italian Style Tomato Pasta

Today I'm continuing the Colorful Diet concept with a great Italian recipe. As we're still at Red Sunday I suggest to prepare a delicious Tomato Pasta for your lunch.

Here's a very successful variation of Tomato Pasta Sauce from cuisine.com.au:

Ingredients:

150ml olive oil

4 onions, finely shredded

2 garlic cloves, finely shredded

1 tbsp sea salt

Freshly ground white pepper

400g tin whole tomatoes

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 bunch basil, leaves picked and roughly chopped

Warm the olive oil in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes, turn heat to low and continue to cook until very soft, about another 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, sugar and half the basil. Simmer until thickened and tomatoes have cooked out. Stir through remaining basil just before serving.

In order to make this yummy recipe a bit more healthy, use a whole wheat pasta.

The Mediterranean Cuisine is known for its wonderful tasty and healthy food. So there's no reason not to make it part of your Fun and Healthy Diet!