I want to taste nothing but creamy tomato soup, flavored with the herbs of my choice. Typical recipes will have bouillon cubes or chicken broth and flour.

I decided against those ingredients, using heavy cream and white wine for a smooth and robust tomato bisque soup.

This Tomato Bisque Soup Recipe is a Healthy Version

The result is a healthier, cleaner taste of pure tomato. I picked the tomatoes and herbs out of my garden, and I wanted to share a soup that you could easily make without a lot of fuss, yet still have those sophisticated flavors. (see the faster, cheat version below).

Of course, you can pair this with a grilled cheese sandwich and make that classic American meal.

Put a Creative Spin on Tomato Bisque Soup

• Add fresh sweet corn, cut from from the cob, for texture.
• Add in homemade croutons, or crunchy bacon.
• Add hot sauce and chopped avocado.
• Add a some chile oil and replace cream with coconut milk.  So this at the end before stirring. Skip the wine.
• Add a drizzle of honey. Honey does something to tomatoes that I just adore.
• Skip the cream and simply have a great tomato basil soup.

Fresh garden tomato bisque soup is just one of many great tomato recipes made with food from my garden. You might also be interested in the fresh garden tomato sauce.

Fast Tomato Bisque Soup using Passata

Passata is simply strained tomatoes and sea salt, found in your local grocery store next to canned tomatoes, most often in glass bottles. Use Passata as your start. Add the wine first and when the alcohol burns off, add the heavy cream and warm through. Finish with fresh herbs, salt and pepper as needed. 

More Fabulous Soup from Spinach Tiger

• Roasted Red Pepper Soup
• Italian Beef Macaroni Soup
• Ribollita Tuscan Cabbage Soup
• Green Potato Soup
• Carrot Ginger Soup
• Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Toasted Pecans
• Healthy Spicy Tortilla Soup
• Creamy Garden Tomato Soup
• Summer Chicken Soup 
• Spinach Soup
• Snowcap Heirloom Beans with Shrimp
• Bean Soup with Bacon Bits
• Split Pea Soup with Portabello Mushrooms
• Garden Fresh Tomato Basil Soup
• Broccoli Basil Spinach Soup

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My Favorite Tools for this Recipe

• Soup Crocks
• Soup Ladle
• Stick Blender
• Le Creuset Dutch Oven (I have several, but this one is smaller and on my to buy list)
• Passata

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Fresh Tomato Bisque Soup

Homemade fresh tomato biscque soup with tomatoes from the garden, blended until smooth.

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 4 hours hours

Total Time 4 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 10 tomatoes see note
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion peeled, cut in chunks
• 2 carrots peeled, cut in big chunks
• 1 piece of celery or a dash celery seed
• fresh parsely small handful
• fresh basil small handful
• 6 sprigs of thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dry thyme
• 1/2 cup white wine or dry sherry optional
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons butter

Instructions

• Cut an x in the bottom of each tomato. Submerge tomatoes into boiling water for 30 seconds. You may do this 4 tomatoes at a time.
• Cool. Peel.
• Cut in half, squeeze some of the water and seeds out.
• Put in crock pot with onion, carrot, celery olive oil, thyme, basil. Add white wine.
• Cook on high for 4 hours or low for six hours. (this part is very flexible. Just make sure there enough liquid in slow cooker).
• Put into blender or use a stick blender with butter and blend until smooth.
• Add back in soup pan. Turn burner on low. Add in heavy cream. Cook just until warm and blended.
• Top with freshly cut parsley and basil, sprig of thyme or any herbs you like.

Notes

You may want to make more than 10 tomatoes, just follow the ratios. 20 tomatoes will easily fit in most slow cookers. 

Cheat Tomato Bisque: Use Passata as your start. Add the wine first and when the alcohol burns off, add the heavy cream and warm through. Finish with fresh herbs, salt and pepper as needed. 

The post Tomato Bisque Soup Recipe with Fresh Tomatoes appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

This is an amazing recipe that has me so re-excited, I am going to try it several different ways. Just the tomato with the goat cheese with the honey is enough of a flavor busting combination to make me want to give it a paleo twist. Never would I think that honey should touch tomatoes.

Never would I think that a grainy mustard belongs in this combination. But it does and when you taste all three together with a backdrop of tart crust, you will smile. Smile big. I promise. It will take you by surprise the way the boy you didn’t like all that much kisses really well and you go wow! It’s the nice surprise of the day.

I used my end of season tomatoes, some honey cultivated via blueberries, and a good goat cheese log. Surpassing the recipe for tart crust, I simply added an egg to my own basic pie crust, but changed the quantities and added in a egg yolk.

This summery, french tomato tart is not really about me, even if tarts are my favorite food. This tart is about a combination of many hands, hard at work, and a love story high on a hill with a dairy goat or two.

Nobel Springs Dairy Goat Farm – Tennessee

Just ten minutes from my house, Nobel Springs Dairy sits on a 230 acres in Franklin, Tennessee. It’s the result of a romantic love story that began in the childhoods of Justyne McCoy and Dustin Nobel who fell in love with goats in childhood. They met when Justyne was in high school at a goat show. Together they fulfilled their individual dreams of raising goats on a dairy farm.

Yes, it’s romantic. And, yes, it’s hard work. They often work 14 or more hours a day, milking, cleaning, processing, and selling cheese at 8 different farmer’s markets and to local grocers. But, they love it because they are following their passion. Dustin and Justyne are getting married in July.

This picture of the goat was 15 years ago. Wow, how time goes fast.

The Process for French Tomato Tart

This tart from David Lebovitz. When I found it on his site, I felt as if I could taste the freshness of tomatoes, the buttery crust, and the golden browned, honey dripped goat cheese through the screen. It immediately went on my mental “to make” list. And, it synched perfectly with my visit to Nobel Springs Dairy.

• Tomatoes should be cut on the thick side and very ripe. Be generous with tomatoes, as they shrink up.
• Be generous with the honey. I went back in and drizzled more. I used a blackberry honey just as recipe called for.
• I increased my oven to 400 degrees and still had to cook much longer than 30 minutes, closer to 50 minutes, until my cheese browned enough. Next time, I may blind bake the pastry shell for a few minutes.
• I used fresh thyme, basil, and a little rosemary but you can use any fresh herbs you like

Honey is a secret ingredient here, drizzled over the cheese prior to baking.

It seems that as recipes get adapted, we find our own short cuts and tips. This is yet another exciting way many hands work to create a dish.

A special thanks to Nobel Springs, and if you are in the Nashville area, or shopping at one of our many farmer’s markets or Whole Foods, be sure to pick up some Nobel Springs goat cheese.

Special Diet Tart Crust Recipes

• Gluten Free Tart Crust
• Low Carb Tart Crust

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Goat Cheese, Honey, Tomato Tart

Goat cheese, honey, tomatoes comes together to make a delicious end of summer or anytime tart with fresh herbs adapted from David Lebovitz.

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Prep Time 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

Tart Crust (makes 1 large tart)

• 1 1/2 flour
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 9 tablespoons unsalted butter placed in freezer for 15 minutes
• 1 tablespoons iced cold water
• 1 egg yolk

Goat Cheese Honey Tart

• 1 tart shell or pie crust
• 2 tablespoons grainy mustard
• herbs such as thyme tarragon, basil
• 3 large meaty tomatoes not too juicy sliced thickly
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 ounces of goat cheese in a log easy to slice
• 2 tablespoons of honey may use more

Instructions

Tart Crust with Food Processor

• Using a food processor, mix together flour, sugar, salt.
• Blend in butter and on medium speed, count to 10 seconds.
• Blend in water and blend for a few seconds.
• Blend in egg.
• Bring together to form a dough ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes at least.

Using Hands for Dough

• Mix together the dry ingredients. Blend in the butter until you have a mealy flour mixture. Add in water and egg and knead gently until the dough forms a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Roll out to three inches more than size of tart pan.
• Gently place in tart pan, and using rolling pin, roll off the edges.

Goat Cheese Honey Tart

• Fork the bottom of the tart shell. Spread on mustard until the base is covered.
• Cover with a scattering of fresh chopped herbs.
• Arrange slices of tomato, keeping in mind that tomatoes do shrink.
• Drizzle olive oil over tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
• Arrange 6 to 8 round discs of goat cheese cut about 1/2 inch thick on top of the tomatoes.
• Drizzle honey over the entire tart, saving some honey for drizzling once tart is out of the oven.
• Bake at 400 degrees F. for 30 minutes. If making smaller tarts, reduce baking time.
• Goat cheese will bubble and turn a golden brown. Serve hot or at room temperature.
• Add more fresh herbs.

Notes

I found it best using lots of honey.

The post French Tomato Tart with Goat Cheese and Honey appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

The bacon IS the bread. This is such a great idea for keto diets and bacon lovers. The bacon can be prepped in advance, even frozen in the hatch cross pattern and ready anytime.

Each sandwich uses four pieces of thin to medium sliced sugar free bacon and is filled with your favorite ingredients.

Bacon is the Bread Ideas

• The BLT. Lettuce, Summer Tomatoes, Mayo. Add: Cucumbers, Micro Greens, Avocado.
• The Club: Add Turkey to the BLT.
• The Caprese: Tomato, Mozzarella, Drizzle of Olive Oil with Basil or Pesto Smear.
• The Farmhouse: Cheddar, Tomato, Lettuce, Ranch Dressing.
• The American Burger: Burger Patty, Cheddar, Pickle, Mayo, Lettuce.
• Chicken Sandwich: Chicken, buffalo sauce, crisp lettuce tucked inside.
• Breakfast: Stuff with eggs, cheese. Either hard-fried eggs, scrambled eggs or mini-omelettes. Add avocado and arugula. Be creative.
• Salad: Stuff any favorite salad ingredients into your bacon sides. Messy, but who’s watching!

How to Prepare the Bacon as the Bread

• Four slices of bacon per sandwich
• Cut slices in half and arrange in lattice form.
• Place on parchment paper or silpat on baking sheet.
• Bake at 400 degrees F. approximately ten minutes each side.
• Drain on paper towels.

Bacon Egg Sandwich

More Keto Bacon Recipes from Spinach Tiger

• Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf
• Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs
• Sugar Free Bacon Maple Jam
• Keto Bacon Cheddar Dutch Baby
• Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites

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Turn Bacon into Bread

How to make bacon cross hatch style to serve as the bread with many sandwich ideas

Course lunch

Cuisine American

Keyword bacon

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 2 Servings

Ingredients

• 4 slices bacon thin to medium slice

Instructions

• Cut four slices in half.
• Arrange in cross hatch pattern.
  
• Bake on parchment or silpat on baking sheet at 400 degrees.
• Drain on paper towels. Fill with ideas from the blog post above.
  
• Freeze in advance: You can make cross hatch bacon, freeze on tray. Once frozen, stack between parchment. When ready to bake, allow to defrost for about ten minutes prior to baking. You may take longer than the twenty minutes.
  

The post Keto No Bread Bacon Sandwich Ideas appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

A visit to Puerto Vallarta before I knew Mr. Spinach Tiger with someone else I refer to as the surfer heel, if I can use a very old fashioned word, led me to a near death experience and an authentic lunch in the middle of nowhere in Mexico.

The Near Death Experience.

Our hotel had a secluded beach and a riptide someone forgot to tell me about. The surfer heel insisted we venture further out into the water from the shore and as usual he went ahead not looking back. He never noticed that I got caught in an undertow only a few feet from shore. The good looking outdoor bartender came to my rescue, got me out of the water and somehow my top, that came off in the rough waters, got back on. I was too frightened to care about that at the time and am grateful there were no cell phone cameras back then to embarrass me.

The guests were stunned. Not because of my wardrobe malfunction nor my near drowning, but that surfer heel didn’t even look back or take notice. Finally, he realized I wasn’t there and he came back to find himself at odds with all the guests. They shook their heads with disgust and wondered what a nice girl like me was doing with someone like him. This was the vacation that led to the demise of this relationship and that wasn’t the worst of it.

The Unsettling Beach in the Middle of Nowhere, Mexico

The next day, he insisted we rent a car and drive from the semi-safe tourist part of town to a smaller town where odd looking stray dogs run wild and tourists are no where to be found. While he was surfing, I had the pleasure of sitting on a very unsettling beach, scared to death that something worse than an undertow was going to come along. It was time to end this relationship and wait for a real man who put me first.

Mexican Lunch in the Middle of the Nowhere, Mexico
The food was surprisingly good and that’s when I tasted my first real guacamole, assembled from chunks of avocado with simple ingredients

Budro’s Tableside Guacamole

The next time I tasted anything as good was at Boudro’s Texas Bistro in San Antonio. I had dinner there with Mr. ST one Valentine’s week many years ago, comforted in the realization that I had waited for the right man.  They took a picture of us on the patio wrapped in blankets which Boudro’s provides its guests.  Romantic that he is, he framed the picture and has it on his desk.

He became just as smitten with the their famous tableside guacamole and recreated the recipe as soon as we got back home, adapting it to his own taste. The serrano pepper can be left out, but we love it. 

His guacamole is legendary, and there is none better anywhere here in Nashville. He’s very particular about it, and I enjoy watching him do his table side magic especially because it always takes us back to that night in San Antonio, serving as a reminder to me how different my life could have been with the wrong person. (Although I’m not sure about those sunglasses. I think they are long gone, but he thought he looked like Bono. I laughed too).

Table-side Presentation for Authentic Guacamole

Table-side guacamole is something you can do when your guests arrive, but give them a drink first. The entire assembly takes about five minutes.How to  Make Sure the Avocado is Ripe Enough, but not too Ripe

There is a little brown stem (button) on the tip of an avocado. If you flick it off, you will see either a brown spot (too ripe) or a green spot (ripe enough)

Peel Your Avocados. Did you know you can peel avocados. Let me show you here.

Chop your cilantro with this Tuo Cleaver, my new favorite kitchen tool.



Tableside Guacamole and a Beautiful Presentation

The key to a beautiful presentation is to have everything ready to chop freshly on the spot peel the avocados. This is much easier than you may think and I did a post on it.  Peeling the avocado makes it easier to cut into attractive slices for some dishes or nice chunks for this one. It might be a good idea to have your onion pre-cut, but dice the tomato fresh.

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So tell me, did you wait for Mr. or Mrs. Right? Did it take you as many dogs as it took me?

More Avocado Recipes from Spinach Tiger

• How to Peel an Avocado
• How to Ripen an Avocado
• Avocado Margarita
• Avocado Shrimp Salad
• Avocado Chicken Pasta
• Chocolate Avocado Smoothie (low carb)
• Baked Avocado Egg with Lime Hollandaise

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Authentic Guacamole and Tableside Presentation

Authentic Guacamole and how to do a nice tableside presentation.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• Note: To make enough guacamole: use 1 avocado per person and adjust ingredients accordingly.
• 4 avocados
• juice squeezed from 1/2 large orange
• juice squeezed from one lime
• sea salt black pepper
• 1/2 purple onion diced
• 1 small tomato diced
• handful of cilantro chopped
• 1 serrano pepper diced very finely (optional)

Instructions

• Assemble the following into a bowl:
• Peel avocados or carefully spoon out the flesh, keeping the avocado and intact as possible. Cut into large chunks.
• Squeeze the juices of orange and lime over avocado.
• Season with salt and pepper
• Add in chopped onion, tomato, cilantro
• Carefully mix together. You don’t want the avocado turned into mush.
• Season again with salt as needed, perhaps another squeeze of lime.
• Serve immediately.

Video

The post Authentic Tableside Guacamole appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

We eat salmon at least once a week, because of all the proteins we could pick, this is the seven minute dinner that can be made in a number of ways. I’ve shown you many salmon recipes in the past, including my most recent salmon with pasta, cauliflower and olives.

When I was asked to partner with the National Salmon Council, I wanted to show you the easiest, most reliable way to get the best-tasting salmon in less than 10 minutes. I wanted to create a fun, family-friendly recipe to be fun, that brought out the best of salmon, while being a little unique.

I imagined vibrant colors of the rainbow and salmon tacos with tomato mango salsa popped into my head, and then onto this tray.

Easy Salmon Tacos are Slow Food Fast

Salmon tacos are easy and adaptable to your own taste. For example, I leave out anything spicy when I’m serving kids, but they tend to love the tomato mango salsa.

Salmon tacos are slow food fast, made in a matter of minutes and still so good for you. The salsa can be made in advance, and all you’ll need is seven minutes to pan-sear perfect salmon (I promise). I like to pan-sear the salmon on one side (skin side down) for two minutes in a hot pan and then put in the oven for five minutes. This is my basic salmon recipe from which many recipes can be created.

The biggest thing I hear from people is their apprehension to cook salmon or to cook fish indoors. Let me put all this to rest and tell you, once you cook salmon properly, meaning not overcooking, you’ll be making it every week and it’s not that fish that makes a house fishy.

Tomato Mango Salsa with Avocado, Red Onion, Cilantro

Mangoes love tomatoes and avocado. Be prepared to swoon over this combination and probably eat it out of the bowl (like we did). Red onion and cilantro bring these three ingredients together in perfect harmony that brings just the right amount of excitement to fish tacos. Sometimes, instead of cilantro, I use fresh basil for the salsa. Always make recipes your own!

Make sure your mangoes and avocados are ripe, but not too ripe. I buy my mangoes when they have a slight give, but not too much. Conversely, I buy my avocados rock hard, then ripen them myself. I explain why in this post, how to ripen avocados.

Cut the mango, by first holding it vertically and cutting the cheeks of the mango, avoiding the inner seed. Then cut crosswise and lengthwise, not cutting through to the skin. Then slide the knife close to the skin under the cubes.

When cutting the tomato, squeeze off a little of the juice and seeds. If you use Roma tomatoes, you won’t have an issue. Cut a very small dice.

Avocados are a superfood and healthy fat that do well with a bit of acid and salt, and when paired with a sweet fruit like a mango, it’s incredible. I peel my avocados first and then cut into a dice.

Red onion, plenty of cilantro, a touch of syrupy balsamic, and sea salt bring it all together. Shredded purple cabbage adds a little crunch, and a little color.

I suggest flour tortillas or my easy made from scratch grain free low carb tortillas (shown in the picture).

Salmon Tacos – Superfood and Eating the Rainbow

Salmon is a superfood that we should eat at least once a week. Rich in Omega-3 Fatty Acids, EPA and DHA, salmon is loaded with selenium, potassium and is anti-inflammatory. Mangoes promote eye health, facilitate digestion and aid in lowering cholesterol and have a low glycemic count, not spiking blood sugar. Avocados are known universally for their “good fat” and red cabbage has amazing antioxidant properties.

Salmon is usually a signature dish we serve to company. We always get rave reviews, whether we pan-sear or cook on the grill with this technique. In all honesty, I jumped at the opportunity to partner with the Salmon Council, because there is never a time salmon is not in our freezer. It’s my go to for a post-workout lunch and part of my overall low-carb lifestyle.

 More of Spinach Tiger’s Timeless Salmon Recipes

Ginger Roasted Salmon with Roasted Beets

Salmon with Low Carb Pasta, Cauliflower, Olives

Salmon Greek Spinach Salad with Lemony Dressing

Salmon on the Grill

Savory Smoked Salmon Cheesecake

For More Recipes Follow Hooked on Salmon

Follow the Hooked on Salmon Pinterest Board  on Pinterest.

Follow Hooked on Salmon on Facebook.

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Pan-Seared Salmon Tacos with Mango Avocado Salsa

Pan Seared Salmon Tacos with Mango Tomato Salsa Recipe, a rainbow of superfood comes together to make exciting tacos the whole family will love.

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 7 minutes minutes

Total Time 22 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 pound salmon filets
• 4 tablespoon olive oil divided
• juice of 1/2 lime
• salt and pepper
• Mango Salsa recipe below
• 1 cup shredded red cabbage
• 8 flour tortillas or these almond flour tortillas

Mango Salsa

• 2 mangoes
• 2 avocados
• 2 roma tomatoes
• 1/2 red onion finely diced
• 1 large bunch cilantro
• 2 tablespoons syrupy balsamic vinegar see notes
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 teaspoon sea salt or more to taste
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 8 to rtillas

Instructions

• Heat oven to 350 degrees f, 180 C, Gas 4.
• Marinate salmon with olive oil and lime juice, while oven is preheating. Season with a little bit of salt and pepper.
• Heat olive oil in pan to medium high in oven proof pan.
• Place salmon in pan skin side down. Cook for two minutes or until skin is crispy.
• Place pan in oven for about 5 minutes. Keep in mind that the salmon will continue to cook once removed from the oven. You do not want to overcook the salmon.
• Remove the skin, cut into pieces to place in tacos.
• Assemble with salmon, red cabbage and mango tomato salsa. Serve Immediately.

Mango Salsa Instructions

• Cut mango into cubes. Hold up vertically, slice off each cheek. Slice across, not cutting skin and then slide knife under cubed mango.
• Cut tomatoes into very small dice. You may need to squeeze juice out.
• Peel avocado, and cut into cubes.
• Finely dice red onion.
• Chop cilantro.
• Toss tomatoes, mango, cilantro and red onion together with lime, 1/4 teaspoon salt syrupy.
• balsamic or white vinegar and honey.
• Add avocado.
• Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.

Notes

Only use balsamic if you have a good syrupy sweet balsamic. In lieu of balsamic, use 1 tablespoon white vinegar with 1 teaspoon honey.

 

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of National Salmon Council. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post Pan-Seared Salmon Tacos with Tomato Mango Salsa appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

I don’t know a single person who doesn’t love soup. I sure do, and I  don’t know a soup I don’t love.

I’ve rounded up some of my favorite soups, from super easy like the 30 minute health soup to the more complex, slower cooking borscht.

Many of these were created with nutrition density in mind, getting my calories worth for good health, and lighter feasting days. I’m starting to think with gratitude about all the veggies I’m privy to. If I can get a bunch of carrots to make a soup, I’m blessed.

I’ll add to this list as I make more healthy soup recipes.

These are my Favorite Healthy Soup Recipes, Easy, Nutrient Dense.

Carrot Ginger Soup is bright, cheery and heart healthy. You can order these wide mouth jars here.

The 30 Minute Green Health Soup was something I came up with when I was recovering from pneumonia years ago. I had many relapses and wanted to make sure the food I ate was healing. It has chicken broth, broccoli, leeks, potatoes, watercress and lemon and is one of my go to healthy soup recipes.

Italian Sausage and Vegetable Soup

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Toasted Pecans is everything a squash soup needs to be including fried sage leaves.

Tomato Bisque Soup is one of the most my most popular posts. Don’t forget the grilled cheese.

Borscht is heavy, hearty, and the soup I make as soon as it snows. Beets are a super food, and make an awesome soup.

Italian version of Spinach Soup. Recipe from Marcella Hazan; and a little Spinach 101 from Spinach Tiger.

Maple Roasted Apple Soup The comfort of apple pie in a warm soup. Imagine that.

Pumpkin Carrot Curry If you love the savory flavors of curry, this is for you.

Fruity Nutty Carrot No need for croutons as the toasted almonds and pomegranate provide a crunchy texture.

Here is a soup inspired from a soup I had in a very remote town in Tuscany. Ribollita, a stale bread soup with cabbage. (recipe here). 

Minestrone with Kale. This is the easy, quick version of this classic Italian soup.

Creamy Garden Tomato Soup made with fresh tomatoes, shredded basil. Made in my Vitamix.

Snowcap Heirloom Bean Soup with Shrimp. One of my all-time favorites with beans from Rancho Gordo. The olives make this soup extra special.

Spicy Tortilla Soup (the Lighter Version) Copy cat version of  soup from a tiny Nashville restaurant  that has garnered national success.

My most popular soup is this grain free Vegetable Beef Soup. It’s a meal and one of my all time favorites.

Italian Wedding Soup

I’m in process of making a broccoli kale soup and a cauliflower sausage soup, and I’ll be back to share.

All Soup Recipes from Spinach Tiger

The post Easy Nutrient Dense Healthy Soup Recipes appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

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Picadillo Tacos

A Cuban classic of ground meat, olives, and sazon seasoning

Course Entree

Cuisine Cuban

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 2 hours hours

Total Time 2 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 carrot diced
• 1 clove garlic sliced
• 1 medium yellow onion diced
• 1/2 poblano pepper diced (can substitute green bell pepper)
• 1 pound ground beef can substitute ground turkey, ground pork
• 12 small green Spanish olives cut cross wise
• 1 tablespoon capers
• 1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon cider or balsamic vinegar or 1 teaspoon vinegar based hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon sazon seasoning homemade recipe below
• salt
• black pepper
• lettuce
• queso fresco for garnish
• corn tortillas
• Queso cheese for garnish
• !Homemade Saźon Seasoning
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon toasted coriander seed
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1 tablespoon annato seeds ground (or paprika)
• 1 tablespoon salt

Instructions

• Instructions:
• Saute onions and carrots in olive oil until onions are softened, about three minutes. Add in garlic, poblano peppers, and saute for one minute. Crumble ground beef and add to the pan.
• Once meat is browned, add saźon seasoning.
• Add in olives, capers, can of tomatoes, vinegar, honey, and bay leaf. If the meat is extra lean, add in two more tablespoons of olive oil. Simmer over very low heat for two hours, stirring occasionally. Alternatively, this can be put into a slow cooker to simmer on low for 4 hours. Remove bay leaf before serving.
• !Instructions for the Sazon Seasoning
• Toast peppercorns and coriander seeds in frying pan until warmed through. Add all ingredients to spice blender and grind.

Assemble

• Remove bay leaf.
• Warm corn tortillas. Place shredded lettuce. Top with picadillo. Garnish with queso fresco

The post Puerto Rican Picadillo Tacos and Homemade Sazon Seasoning appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Healthy Eggplant Dip is a great way to get the  party started and feel good about it. The good news is how easy this is to make, although you do need something like a Vitamix to pull it off.

Simply bake up eggplant, peppers, onions, and if you have carrots, add those too, and then just blend it up to a delicious, lip smacking spread that tells hummus to move over.

There are no carbs!

It’s paleo friendly, if you spread it on lettuce instead of bread!

It tastes good, because it’s real food!

The thing that makes this so good, however, is the type of bread you spread it on. This spread is thick and luscious and needs a good piece of bread to put it on.

Look for bread that is sort of chewy, like a Tuscan loaf. Slice the bread into three inch wide strips, and toast slowly in the oven at 350 degrees. You can pile the bread onto a tray around the eggplant dip and allow people to help themselves.

MORE EGGPLANT RECIPES FROM SPINACH TIGER

Eggplant Tomato Recipe

Eggplant Parmesan

Swordfish with Eggplant Sauce

Eggplant Crostini

Eggplant Bread Pudding

Eggplant Sausage Soup

Eggplant Benedict

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Roasted Eggplant Crostini Recipe

Eggplant and vegetable medley blend together for a wonderful spread for crostini.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 eggplant
• 1 onion
• 1 green pepper
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 medium sized tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive iol
• 2 carrots
• salt
• pepper

Crostini

• Tuscan or similar Peasant Italian Bread cut into three inch strips.

Instructions

• Peel eggplant, cut into thick slices. Salt each side and leave out for an hour.
• Wipe with paper towels.
• Cut into large cubes.
• Peel and cut onion in quarters.
• Seed bell pepper and cut into strips.
• Peel and cut carrots into long chunks.
• Cut tomato into quarters.
• Toss Vegetables with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
• Roast in oven at 400 degrees 20-30 minutes, until eggplant and green pepper is soft.
• Place into a Vitamix or blender. Mix until nearly smooth, but you can decide how much so. You might need to add a few tablespoons water.

Crostini

• Bake at 350 until toasted on both sides (about 5-10 mins).

The post Roasted Eggplant Crostini Recipe appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

This past week I returned from Italy  still not satisfied as far as veal is concerned. I ate it several different ways, but not one single time with tomato. On the last night I ordered Osso Bucco in Milan, the signature dish of that fashionable city, waiting with eagerness for a bite of veal, delicately prepared with wine and tomato, falling off of my fork.

I was too late and they had none left.

A few days later I found myself in my  kitchen craving pasta and veal and set to work to create a veal sugo for spaghetti, a dish that has quickly moved up the ranks of my favorites. A dish, so easy to prepare, that I don’t understand how I didn’t ever make this before.

A dish inspired by Milan, but not typically found there.  Often the veal ossobucco is accompanied by risotto Milanese or polenta, a perfect companion to a rich tomato wine sauce. I once made Marcella Hazan’s recipe for Osso Buco here and served it over grits. Served with the traditional gremolada it was fantastic and the inspiration for today’s recipe.

This is one pasta dish that combines the protein with the pasta, much like a bolognese. So many Italian dishes separate these two, but I find this to be a most satisfying and comforting dish to celebrate Autumn when braising or slow cooking makes us all feel good.

You can make this on top of the stove or in the oven (as I did)  in a cast iron pot, or put it in the crock pot and forget about it.

Unlike many tomato sauce recipes, this has a meat broth and white wine.  While you will use the cheaper veal shoulder, don’t leave out the wine and broth because you don’t want to miss out on that complexity of flavor.

Get the Right Pasta for this Veal Italian Sauce Recipe

Enjoy this veal sugo on a wide noodle or a large spaghetti.  I found a brand at my loal grocery store, La Molisana, which I highly recommend. They’ve been in the pasta business since 1912, and produce a chewy pasta with a substantial bite.

If you happen to find La Molisana, the spaghetti is thick and so much better than anything you can find in any similar price point.

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More Italian Recipes from Spinach Tiger

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Italian Sauce Recipe with Veal, Tomato, White Wine

A veal sugo, similar to the flavors in Osso Buco with spaghetti.

Course Entree

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 3 hours hours

Total Time 3 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 pound veal shoulder hopefully with some bone
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup of chopped onion
• 3 carrots cubed
• 3 celery sticks diced
• 2 garlic cloves diced
• 1 1/2 cups meat broth or chicken broth
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 large can about 3 cups of chopped canned San Marzano Italian plum tomatoes
• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
• handful fresh Italian parsley
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• Parmigiana reggiano
• 3-4 fresh sage leaves optional
• 1 pound spaghetti or wide noodle pasta order here

Instructions

• Flour veal, brown in pan with olive oil. Set aside.
• in heavy bottomed pan saute onion, celery, carrots in butter. After five minutes, add garlic.
• Add wine, and deglaze pan.
• Add broth and herbs.
• Place veal over vegetables.
• Add tomatoes and herbs.
• Braise for three hours on very low in dutch oven at 300 degrees or in crock pot. You can also do simmer on top of stove, until veal falls apart.
• Remove herbs. Discard.
• Remove veal. Trim fat and bone and flake into pieces to be place back into sauce.
• Cook pasta according to directions. Use a very large pot for your pasta. This will give you a good ratio of boiling water to pasta and the water will reboil quicker. Salt the pot with 2 tablespoons salt right before you put the pasta in the water. Do not overcook. The pasta should have a firm bite, not snappy, but firm.
• Toss with sauce and serve with fresh parmigiana reggiano cheese.

The post Italian Sauce Recipe with Veal, Tomato, White Wine appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Fast food can be good for you. If you are like millions of Americans who eat fast food a few times a week because of work and crazy schedules, please take note: THIS spicy shrimp recipe IS FAST FOOD.

You don’t always have to eat very low carb or keto to eat healthy and sustain your weight.

Good food for dinner that doesn’t mean cottage cheese, dry fish, or a meal substitute protein shake. It means food that anyone would choose to eat no matter how thin or healthy they already are. See the list below for some good food ideas.

The sauce for spicy shrimp nearly screams for a date with a big hunk of crusty bread. And, if you are eating a french baguette, you could still eat two pieces, a bowl of shrimp and come in at about 500 calories.  Of course, if you skip the bread, you are barely at 200 calories. I am getting all calorie counting on you because I want to make a point about healthy low-calorie meals. No one can live on carrot sticks and be happy.

For all the desserts that get baked, and pasta that gets rolled, there are many in between nights where a good bowl of soup or a hearty dish such as spicy shrimp is dinner.

But, I love food, so it still has to be a good meal. And, it can be. People trying to fight the obesity statistics do not have to suffer. I think this must be the twinkie-type companies that convince people that if they are not shoveling fake baked goods and mcburgers down their throats, somehow life is less satisfying.

Less satisfying are all the problems of obesity, and they are different for everyone. But, Spinach Tiger knows and understands the love for food, and is here to tell you, it’s okay to love food, as long as it’s the food that can love you back.

Ten Tips for Eating Delicious Italian Food with No Weight Gai

• Eat like an Italian: Pasta is but an appetizer, followed by a small serving of protein and a green salad or green vegetable. Try Healthy Italian Baked Chicken
• Split up your meals. Eat your pasta for lunch, protein and greens for dinner. Try Bucatini with Black Pepper and Cheese for a rich, yet light spaghetti dish.
• Go easy with cream sauces. Tomato-based sauces can be made in twenty minutes and have tons of nutrition and are much lower in calories. Try this Pasta All’ Amatriciana
• Do prepare sauces with olive oil and garlic. The fat is satisfying and you will eat less; the olive oil has health benefits, as does the garlic. Try Broccoli Rabe and Pasta.
• Shrimp and  scallops are low in calories, high in flavor, and you can make a FAST, delicious dinner for LESS than your drive through cost. Yes, you can.**
• Italian soups are hearty, satisfying, healthy and even with a hunk of bread, will not break the calorie bank. See a list of Spinach Tiger soups below. Try this hearty, low carb Italian beef stew or this quick and easy Minestrone.
• If you are eating pasta, don’t add a second carb. Save bread for another meal.
• Try small amounts of alternate starch choices to up the heartiness of a dish, as this ossobuco with grits. There is really only a smattering of starch in this dish.
• Save wine for weekends; too often wine lowers resistance and oops, you eat too much.
• Roast vegetables with olive oil, sea salt and enjoy Italian inspired lighter fare, possibly with a piece of bread. A half cup of pasta with 2 cups of veggies and you have a great mid-week supper. Try these garlic roasted Brussels Sprouts.

More Shrimp Dishes from Spinach Tiger

• Spicy Tuscan Shrimp
• Shrimp Avocado Salad
• Shrimp with Spaghetti Squash
• Shrimp Creole
• Shrimp Scampi
• Shrimp with Olives and Zoodles

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Spicy Shrimp with Red Chili Pepper

Adapted from Marcella Hazan’s Essential’s of Italian Cooking

Course Entree

Cuisine Italian

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium shallot finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes or chopped hot red chili pepper
• 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 1 large can Italian plum tomatoes chopped w juice (I used San Marzano from Fresh Market)
• Sea salt
• 1 pound wild shrimp shelled, cleaned, deveined
• Grilled or oven browned slices of bread

Instructions

• Saute shallot and garlic in olive oil. Add pepper flakes and parsley.add tomatoes. Cook at a simmer for twenty minutes to reduce the juice.
• Rinse shrimp several times in cold water. Pat dry and add to sauce when it’s ready. Cook just until shrimp are cooked (about 3 minutes).
• Grill thick slices of bread in cast iron pan on top of stove that has a little swipe of olive oil or bake in oven to brown.
• Serve immediately.

The post Spicy Shrimp and Ten Tips for Eating Healthy Italian appeared first on Spinach Tiger.