Alphabet Soup
School lunches can be both fun and easy when you buy a special soup Thermos for your child. Brightly coloured Thermoses are available at most supermarkets and drugstores and come in children’s sizes. Fill them with long, thin noodles to slurp up or bicycle-, star-, and alphabet-shaped noodles, which you’ll find at specialty cook shops. It is very low on seasonings so it’s perfect for picky eaters. Try making this Alphabet Soup as an easy weekend dinner, then serve leftovers for lunch during the week. To add protein, add 1/2 cup (125 mL) red lentils.
4 cups (1 L) hot water
2 Tbsp (60 mL) vegetable broth powder
1 Tbsp (15 mL) tomato paste
2 Tbsp (30 mL) olive oil
1/4 to 1/2 cup (60 to 125 ml) alphabet macaroni or pasta noodles
1 small onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1 small potato, diced
1/2 cup (125 mL) green beans or any vegetable your child likes such as tomato or green bell pepper
1/2 cup (125 mL) green peas or corn
Sea salt and pepper to taste
In medium saucepan over high heat, add water, vegetable stock, tomato paste, and olive oil. Bring to boil and add noodles, onion, celery, carrot, potato, green beans, and peas. Cook 10 to 12 minutes. Serve hot or pour into preheated Thermos. Serves 4.
source: "School Lunch Recipes Your Kids Will Love", alive #275, September 2005
Alphabet Soup
Directions
Sally Errey, RNCP
Sally Errey, RNCP, is an acclaimed speaker and author on optimum health through nutrition and lifestyle. She is author of Staying Alive! Cookbook for Cancer Free Living (Belissimo Books, 2004).
READ THIS NEXT
SEE MORE »
Chocolate and Orange Chickpea Pudding
Spanish-inspired flavours of almond and orange and a good punch of protein make this pudding a delicious and nutritious breakfast, snack, or dessert. The tiniest amount of large-flake sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil help bring all the flavours together. Amp up the orange For some additional orange flavour, when cooking chickpeas from dry, add a few strips of orange zest to the cooking water. Tastier toast Take your toast to the next level by using this pudding as a satisfying spread.
Sorghum Tabbouleh with Kale and Navy Beans
Breaking with tradition, think of this as a guise of tabbouleh salad with staying power, thanks to the addition of hearty sorghum and fibre-rich navy beans. It also ages fairly well, so it serves as a make-ahead meal that can keep for up to 3 days. A perfect plant-based option for weekday lunches.
Chickpea Salad with Nigella Roasted Sweet Potato and Grated Carrots
This versatile salad featuring chickpeas in a bright, fragrant dressing, holds well in the fridge. Make it in advance or keep it for leftovers. Nigella seeds, also known as kalonji, lend a sweet, nutty flavour with an ever-so-slightly bitter edge that pairs perfectly with sweet potato’s sweetness. Chickpeas please! Chickpeas are a great source of dietary fibre; just 1 cup (250 mL) contains 42 percent of the recommended daily allowance. They’re also a very good source of manganese, which is important for calcium absorption and blood sugar regulation.
Pear Mousse with Cinnamon and Pecan Praline
Wait, isn’t mousse all about egg whites? Turns out, aquafaba––the viscous liquid left over after cooking chickpeas––fluffs up pretty well, too. And no, it doesn’t make the mousse taste like chickpeas. Plus, you don’t need to worry about using unpasteurized eggs, and it’s vegan-friendly. To reduce the sugar content, skip the praline and simply toast the pecans. Aquafaba FAQ Why is my aquafaba only whipping to soft peaks? Depending on your chickpeas, the aquafaba could whip to stiff peaks or quit at soft peaks with liquid below. If it doesn’t fully whip, scoop off the fluffiest foam on top and leave any liquid. The result will just be a more coconut-forward mousse. What do I do if my whipped coconut cream coagulates and bubbles when I add the aquafaba? Don’t worry! It’s not a bad thing. The cream will just be heavier and more textured (again, not bad), so make sure you use it as the base layer of the mousse so as not to weigh down the ethereal pear mixture on top. If you just want the light-as-air pear mousse layer, you can skip the coconut milk entirely and fold all the aquafaba into the pear purée.