spice up your life

Ha, Spice Girls. Good evening, my sweets! I've got quite a lot of work to get done tonight so I can't "stay" long, but I just wanted to let you in on my recent lunch fixation: SOUP & SALAD. Exciting stuff, I know ;). Ever since Carol and I have gone through the soup recipes, she has and added some new ones. And a cup of soup on a chilly fall day is the perfect warm-me-up and keep-me-full meal, always completed with a large plate of greens. 

I give you, exhibit A. 

More often than not, I also add some kind of starch or protein to my salad to "beef" them up. Thank you, homemade hummus! A spoonful of olive oil and balsamic vinegar makes the most perfect dressing.

Anyway, news about ensalada--A recent study, featured on fitnessmagazine.com, found that daily salad eaters had higher level of certain disease-fighting antioxidants. With the swine flu everywhere I turn, I'm gonna need them, and so are you, I'm sure ;).

Flashback time! Once the weather was nice in Santiago, I found out, almost one year ago, Coca was a huge fan of huge salads, too.

I always think of her fondly as I'm crunching away :).

And I think of my beloved mentors at Fitness magazine as I'm "bowled over" by yet another one of their soup recipes. This one is from Ellie Krieger. Carol & I omitted the yogurt that was included in the original one.


Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Makes: 5 servings

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped (2 cups)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-1/2-pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 
  

Instructions

1. Heat oil over medium heat in a 6-quart stockpot. Add onions and saute until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for 2 minutes more. Add squash, broth, curry powder, and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until squash is tender, 12 to 15 minutes.
2. Remove from heat, stir in honey, and puree with a mixer or in batches in a blender until smooth

Check out this month's issue for more Souped Up recipes that I helped research! Plus those other two that I, you know, wrote. Still not over it. See you mañana for another video post, g'night!