Healthy Winter Soup: Chicken & Spinach Soup with Fresh Pesto

This fragrant, Italian-flavored soup takes advantage of quick-cooking ingredients—boneless, skinless chicken breast, bagged baby spinach and canned beans. It features a simple homemade basil pesto swirled in at the end to add a fresh herb flavor. If you are very pressed for time, you can substitute 3 to 4 tablespoons of a store-bought basil pesto.

5 servings, about 1 1/2 cups each 

 

Active Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1/2 cup carrot or diced red bell pepper
• 1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 8 ounces), cut into quarters
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 5 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried marjoram
• 6 ounces baby spinach, coarsely chopped
• 1 15-ounce can cannellini beans or great northern beans, rinsed
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup plain or herbed multigrain croutons for garnish (optional)

Preparation

1. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add carrot (or bell pepper) and chicken; cook, turning the chicken and stirring frequently, until the chicken begins to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute more. Stir in broth and marjoram; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
2. With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken pieces to a clean cutting board to cool. Add spinach and beans to the pot and bring to a gentle boil. Cook for 5 minutes to blend the flavors.
3. Combine the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, Parmesan and basil in a food processor (a mini processor works well). Process until a coarse paste forms, adding a little water and scraping down the sides as necessary.
4. Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. Stir the chicken and pesto into the pot. Season with pepper. Heat until hot. Garnish with croutons, if desired.

Nutrition Facts:

Per serving: 204 calories; 8 g fat ( 2 g sat , 4 g mono ); 29 mg cholesterol; 16 g carbohydrates; 18 g protein; 6 g fiber; 691 mg sodium; 529 mg potassium.
Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin A (110% daily value), Folate & Vitamin C (20% dv).
Carbohydrate Servings: 1/2
Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 vegetable, 2 lean meat, 1 fat
Recipe from Eating Well.

Goals and Resolution Designing for 2013

Every New Year people set goals in hopes that they can create a better lifestyle. We start the year filled with motivation and hopes that we will finally keep our goals we have set for the New Year. However, a month or 2 later we stopped pursing our goals once again like we did in years past. How can we finally stick to our New Year’s goals and resolutions? Some may say easier said than done. It really isn’t as difficult as some may think. If you set guidelines and follow them you will soon see yourself achieve all the goals and keep all the resolutions you have set for yourself.
Below are a few tips you can follow to help you keep your resolutions and reach your goals.

• Don’t just think it, Ink it: Write down your goals. When we write things down we can see them and they become real. It’s no longer a thought. As we reach those goals cross them off the list. It will give you a feeling of achievement seeing you reached the goal. Hang the list where you can see it every day. Unless you write down your goals, they will often get lost in the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
• Timeline: Set a time table, deadline for when you want to reach the goals on your list. For example; by February 28th 2013, I lost 10lbs. This creates a deadline to get you motivated to work on your goals and stay focused.
• Be specific: Define your goals by being as specific as you can. Specific means something that would be clear to anyone else. For example; I will become healthy by losing 20 lbs, eating a healthy diet, and exercising 1 hr daily. Not specific: I’m going to lose weight.
• Chunk time: Set time apart every day to work on a specific goal. For example your goal is to finally clear the clutter out the closet. Set 30 minutes every day to work on that goal. Working at it every day will help you reach the goal.
• Find your “Why”: Ask yourself why you want to reach this goal? What will you gain? Once we create a “Why” for our goals we tend to stick to then. For example; I want to lose 20 lbs. Why? I want to lose 20lbs because I will become healthier and will be able to see my children and grandchildren grow up.
• Be sure they are your goals: Don’t let your family’s, friend’s or society’s expectations dictate your ambitions and goals. Many people set goals that they think they “should” have, rather than what they truly want for themselves. If your goals don’t come from your heart, you will not work hard to reach those goals.
• State in the "I am”: State in the present first person such as I am, instead of I want. For example if you write a goal like “I want to lose 30lbs,” you will only create more of that outcome which is wanting to lose 30lbs. If you say and write down I am 30lbs lighter by March 1, 2013 you will creative power will work on producing that goal. Declare it and make it happen.

When setting resolutions and goals, subtle and seemingly inconsequential adjustments transform wishes and hopes into results. Happy New Year! May 2013 be the year you create unlimited possibilities.