Samosa Soup (LID)

I like Indian food. Samosas, Indian pastries filled with savory ingredients, are a favorite of mine. I have made Samosas filled with spiced potatoes and green peas on numerous occasions. They are a bit time-consuming to make so I do not make them often. I took ingredients found in Samosa filling and turned them into a delicious and easy soup.  This soup is quick enough to make on a weeknight. It is sure to bring a little spice to LID.

Samosa Soup

2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon salt-free curry powder (store-bought or homemade – recipe at bottom)
dash cayenne pepper (optional)
2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 cup dried green split peas, picked over and rinsed
8 cups salt-free vegetable broth (I use Rapunzel bouillon cubes and water)
1/2 cup frozen green peas
non-iodized salt (I use Morton’s Coarse Kosher Salt), to taste
1/4 fresh cilantro, chopped

Heat the canola oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté until soft. Add the garlic, ginger, and jalapenos, and saute one minute more. Add the curry powder, cayenne (if using), green split peas, and vegetable broth. Cook 10 minutes. Add the diced potatoes and continue to cook until the green split peas and potatoes are tender, about 20 more minutes. Add the frozen green pea, season to taste with non-iodized salt, and cook until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Take off the heat, add the cilantro, and serve.

Quick and Easy Salt-Free Madras Curry Powder

3 tablespoons ground turmeric
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Combine all of the spices and store in a glass Mason jar.

Mexican Lentil Soup (LID)

I love this time of the year, when summer is changing over to fall. The days are starting to get cooler and the air is a little crisper. The air conditioner is not running non-stop and there is a little chill in the air when you wake up in the morning. It’s a perfect time for soup and this one is wonderful. It is a flavorful and filling soup that comes in at around 76 calories per 1 cup serving.

Soups are perfect to have while on LID. You can make big batches and freeze individual servings. It helps so much to have food prepared ahead of time.

Mexican Lentil Soup

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
14.5 ounce can no salt added diced tomatoes (I like to use petite diced)
1/2 cup dried lentils, picked over and rinsed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
7 cups LID-safe vegetable broth (I use Rapunzel vegetable bouillon)
1 medium zucchini, diced
non-iodized salt (I use Morton’s Coarse Kosher Salt) and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

In a soup pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, celery, and carrots. Cook until the vegetables are tender. Add the minced garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Add the jalapeno, diced tomatoes and their juices, dried lentils, cumin, coriander, and vegetable broth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Add the zucchini and cook until the lentils are tender, 10 to 20 minutes. Season the soup with non-iodized salt and pepper. Stir in the chopped cilantro and serve.

LID Round 2, Day 1

I started on my low iodine diet (LID) today to prepare my body to go radioactive in two weeks. I will be on the diet for 16 days. During that time I cannot eat iodized or sea salt, dairy products, soy products, seafood, sea products, potato skins, whole eggs, red dyes, or anything with any of those ingredients in it. I am limited to 5 – 6 ounces of fresh meat and 4 servings of grains a day. I can go off the diet once I have my nuclear whole body scan on March 20th.

I had to do LID around this time last year. By the end of those 16 days I was pretty miserable, more psychologically than anything. I think I am better prepared this time.

I think one of the ways to be better prepared is to make changes to the things I usually eat or drink in order to make them more LID-friendly. Coffee is something I drink every single day. I usually use a flavored coffee creamer or half and half with sugar in my coffee each day. I have to have a LID-friendly alternative. Last year I used a non-dairy creamer and it was fine. This year, I wanted to try the marshmallows melted in coffee as a creamer substitute. I wasn’t into it at all. I’ll just stick with the non-dairy creamer and sugar I last year for the remainder of LID.

Lunch was a little better. I made Cajun Okra Soup. It was good. I used chicken broth I made this weekend and froze in batches. I am going to freeze a couple of portions of this soup for next week.

I was happy with dinner too. I revamped one of my favorite Thai noodle soup recipes to make if LID-friendly. It was fantastic!

What I ate today

Breakfast: Coffee with marshmallows, cantaloupe, and red grapes
Lunch: Cajun Okra Soup
Dinner:  Chiang Mai Curry Noodle Soup with Vegetables
Snack: Tostitos and salsa

Pasta e Ceci (Pasta and Chickpea Soup) (LID)

Pasta e Ceci

This soup is incredibly easy and quick to make. It’s delicious too!

Pasta e Ceci (Pasta and Chickpea Soup)

6 cups water and 2 unsalted vegetable bouillon cubes (I used Rapunzel brand) or 6 cups unsalted chicken broth
1 15.5 oz. can unsalted chickpeas (garbanzos), drained (I used 2 cups of chickpeas I cooked)
1 14.5 oz. can no salt added diced tomatoes (with juices)
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons olive oil
non-iodized salt (I use Morton’s Coarse Kosher Salt) and pepper, to taste
4 oz. spaghetti broken into fourths

Combine all the ingredients in a heavy soup pot and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender.

LID Day 3: Lentil Barley Stew, Spaghetti Sauce, and Lemon-Garlic Salad Dressing

It’s Day 3 of LID and I feel like I’m getting the hang of things. I have heard such terrible things about this diet, but it’s really not that bad. Of course, we tend to eat very clean anyway and I cook 99% of our meals. We rarely eat at restaurants and never eat fast food. It’s not a huge change.

What I ate today:
Breakfast: 1 slice of leftover Beer Bread (from yesterday) toasted and topped with grape jelly and coffee with non-dairy creamer
Lunch: Lentil and Barley Stew
Dinner: Spaghetti with Spaghetti Sauce and a tossed salad with Lemon-Garlic Salad Dressing
Snack: Fresh strawberries

Products I used today:
Quaker’s Quick Barley
Progresso Unsalted Chicken Broth
Furmano’s Unsalted Crushed Tomatoes
Hunt’s Tomato Paste (contains no salt)

 

 

 

Lentil Barley Stew (LID)

Lentil Barley Stew

I made this for lunch. It’s hearty. I like this stew seasoned with a little ground cumin, but you could add any herb(s) or spice(s) you wanted (as long as they are LID-allowed).

Lentil Barley Stew

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
1 carton (32 ounces) unsalted chicken broth (I used Progresso brand)
2 cups filtered water
 3/4 cup brown lentils, picked through and rinsed
1/2 cup quick cooking barley (I used Quaker brand Quick Barley)
1 zucchini, chopped
non-iodized salt (I use Morton’s Coarse Kosher Salt) and pepper, to taste

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook until the onion just starts to get tender. Add the minced garlic and cook a minute more. Stir in the sliced celery and carrots and then add the broth, water, and lentils. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat back to medium and cook 10 minutes. Add the barley and the chopped zucchini and continue to cook until the barley and lentils are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. If you like your stew with more liquid, you may add 1 or 2 cups of water or unsalted broth when you add the barley and zucchini. Season the stew with non-iodized salt and pepper.

Sopa Ranchera (LID)

Sopa Ranchera

Sopa Ranchera is one of my favorite soups and it was easy to adapt it for LID. I like adding toppings like fresh cilantro, sliced fresh chiles, crumbled tortilla chips, and/or diced avocado to my bowl of Sopa Ranchera. The cool and creamy avocado kind of melts into the soup. So good. This soup freezes very well, so make it ahead of time and freeze in individual portions.

Sopa Ranchera

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups unsalted chicken broth or the equivalent of water and unsalted vegetable bouillon (I used Rapunzel brand)
2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 can (14.5 ounces) unsalted diced tomatoes and their juices (I used Hunt’s brand)
1 (15.5 ounces) can unsalted chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained (I used about 2 cups of garbanzos that I prepared with non-iodized salt)
1 cup frozen whole-kernel corn
1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
non-iodized salt (I use Morton’s Coarse Kosher Salt) and black pepper, to taste

Toppings:
chopped fresh cilantro
lime wedges
slice chiles (jalapenos or serranos)
diced avocado
crumbled tortilla chips (Frito Lay does not use iodized salt in their products – per their website)

To prepare soup, heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion; saute 3 minutes. Add oregano, cumin, and garlic; saute 1 minute. Add chicken broth (or water and unsalted bouillon), potatoes, tomatoes, and chickpeas; bring to a boil, and cook 10 minutes. Add corn, salt, and zucchini; cook 5 minutes. Season with non-iodized salt and black pepper to taste. Stir in cilantro and serve.

Ladle soup into bowls, and top with toppings of your choice.