December 05, 2004
The Experimental Cook
I can always tell things are going better when I do something like invent a soup, as I did yesterday.
I chopped about half an onion with my little chopper, which is the best thing ever if you work in small amounts -- a million times faster to use and clean up than a mini food processor, and just as good. See the Pampered Chef version here; I can't remember if I technically got it from them or if it's a similar one, but that's the idea. Anyway. Chopped the onion, dropped it and a little bottled minced garlic into a sprayed nonstick saucepan, cooked it up a little. Added about 2 1/2 cups of chicken broth, some minced jalapenos, some chili powder, a little cumin, about a cup of canned corn, about a cup of canned black beans, and about a half a can of stewed tomatoes. Simmered it for a while, then stuck my hand blender right into it, just like they used to do on the infomercials, blending the soup while it was still on the stove simmering. Didn't puree it perfectly, but got it nice and thick.
Then I mixed two tablespoons of flour and two tablespooons of skim milk with a fork until it was smooth and added that, which made it nice and thick. Shredded a skinless boneless chicken breast half I had poached on the stove while the soup cooked, let that cook some. Added a small handful of shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese, and finished it with a couple of tablespoons, believe it or not, of nonfat half-and-half, which gave it a creamier look. This wound up making two generous servings of soup for me, and when I ran the nutritional information, what do you know? It was just about perfect for what I would want for dinner. Well-balanced, right number of calories, and -- if I do say so myself -- very tasty. I would probably add the whole can of tomatoes next time, and either some cayenne or more peppers.
The point of this (short) entry is that this is what I'm trying to do -- learn to do it by feel. I couldn't tell you exactly how many points it had, and I couldn't break it down into breads and milks, and the shredded cheese isn't Core, and I didn't consult any lists of what to eat and not to eat, but I know when I make that on the stove that it's good for me, that I'm not overfeeding myself, and that it's what I want at that particular moment.
Funny story -- when I first ran the nutritional information, it was coming back at 675 calories a serving, which was a lot more than I thought it should have. I could not figure out what the hell I was doing wrong, and I was like, "Man, maybe I'm wrong, and I don't know how to do this as well as I thought." It just seemed off somehow; I know approximately what food values are, and I was really discouraged by it. Then I realized that it was counting a cup of dried black beans. Which cooks up into about a truckload of beans. So that's what was wrong. I fixed it so it (by which I mean MasterCook 7, the program I use for recipe analysis) knew I was using canned beans, and bang! About 375 to 400 calories, which is exactly right for dinner.
It is possible. You can do it by feel, but you have to be patient and train yourself, and that's why I encourage people to use a program for as long as they still feel like it's good for them. At some point, you begin to internalize it and you can do a lot of it without counting, but it takes a long time to do that, and I'm just kind of establishing myself there, which is sort of fun and interesting.
Also, I have leftover soup to have for lunch.
Posted by Linda at 09:07 AM | Comments (10)