Weight Watchers Fresh Vegetable Soup ♥
Today's new Weight Watchers recipe: The latest vegetable soup recipe, zero points for those who follow the Freestyle program. Unlike the other Weight Watchers soups, this one is made with all fresh vegetables! To my taste, it's best made a day ahead of time, perfect for those of us who meal prep, whose weeks are fueled by a big pot of soup cooked ahead of time.
"You sure make the produce department happy." So assessed the checkout person at the grocery store the day after New Years while ringing up my overflowing cart, one vegetable after another. I couldn't help but grin, because yes, I'm on a first-name basis with all the produce people. Sure enough, there were no fewer than a dozen different vegetables, enough unusual vegetables to send the typical checkout person scurrying for the break room.
Like millions of others, after the holidays, I was ready to lighten up, ready for the end of rich food, ready to quit the fixation on eating. And like so many who follow Weight Watchers, I wanted nothing more than the cleansing of one of the famous vegetable soups from Weight Watchers, this time using a new recipe that seemed especially targeted to fresh vegetables.
Chop, chop, cook, cook. The aroma in the kitchen was intoxicating!
The first taste, however, was disappointing. The soup was blah – nothing that a few drops of Tabasco or a splash of yogurt couldn't fix but nonetheless, disappointing. I shrugged and went on. A day or so later, I cleaned out the fridge and decided to warm up a bowl of the leftover soup. This time? Fabulous! Light and fresh, the vegetables still intact (not mushy at all) but much more flavorful.
Now this IS a mild soup, know that, you might still want to apply a little Tabasco or my own favorite, a squirt of ketchup. But it's good and a nice change from the original Weight Watchers Zero-Point Garden Vegetable Soup recipe. Score – another winner!
PLEASE KNOW A Veggie Venture is not affiliated with Weight Watchers International, please see more information. As always, I recommend visiting your local office, especially to learn the in's and out's of all the ins and outs of Weight Watchers (now WW!) new methods for counting points.
QUICK NOTE For those who don't follow Weight Watchers, you might wonder if this soup is "any good". It is! All the Weight Watchers soups are good. But for slightly more substance, you might want to try my long-time favorite recipe from Kitchen Parade, Low-Fat Vegetable Soup or my new favorite and master recipe, Master Recipe: How to Make Homemade Vegetable Soup, never the same twice.
COMPLIMENTS!
"... very yummy! ... and the house smells delicious! ... I've lost 13lbs in two weeks" ~ Ilene
"LOVED it immediately." ~ Debbie
"This is a mild but tasty soup." ~ Anonymous
"... very yummy! ... and the house smells delicious! ... I've lost 13lbs in two weeks" ~ Ilene
"LOVED it immediately." ~ Debbie
"This is a mild but tasty soup." ~ Anonymous
RECIPE for WEIGHT WATCHERS FRESH VEGETABLE SOUP
Printer Friendly Recipe
Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Time to table: 35 to 40 minutes but best if the soup is allowed to rest 24 hours or overnight
Makes 9 cups
Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Time to table: 35 to 40 minutes but best if the soup is allowed to rest 24 hours or overnight
Makes 9 cups
6 cups vegetable broth (I use Homemade Vegetable Bouillon)
1 onion, diced (see TIPS)
2 carrots, peeled and diced (see TIPS)
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 rib celery, diced
2 cups (about 5 ounces) chopped cabbage
2 cups (about 6 ounces) cauliflower, cut into florets
2 cups (about 6 ounces) broccoli, cut into florets
1 teaspoon dried thyme (or 2 teaspoons fresh thyme)
2 cloves garlic, minced small
2 cups Swiss chard, washed well and cut into ribbons
Fresh parsley or fresh chives, to taste
1/2 teaspoon table salt or to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper or to taste
Juice of a fresh lemon, about 2 tablespoons
In a microwave, bring the broth to a boil. (This step keeps the soup moving but can be skipped if there's no rush.)
In a large pot or Dutch oven, collect the vegetables in the order given, squeezing in the Swiss chard to compress a bit if needed. Pour the hot broth over top. Cover and bring to a boil over MEDIUM HIGH. Once the liquid comes to a boil, crack the lid so that a little steam can escape, then reduce the heat to maintain a slow simmer and let simmer for about 10 minutes until the bottom vegetables are done.
Stir in the parsley, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Let cool. Transfer to storage containers and refrigerate overnight or for 24 hours. Reheat to serve.
ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
SIZE MATTERS Before getting out the cutting knife, decide how "big" you want the vegetable pieces. This batch, I decided on large and distinct pieces but another choice is to dice the vegetables quite small, this would mean getting a spoonful of lots of different vegetables at once.
CARROTS Skip the so-called "baby" carrots which aren't baby carrots at all but big ol' honkin' huge carrots scraped down into neat little packages for easy consumption. They're fine cold and raw but don't cook well. Buy a bag of carrots, it''ll take just a minute or so to peel and cut them.
BELL PEPPERS Red, yellow and orange peppers are pretty but much more expensive than green peppers. I often go for the green, with little real taste difference.
SPEAKING OF COST There are a lot of different vegetables in this soup! At my house, the leftovers don't go to waste because my standard lunch is a Quick 'n' Easy Raw Salad.
SHOP THE SALAD BAR Some times, the salad bar is a good place to pick up small volumes of a few vegetables. Vegetables are more expensive per pound at the salad bar but the "most expensive vegetable is the one which goes to waste".
FOR TASTE Don't skip the onion or the cabbage, they're what make the broth taste slightly sweet after the soup rests overnight.
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QUICK! QUICK! MORE RECIPES WITH THESE INGREDIENTS
bell peppers cabbage & sauerkraut carrots cauliflower celery Swiss chardMORE WEIGHT WATCHERS SOUP RECIPES
~ Weight Watchers Zero Point Garden Vegetable Soup ~(the crowd favorite on Facebook and Pinterest and especially in kitchens)
~ Weight Watchers Mexican Zero Points Soup Recipe ~
(but gaining fast ...)
~ Weight Watchers Asian Zero Points Soup Recipe ~
~ Weight Watchers Italian Zero Points Soup Recipe ~
(should I say? yes, I will, frankly, the Italian version is a real dud)
~ more vegetable recipes, sorted by points ~
from A Veggie Venture
~ How to Lose Weight with Weight Watchers ~
(tips from Alanna & Kitchen Parade/A Veggie Venture readers)
~ Weight Watchers, Meet Michael Pollan ~
(how my friend Ann lost thirty pounds in three months)
~ Weight Watchers, PointsPlus & Kitchen Parade ~
(WW has moved on from PointsPlus but this page still has useful information)
~ Weight Watchers New PointsPlus Power Foods ~
(WW has switched from Power Foods to new lists of free, healthy foods)
~ more recipes sorted by Weight Watchers points ~
from Kitchen Parade, my food column
A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the
famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.
© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2011 & 2019
famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.
© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2011 & 2019
I've made this soup a couple of times now but substitute Kale instead of the Swiss Chard, simply because I found it on sale, it is very yummy! I agree next day even better and the house smells delicious! I also use the bagged "coleslaw" cabbage for ease of preparation. This one's a winner! I've lost 13lbs in two weeks :-)
ReplyDeleteP.S. I forgot to add I used my immersion blender...it comes out almost like a cream soup..YUM!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. Just finished my last bowl of the ww o point soup i made last week, guess this is next on the list!
ReplyDeleteMade this tonight. LOVED it immediately.
ReplyDeleteOnly 2 changes. Was in a hurry so I used Knorr vegetable vegetarian bouillon cubes (3 makes 6 cups) & kale since the Swiss chard at the store looked terrible. It was quite savory, so I bet it will be even better tomorrow.
I need to lose a lot of weight, so I've decided to do it the easy way & have the healthy things I like everyday. That way I don't have to keep track of so much all the time. Have had a satisfying bowl of oatmeal for breakfasts several days now & will be enjoying this soup for lunches.
Thanks Alanna!
I am not doing Weight Watchers but this soup sounds delicious!
ReplyDeleteThis looks like the soup my mom used to make! I love it. It's got such a hearty taste.
ReplyDeleteI've decided I simply don't like leafy greens in soups, so I've stopped fighting myself on this. I doubled the amount of broccoli and cauliflower and left out the Swiss chard and cabbage. I used frozen broccoli, and it turned out well. This is a mild but tasty soup. It's something I can see having regularly as a light supper, or having a small bowl with lunch and dinner. The veggies are tender, but substantial enough that you have something to chew, not mush. I added some leftover whole grain rotini to the soup today, which was good. I think I will add some cheese tortellinis next time. When I make the next batch, I will use more garlic and add some rosemary.
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