Intermittent Fasting Diet Plan Example

This new phase one recipe for Italian Sausage Soup with Green Pepper, Chickpeas, and Pesto is something I came up with a few weeks ago when I found turkey Italian sausage on sale at the store and I wanted a hearty comforting soup that I could make and eat for dinner that same night.  I've made a few soup variations with similar flavors, but what made this soup especially enjoyable for me was an idea that popped into my head to mash some of the chickpeas so they kind of dissolved into the soup.  (I like chickpeas, but I don't always like biting into a whole chickpea in a bowl of soup or a salad.)  I shared some of this with Jake when he came to cook with me, and we both thought it was a keeper!

If  you saw the Phase One Recipes Round-Up from yesterday, you know I made the commitment to post Daily Phase One Recipes during January again this year.  I hope this is useful for anyone (like me!) who's getting back on track in the new year.  And since this is my third year of Daily Phase One Recipes for January, I'm going to share Phase One Flashbacks every day (after the recipe) to spotlight the Phase One Recipe I posted on that day in 2012 and 2013.  So healthy January, here we come!  (If you're not a South Beach Dieter, Phase One recipes are often Low-Carb or Paleo, and they're always delicious, even if you're not trying to lose weight.)

A few years ago I bought a Kuhn Rikon Pressure Cooker, and shared a few Pressure Cooker Recipes on the blog.  So when my sister Pam got a new Cuisinart Electric Pressure Cooker, and my friend Barbara started a blog about using the electric pressure cooker, I really didn't think I needed another pressure cooker.  Then I got a couple of Amazon gift cards, and the next thing you know, a new electric pressure cooker arrived at my house!  So far I've only used it to make chicken stock, and then this amazing soup, but I'm already pretty infatuated with the new electric pressure cooker.  If I had to pick one feature, it would be the way you can set the time and walk away, knowing the pressure cooker will stop cooking and release the pressure, even if you forget about it.   

Since there's no flour, butter, milk, or cream, this delicious Pressure Cooker Cauliflower and Mushroom Soup with Parmesan is perfect for our month of Daily Phase One Recipes, and it's also my Meatless Monday recipe for the week.  (You can see all the Phase One Recipes from the month by clicking Daily Phase One Recipes.  Check after the recipe for Phase One Flashbacks from this day in 2012 and 2013.)

(Salt Lake has gotten about 24 inches of snow in the last 24 hours, and I could use some comfort food, so this delicious Chicken, Black Bean, and Cilantro Soup sounds perfect for A Month of Daily Phase One Recipes. This is a quick and easy recipe, especially if you have some leftover rotisserie chicken in the fridge.)

If you're a regular reader you know I'm constantly going through the archives of the blog and updating old posts with new photos.  And if you want to see how much this recipe for Chicken, Black Bean, and Cilantro Soup needed a photo make-over, just look below at the original photo, with soup spilled all over the edge of the bowl! I'm still not the greatest photographer, but I'm leaving that photo here as proof that my photos are certainly  improving.

(Updated with better photos, plus instructions for using either dried or canned beans, February 2014.)  If you're someone who might be inclined to turn up your nose at the mention of lima beans, stay with me for a minute here.   I first made this soup with Florida Butter Beans, (a type of heirloom baby lima bean, also known as Calico Pole Beans) that I bought in San Francisco from Rancho Gordo Beans.  The Florida Butter Beans are creamy and delicious, and if you can find those (or something similar) I highly recommend making this soup starting with dried beans that you've soaked overnight.  But when I decided this recipe *must* have an updated photo, I decided to try it with canned butter beans from the supermarket, and I was happily surprised at how good it was that way too.  If you still can't wrap your mind around the idea of butter beans or lima beans, try the soup with a different type of white bean!

(Today's pick for the month of  Daily Phase One Recipes (as well as Phase One Fridays) is this favorite Split Pea Soup with Ham, Bay Leaves, Epazote, and Red Bell Pepper that's one of the soups I've been thinking about trying in the new electric pressure cooker I got for Christmas.  You can see all the recipes from the month by clicking Daily Phase One Recipes.  Check after the recipe for Phase One Flashbacks from this day in 2012 and 2013.)

I've been a long-time fan of split pea soup, but I always made it with carrots until I tried this experiment of replacing the carrots with sweet red bell peppers, for a split pea soup that's not only delicious and colorful but also a Phase One recipe for the South Beach Diet.  Score!  I used a fairly generous amount of ham and red bell peppers in proportion to the split peas, so you can have this for Phase One, even though split peas and lentils are a limited food.  Of course if you're just craving split pea soup and don't care about Phase One, go ahead and make it with carrots if you prefer.

I need to give Meatless Monday fans a raincheck this week so I can share this Lucky Black-Eyed Pea Soup with Chicken Garlic Soup and Bell Peppers before New Year's Day.  I've been cooking black-eyed peas on New Year's Day for several years now, usually my favorite Hopping John Soup or Black-Eyed Pea Hummus, and I can promise you, it has definitely brought me good luck.  And if you use portion control, this new lucky soup is even good for Phase One (which I'm guessing some of you may have on your mind!)  If you're cooking black-eyed peas for New Year's Day, let us know in the comments how you're fixing them this year.