BrianB
Posted: Aug. 24 2006, 20:20 ET

Tonight I made the "Romano Vegetable Medley Soup" on page 34 of the Dr. B recipe book.  It is a very hearty and tasty soup and I loved it.  It is a bit of work, but it makes 8 servings and each serving is 1 protein and 1 vegetable, so it is basically 8 meals.

Tips:

1. Get all your veggies cut up and ready before you start boiling the water.

2. I used about 2 tsp. of salt, about 1 tsp. of black pepper, and about 1 tsp. of Vegit.  I think you could safely double all of these numbers and still be fine.

3. Where it called for red or green peppers I used red.  I think next time I'll try 6 ounces of jalapeņos instead.

4. The protein in this dish comes from the Romano beans.  Since Romano beans are no longer an allowed food, navy beans can be substituted in place of them.  I didn't find that the beans really added much to it, so next time I'm going to leave the beans out and add 28 ounces of cooked, chunked chicken breast meat.  This will really make this soup awesome!

5. Since this recipe makes 8 servings you're going to want to divide it up into separate containers so you know how much one serving is, and so you can freeze some.  I bought a couple packages of the Glad (brand) 24 oz. soup and salad containers (the ones you find in the section of the grocery store with the ziplock bags).  Using a ladle, and paying attention to broth vs. vegetable ratio, I ladled all of the soup I just made into 8 containers such that each had about the same amount.  Then I put the lids on and put 5 in the freezer, 2 in the refrigerator, and ate the last one.  When reheating, put about 2 ounces of hot water in with the soup if you want to thin it out a little (it's pretty thick) to make more volume.  I also put a couple dashes of my own ground habanero powder in for a super kick.

If you're a soup lover, you have to give this a shot.[I]

Tabi
Posted: Aug. 25 2006, 12:26 ET

Thanks Brian! I can't wait to try it.

RolandG
Posted: Sep. 3 2006, 21:38 ET

Just tried the Romano vegetable soup and it's awesome .. I'm not much for soups but this on is really good. I did what you suggested and swapped the Romano beans for chicken.

I made the soup yesterday and my 2 youngest kids my daughter 10 and my son 13 both had a taste and liked it. Today instead of grabbing a Pizza Pop out of the freezer my son actually grabbed a container of the soup.

My kids are all active and don't have any issues with weight yet .. so hopefully I can be an example and we can all start eating properly.

BrianB
Posted: Sep. 3 2006, 23:34 ET

That's awesome Roland.  I'm really looking forward to making it with chicken.

lakermom
Posted: Oct. 14 2006, 15:15 ET

Adding tofu to this soup is also really good - fill up on the protein!!!!

RolandG
Posted: Oct. 18 2006, 21:35 ET

I made another batch of this soup with chicken instead of the beans and also added 8 servings (4 packs) of Shirataki noodles to it. It's really good and very filling.

RolandG
Posted: Oct. 23 2006, 14:26 ET

As a note to my post above .. Shirataki noodles do not freeze well .. soup is still OK but the Shirataki noodles are very thin and hard .. more like strings of plastic than noodles .. luckily I didn't cut them before adding them to the soup ..  so they were easy to take out.

h0n3y
Posted: May 2 2007, 23:27 ET

Shirataki noodles fall under which food category? I can't really consider then a bread substitute....and mine say 40 calories per package...which means : exactly how much is a serving of these noodles?

BrianB
Posted: May 2 2007, 23:31 ET

Depends on which kind they are.  The tan ones are Shirataki on the food list, and the white ones are Shirakiku on the food list.  Both are garnishes.  The tan are 4 oz. per day, and the white 2-3 ounces.

yworker
Posted: Jul. 24 2007, 16:20 ET

I just had to add my two cents worth...i made this soup today..hmmm...i didnt add the chicken or beans because i wanted it as a vegetable. I added two tsp of salt, two tsp of vegeta and 2 tsp of pepper. I think next time i would cut the salt down, i found it salty, but i think it is because i never use it. I did add sweetner as well because of the tomatoes and it takes the bite out of them and when i had my bowl of it I added a tbs of hot salsa ...what a kick...it was awesome. I can hardly wait til my next meal to have more..can you imagine actually wanting veggies..never thought i would see that day. Thanks Brian for the addition to the recipe...it was worth the time and effort.
Nancy