A family supper.
Son-in-law was at work, but daughter and the two grands (5 and 9) came over for Homemade Vegetable Soup (aka Weight Watchers’ Zero Points Soup) and Homemade Vegetable Pizza with a No-Yeast Crust. Dessert was -- wait for it! -- ice cream from Hokey Pokey, a little ice cream stand across the street.
From the day I made my first batch of Weight Watchers’ Zero Points Soup, I have been truly enamored by this vegetable creation. I stick pretty much to the original recipe, sometimes making slight alterations if I don’t happen to have an ingredient (or enough of it) on hand.
The boys like to sprinkle Parmesean cheese on top. Daughter likes to have second helpings. Me? I’m happy ‘cause I freeze half, plus there’s still enough for a cup or small bowl of soup for several more days.
If you were to ask me what makes this different from any other vegetable soup, I don’t have a definitive answer. I do think, however, that the crushed red pepper flakes add a special zing to this perfect blend of summer vegetables.
(based on Weight Watchers Zero Points Soup)
Ingredients...
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
garlic powder to taste
10-ounce box frozen spinach, thawed and chopped
4 cups (1 box) vegetable broth
28-ounce can diced or crushed tomatoes (or two 14-oz. cans)
2 - 3 bay leaves
1 T. dried basil (or 1/4 cup fresh basil, cut into thin strips)
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/3 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
Directions...
1. Combine ingredients in a slow cooker on high 4 - 5 hours, or on low 7 - 8 hours.
2. Serve with Parmesan cheese.
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No yeast in the house, so I searched the Internet for a yeast-less pizza crust recipe. I found numerous recipes, all pretty much the same, so I’m not giving any one person or site credit. Kudos to you all for coming up with a way to create homemade pizza when there’s no yeast in the house!
Ingredients...
for the dough ~
2-1/2 c. flour
2-3/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 T. EVOO
3/4 - 1 c. water
for the toppings ~
pizza sauce (canned, homemade, your choice) and/or fresh tomato slices
your favorite cheeses
your favorite vegetables
optional ~ basil leaves (whole or thin strips)
Directions...
for the dough ~
1. Mix the dry ingredients together
2. Add 3/4 cup water and the oil and stir it till it balls up. Add more water (up to 1/4 cup more) to form a soft (but not sticky) ball.
3. Knead 3 - 4 minutes on a floured surface, then roll out to fit your pan.
4. Lightly grease pan and set pizza dough on it.
for the pizza ~
1. Top the rolled-out pizza dough with pizza sauce (up to within a half-inch or so of the edge) or lots of thin tomato slices. If using basil, add now.
2. Sprinkle the dough with your favorite cheeses (these can be added under or over the vegetables).
3. Add your vegetables.
4. Bake in preheated 450-degree Fahrenheit oven 15 - 25 minutes (depends on how thin you rolled the dough).
For this family supper, I only used part of the dough and made very small, thin pizza “rounds” (not that they were very round!). I topped each with canned pizza sauce, basil strips, very thin round slices of eggplant and tomatoes, small pieces of green and red peppers, cut-up veggie bacon strips, and then topped it all with a bit of mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Too much cheese would have overwhelmed the delicate veggies.
I cut each “round” in half, tossed them all on a plate and they went fast. So fast, in fact, that I caught a hand in the act!
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After supper, we hurried out for our last ice cream treats of the season. Isn’t it convenient that I have a “Hokey Pokey” just across the street.
Not long after we finished our sweets, mom and the boys hopped in the topless jeep and drove off squealing and laughing. It was raining!
