Yum-O!

This is a picture of the soup we had for dinner last night that was taken pre-Weight Watchers... hence the grilled mozzarella cheese sandwich shown in the picture. I made it with fresh mozzarella and I am here to tell you that I would have MARRIED that sandwich if it were legal.

Alright guys. It’s confession time.

Ladies? Guys? Are there any guys that read this?

I like Rachael Ray, and I’m not afraid to admit it.

If you’re still reading, just bear with me, ok? Ok. I will concede that her voice can be grating and that she talks with her hands too much. I totally agree that her recipes have annoyingly cutesy names and use WAY TOO MUCH olive oil and cheese, and hardly ever only take 30 minutes despite her repeated claims. I admit all of these things, but I still like her. I like her cooking show and her talk show, her travel shows, her magazine, and her many cookbooks. I even have her oval sauté pan and ceramic soup pot, and I would buy the rest of her ridiculous kitchen tools if I thought we had room for them in the utensil drawer. (We don’t.)

Mostly, I like her food. Her recipes sometimes have ingredients lists that are about a mile and a half long, but most of the time I get finished making her food and I think, OH MY GOD THAT IS SO DELICIOUS I CANNOT BELIEVE I MADE IT MYSELF. I SHOULD MARRY MYSELF. YES. I once spent almost two hours making her Charred Chilis Rellenos with Green Rice, a dish that is supposed to be a 30-minute meal, and afterward I was sweaty and gross and exhausted, but I’ll be damned if it wasn’t one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten. Ditto the Park City Cashew Chicken, which didn’t take nearly as long but as just as fantastically unique and delicious.

I’ve read criticisms of her MYOTO dishes that accuse them of not being authentic. Frankly, I’ve never assumed that anything she made was supposed to be “authentic”, just delicious. The comments on her Thai Shrimp Curry are pretty scathing, but you know what? I’ve made it several times and not only is it delicious, it quells my cravings for takeout and costs about half as much as a trip to the local Thai place. Do I still love the local Thai place? Of course I do! I could go on about the argument for “authentic” food for days, but I’ll stop short of that and tell you about the Rachael Ray recipe we made for dinner last night.

It has one of those silly names, so it that bothers you, feel free to call it something else. Delicious might be a good start, because that’s what it is. Healthy would be a good follow-up because truth be told, with a few small modifications, it’s that too. Ready? Hang onto your socks, because I guarantee this “stoup” will knock them clean off and into the laundry basket.

That reminds me, I really need to get cracking on the laundry already.

Stuffed Pepper Stoup
Serves 6, or I suppose 4 if you’re really hungry (it’s filling!)

Olive oil cooking spray
1 pound ground sirloin
½ tsp allspice
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp minced garlic
3 green peppers, cut into bite-sized dice
1 medium onion, cut into bite-sized dice
1 bay leaf
1 quart chicken stock
1 28-oz can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes
1 cup orzo pasta
1 good shake dried basil

1. Heat a soup pot over medium-high heat, spray with olive-oil flavor cooking spray. Add the ground beef to the pan, and season with the allspice, salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes, or until the beef is browned.
2. Add the garlic, green peppers, onion and bay leaf to the pot. Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes more.
3. Add the chicken stock and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Stir in the orzo and dried basil, and cook until the pasta is al dente, 8 minutes.

Notes
I omitted the (two tablespoons!) of olive oil from the recipe completely, reduced the amount of ground beef from 1 ½ pounds to 1 pound even, used dried basil instead of fresh and omitted the parmesan cheese. If you’re not watching calories and fat or are one of those silly fresh herb snobs, feel free to add all of these things back in, just know that it’s absolutely scrumptious without! My soup came out to 5 Points per serving, which I think is incredibly reasonable for a soup that contains ground beef. If you want to lighten it up even more, or are a vegetarian, substitute veggie crumbles for the beef and vegetable stock or broth for the chicken stock.