Review: Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2006

   Cooking Light Annual Recipes  2006ISBN: 0848730127 

  With this edition of the Cooking Light Annual I now have them all except 2007 and 2008.  I got this one from one of my favorite places to add to my collection, paperbackswap.com. These books hold all the wonderful recipes from the previous years issues of Cooking Light magazines. They also have several color photos of finished dishes.  

  They are divided into months just like the magazines. I like this since I can go to any of my  annuals and choose the month we're in and find some good healthy recipes to prepare during that month. It's also nice to have the recipes in one place instead of having stacks and  stacks of magazines laying around. 

  Another of my favorite things about these books are the nutritional information included  with each recipe. This makes it easy for me to figure out weight watcher points.  This particular annual says on the cover over 1,000 new recipes. Isn't it wonderful to have  that many healthy recipes at your fingertips?  Since it's been rather cold her in NC again  I decided to make the French Onion Soup from the January-February section. Sarita, Harold  and I really enjoyed it.  

  French Onion Soup Ingredients 2  teaspoons olive oil  4  cups thinly vertically sliced Walla Walla or other sweet onion  4  cups thinly vertically sliced red onion  1/2  teaspoon sugar  1/2  teaspoon freshly ground black pepper  1/4  teaspoon salt  1/4  cup dry white wine  8  cups less-sodium beef broth  1/4  teaspoon chopped fresh thyme  8  (1-ounce) slices French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes  8  (1-ounce) slices reduced-fat, reduced-sodium Swiss cheese (such as Alpine Lace) 

  Preparation Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions to pan;  sauté for 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in sugar, pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.  Reduce heat to medium; cook 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Increase heat to medium-high, and sauté for 5 minutes or until onion is golden brown. Stir in wine, and cook for 1 minute.  Add broth and thyme; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 2 hours.   Preheat  broiler.   Place bread in a single layer on a baking sheet; broil 2 minutes or until toasted,  turning after 1 minute.  Place 8 ovenproof bowls on a jelly-roll pan. Ladle 1 cup soup into  each bowl. Divide bread evenly among bowls; top each serving with 1 cheese slice. Broil  3 minutes or until cheese begins to brown. 

  Yield 8 servings

  Nutritional Information CALORIES 290(30% from fat); FAT 9.6g (sat 4.8g,mono 1.9g,poly 0.7g); PROTEIN 16.8g;  CHOLESTEROL 20mg; CALCIUM 317mg; SODIUM 359mg; FIBER 3.1g; IRON 1.6mg;  CARBOHYDRATE 33.4g

  Joan's notes: I used chicken broth instead of beef, since Sarita doesn't eat red meat or  their by products. 

  If you'd like to see a picture of this wonderful soup click here: http://tinyurl.com/2pbprh