The holidays have so many opportunities for fun get togethers with family and friends. I do a fancy dinner on Christmas Eve; we do a pretty spectacular buffet for Christmas day; but then there are those times which could use some special attention without calling for show stoppers. With grown kids and so many schedules, lots of us find that we have some "alternate" celebrations for the holidays. My son's girlfriend, for example, cannot make our Christmas Eve dinner. Instead we are scheduling a casual evening earlier in the week to exhange gifts. This soup will be on the menu. No formal seating and place cards. Just a mug of soup, some appetizers and fun drinks.
Easy for the hostess, so I can enjoy the festivities. I will make the soup and keep it warm in the crockpot. My guests can serve themselves from a variety of holiday mugs. Yes, I have a lot of those. From crafting to gifting, we seem to collect them. I must admit I picked up that holly mug above at Goodwill. I just couldn't resist. It was so retro and adorable!
The soup is perfect for Christmas, with its creamy base and sparks of red and green.
White Christmas Stew
8 oz radishes
4 oz grape or cherry tomatoes
8 oz jar red bell pepper slices
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp olive oil
1 quart chicken broth
1 jar 4 cheese or roasted garlic alfredo sauce
1 lb precooked chicken sausages (I use spinach feta sausages from Sprouts)
8 oz cream cheese
10 oz frozen spinach leaves
Clean and trim ends from radishes. Cut into fourths or eighths if they are large. Boil in 4 cups of water for 15 minutes or until soft. Drain. While radishes are cooking, Toss tomatoes with olive oil and roast in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. Let cool and cut into halves. In a soup pot or dutch oven, combine chicken broth, alfredo sauce, tomatoes and radishes. Chop the red bell pepper slices into small pieces. Slice sausages into coins and add to pot. Add Neufchatel to pot by the spoonful. Heat and stir until cheese is incorporated. Dice spinach leaves and add to pot. Simmer 10 minutes. Spoon into bowls to serve.
Serves 8: 312 calories 8 net g carb
This is so good! The radishes have a very similar mouthfeel to potatoes, and no one is the wiser. For my sides, I am making some sausage balls (my oldest son's favorite) and some lavash crackers. Those are so easy to make. Just cut the lavash bread, give them a quick olive oil spray, and crisp them in the microwave. They are not gluten free, but they are very low carb, and appeal to everyone. We will have some Wassail too. Yes, I do have enough Christmas mugs for everyone to use two! I sure wish Santa could bring me a bigger kitchen!
Check out the recipe for Italian Sausage Balls and Wassail at this blog post. You will get some more holiday ideas too. It is near, but not too late to make some festive foods!
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