Comforting Soup

As most of you know, I am doing Weight Watchers and really serious about losing weight. I have been slowly revamping recipes and figuring out ways to make food as satisfying as it was before. One of the biggest changes for me has been not cooking in olive oil. Now, I use cooking spray and just before serving, I add a tsp or so of the highest quality evoo to the food. I find that it makes a big difference. I also measure and weigh foods, which I never did before.
In the past, my White Bean and Escarole soup started with 4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and was finished off with more on top.
I revamped this recipe for lunch today and am really happy with how it turned out:
I only used 1.5 cups of garbonzo beans, instead of the 3 cups I usually used. That cut almost half the calories right there.
This makes 9 cups. Since I am a big eater, I eat 3 cups of it as my main meal for lunch. I also added 1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil to the top of it, for a total of 300 calories per 3 cups and 4 Weight Watcher points.

White Bean and Escarole Soup

Cooking Spray

6 cloves garlic

1 onion

1/2 tsp dried rosemary

red pepper flakes to taste

salt/pepper

2 tbsp dry sherry

around 6 cups of raw escarole

1.5 cups chickpeas or other white bean (canned or cooked)

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

6 cups vegetable stock

1 cup tomato sauce

3 oz silken tofu

water, if needed

nutmeg

extra virgin olive oil

Method:

In a heavy bottomed, soup pan, add the garlic and spices and slowly bring up to medium heat, making sure the garlic doesn''t burn. As soon as you can smell the garlic, add the sherry and diced onions and a pinch of salt/pepper. Cook over medium heat for several minutes, then add the escarole, white beans , vinegar, tomato sauce and broth. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a strong simer. Cook for 15 minutes or so. Turn the heat down to very low and wait for the soup to stop boiling. Take around 2 cups of soup and add it to a blender with the silken tofu. Blend until totally smooth, then add back to the soup. Grate in some fresh nutmeg, about several pinches. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with 1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil drizzled on top of each bowl.