I hope you are enjoying this holiday season.  You might be like me and need a little comfort food that’s not high in calories to help offset all of Aunt Betty’s temping treats.  At times like this, I turn to an old classic Weight Watchers recipe, Taco Soup.   But I put a little twist on my version.

I won’t deny that the original is delicious.  It really is.  I just wanted to add a little more heat to it and to make it more kind.  (Read “meatless.”)

Instead of ground turkey, I used Beefy Crumble by Beyond Beef.  It’s entirely plant based and has the look and texture of ground beef.  Except it’s not.  There are 660 calories in the entire package.

Back to the recipe…

I started by sauteing a chopped onion in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  After a couple of minutes, I added the following:

• 1 package of Beefy Crumbles
• 1 packet of McCormick HOT Taco Seasoning Mix
• 1 packet of Spice Hunter Ranch Organic Dip Mix
• 1 15 ounce can 365 Organic Ranchero Beans
• 1 15 ounce can Simply Nature Organic Black Beans
• 1 14.5 ounce can Hunt’s Petite Diced Tomatoes
• 1 10 ounce can Ro*Tel HOT Diced Tomatoes with Habaneros
• 2 cups of water

I brought the soup to a boil and then lowered it to simmer for 30 minutes.  Voilà!  A simple and delicious soup that’s full of veggies.

I decided to analyze the calorie content of the ENTIRE pot.  Keep in mind that if you make this that the calorie count could vary should you use different brands, which is totally okay.  But at least this will give you an idea of how many calories are in it.  Also,  what I consider a serving and what you consider a serving might be completely different.

The total? 2084.  That sounds like a lot – and it is if you eat the entire pot!  But if you think about it, it easily serves four people and probably should serve 6 to 8.  If four people were to evenly divide it, and excluding any toppings, then they each would eat around 521 calories.  (One Big Mac has 563 calories, and that is without fries!)  If you get six servings out of the pot, then each serving is approximately 347 calories.  Eight servings = roughly 261 per serving.  Unfortunately, toppings add to those totals.  But hey!  A few tortilla strips and jalapenos don’t add up to much.

By using the Beefy Crumbles and not ground beef, 846 calories are spared (for the entire pot), not to mention over 100 grams of fat.  That’s at least 200 calories saved per serving.

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It’s a simple meal that you can enjoy any time of the year.

What’s your favorite meatless meal?

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 Here are some more delicious meat-free recipes:

• Popcorn Tofu
• Brazilian Portabellas
• Pineapple Habanero Jelly