Spicy Black Bean Soup

Not always a soup fan, but had this recipe saved for a bit and took advantage of the recent cold spell to give it a shot!

Recipe

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, drained & rinsed
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 c veggie broth
• 1 tsp sherry vinegar or lime juice
• salt & pepper, cilantro, avocado, hot sauce, etc.

Heat some oil in a big pot / dutch oven, and cook up the onion, celery & carrot with a little salt & pepper. Next stir int he garlic & seasonings briefly, then add the beans and broth and simmer 30 mins or so.

Next, blend it up a bit. I used my immersion blender - you're not going for a puree, leaving plenty of ingredients in chunks. You can also pour a few cups of soup into a blender and add it back to the pot.

Finish with vinegar, cilantro, hot sauce, etc.

Notes

This was another one that exceeded expectations! The partial blending really helps make it thick and delicious. We kept going back for more:

Crockpot Quinoa Chili

We've been on a bit of a crockpot kick recently with some favorites like Beyond Meat Chili or Kung Pao Chickpeas in the regular meal planning rotation. That said, don't want to overdo them and have them get old, so always on the lookout for new options. This one looked worth a try:

Recipe

• 2 1/2 c vegetable broth
• 1/2 c quinoa
• 1 can (15 oz) beans - black, pinto, your call - drained & rinsed
• 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes - NOT drained
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1/2 c corn kernels
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 small chili pepper, minced
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

I want to say, just add it all to your crockpot - but the original recipe is a bit more strict on the order. So, if you want to follow that: 

• broth, quinoa, beans & tomatoes
• peppers, carrot, corn, onion, garlic
• seasonings

OK after stirring all those in (in order or not), cook 2.5-3 hours high or 5-6 low - longer makes it less soupy.

Notes

This one came out unexpectedly kick-ass. Was very glad I doubled it up and will be eating scoops of this for a little while... Seriously, it smells so good (with the taste to back it up) that I haven't paused long enough to take a picture the first time or even with a couple rounds of leftovers.

Sweet Potatoes With Noooooch Sauce

Vegans like myself are obsessed with Nooch (Nutritional Yeast) because it is SO TASTY but also is so healthy because it is packed full of B12 vitamins which give you energy. Most animals are injected with B12 so if you eat meat, you're getting it second hand. But why not just skip the middle man and join the nooch fan club :)

This recipe is from one of my favorite wellness authors Darin Olien (he has a show on Netflix with Zac Effron that is actually really awesome)

Nooch Sauce (You can use this with ANYTHING and it is so so so good)

*I can't quite remember the exact numbers but these are a place to start and i always add more of whatever to taste

2 cups of cashews
1/2 cup of Nutritional Yeast (Nooch)
3-4 cloves of garlic minced
4-5 Tbsp lemon juice
Some water or plant-based milk (I forget how much! Just eye it. Prob about a quarter cup. It should come out like a sauce)

(You could really add whatever you want to this sauce to spice it up. I've added Poblano Chipotle peppers, cilantro, whatever!)

1. Soak cashews for 30 mins

2. Put all ingredients in blender and blend! 

3. Salt, pepper, water and modify for taste

Whole-Roasted Sweet Potato Dinner

Sweet Potatoes
Coconut Oil
Can of Black Beans
Cherry tomatoes (sliced in half)
Garlic
Cilantro

1. Preheat oven to 425

2. Drizzle baking sheet with a little bit of Coconut Oil. Cut sweet potatoes in half and lay flat on pan. Roast for 40/45 mins until done

3. In a pan, drizzle some coconut oil, add the cherry tomatoes, and cook until it smells deliciousssss. Add the garlic and the beans and simmer low for 5/10 mins.

4. Take out Sweet Potatoes. Scoop out a small dent in each sweet potato (you can save the inside scoops for a yummy sweet potato mash later!). In each Sweet Potato hole, add a nice glob of the beans mixture. Top with the cilantro and NOOCH SAUCE and OMG ENJOY. 

In the pic I had done it with some roasted brussel sprouts but you could add any green side if you want more food.

Vegan Mixed Veggie Flatbreads

This pizza is from the Forks Over Knives Cookbook and it came out BOMB. I used an Almond Flour pizza dough from Whole Foods but I also just noticed they have it on Amazon. It was sooooo yummy.

Ingredients:

Simple Mills Almond Flour Pizza Dough Mix (I got it at Whole Foods but Amazon has it too)
Olive Oil
6 baby potatoes (or 3 regular)
8 brussel sprouts
1 medium carrot (or a few baby carrots)
1 medium shallot (or onion)
red wine vinegar
balsamic vinegar
1 can white beans/cannelini

himalayan crystal salt (or whatever salt- but the crystal salt is the least likely to be polluted and has the best minerals)
ground black pepper
fresh sage (i didn't have this and it was fine without- i just used some random other herbs like oregano)
microgreens (not necessary but nice)

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 425. Line a baking pan with foil/oil

2. Chop up all veggies and put on pan. Sprinkle with some red wine vinegar and salt and pepper (I went heavy on the red wine vinegar and it was gooooood)

3. Roast the veggies for like 15 mins.

4. While veggies cooking, make the dough according to package instructions. Take veggies out of oven, change temp to whatever it says on the pizza dough box. Put just the dough in for 10 mins/15 mins till lightly brown.

5. In a bowl, mash the cannelini beans and stir in sage or some other herbs and 2 tsp of water.

6. Take the pizza dough out. Spread the Cannelini bean mash on the pizza dough as if it was sauce. Then top with the veggies :) Put in oven for 20/25 minutes until the veggies are nice and roasted and the dough is done.

7. While flatbread is cooking, put 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar in a pan and heat to a boil then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 6 mins until it becomes syruppy. 

8. When pizzas are done, drizzle the balsamic glaze over them and top with the micro greens or something green!

New Orleans Red Beans & Rice

Despite this tragedy:

...the Knicks actually pulled out a rare road victory in New Orleans!  If you look closely, the Pelicans' jersey sponsor is Zatarain's.  Coincidentally, I'd already decided to go behind their back and give this recipe a shot.

Recipe

1 lb kidney beans
1 lb andouille sausage, sliced
1 onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
4 celery stalks, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
~1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground sage
4 sprigs thyme
3 bay leaves
salt & pepper & oil

optional
hot sauce
cider vinegar
1 smoked ham hock
8 oz pickled pork shoulder
white rice

OK you have to start by soaking the beans in (a lot of) salted water, 8-16 hours, then drain and rinse.

Once you're ready to get started, heat a tbsp of oil (or lard) in a big dutch oven and brown your andouille.  Then add the vegetables (and a sprinkle of salt) and soften, then the garlic briefly, then the cayenne, sage and a bunch of black pepper also briefly.  Next in go the beans, cover them with water (6-8 cups), and add the thyme and bay leaves.  Boil, cover, and simmer 2 hours, give or take, until the beans are soft.  Remove the lid and continue to cook until it thickens.  Remove the inedibles (bay leaves, thyme stems), add hot sauce and cider vinegar, and serve over rice.

Notes

This one takes a long time!  (Denver elevation probably didn't help get those beans soft quickly.)  Ton of flavor between the sausage and spices!  And there's actually a good bit of vegetables in there with the "Holy Trinity" - but I added an avocado even though it's not technically cajun but it ended up fitting in nicely.  My main mistake seemed to be adding too much water so the gravy didn't seem too thick - next time I'd start more conservative and add more as needed.

Cavatappi with Chorizo & Black Beans

Southwest twist on pasta, with a couple solid ingredients.  Source.

Recipe

1 onion, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 lb cured chorizo, sliced thin
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 c broth/stock
1 c canned black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 lb cavatappi
oil, salt & pepper, lime juice, parsley

Heat some oil medium low, and saute the onion until it starts to soften, then add the garlic and spices.  Next add the chorizo, tomato paste, and broth.  Let it thicken for a few more minutes, then add the beans and lime juice.  Meanwhile, cook the pasta, and toss with the sauce and parsley.

Notes

I looked up cavatappi, I think from somewhere online claiming it was a superior pasta shape or whatever.  Turns out it's hard to find though, so I used the standard penne I had on hand.  One cup of black beans is a bit of a tricky amount - using a full can overwhelmed the dish a bit.  So maybe use this one when you're scaling up!

Pork & Tomatillo Stew

I'd had this recipe saved for a while.  Seriously, it's been number 2 in my Gmail draft (I need a better system) for years (long enough for the host of number 1 to go out of business?).  Why did it take so long?  There's nothing too out there about it, but it takes the right combination of ingredients (tomatillos may not be easy to find), equipment (dutch oven), time (2+ hours), and appetite (doesn't scale down too well).

What are tomatillos, you may ask?  I kind of assumed the full name was "tomatillo pepper," but apparently it's a Mexican tomato wrapped in a cool husk.  Easy to find at your local Colorado Whole Foods.  Onward!

Recipe

2 lbs pork shoulder (or loin if it's way cheaper...), chopped into big-ish chunks
1 lb tomatillos, de-husked and quartered
1 bottle dark beer
12 oz orange juice
28 oz diced tomatoes
10 cloves garlic, peeled
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
2 jalapenos, chopped
1 can black beans
oil, salt & pepper
sour cream, lime (optional)

Boil your tomatillos and tomatoes in the beer and OJ, then simmer while other stuff goes on.  Season your pork chunks with salt & pepper.  Heat about a quarter cup of oil in a sturdy dutch oven, toss in your garlic, and brown the pork in batches.  Once that's out, in go the onions, cilantro, and jalapeno, then the pork and tomatillo mixture.  Simmer for 2 hours (or pop in the oven at 300).  Last, add in your black beans until heated (and mash up your garlic cloves if you can find them).  Serve with your fixings of choice.

Notes

Really interesting combination of flavors!  To be honest, I was not hopeful smelling the initial tomatillo mixture - all OJ, didn't seem to get much other than foam from the beer.  Meanwhile, I didn't handle the pork quite right - probably should have been bigger chunks, and gotten the oil much, much hotter and crowded the pan less to really let it brown.  (Also added a can of corn with the beans, why not?)  In the end it came together nicely!  Thanks to King Sooper's almost suspiciously-good pork deal, I got like 4 meals-worth of meat- and veggie-rich food for like $10!

Turkey Pumpkin Chili

New apartment, plus reunited with the big ol' dutch oven - time for chili.  I was originally looking up bison recipes, but the Whole Foods website had another intriguing recommendation (notwithstanding the nearest location's limited meat selection lacking a pretty key ingredient...):

Recipe

1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 jalapenos, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb ground turkey
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
1 c water
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 can (14 oz) kidney beans
corn (optional)
olive oil, salt & pepper

Heat some oil medium-high, and add the onion, green pepper, jalapeno, and garlic.  Once that's soft, brown your turkey.  Then add the tomatoes, pumpkin, water, and spices.  Bring to a boil, lower heat, and add the beans (and corn if you want).  Simmer 30 minutes or so.

Notes

Solid chili option, feels like it could plausibly be healthy...  The pumpkin really didn't come through much, which was a little disappointing when I was hoping for a nice hearty fall meal.  Overall a nice mix of sweet and spicy though!

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Hash

Came across an intriguing website, and decided to start off with a twist on one of my favorites: sweet potato hash with black beans.

Recipe

1 sweet potato, cubed
1 onion, diced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp brown sugar (or maple syrup)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
2 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper

Heat the butter over medium with the onions and brown sugar until caramelized and deep brown.  Add the garlic, cumin, and chili for another couple minutes, then remove.  Next, heat the olive oil and tenderize/brown the sweet potatoes, five-ish minutes?  Lower the heat, stir the onions back in, and add the black beans.  Cook together until warm, some five minutes.  Season with salt & pepper, and serve!

Notes

The usual sweet potato hash gets a lot of its goodness from bacon grease.  No pork fat this time, but lots of seasonings to make up for it.  It's nice that you use cubed sweet potato (instead of grated) so the pieces brown nicely - it didn't take much longer to cook.  The full can of beans gave me a much less balanced final product than the pictures on the website - more like a black bean dish with some chunks of sweet potato.  And my gooey beans made the picture less appealing than theirs, but still a very rich, delicious breakfast (with some leftovers - so no need to add eggs like they recommend).

Addendum: I don't know why I didn't think of this immediately, but what about combining the hash recipes - starting this one with bacon?  Yes, do it.

Spicy Black Beans with Feta, Avocado & Stuff

Gordon Ramsay may be quite the character on Hells Kitchen etc., but within the mellow confines of his own YouTube channel, he's a totally different and nicer person.  Case in point:

Recipe

1 onion, chopped
a few cloves of garlic, minced
a chili pepper or two, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 large can black beans, drained & rinsed
1-2 avocados
feta cheese, crumbled
coriander (or cilantro), chopped
crispy tortillas
rice

Heat some olive oil in a skillet, then saute the onion until soft.  Add the garlic and chili, then the spices, then the beans.  Cook until soft, stirring and mashing a bit.  Serve with avocado, feta, and greens, with tortillas and/or rice if desired.

Notes

This dish was appropriate for certain sisters for its vegetarianism; however, we did have to leave out the chilis to keep things mild.  It was still delicious and surprisingly filling.  The cinnamon is a very nice touch with the beans.  I was also skeptical of the feta (rather than something more ethnically-accurate like queso fresco) but it made for a very interesting taste.  Overall it was easy, filling, not to expensive, and probably healthy, so a good vegetarian option.

photo courtesy of other sister