Black bean soup

Looking for a yummy, quick, healthy, hot dinner on this cold day? Check out the Black bean soup recipe.

Today is unseasonably cold in New England, sunny but cold. I’m taking advantage of it to clean out the freezer and the pantry and make a tasty treat for my family to each when we come in, freezing, from baseball somewhere between 5:30 and 7 pm.

This is an easy, yummy, spicy black bean soup. It can be made in the crockpot, and tailored to your family’s specific &ldqou;spicy quotient” (add less salsa or less spicy salsa—smoky or smoked garlic salsa works very well with black beans, just omit the extra garlic), thickness preference (add more broth or stock, or fewer beans), and other likes and dislikes (omit garlic and red pepper, add onions or diced tomatoes, use vegetable broth rather than chicken for a vegetarian soup).

I had 4 cups of chicken stock in the freezer, so I used that, but canned (or boxed) stock is fine too.
Black bean soup

2 t olive oil
1 t minced garlic
1 red peppers, diced small
6 15-oz cans black beans
½ 14-oz jar Mrs. Renfro’s Green Salsa, more for spicier soup, less for milder soup (Mrs. Renfro’s also has a very good Smoky Garlic Salsa that is excellent with black beans, if you use this one, omit the extra garlic and the oil above, the oil is only for cooking the strong taste out of the garlic)
4 c chicken stock

Heat olive oil in stockpot or crockpot. Add garlic and peppers, cook until garlic is translucent and peppers start to soften. Process 3 cans of beans in the blender with salsa (in batches). Add stock, bean mixture, and whole beans (rinsed) to the garlic and peppers.

Simmer for at least 30 minutes, until soup is warm and flavors have blended. Flavor will benefit from additional simmering, so feel free to let it simmer longer, just keep it over a low flame and stir occasionally so beans don’t stick to bottom of pan and burn. If you like, garnish with additional diced red peppers or thinly sliced scallions.

Beef advice

I am having my in laws back to the house for a BBQ Saturday, after soccer and baseball games. I will do ribs ahead of time and have them warming in the oven. I want to have Beef also. Any suggestions on a good cut, that is easy to cook and relatively quick? Also, any favorite rub or marinade ideas would also be appreciated from this non-beef lover:)

Happy Cinco de Mayo! We were early on the celebrating this year. We attended a neighborhood bash on Saturday, because we just couldn’t get it together for tonight (too many darn kids running in too many darn directions). Delicious empanadas, fajitas, and frijoles a la charra.

Then, in our household, yesterday I needed a meal I could throw together quickly and early and with what I had on hand, so that everyone could feed themselves when they came in from baseball practice, before the baseball game, and from the baseball game, respectively. It ended up being a great, family-pleasing meal — I love when that happens!

I have a divided crockpot. In half, I put 4 chicken breasts, a can of enchilada sauce, and a can of diced green chiles. In the other half, I put 2 cans of red kidney beans, a large can of diced tomatoes, a cup of white rice, uncooked, a teaspoon of garlic, some salt, pepper, and cumin, and about ¼ cup of diced red peppers that I had on hand. I turned the crockpot on High at 2:30; I cut up some avocados, tomatoes, lettuce, black olives, green onions, and put them and shredded cheese, salsa, and sour cream in Tupperwares together in the fridge, defrosted some tortillas, and by 5:30, the chicken was cooked and ready to be shredded and returned to the sauce, and the rice and beans were cooked (but I might add about ½ cup of water next time) — soft chicken tacos with red beans and rice, from where there was no original meal plan, I love it! (And, as it turned out, thunder and lightning ended the first game early and canceled the second game altogether, so we got to sit down and eat as a family, even better.)

Tonight, we’ll grill, but my nod to Cinco de Mayo will be this Black Bean Salad that my family has lovingly turned into a dip (or filling for burritos and tacos). It’s one of the healthiest dips you’ll find. (Oh, and we’ll have a glass of sangria.) Enjoy!

Black Bean Salad

2 16 oz can black beans, drained, rinsed
1 tomato, diced
2 green onions, chopped
1 bunch cilantro, minced
½ t cumin
2 dashes Tabasco pepper sauce
2 small garlic cloves, minced
4 T balsamic vinegar
8 T olive oil
salt and pepper
2 avocados, diced

Combine all ingredients except avocado in a bowl and let stand for 30 minutes to combine flavors. (Can be prepared up to 2 days in advanced and refrigerated.)

Just before serving, add diced avocado, correct seasonings, and serve on a leaf of Boston lettuce as a salad, or as a dip with tortilla chips.

Pesto

My family suddenly loves pesto. I've been making it and adding it to all sorts of things. I add it to my pizza dough as well as on the pizza before the tomato sauce. I have added it to bread, Omelettes, and of course pasta. I have made it with basil, spinach, arugula, for nuts I've used pine and walnut. My girls have always complained about the minced spinach I put on our pizzas last night as she was eating pizza with spinach pesto she said the nuts sure make it better. So I am sold and planting basil and spinach with the hope of fresh pesto all summer and some to freeze for next winter. Here is one fun new recipe for arugula-walnut-pesto.

A great way to add more vegetables to your diet is to snack on them when you need a little something. I love this caponata because it is flavor-filled and loaded with healthy veggies. The original recipe came from my sister, Bridget. I modified it because I employ the chop-as-you-go method, it makes life so much easier. Enjoy it with crostini, crackers, pita chips, or baby carrots and other firm veggies you like to crunch on. It’s also excellent tossed with pasta or couscous—hot or cold!

Eggplant caponata

¼ c olive oil
1 medium onion
1 celery stalk
1 medium eggplant
1 red bell pepper
¼ c kalamata olives
3 T golden raisins
¼ c red wine vinegar
4 t sugar
1 T drained capers
½ t salt
½ t freshly ground black pepper
1 8-oz can tomato sauce

Add olive oil to medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Dice onion, celery, eggplant, red pepper, and add to saucepan as you go. Once vegetables are soft and translucent, cut kalamata olives in half and add to saucepan. Add raisins, vinegar, sugar, capers, salt, pepper, and tomato sauce. Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, for at least 30 minutes. Flavors benefit from additional simmering, and are better if you allow them to sit before serving. Even better the next day.

Brunch

Darci made this on Easter and shared the recipe. It was so good. I loved the crunch.

Crunchy Oven French Toast

(Can make ahead of time and freeze up to two weeks)

3 eggs

1 cup half and half

2 TBSP sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

3 cups cornflake cereal, crushed

8 3/4" thick diagonally cut slices french bread (I used sourdough)

Grease 15x10x1 inch baking pan. In shallow bowl, combine eggs, half and half, sugar, vanilla and salt. Mix well. Place crushed cereal in shallow bowl. Dip bread in egg mixture, then in crumbs. Place in single layer in greased pan, cover. Freeze at least 1-2 hours, until firm .

Heat oven to 425. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown, turning once.

I think she said you could make it, freeze it then bake individual pieces as needed.