Black Bean Soup

This is...hands down...my favorite soup. Even my husband loves it and my kids, a picky four year old, and older baby will eat some.

This is from my favorite cookbook: The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
but modified to fit how I cook it, plus pictures.

Serves 6 to 8
Prep time: 15 minutes, Total time: 50 minutes

1 TBSP vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped fine
1 jalapeno chile, stemmed, seeded and minced
6 garlic cloves minced
2 tsp. chili powder
dash of cayenne pepper or "red ground pepper"
4 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
salt to taste
limes weges (opt - but I LOVE it with it so I wouldn't dream of leaving it out)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro (opt)

Heat oil in Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat until shimmering. Cook onion, jalapeno and garlic until softened, about 5 minutes.

Stir in chili powder and red pepper. Cook for about 1 minute.
Rinse beans. Add beans, broth, salt, and 1 1/2 cups of water to pot. Bring to simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
Blend three cups of soup in blender until smooth. Sorry for lack of picture. This part is a little tricky. The hot soup creates a lot of pressure in the blender and can make a mess. I have had this soup pop the lid off by sheer pressure build up even with me pushing down on the top. Unless you have a vitamix, be sure to adjust the lid to release the steam as you blend.
Add mixture back to the soup and add remaining 1/2 cup of water if necessary.
Off heat, season the soup with lime wedges and salt. You can also add cilantro, avocado, and sour cream.

Add some yummy cornbread or tortillas...I made squash cornbread casserole... and you have a light vegetarian meal.

We ended the night with a virgin pina colada shake also from this blog. Click here.

enjoy!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

My husband claims this is the best meatball recipe in the world! Also, I love any good spaghetti recipe, it is my favorite dinner! It looks complicated, but it's really easy:

Meatballs:
1 egg
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons yellow mustard
1 teaspoon ketchup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baby barn seasoning
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion

Baby Barn Seasoning:
3 tablesppons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon celery salt

Spaghetti:
Angel Hair pasta, or your choice of noodle
1 teaspoon olive oil
couple teaspoons salt
Okay, make the baby barn seasoning. This can be used in basically any Italian recipe or for anything you want! After you seasoning mixture is done, combine all the ingredients for your meatballs. Mix and form into meatballs. Gently place the meatballs into the sauce 1 at a time. Simmer in the sauce uncovered for 10 minutes with out stirring. After ten minutes stir sauce frequently and allow to cook for 20 more minutes. Start your water for your noodles. When it boils add your olive oil, salt and noodles. Voila! Yummy spaghetti and meatballs!

Soft Pretzels

1 package of yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
4 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp Sugar
1 egg
Kosher Salt

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add flour and sugar. Knead until smooth. Make into pretzels. Spread egg white on top and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Makes 18. We actually cut the dough into small pieces (about 1 inch) to make pretzel bites and baked them for twelve minutes.

Zucchini Bread

We've had our first reader submission! This zucchini bread recipe looks delicious:

3 c flour

1 Tbs cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1 c sugar
1 c brown sugar, firmly packed
1 c vegetable oil
1 Tbs vanilla
2 c zucchini, grated
½ c chopped nuts (optional)
I like to add chocolate chips to this recipe even though it doesn’t actually call for it!

Sift flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside In a large bowl, thoroughly beat eggs, sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil and vanilla. Stir in sifted ingredients. (Mixture will be pretty thick until you mix in the zucchini) Blend in grated zucchini and nuts. Pour into 2 greased and lightly floured 4 ½ x 8 ½ inch loaf pans. Sprinkle top with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 325 for 60-70 minutes.
Note: When zucchini is “plentiful,” I like to grate the zucchini and freeze in 2 cup quantities to be used all year long.

Waffles

This is my favorite waffle recipe, the vanilla makes it extra delicious!

1 3/4 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup cooking oil or melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl and make a well. In a separate container, beat the eggs slightly and add the rest of the wet ingredients to eggs. Mix wet ingredients together and pour into the well in middle of dry ingredients. Stir together until batter is moistened, it should be slightly lumpy. On a hot waffle iron pour correct amount of batter for your waffle iron and bake to manufactures instructions. Enjoy with your favorite waffle toppings!

Southern Tacos

1 can kidney beans (drained)
1 can sliced olives (drained)
1 can corn (drained)
1 can chopped tomatoes (un-drained)
1 cup uncooked rice
Tortillas
Sour cream (optional)
Shredded cheese (optional)
Salsa (optional)

Make rice according to directions. While rice cooks, open and drain all the canned ingredients (don’t drain tomatoes). I also usually buy whole olives and just slice them myself. When rice is done mix all ingredients together and warm on stove. You can also add shredded beef or pork, ground beef or turkey, or chopped chicken.

While taco mix is warming up - heat up the tortillas (microwave works fine, but I like to fry them on the stove). When tortillas are warm put down a layer of sour cream, then taco mix, then shredded cheese. Roll up and eat!
Tips:

This is a quick (but tasty) meal to make as long as you get the rice cooked first. It is a vegetarian dish, and I never add the meat, but you could of course if you wanted to. It is a strange type of taco but very yummy. Sometimes when it is warming up it tends to get sticky or dry, so when I drain the olives, beans, and corn I don’t drain them strictly all the way so there is a little extra moisture. Using tomatoes with a Mexican spice or tomatoes with jalapeño peppers can add a different flavor and spice. This is pretty big dish so most of the time I half the recipe. I use half cans of everything and then use the other half of the canned ingredients to make a taco soup later on in the week.