Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup

I got this recipe from My Whole Food Life and adapted it just slightly. It takes literally minutes to put together, but it took me twice as long to make it as it should, which I'll explain in the directions, but next time it should go a lot more smoothly. It tasted wonderful when it was finally made and it was perfect for a freezing Winter day here in Wisconsin! This recipe makes an enormous batch, so we had leftovers for a couple of days, too, which always makes me happy because leftovers are my absolute favorite food!

Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup

4 C dried black beans, soaked overnight, rinsed, and drained)

4 C vegetable broth

1 yellow onion, diced

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin (I used WAY less, like maybe 1/4 tsp)

1/2 tsp oregano

3 cloves garlic, diced

salt, to taste

The original directions say to put all ingredients in the crock pot, cook on high for 1 hour, then cook on low for 3-4 hours. I did that and the beans were NOWHERE NEAR cooked. They were still hard as rocks. So I don't know if it's my crock pot or what, but I ended up refrigerating it for the night and resuming cooking, for the entire rest of the next day, until the beans were finally cooked. The texture was definitely different, but the flavor was exquisite.

So next time, I'm thinking I need to cook the beans part way on the stove after soaking and draining them and then using them in this recipe.

Other than the fact that this dish took me way too long to make, it's a really great recipe and one that we'll definitely have again!

White Bean and Kale Stew

This is a DELICIOUS, quick, and very simple stew that I found on the whole living website and modified a bit to accommodate our preferences (and what I had in the fridge). You can basically add anything you want to it, you can make it more or less spicy as you desire (I spiced it up quite a bit because my husband and I both have head colds and I thought it'd be good for us), and every single ingredient is healthy and nutritious. It's a vegetarian dish that even my husband, the meat lover, ate 2 huge bowls of (after sweetly suggesting that one time, we try it with sausage :))!  Make extra for delectable leftovers!

White Bean and Kale Stew

serves 2-3

The night before:

Put about 1/2 lb white beans to soak in bowl with plenty of water.

To cook beans (an hour or so before making soup):

Pour pre-soaked beans in saucepan and cover with water. Boil/simmer until cooked/soft, about an hour. Drain and set aside.

To make soup:

knob of coconut oil (google says that's about a walnut size up to 2 tbsp)

2 medium onions (I used extra)

sea salt

chili flakes

5 bay leaves

1 tsp smoked paprika (DON'T leave this out! It's what makes this soup so amazing!)

1 tomato, chopped into large chunks

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (the original recipe didn't call for this, but I wanted extra spice)

6 cloves garlic, sliced (I used extra)

2 C vegetable broth

2 1/2 C cooked white beans

2 C packed shredded kale leaves

sea salt and black pepper to taste

olive oil for garnish

1. Heat coconut oil in large stockpot.

2. Slice onions and add to pot with a couple pinches of sea salt, a pinch of chili flakes, the bay leaves, and the smoked paprika. Stir and cook until onions have softened; a few minutes.

3. Add tomato, jalapeno, and garlic. Cook for an additional few minutes, until all vegetables are softened, stirring occasionally.

4. Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil.

5. Add cooked beans and season to taste with a little more sea salt and black pepper.

6. Add kale leaves, stir in, and allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes. For best results, do not add kale until you know you're ready to serve in 5-10 minutes.

7. Serve in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil on top (I forgot to add the olive oil and it still tasted great).

Next time, I hope to use homemade vegetable broth! Remember to save the stems, ends, scraps, etc. of all veggies in a ziploc bag in the freezer if you want to try making your own vegetable broth.

Serve with bread and butter. Enjoy!!!

Mom's Corn Chowder

My mom told me about this recipe she made the other night, so I decided to give it a try.  She's a VERY creative cook and she just came up with this herself; she told me she sort of combined a few recipes to make it.  It's delicious on a cool Fall evening and easy enough even for me to make :)

Mom's Corn Chowder

Makes 3-4 big bowls

1 onion, chopped small

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

4 celery stalks, chopped small

2-3 ears of corn, with corn cut off the cob

1/2 - 3/4 stick of butter, cut into a few chunks

2 cans chicken broth (I used 1 can chicken and 1 can vegetable; real stock would be better :))

1-2 potatoes, peeled and sliced

salt and pepper to taste (I added no salt, but tons of black pepper)

1 C milk

1 tbsp flour

1. Combine onion, garlic, celery, and corn in casserole dish.  Top with butter and cover.

2. Microwave for 5 minutes, remove and stir. Repeat twice more (for a total of 15 minutes cooking time).

3. In the meantime, combine broth and potatoes in large pot. Cook/boil until potatoes are cooked through, 15-20 minutes or so.

4. Add cooked corn mixture to broth mixture and season as desired. Taste to see that everything's cooked the desired amount. If not, simmer for awhile longer.

5. Whisk together milk and flour. Add to chowder, stir, and simmer for a couple of minutes until desired thickness is achieved.

6. Serve hot!

This recipe would be GREAT with some crusty bread... I served it with turkey sandwiches on wheat kaiser rolls because my man likes his meat :) A salad would've been great too!!! I wish I had a picture of this, hopefully next time I'll remember to snap one and share.  Mom, if you have anything to add or change, PLEASE comment!!!

Pho Ga (Chicken Noodle Soup)

I found this recipe on pinterest too... Pho in restaurants is amazing, so I was definitely skeptical about trying it at home, especially considering my infamous track record when it comes to cooking.  But I went for it and it turned out great; it also left some room for creativity with herbs and stuff.  I guess "pho" just means rice noodles and "ga" means chicken, so this is really just chicken noodle soup, Asian style :) Use enormous bowls and chopsticks to make it tastiest :)

Pho Ga

Serves 4-6

Broth

10 C (2 1/2 L) chicken stock or 4-5 stock cubes dissolved in 10 C water (I used prepared stock)

1/2 fresh chicken (I used 2 chicken breasts instead)

1 cinnamon stick (I used a few dashes of cinnamon because that's what I had on hand)

4 green onions, cut into lengths

1 inch fresh ginger root, peeled and bruised

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp fish sauce (NewAsianCuisine.com recommends Three Crabs brand; I couldn't find that brand though)

1. Bring chicken stock, chicken, cinnamon, onions, ginger, sugar, and salt to boil over high heat in stockpot.

2. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes, skimming off foam and fat periodically.

3. Stir in fish sauce and remove from heat.

4. Remove chicken and set aside to cool.

5. Strain solids from broth and keep clear broth warm over very low heat.

Noodles

10 oz (300 g) dried rice stick noodles or rice vermicelli (I used rice stick noodles)

4 C bean sprouts, seed coats and tails removed, blanched until cooked

1 onion, thinly sliced (I used green onions here)

ground white pepper (which actually smells nauseating, so I'd recommend using black pepper)

cilantro, basil, and mint leaves (or any combination thereof)

limes cut into sections

2 chilis, sliced and deseeded, with soy sauce (or sriracha!!!)

1. Bring pot of water to boil over medium heat. Add dried noodles and blanch until soft (about 5 minutes for stick noodles or 2 minutes for vermicelli). Remove and rinse with cold water, drain.

2. Shred chicken along the grain into thin strips.

3. Place noodles in serving bowls (use HUGE ones if you have them) and top with bean sprouts, shredded chicken, and onions.

4. Pour hot broth into each bowl, sprinkle with pepper, and garnish with cilantro, basil, and mint.

5. Serve hot with limes and chili/soy sauce mixture (or sriracha!!!) on the side.

I served this with TONS of extra cilantro and basil, as well as extra cool bean sprouts. The cinnamon addition sounds weird, but just do it, because it really makes it taste like restaurant pho. I'm not usually the biggest fan of adding cinnamon to cooked food, but it really works here.  Also, serve with extra limes and plain yogurt (always serve everything with extra limes and plain yogurt)! Add plenty of sriracha sauce as you eat it :) A soft drink really hits the spot with this spicy meal (I learned that from my sister :))  Enjoy!!!