Black Bean Soup with Jalapeño-Lime Crème

I made this delicious soup from Ann Gentry's "Real Food Daily Cookbook" last night without the Jalapeño-Lime Crème and it was still delicious! I cannot wait to make this recipe again with the crème!

Ingredients

For soup:
2 cups dried black beans, picked through and rinsed
1 (2- to 3-inch) piece kombu (a sea vegetable; available in Asian grocery stores)
6 cups Vegetable Stock or water
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
5 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
5 stalks celery, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro


For Jalapeño-Lime Crème:
2 jalapeños, roasted
3/4 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup plain soy milk
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon canola oil
3/4 teaspoon sea salt


Preparation

1. To prepare soup, place beans and kombu in a heavy stockpot. Add enough water to cover by 3 inches, soak beans overnight. Drain and rinse beans, reserve kombu.
2. Return beans and kombu to the pot, add stock and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer over high heat, skimming off any foam that rises to the top. Decrease heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour, or until beans are tender. Discard kombu and stir in salt.
3. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Sauté for 10 minutes, or until the onions are translucent. Stir in the tomatoes with their juices, then the chili powder, cayenne and cumin. Sauté for 5 minutes, or until the tomatoes soften. Add the tomatoes to the beans, cover and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Decrease heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are very tender and the flavors blend. Cool slightly.
4. Transfer half the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Return the pureed soup to the pot and season to taste with more salt, if desired. Stir in the cilantro. Serve with drizzle of Jalapeño-Lime Crème.
5. To prepare Jalapeño-Lime Crème, add chilies, cashews, soy milk, lime zest, lime juice, oil and salt to a blender. Blend until smooth.

White Bean & Sweet Yam Soup with Kale

This is a soup recipe I found on Tony Horton's personal chef, Melissa Costello's, website.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 celery stalks, diced
2 large garnet yams, peeled and cubed
3 cans white beans, drained & rinsed
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp thyme
6 cups veggie broth or 3 bullion cubes with 6 cups water
2 cups lacinto kale, chopped
1-2 tbs nutritional yeast depending on personal taste sea salt to taste

Directions

1. In a stockpot over medium heat, sautéonion, garlic and celery in oil until soft.
   
2. Add sage and thyme and stir to combine.
   
3. Add yams, white beans & broth. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer.
   
4. Cover pot and simmer until yams are soft, about 20-30 minutes.
   
5. Add kale and cover to let it wilt.
   
6. Add sea salt to taste and stir in nutritional yeast. Serve hot.

Butternut Squash Soup with Rosemary

I have been waiting too cook a soup utlizing this season's butternut squash with a filling protein like white beans. Thanks, Ann Gentry!

To prepare the beans

2 cups dried small white beans, picked through and rinsed
7 cups water
1 bay leaf
1 generous tablespoon finely chopped dried rosemary
2 teaspoons sea salt

Place the beans in a bowl. Add enough cold water to cover the beans by 3 inches. Let stand overnight or for at least a few hours. Drain and rinse the beans.

Combine the beans with 7 cups of fresh water and bay leaf in a heavy large pot. Bring the water to a simmer over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low. Simmer the beans for up to 1hour stirring occasionally. The beans should hold their shape but be tender. Add In rosemary and salt, cook for another 10-15 minutes or until tender.

To prepare the soup

1 tablespoon neutral cooking oil
2 onions, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
8 cups water
2 3/4 pounds butternut squash (approximately 1 squash), peeled, seeded and cubed
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup plain non-dairy milk

Heat the oil in a heavy stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, celery, garlic, and ginger. Sauté for 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the water and squash. Cover and bring to a simmer over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the squash is tender. Stir in the orange peel, salt and pepper.

Using a hand-held immersion blender, puree the soup in the pot until smooth. Alternately, working in batches, puree the soup in a regular blender until smooth. Stir in the non-dairy milk. Add cooked rosemary white beans. Serve.

Rustic Italian Soup

Ingredients
2 cups dried red kidney beans
1 (2- to 3-inch) piece kombu
6 cups vegetable stock and/or water
1/3 cup tomato paste
6 large cloves garlic
1 bunch kale, stemmed and chopped
2 tbs finely chopped fresh sage
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 lemon squeezed
extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation

1. Place beans and kombu in a heavy stockpot. Add enough water to cover the beans by 3 inches. Let stand overnight.
   
2. Drain and rinse the beans. Reserve the kombu.
3. Return the soaked beans, kombu, and stock/water to the same pot. Cover and bring to a simmer over high heat. Skim foam that rises to the top.
   
4. Lower the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the beans are tender.
   
5. Discard the kombu.
6. Blend 2 cups of the bean soup, tomato paste and garlic in a blender until smooth.
   
7. Gradually stir the bean puree into the remaining bean soup.
   
8. Add the kale, sage, 1 1/2 teaspoons of black pepper, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt.
   
9. Cover and bring the soup to a simmer over high heat.
   
10. Lower the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the kale is very tender and the flavors blend.
11. Stir the lemon juice into the soup. Ladle the soup into bowls. Drizzle olive oil over each portion and serve.

The soup will keep for 2 days, covered and refrigerated. To rewarm, bring the soup to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are easy and healthy cookies from Bethanny Frankel. I love this recipe because I can whip them up using ingredients that I already have; omitting an extra trip to the grocery store.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups of oat flour
3/4 cups of rolled oats
1/2 tsp. of baking powder
1/2 tsp. of baking soda
1/2 tsp. of salt
1/2 cups of raw sugar
1/3 cups of chocolate chips
1 tsp. of canola oil
1/3 cups of soy milk
1/2 cups of banana puree (1 medium-size banana)
1 tsp. of vanilla extract

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
3. Combine all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
5. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together, until well combined.
4. Use a large spoon to scoop batter evenly onto a cookie sheet covered with wax paper.
5. Bake for 12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through cooking, or bake until the edges of the cookies are light brown.

Sweet Potato Lentil Stew

This is a delicious lentil soup recipe for the fall or wintertime since sweet potatoes are in season. I found it in Alicia Silverstone's wonderful, "The Kind Diet" cookbook. I always serve with a slice of Ezekiel bread with Earth Balance butter.

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 tsp ginger, minced
1 1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp cayenne
sea salt
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4″ cubes
7 cups vegetable broth
1 cup brown lentils

Directions

1. Heat oil in large, deep pot. Add onion and stir until it starts to soften, about 2 minutes.
2. Stir in tomatoes and ginger. Cook for about 3 minutes.
3. Stir in turmeric, cumin coriander, cinnamon, cayenne and a pinch or two of sea salt.
4. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add more salt if necessary.
5. Next, add sweet potatoes, broth and lentils.
6. Bring to a boil over high heat.
7. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until the lentils and sweet potatoes are soft.

Butternut Squash Enchiladas

I found this recipe on the Vegetarian Times website while looking for a veggie enchilada recipe.

Ingredients
1 tbs olive oil
1 butternut squash, halved and seeded
1 onion, diced
1 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, drained and diced, plus 1 tbs sauce
1 tsp clove garlic, minced
3 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
3 green onions, chopped
2 16-oz. cans red enchilada sauce
6 whole-wheat or corn tortillas
1 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place squash cut-side down on baking sheet. Roast 45 minutes, or until soft.
2. Cool until easy to handle. Scoop squash into bowl, and mash.
3. Heat oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, and sauté 5 to 7 minutes, or until soft.
   
4. Add chipotle, adobo sauce, and garlic. Cook 1 minute, stirring often.
5. Stir in mashed squash, cream cheese, cumin, and nutmeg. Cook 3 minutes more, or until heated through.
   
6. Remove from heat, and fold in green onions.
7. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lay tortillas on baking sheet, and warm 3 minutes in oven to soften.
   
8. Spread 1 cup enchilada sauce over bottom of 13- x 9-inch baking dish.
   
9. Divide filling among tortillas, and roll loosely.
   
10. Place filled, rolled tortillas in baking dish.
    
11. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and Cheddar cheese.
    
12. Bake 30 minutes, or until top begins to brown and sauce is bubbly.