Kale and White Bean Soup

Last week, I was feeling a bit under the weather with that general feeling of "bleh."  It was one of those evenings when all I wanted to do is sit at home under the covers with a hot bowl of soup.  This brothy, vegetable-filled recipe really helps makes life feel good again.  The ingredients in this soup that make for a well rounded pick-me-up include:

• Beans for some hearty protein and iron
• Cayenne for increased blood circulation,  potassium and vitamins A, B6, E, and C 
• Garlic historically used for antibacterial and antiviral purposes
• Kale for anti-inflammatory, calcium, and carotene 
• Tomatoes for antioxidants and vitamin C
• Vinegar for fighting infections 

Plus the many spices and the heat, both spicy and temperature, makes it a delight as well as a healthful meal.  This soup hits the spot!

Kale and White Bean Soup

1 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves chopped

1 large onion, chopped

3 ribs celery, chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely minced

1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

2 teaspoon dried oregano

30 oz can diced tomatoes
15 oz can of cannellini

4 cups water

cayenne

juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat olive oil in a big pot over medium-low heat.  Sauté the onion and celery in the pot until the onion begins to brown and turn translucent.

2. While onion is cooking, prepare the kale by removing the center stem all the way up the leaf.  Cut the remaining, curly leaf into bite size pieces.  Rinse the chopped leaves to be sure all dirt is removed.

3. Once the onion has begun to brown, toss in the garlic and sauté about minute.  Add kale and let that cook in the pot while you add the parsley, basil, and oregano.

4. As the kale begins to wilt, add the canned tomatoes, cannellini, and water and allow the soup to simmer, adding extra water as needed, until the kale is tender.

5. Before serving, add cayenne, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, and salt & pepper.  Taste the soup and add more basil (or any other spice) to your liking.

Now curl up with your favorite tv show or a good book and enjoy your healthy road to recovery!  ...or just a light and tasty meal.  :-)

Refried Black Beans

This is a recipe that can be used as both an appetizer, a side dish to a meal, or a as a base in tacos.  It can be made right on the spot and served warm or it can be made in advance, chilled, and then serve alter with your favorite veggies or corn chips.  Because these beans are so versatile, I make this dish quite frequently!

Refried Black Beans (or Black Bean Dip):

1 Tbs olive oil

5 scallions, thinly sliced
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin

2 cups black beans

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
cayenne to taste
juice of one lime
salt

1. Heat olive oil in pan.  Once hot, toss in scallions, coriander, and cumin.  Let sizzle for about five minutes.  Keep the heat relatively low so the bottom of the pan won't burn.

2. Add black beans and water. Stir. When the beans have started getting hot, begin to mash them with your spoon.  How much you mash the beans depends on your preference.  For dip, I mash them more than if I use them for filling in tacos.

3. When the water has cooked out and the beans have reached the desired consistency, remove the pot from the heat and stir in cilantro, cayenne, lime juice, and salt.  This dish can be served warm as part of a meal or chilled with your favorite veggies or corn chips.

Rhubarb Jam



Mamma's little baby loves rhubarb, rhubarb,
Beebopareebop Rhubarb Pie.
Mamma's little baby loves rhubarb, rhubarb,
Beebopareebop Rhubarb Pie.

If any of you listen Prairie Home Companion, then you know exactly what I'm singing about!  I just kept humming this little melody while chopping the beautifully pink vegetable.  Admittedly though, I'm not making rhubarb pie, but jam is just as delicious!  And boy, for a rainy day, I can't think of a better way to warm up the kitchen than with a sweet, cinnamon smell of roasting rhubarb!

So, to lay it all out, I had never made jam before this moment.  But let me tell you it was so quick and easy that I'll probably start making jam much more!  It is just so delightful to spread warm jam on some morning oatmeal, crackers, or my personal fave: chocolate chip cookies!


Rhubarb Jam

1 pound rhubarb, tough ends removed & cut into large chunks
1/4 cup brown sugar
scant 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Remove tough ends of the rhubarb and chop the stalks into chunks.

2. Toss rhubarb with brown sugar and cinnamon in a nonstick baking dish. Roast for 20 minutes until thick and bubbly. Keep an eye on it since this is a sugary dish thus it can burn easily.  (Even if it does burn, the jam is not ruined, just don't scape the burnt bits off the bottom.)

3. Remove the sweet rhubarb from the oven and scrape contents into a small mixing bowl.  Mix the pink goodness well, then let cool completely. Transfer to jar that can be sealed tightly. 

Since this recipe does not go through the process of sterilizing jars for sealing, this jam recipe can store in the frige for up to two weeks...if it lasts that long!

Grillin' and Chillin'

Memorial Day weekend!  A perfect time to get out of town.  My roommate from college came for a visit so we went to the coast and spent the days hiking and eating.  Nature and food: two of my favorite things!  Plus sharing them with a good friend makes it all the more enjoyable!

Before leaving town, Kelsey and I walked to the farmers market to to peruse the seasonal produce.  Part of me wondered if we were going overboard when we left with a whole array of spring fruits and vegetables.  We had bags filled with cherries, zucchini, asparagus, apricots, peaches, snap peas, cilantro, cucumber, shallots, avocado, kale, and kiwi.  In all honesty though, I was showing great restraint by not getting the strawberries or almonds.

What's that you say? This haul is a lot of food for two people?  Well, we ate it all in our three day excursion.  The first night at our hostel by the beach, we grilled zucchini, asparagus, and peaches along with some polenta we picked up from the store.  We lacked some foresight with the seasoning so we were at the mercy of what spices past hostelers left behind! 

We were fortunate to find that there was just enough herbes de provence to lightly coat the zucchini and the asparagus with some vegan butter we found in the fridge.  For future grillers, I would def recommend the herbes de provence but would switch the oil to some nice extra virgin olive oil for nicer flavor.


This was the first time I was in charge of the grill so there are a few things I learned from this first experience.

+ Grill Longer. Generally, I prefer to cook my veg al dente.  Non-mushy vegetables are a definite plus.  So I ran into an issue with the grill: take the veg off the grill with the typical "cookedness" I enjoy or cook longer for the nice char-grilled taste.  I ended up choosing the first option and pulled them off too soon and found that I would have like to leave them on to have more of that smokey flavor I so love about cooking out. 

+ Spices and Marinade. The herbes de provence was an excellent addition to our cookout.  I would like to experiment more with fresh herbs like rosemary and thyme as well as vinegars and sauces.

+ Polenta. The polenta grilled fantastically!  It got a nice crispy exterior and did not leave a messy clean-up job later.  I have just found that I prefer the homemade, non-tube variety.

+ Peaches.  Peaches are sweet, tender, and juicy so I placed them further away from the fire thinking that they would not respond well to such high heat.  In the end, despite leaving them over the fire for a longer period of time, I wanted them warmer and more of that great grilled flavor.  They were so delicious!  It's like cobbler!  I would recommend it with chocolate and ice cream!

Despite all these modifications listed above, this was still a very delicious meal.  We had just finished eight miles of hiking in fantastic and sitting on a beautiful beach.  Being outside with the setting sun with marvelous company and a hungry belly only enhanced the enjoyment of the fresh produce we picked up that day.  I look forward to many more cook-outs this summer to perfect my skills as a master griller! 

Sautéed Beet Greens

Ahhhh, beets!  They're one of my favorite vegetables. (Admittedly though, one may hear me say that about each vegetable I come across!)  The sweet goodness that is in season all year round can hardly be matched!

You ever make a beet dish and then you're left with all these beautiful beet greens that you would just hate to throw away?  Well, this is a quick and simple recipe to have your greens and eat them too! 

(sorry, I couldn't resist!) 

It both adds diversity in nutrition to your plate as well as provides a great way to spice up a meal!   The challenge is that the tender, leafy greens seem to need attention before the more resilient, meaty beets.  So I also find this recipe useful for that time you open the fridge and realize that the leaves should be eaten soon before they wilt. 

As a side note to this recipe, I usually choose add in pepper flake or the lemon juice, but rarely both at the same time. 

Sautéed Beet Greens With Garlic and Olive Oil


1 beet greens from 2 large bunches of beets

Salt

1  Tbs of olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes (optional)

Freshly ground pepper
lemon juice (optional)

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  While you are waiting for the water to heat up, stem and wash the greens.  Beet greens tend to have a good amount of dirt on them, so wash well! Chop coarsely.

2. When the water comes to a boil, add salt and the greens. Blanch for 2 minutes, until tender. Transfer immediately to colander and rinse under cold water.  Drain and squeeze the water from the leaves.

3. To save dishes, you can use the same pan you used to blanch the greens; just dump the water out first.  Heat oil in the pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and hot red pepper flakes and let sizzle for a half a minute or so.  

4. Stir in the blanched greens. Stir for a until more of the water is cooked out and the greens are nicely seasoned with garlic and oil. Season with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.  Remove from the heat and serve.

 

Beet Greens Served with Polenta

Inspiration from nytimes.