Chipotle-Pumpkin Black Bean Soup

 Hey Ladies! We are big fans of soup this time of year at our house. I have been craving pumpkin anything, and decided to try this soup from EveryDay with Rachel Ray Magazine. It was really good! And, super duper easy and quick to throw together. I baked 2 chicken breasts earlier in the day, and shredded them to add to the soup. (Around here, it's not much of a meal unless it has some MEAT.) It was a tad on the spicy side for the kids with a whole chipotle...I think next time I'd use a smidge less of that or at least leave out the seeds. They ate it, I just gave them a bit more  sour cream and tortilla chips to tame it down. I skipped the apple salsa, I'm sure it would've been good, but I just didn't do it. You could also skip the fancy cranberry sour cream and just use a dollop of regular sour cream or plain yogurt. It was good, but an ingredient you don't really have to have. It says it feeds 4, but we had enough for the two of us (we each had two bowls) and the two kids, and we each will have a bowl for lunch tomorrow. Yummy!

• 4 Servings
• Prep 10 min

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 2 large cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, finely chopped, 1 tablespoon sauce reserved
• 1 bottle Mexican beer, such as Negra Modelo
• One 15-ounce can pure pumpkin puree
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin (1/2 palmful)
• 2 pinches ground cinnamon
• Salt and pepper
• 3 cups chicken broth (I only used 2 cups, I like my soup a little on the thick side)
  
• One 15-ounce can black beans, drained
• 1 green apple, finely chopped
• 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 jalapeño chile, seeded and finely chopped
• 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro (a generous handful)
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
• Corn tortilla chips (a couple of generous handfuls), lightly crushed (optional)

Directions:

1. In a soup pot, heat the EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add the yellow onion, garlic and chipotle with its sauce and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add the beer and cook until reduced by half, 3 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin, cumin, cinnamon and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the chicken broth and beans and simmer for 10 minutes.
   
2. In a small bowl, combine the apple, red onion, jalapeño, cilantro and lime juice. In another bowl, combine the sour cream and cranberry sauce.
   
3. Serve the soup in bowls and top with the apple salsa, cranberry sour cream and tortilla chips, if using.
   

Tortellini Sausage Soup

I have a new favorite recipe blog, designed by our friend, Shannon....Our Best Bites! Love all the recipes on it. I've made this soup twice in the last week and we all LOVE it!

Click HERE for the recipe!

Easy Chili Pie

If you're not completely sick of beans after last week's rice and beans fast, this recipe is a perfect fall or winter meal. I got it from a Real Simple magazine a few years ago and it's been a favorite in our house ever since!

1 lb. sweet Italian chicken sausage, casings removed
1 T. chili powder
2 15-oz. cans of kidney beans in sauce (I usually use chili beans instead-not canned chili, just chili beans)
1/2 cup hot salsa
1 8-1/2 oz. box of corn bread mix, plus required ingredients (like Jiffy)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1.) Heat oven to 400 degrees.

2.) Cook sausage over medium heat in an oven-safe skillet (such as cast iron), breaking up the meat until it's no longer pink. Drain the fat.

3.) Add chili powder and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add beans and salsa. Heat to boiling.

4.) Meanwhile, prepare corn-bread mix according to the label directions. Stir in cheddar cheese.

5.) Remove chili from heat and spread corn-bread mixture over the chili.

6.) Place skillet in the oven and bake 15-20 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

If you don't have a cast iron or oven-safe skillet, you can also transfer the chili to a casserole dish before it goes into the oven.

Enjoy!

Lentils and Brown Rice

I thought this one looked good too!

http://www.recipezaar.com/Mujadrah-Lentils-and-Rice-141796

Week of Rice and Beans

Hey girls...thought I'd copy and paste the recipes listed on the church website for this week's Rice and Beans fast. It will be interesting feeding kids for the week, I'm doing my best to find some recipes to keep in interesting for my family. I would love to hear some other tips and ideas you all have!

Here's the recipes Summit View posted (I will definitely be trying the sticky rice pancakes for breakfast!

Week of Rice, Beans & Water Recipes

Tips:
Make beans and rice following directions on item
Spice using one of the following: Tumeric (makes yellow rice), Cumin, Curry, Ceyenne Pepper, Red Pepper Flakes
Black Beans & Rice
1 medium onion
1 TB oil
1 c long grain rice, uncooked
2 c water
Favorite seasonings
1 can black beans
1. Sauté' onion in oil. Add water and rice. Cover and simmer 20 minutes or until rice is cooked.
2. Add seasoning mix & beans and cook until heated through. Mix well.
Red Beans & Curried Rice
1/2 c. dried onions
1 lg. can kidney beans
1 c. water
Red pepper flakes optional
Salt and black pepper
Simmer all ingredients for 15 minutes on very low heat. Serve over curried rice (see below).

Curried Rice
Prepare rice according to package directions. To boiling water add 1-2 tablespoon curry powder, 1/4 cup water and 1/2 cup dried onions.

Congri (Rice & Black Beans)
1 T Olive oil
½ Cup Dried Onions
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 bay leaf
1 (16 oz.) can black beans, including liquid
1 1/2 c. long grain rice, uncooked
2 1/4 c. water
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vinegar

Mix olive oil, onion, oregano, cumin and bay leaf in pan; sauté for five minutes. Add black beans, including liquid; simmer for three minutes. Add water, salt, vinegar and rice; reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes.
Makes about 8 cups.

Cuban Black Beans and Rice

1 lb. dry black beans
8 c. water
½ Cup Chopped Onion
2 T Chopped Garlic
1/2 c. olive oil
3 bay leaves
1 tbsp. salt
1/2 c. vinegar

Wash beans thoroughly and soak in four cups of water overnight. Keep the water for cooking and add 4 more cups of water.

Combine all ingredients except vinegar. Cook on stove with low heat until beans are tender and the liquid has thickened. Takes 3-5 hours. Serve over rice with vinegar.

Sticky Rice Pancakes
Make sticky rice by increasing water amount by one-third (cook otherwise according to package directions).
Refrigerate overnight. In the morning form into patties or cakes. Pan-fry in oil.


Some of my own thoughts:

I was chatting with Lisa at church this morning. She said her kids love to munch on Chickpeas (aka Garbanzo beans) right out of the can for a snack. I have also seen this recipe that I want to try this week for munchies (I think I will try cinnamon instead of "spicy" for the kids):

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

After making a few batches, I want to stress how important it is to pat dry the chickpeas after draining and rinsing them; the goal is to get a good crunch to the chickpeas, and they will not achieve it if they are damp.

1 15-ounce can chickpeas

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt

1/2 teaspoon spice of your choice (I am keen on curry powder, chipotle chile powder or garam masala)

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Transfer to a large dry dish towel and pat dry.

In a medium bowl toss the chickpeas with the olive oil, salt and spices of your choice. Toss to coat, then spread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet.

Roast for 34-38 minutes, checking them frequently in the last 10 minutes (you want them crunchy, not burnt :)). Makes about 1 and 1/2 cups.

Here's another that I found that I'm going to try: (I will substitute black beans or some the cashews and maybe skip the raisins/currants.)


Indian Rice Pilaf
Brown Rice Pilaf with Indian Spices & Cashews


If you think you don;t like brown rice, my guess is that you haven't tried long-grain brown rice. It's light and fluffy, takes less time to cook than the short-grain varieties, and, because it is relatively pale in color once cooked, you can serve it to small children and significant others without notice or complaint. The rice here turns a brilliant shade of yellow thanks to the addition of the turmeric.

2 tablespoons canola oil, divided use
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 and 1/4 cups brown long grain rice
2 and 1/2 cups vegetable broth or water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
3/4 cup cashews
1/2 cup currants or chopped raisins

Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a medium saucepan or covered skillet. Add the spices and sauté for 15-30 seconds until fragrant. Add the rice; cook and stir 1 minute. Stir in the water or broth, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until liquid is completely absorbed, about 35-40 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and sauté for 10-12 minutes until browned.

Remove covered pan with the rice from heat and let sit 10 minutes; uncover and fluff with fork. Transfer to a large bowl, add the currants, cashews and onions and toss to combine. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Makes 6 servings.

Blueberry Bran Muffins

These are very yummy and healthy muffins!

1 & 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour or unbleached flour
3/4 cup oat bran or wheat bran
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup vanilla or lemon nonfat yogurt
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4-1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
I also add 1-2 tablespoons of flax meal

1) Combine the flour, bran, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder, and stir to mix well. Add the yogurt, egg whites, and vanilla extract, and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in the blueberries.

2) Coat muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray, or use muffin cups, and fill 3/4 full with the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 16-18 minutes, or just until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.

3) Remove the muffin tin from the oven and allow it to sit for 5 minutes before removing the muffins. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Kid's Favorite Cornflake Chicken

Sometimes we make things and forget about them, even if they are great. Seems to be happening to me a lot lately! Benjamin reminded me of a recipe I used to make. Cornflake Chicken! All the kids, and adults gobbled it up. I used chicken tenderloins bc it was easy to defrost and they were already in small pieces, but you could use breasts cut up or any cut of meat, really.

Cornflake Chicken
2 Tbsp butter + 1/4-1/2 c butter
1/2 c crushed corn flakes cereal, maybe a little more
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1.5 lbs cut up chicken in strips or tenderloins

Heat oven to 400. Melt 2 Tbsp butter in 9 x 13 pan. Take out when melted to make sure it doesn't burn. Crush corn flakes. I put enough to fill a ziplock sandwich bag. Zip the bag, with air pushed out , crush with rolling pin. Mix flakes, paprika, salt and pepper. Melt 1/4 c butter in bowl, melt more as needed. Dip chicken in butter, then roll in corn flake mixture. Place in 9 x 13 pan. Bake on 400 for about 20 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken. Test frequently so they don't dry out. Don't turn, otherwise the corn flakes fall off. Serve with BBQ, ranch, ketchup, etc.