Food 4 Friday :: Black Bean Chili

This delicious, nutritious chili is our family's version of a black bean chili that has been on the menu everyday at Greens Restaurant since it opened in 1979. Because Emily loves carrots so much I add those along with red bell peppers. Add a little rice or quinoa and it is a complete protein. It gets better everyday and can easily be turned into chilequiles or tacos.

Black Bean Chili with Carrots and Quinoa
1 onion
1 red bell pepper
6 large carrots chopped
1 bay leaf
3 cups black beans (soaked)
1 cup green lentils
1 cup quinoa
1 Tsp + cumin
1 Tsp+ coriander
1 Tsp+ oregano
1 Tsp+ smoked paprika
1 Tsp+ ancho chile powder
cook until tender then add:
dash of rice vinegar
1 tsp salt
28 oz can diced tomatoes

Slow Red Beans and Rice

I always seem to crave Creole food this time of year. Maybe it is the beginning of spring that puts an extra kick in my step, the spicier the better. This is such an easy and delicious supper and Mardi Gras beads make it even better!

Soak overnight in your slow cooker:

4 cups kidney beans

In the morning add:

1 Tsp thyme

1 Tsp paprika

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne or mild chili powder

2 red bell peppers. chopped

1 sweet onion chopped and sauteed

12 oz chicken andouille sausage (TJ's) thinly sliced

4 oz pancetta (or a ham hock) sauteed

Cook on high 6 hours, low 8+

Serve over brown rice with hot sauce and a crisp green salad with radishes and fresh spring carrots.

I love you once, I love you twice...

I love you chicken soup with rice.

Maurice Sendak wrote a great Book of Months titled Chicken Soup with Rice, as well as our beloved Where the Wild Things Are. 

It has also become a dinner staple around here. Every time I ask Gracie what she wants for supper her answer is "chicken soup with rice." To which I reply... "I love you once, I love you twice, I love you chicken soup with rice!"

After cooking our leftover roasted chicken in the slow cooker overnight and into the morning during art class, we now have a succulent chicken broth. I took out the chicken bones this afternoon and then added:

2 chopped fennel bulbs

2 cups of baby carrots

2 cups of rinsed brown rice (added for the last hour)

a dash more of herbs de provence

and served with chopped fennel fronds on top

SO easy and so delicious!

Simple Supper :: Split Pea Soup

One of my favorite soups when I was a little girl (and also when I was pregnant with my little girls!) was split pea soup. We'll find out tonight if it is also Gracie's favorite. It is such a simple slow cooker recipe.

Split Pea Soup


2 Tsp olive oil
8 small carrots - diced
1 onion - diced
8-12 oz cured ham - chopped - I found Niman Ranch Smoked Ham at TJ's!!!
4 cups split peas
12 cups water

cook on high until peas are soft
cook on low until dinner time

SImple Supper :: Chicken Enchilada Casserole

We have a routine these days in the kitchen.
Sunday: Roast Chicken
Monday : Slow Cook Chicken all day and night
Tuesday: Enjoy Chicken again in the form of chicken soup with rice, chicken soup with kale and tortellini, or enchiladas like these.

Thanks Kari for the tip!

Chicken Enchilada Casserole:
Simply layer
enchilada sauce
corn tortillas
shredded chicken
enchilada sauce
cheese
corn tortillas
shredded chicken
enchilada sauce
cheese....
in a baking dish and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes

you can also add yogurt/sour cream, black olives in the layers or add them after with avocado like we did tonight.

Serve with a side of black beans with cumin
Add Pacifico, lime and habanero salsa and you are in SB again

Simple Supper :: Chicken Soup with Rice

After roasting a chicken last night, I simply dumped the remaining chicken, carrots, oinions and garlic into the slow cooker, covered with water and cooked on low overnight. In the morning I added brown rice, more carrots and kale. Ryan said it was one of his favorite soups ever. Then he fogot to put it in the fridge and we lost the leftovers. Don't worry honey, I'll make it again next week! xo

Slow Beans

In a 1.5 quart slow cooker add
1 and a 1/3 cup pinto beans
3 cups water
cook for 3 hours
add 1 tsp salt and cook for another hour
unplug or put on warm setting

Betsy's Burritos (or Terrific Tostadas)

40 weeks, two days and no baby yet!

So on to other things....

My ultimate comfort food. My mom's pinto beans. We had them in burritos growing up but now I use them for lots of our favorite dinners.

Place in a slow cooker:
4 cups pinto beans
10 cups water
cook on high 4 hours until tender
Saute:
olive oil
2 onions
1 bell pepper
3-4 chile peppers (seeded for a milder dish)
2 Tsps cumin
2 Tsps coriander
Add above to slow cooker along with
1 tsp salt
4 chopped tomatoes
Cook on low until ready to eat/assemble

For burritos:
Roll beans, cheese and cilantro in whole wheat tortilla and top with sour cream and salsa

For tostadas:
cook corn tortillas in a 350 oven for 10-15 minutes on a cookie sheet with an inverted cooling rack on top of them to keep them from curling
Top with beans, cilantro, cabbage, lime, feta and salsa

Other Yummies:
Use as a filling for Tamale Pie (recipe soon), Tacos, etc.

17 Bean and Barley Soup

Thank goodness for Trader Joe's. We love that place. I picked up a bag of their 17 Bean and Barley Mix and we are making the soup recipe on the back. We soaked the beans overnight and all day but this would make a great slow cooker recipe, soaking them overnight and then adding the other ingredients in the morning to cook all day while you play.

17 Bean and Barley Soup:

One bag bean and barley mix or 2 cups mixed beans
Soak overnight or quick soak (boil and rest for one hour)

saute:
2 tsps olive oil
1 cup onion chopped
1 cup carrot chopped
1 cup celery chopped
**TJ's also sells the above Mirepoix chopped and ready to go in the produce section**
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 tsp basil
1 clove garlic chopped
add to drained beans along with one 32 oz vegetable broth, you may need to add more broth or water to keep beans covered as they cook
simmer for one hour+
add chopped tomatoes
s+p
**tomatoes and salt keep beans from cooking so only add when beans are tender**
serve with crusty bread and a fresh salad

Our lettuce is growing faster than we can eat it. I severely cut back the outer leaves the other day, enough lettuce for five big salads, and they had already grown back yesterday. We will prune again tomorrow!!

Tomato update for those keeping track: the Texas Cages arrived today! We did a happy dance when UPS pulled up.

Basic Black Beans and Chilaquiles

We bought epazote to put in the garden this week but I was pleasantly surprised today when I found a volunteer plant in the strawberry/asparagus bed to harvest from for this. This is a basic bean recipe revised from Rick Bayless (LOVE him) that every mexican household always has brewing. I put the beans in the slow cooker this morning and added the onion when we got back from the garden.

Basic Black Beans:
3 cups dried black beans
7 cups water
cook on low in slow cooker 6 hours or until tender
saute
1 onion
2 Tsps olive oil until golden brown
add to beans with
1 spring epazote
1 tsp salt
cook on low 1 hour

remove half of the beans for Gracie and other meals

Chilaquiles:
add 2 chipotle chiles in adobe (which I always have in the freezer) diced
remove epazote sprig
bend with immersion blened to make it a bit soupy
add 8 corn tortillas cut into pieces (I LOVE the TJ's handmade tortillas and try to have them in the freezer)
cover and cook until tender

serve with creme fraiche/sour cream/yogurt drizzled over
crumbled feta
diced avocado

15 Minute Tuscan Bean Soup

We are spending more and more time at the garden now that it is planting season. That means I have less and less time to cook wholesome, healthy meals for the family. I am also trying to plan for the days to come when I will have even less time to spend on food. Inspired by Simple Lovely's posts about her family's favorite meal of white navy beans (but without a recipe to work with)  and my favorite cookbook (thanks mom!) Moosewood's Daily Specials...here is how today panned out for us.

In the morning:

I threw 3 cups of navy beans and 6 cups of water into the slow cooker on low.

We spent the morning planting in the garden. Heaven.

We came  home to cooked beans and to take a nap.

As Gracie napped I sauteed:

1 onion
4 cloves garlic
half a bag of carrots (1 1/2 cups+/-)
s+p

I added that to the slow cooker with:

1 capful (2 tsps?) sage

Now it is cooking (warm setting) until Ryan gets home and we are ready to eat. Maybe with sliced tomatoes, crusty bread and TJ's new batch of California Estate Olive Oil. Buon appetito!

UPDATE:

An EMPTY plate! Amazing.