Black bean soup

Black bean soup is one of my most preferred soup for Dinner. Its so filling and easy to make !

Ingredients:

* 1 onion, finely chopped
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 Vegetable/chicken broth carton ( then don't have to add water) or
1 small chicken/veg bouillon cubes
* 1/4 large red bell pepper, finely chopped
* 1-1 1/2 cup boiling water
* 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon cumin
* 1/2 lemon, juice of
* 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch (optional)
* 1/2 chilli powder ( as desired )
* 1 tsp Olive oil (optional)

Directions:

1. In a pot, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil or combine the first five ingredients; simmer for 10 -15 minutes.

2. Add half a can of beans, salt and cumin; cook for 5 minutes.

3. Puree soup ie press the bean down using a flat spoon or use a blender

4. Add the rest of the beans to the soup.

5. combine the cornstarch with 1 1/2 tablespoons of water.

6. Add the lemon and the cornstarch to the soup; cook until thickened.

Dress up: For crisp lovers, add the crispy corn tortilla chips just before u serve. You could also add coriander leaves / grated cheese.

Last weekend, I started off to make brownies then decided why not make brownie bites (my creation !). I thought it didn't come out well but over time I loved it. Will post the recipe soon.

I STALKED the soup ( pun intended! ;-) )

Last time (almost 2 years ago) I had encountered a particular debacle with my soup making. I had attempted the mixer to pulp the scorching hot veggies straight off the pressure cooker, only to have the steaming pieces go haywire and splash on my face. I had however escaped with a few burn scars and caused everyone around a near heart-attack with my screeching!

Hence, I never braved myself to try soups again for a long time; until last week, when I went for minestrone like soup which didn’t require the mixer. My soup-making-soul was kindled and to top it, I have gleefully hit common grounds with N on a soupy dinner love. Going forward, I have decided to make at least one dinner per fortnight supplemented with a hot soup!

This week’s veggie soup seems a lot healthier, for I deviously dumped in it the broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage stalks, which we otherwise throw, for the fear of turning into cows chewing cuds! :P

                                  Colorful veggies for the soup! :)

Recipe –

*  Stir fry Cuds/stalks/all veggies you dig or don’t like to eat in the original form in a spoon of olive oil.

*  Throw in (in Ratatouille style) couple of broken red chillies, few peppercorns, basil leaves, ginger and garlic  to taste and breathe in the green flavor combined with spices!

*  Add tomato in the end, before removing the veggies from the stove, so that it’s semi-cooked.

*  Let them cool down (wait for about an hour!)

*  Add them to the mixer and pulp it adding as little water as possible.

*  In a heavy bottom vessel, add a small scoop of butter. Splutter jeera seeds (optional)

*  Add the pulp to this and enough water to get a soupy consistency. Add salt to taste.

*  Let it simmer with tiny almost-boiling bubbles for about 10 to 15 min.

Serve hot smeared with crushed pepper and oregano flakes.

Note: Add atleast 2 tomatoes to get the tangy touch. I also added the pineapple hard center, which is not otherwise eaten, to give a tinge of sweetness to the soup.

So the next time, before you throw away that hard stalk, think again!

Please share other thoughts on the parts we throw away but are the most nutritious. I recently read about potatoes having most of the good nutrients in the skin. So I am thinking of attempting cooking them with the skin the next time!

Hope everyone is eating healthy and working harder!
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Noteworthy - Guess who has graced us with her presence and involvement in the blog by signing up for the miles?? I will keep you at bay and leave a small clue - the beacon of vegetarianism among us who does not like vegetables! :)

Spinach soup

This is a twist on the traditional Palak panner that packs a punch & is just as if not more yum! Sudan & I licked our bowls clean when I made this last time, so here goes:

For two servings you will need:

1. two green chillies
2. one ripe tomato
3. Half a red onion
4. a few peppercorns
5. two pods of Garlic
6. A cup of spinach
7. a few cloves & cinnamon
8. A tablespoon of cream (optional, but it does make it more yum!)
7. Salt to taste
8. Oil

Add a tablespoon of oil & saute the spinach until it is cooked. Blend to a lush green paste.
Puree tomatoes to a fine paste
Chop the garlic, onions & green chillies finely & saute in oil with cloves & cinnamon.
Add the pureed tomatoes & salt to the mix & cook to a boil.
Powder the peppercorn & add to the mix.
Finally add the spinach & the cream & heat for 5 minutes. You should not overcook the spinach.

Enjoy with dippable bread sticks!

The soup that made itself!

The day was a perfect soup day, except for my mind-numbing drive back from work in the heavy snow! The snow is not so magical when you are behind the wheel and worse when all you have is AR Rahman for company! :(

But I managed to reach home safe and sound and make the soup that made a hearty dinner!
Let me call it the medley soup, for I used whatever I could find in the refrigerator, the snow having thwarted my grocery shopping plans!
So here goes...

Ingredients -
All the wonderful veggies you can find. I added -
1. Tomatoes - 5 to 6 small
2. one large onion
3. one yellow beet
4. handful shredded cabbage
5. Carrot - one large
6. Bell peppers - half
7. garlic - 4 to 5 flakes, cut finely
8. ginger - one inch cube, cut finely
9. one small cup - mixed lentils. I used black-eyed peas and kidney beans
10. A bunch of basil and handful cut cilantro
11. Parsley/oregano flakes
12. Red chilly flakes
13. Ground black pepper - 1 tsp
14. butter - 2 cm slice cuboid

Procedure

* Add the butter to the heavy bottom pressure pan.
* add 2 tsp of olive oil.
* once the oil-butter mix sizzles, dribble parsley, organo and red chilly flakes in comfortable quantity. You can feel the flavor from the strength of the aroma.
* to this add the cut garlic and ginger.
* Saute the onions until light golden brown
* Add all the veggies and lentils except tomato and cabbage
* Keep adding parsley or basil as required at this stage.
* Once the veggies are sufficiently smothered with the flakes, place tomatoes cut by four and spread the cabbage on top.
* Now drop the ground black pepper and remaining basil leaves
* Add enough water to just sink all the veggies.
* Add enough salt and pressure cook for 5 to 6 whistles.

Tada... Serve hot with cut cilantro and lightly fried cut bread in olive oil.

The main ingredients are - parsley, basil, oregano and crushed black pepper!They give the aroma and flavor!

Enjoy!!!

(Chicken) Egg drop Soup

To commemorate the occasion of National Soup month and also being an ardent fan of soups(I even bought a soup recipe book long ago!), I decided to go on a soup dinner tonight despite of a not-so-interested-about-soups husband.. lucky for me, the weather is in my favor :D

While I was going through the recipe book to pick a soup, I was in a fix.. there were about 500 varieties! And the ingredients were from all over the world representing different climates and cultures.. I did not even hear about soups served cold till I came to the USofA. When I was really young and was introduced to the we-dine-out-of-home-for-special-occasions-only culture, the only two soups I used to see on the menu in the restaurants of Tirupati were the Tomato soup and the Veg/Chicken Egg drop soup aka Sweet corn soup. So I decided to make my favorite soup of childhood :)

Ingredients:

• Creamed style sweet corn can (you can find it in the canned food section)
• Chicken breast (cut into small pieces)- one
  
• Corn starch (not cornmeal)- 2tbspn
  
• Egg whites - 2
  
• Salt to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 4 cups water
  

Procedure:

• Boil the water in a pan.
• After the water boils, salt it and add the sweet corn from the tin.
• Let it boil again. Now add the chicken breast meat and let it boil till it cooks(for about 3 mins)
• Mix the cornstarch in a separate bowl with a tbspn of water and add this to the soup. You will notice that the soup thickens.. you can always add some more or less cornstarch depending on how you like the consistency of the soup but always remember to keep stirring the soup continuously while adding the thickening agent(cornstarch) so no lumps would form.
• Add the Egg white and whisk it in the bowl so there will be no big chunks of egg. Egg whites cook very quick so this step can also be done with the flame switched off.
• Finally add freshly ground black pepper and Enjoy!

Note:

• This soup should serve about four people as a meal.
  
• As this belongs to the family of Chinese soups, it can be served with soy sauce, chili vinegar and the likes as enjoyed by you.
• For a vegetarian version, cut carrots and green beans into very small cubes(chewable) and add it to the boiling water after step1 and boil it till they cook.. the rest would be the same in both cases except of-course you skip the chicken and egg in your soup.

Be it a homemade or canned or a takeout, lets keep the soups coming for the last week left in the month!

Till then enjoy your bowl of hearty soup!