Mom’s 16 Bean Soup

I can’t take credit for this one. It’s 100% my ole’ Mom’s creation. She made it last week when I was home, and I ate it for (no joke) three meals in a row. It’s completely vegan, but you wouldn’t know it. It tastes like there are gobs of butter and oil in it. Really rich and hearty and (per usual) VERY easy to whip up.

What You Need:

One bag of Goya 16 Bean Mix (not entirely sure where to find this in NY/the States. I stocked up while I was home. I know Whole Foods sells something similar in the bulk section, but for reference, the bag looks like this.) Soak the beans overnight.

2 large carrots diced

3 stalks of celery diced

1 medium yellow onion diced

1 large sweet potato, peeled, cubed and soaked in bowl of water

8 cups veg (or chicken) bouillon plus 1 cup on reserve

Olive Oil

1 tbsp oregano

Two cloves garlic minced or grated

What You Do:

In a large pot, heat two tablespoons of olive oil and sautee the onions, carrots, celery and garlic until soft. Add oregano.

Add the beans (already soaked overnight), into the pot as well as the 8 cups of bouillon. Bring to a boil, cover, and let simmer for 1 hour. After the hour, add the sweet potato pieces. Add salt and pepper to taste, re-cover and continue simmering for an additional hour. At this point, make sure the sweet potatoes are cooked (easy to pierce with a fork), and you’re done!

Kitchen Cleanout: Veggies and Beans

We’re going out of town this weekend – Charleston, SC to be exact. I’m pretty excited. I went last year for the fourth of July and it was, to directly quote some of us as we lounged in the lake, beers in hand: “THE BEST FOURTH OF JULY OF OUR LIVES!” (truth.) So, naturally, I’m ready to relive it.

In honor of leaving for three days, I decided to skip grocery shopping this week (!) and make do with whatever I have in my fridge. There’s a bunch of stuff in there as well as in the pantry that’s been sitting around for too long, so this is the week it’s all going to be eaten.

Tonight was pretty simple: tofu, frozen bell peppers + onion mix, canned latin style black beans, microwaveable brown rice. Fancy? Hells no. Really good anyway? Mmmhm.

I won’t bore you with the details of exactly how we cooked the frozen vegetables (on the stove) or how we “prepared” the beans (in the microwave), but I will say it was a successful meal. We set out a bunch of different sides, mixed them all together, added in a bunch of chopped up cilantro, smothered everything in hot sauce, and voila –  a lazy Monday night dinner.

Quick White Bean Salad

I had this for the first time at a potluck we had at our office and it was one of my favorite dishes there. It’s nothing fancy by any  means – probably took me a whole 3 minutes to put together, but it’s really, really good.  Anyway, I asked the girl who made it to send me the recipe — here it is!

What You Need:

1 14.5-ounce can white beans, drained but not rinsed

2 Tbsp chopped red onion

A squeeze of lemon juice

2 teaspoons wine vinegar (red or white)

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon dry herbs de provence (crumbled) OR 1 teaspoon of some combination of finely chopped rosemary, tarragon, thyme, and lavender

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

What You Do:

After you chop up the onion, squeeze a little lemon juice over it and let it sit for a few minutes while you prepare everything else.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl, add the onion/lemon juice mixture and YOU’RE DONE! you can either serve it right away, or refrigerate it so that the flavors really soak into the beans.

This thing is REALLY easy (as you can probably tell) and delicious. Perfect for a side dish, or over a salad, or as a snack or… for anything really.Enjoy!

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Stew

Sweet potato and black beans. I ask you — WHAT could be any better?! I saw this recipe and immediately knew I had to make it. It’s super easy – it only requires a handful of ingredients and is one of things that when you taste, you’re blown away because it tastes THAT good. I honestly can’t emphasize how simple, easy, filling and flavorful this was. make it, make it MAKE IT (mom, i’m talking to you!)

What you need:
3 Tbsps. Olive Oil
1 C. chopped yellow onion
1 red Bell Pepper, seeded and chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. Chili Powder
1 1/2 C. diced peeled Sweet Potato (about 6 oz.)
1 can Mexican style stewed tomatoes (14-16 oz.)
1 can Black beans
3 Tbsps. chopped cilantro
1/2 tsps. Tabasco or Hot Pepper Sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste (optional)

What you do:

1) In a large saucepan heat olive oil. Add the onion, red pepper,
and garlic. Cook over medium heat until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chili powder and cook 1 minute. Add 1 cup water and sweet potato. Cover and cook until potatoes can be pierced with a sharp knife, about 10 – 12 minutes.

2) Transfer everything into a large saucepan. Add the stewed tomatoes and beans, breaking the tomatoes up into smaller chunks with the side of the spoon. Add another cup of water.  Simmer the stew uncovered over medium-low heat until the potato is very tender, about 8 minutes.

3) Stir in cilantro and season with Tabasco and salt and pepper (if desired). I also threw in some red pepper flakes at the end – definitely taste as you go. this recipe has a ton of natural flavors and only needs minimal seasoning.

Note: while the title of this recipe is technically “stew” I would liken the finished product to more of a “chili”, consistency wise. If you wanted it to be a bit more “stewy”, I suppose you could add additional water, by why mess with something that’s perfect already, right?!

original recipe from ppk.

Black Bean and Edamame Veggie Burgers

tonight we attempted something never done before in my kitchen: VEGGIE BURGERS!

i found a simple recipe online, and it turned out GREAT. really easy to make, and pretty adapatable as well. i read that the recipe made a lot of burgers, and seeing as there was only two of us, i halved the entire recipe and we were left with 3 medium sized patties. another moderation i made: instead of using all black beans i used 75% black beans, 25% edamame.

we added on ketchup, lettuce, sliced red onion, tomato and jalapeno to the burger and had it on whole wheat bread.

definitely will be making these again!