Shortcut Black Bean Soup with Sausage

Admittedly, I haven't been cooking a lot lately.  Alex has been working irregular schedules - overnights for a week - till 2 one day - a 14 hour shift until 9 pm the next - and frankly it's just easier to work through leftovers and frozen food so that I can heat my dinner at 6 and he can heat his at whatever ungodly hour he gets home.

This routine does, however, make for pretty non-existent blogging.

And if I'm being honest, my newfound addiction to Pinterest has me browsing and pinning more recipes than I'm cooking....  Maybe I have to come up with some sort of rule: no more pinning recipes until I've tried five more new ones...

Then again, that doesn't sound very fun, so maybe not...

We finally got some winter weather here in Cincinnati, and I found myself craving some hot soup.  The additional benefit with soup is that it can be made earlier in the day and reheated when Alex gets home late.  So it seemed a happy compromise to make this month.

I decided to go back to the old-school method of finding a recipe and turned to my cookbooks, finally finding one to try in my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook: Bridal Edition.

Recipe:
2 15-ounce cans black beans (can also be made with 1 cup dry black beans but this adds a lot of time for cooking the beans prior to making the soup)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 cup chopped onion (1 large onion)
1 cup chopped celery (2 stalks)
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces cooked turkey or chicken sausage

Optional Toppings: sour cream, shredded cheese, chopped fresh cilantro etc...

Rinse and drain two cans of black beans.  In a large sauce pan or Dutch oven combine beans, broth, water, onion, celery, coriander, salt, cayenne pepper, and garlic.   Bring to a boil.

Cover, reduce heat, and simmer about 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Stir in sausage, heat through.

Serve with optional toppings.  Makes 4-6 servings.

Verdict:
It was ok.  If I were to make it again, I would definitely make some modifications.  It could have used some carrots.  Which would mean cooking it slightly longer.  And possibly adding the celery a bit later because that was perfectly cooked, and I hate mushy celery.  I think 1 large onion is way too much.  Don't get me wrong, the onion tasted good.  Somewhat sweet.  But there was more onion than anything else.  Half an onion would do it for me.

Honestly, if it were made again for me, I would eat it.  But I don't think I would choose to make this again when there are so many other options (both old favorites and new possibilities).  All in all, kind of disappointing for the only new recipe I've made in a week.

I have something better for tomorrow.  Promise.

Individual Chocolate Cake

Chocolate cake has never been my favorite thing.  I love chocolate, and I love cake, but if I'm picking a cake, 99.9% of the time, I'll pick a non-chocolate variety.

Then again, sometimes a girl's just gotta have some chocolate, and this is an easy, quick, and delicious way to get that fix!

Recipe: (from Sweet Peas and Pumpkins)
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
1/4 cup skim milk
2 tablespoons oil
a small splash of vanilla

Add dry ingredients to a large, microwave safe mug and mix well.

In a separate bowl, mix the egg, milk, oil, and vanilla.  Pour into the mug and mix well.

Microwave on high for 3 minutes.  Remove from microwave and turn mug upside down over a plate.

Let cool and eat. (A la mode would be great!  I added chocolate chips to Alex's mug and mint chocolate Andes pieces to mine.)

Verdict:
Obviously this is not going to fool anyone into thinking they've had a gourmet dessert.  Still, for a non-chocolate cake lover, it was pretty good.  Warm.  Gooey.  Single-serving sized, so I didn't feel like I had a ton of leftover dessert calling my name for days....  Easy to make and all ingredients I typically have on hand.  Definitely something I'll keep in mind the next time I 'need' a chocolate fix!

Asparagus, Goat Cheese, and Lemon Pasta (Semi-Fail)

Because Facebook, online "shopping," and the vast collections of blogs I read everyday aren't enough, I have added a new addiction: Pinterest.  Oh my.  To those of you who haven't found it yet, I should probably tell you to resist and enjoy your current level of productivity.  And, you know, real life.  But I won't.  It's never really fun being a good influence.  You should start investigating it today.  And then spend the rest of your life trying to find/implement/imitate other people's genius ideas.  Because some people are seriously so creative.  It's astounding.  (Those people probably didn't spend three hours on their Saturday morning browsing other people's creativity and instead created their own.  Details.)

I have found so many amazing ideas for the house I don't yet own.  And even more ideas for the house I can only dream about owning.  And every time I shout out to my husband, "Guess what I just pinned?!" he groans, sprouts another gray hair, and visualizes our bank account declining.  (Then he goes back to his video game.  I'm not the only one with addictions.)

And it's another avenue for expanding my bank of "Must Try" recipes.  (This at least Alex appreciates with no hesitation.)  I love that the browsing is entirely visual.  As much as I like to read, I need a picture of a recipe to fall in love with it.  I've started a board with many, many, many recipes, and I'm sure I'll have many more - but I just couldn't wait to try this one.

Recipe: (from Smitten Kitchen via Pinterest)

(Disclaimer: My end result did not mirror the result shown on the original recipe.)

1 pound spiral shaped pasta (I used Barilla Plus)
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 to 1 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon peel
2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon (which I did not have, so I used basil)
1 5 to 5 1/2 ounce log soft fresh goat cheese (I scoured the cheese display at the grocery store and plain old goat cheese was nowhere to be found.  I found Asiago Goat Cheese and used it.  This may have contributed to my later problems.)
Fresh lemon juice to taste (optional)

Cook your pasta in a large pot of well-salted water for 2-3 minutes less than the package directions.  Add asparagus the last 2-3 minutes, until firm tender.  Drain both pasta and asparagus together, reserving about one cup of the pasta water.

While pasta and asparagus are cooking, combine olive oil, lemon peel, tarragon, and goat cheese (crumbled) in a large bowl.

 Add hot pasta and asparagus to the bowl and a few splashes of the hot pasta water.  Stir well to combine, adding more pasta if needed.  Season generously with salt and pepper and lemon juice if desired (I squeezed in the juice from a quarter of the lemon).

It should look like this:

(OK, so I can't figure out how to get someone else's image on my page so.... If you want to know what it was supposed to look like, click here.)

But mine looked like this:

Verdict:
Well.  First of all, I clearly had a problem with the melting of the cheese.  Apparently Asiago Goat Cheese does not melt as easily as plain old goat cheese.  Or at all.  I was a little panicked because essentially I had cheese, vegetables, and noodles with no sauce.  Yum?  No.  Since we had to eat, and we had to eat this, I improvised and added a little garlic salt, a little basil, a little more olive oil, a little more basil....

I also cooked up a few mushrooms for myself and added them to my bowl separately.  If you like mushrooms and decide to try this recipe, I recommend!

The slightly modified version of the dish was tasty.  Not what I had intended but that happens.  Would I try it again?  Possibly.  But there are other versions of similar pastas that I've made recently that I like better (Lemon Caper Pasta and Chicken and Asparagus Pasta for example), and I'd definitely wait until I had actual goat cheese for a re-do.

On the plus side, this can be made very quickly (you know, if you don't have a stove that takes 45 minutes to boil water) and uses very few pots and pans.  Cooking the veggies in the same pot as the pasta?  Pure genius.  And it's versatile.  Other veggies.  Mushrooms.  Chicken.  Endless possibilities.

Better luck to you if you give this a go!

Sweet Potato Oven Fries

Who doesn't like fries?

Exactly.

But most of us know that the McDonald's version doesn't hit very high on the health-o-meter.  Enter baked sweet potato fries.  Genius.  The additional health benefits of a sweet potato minus the negative affects of fried food.  Everyone's a winner.

I've had many, many versions of sweet potato fries in my time, but the fries served at my Williams-Sonoma class were the best ever.  Follow this recipe, and you may never be able to stomach McD's fries again.

Recipe:  (from Healthy in a Hurry - Williams-Sonoma)

orange-fleshed sweet-potatoes, 2 pounds (Since they are not peeled, use organic if possible.)
olive oil, 2 tablespoons
coarse sea salt, 1/4 teaspoon
Parmesan cheese, 3 tablespoons (freshly grated if possible)
fresh flat-leaf parsley, 2 tablespoons, chopped
garlic, 1 clove, minced*

Makes 6 servings.  Adjust accordingly for smaller amount of potatoes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Scrub, rinse, and dry sweet potatoes; do not peel.  Cut lenghtwise into slices 1/2 inch thick, then cut each slice into batons about 1/4 inch wide and 3 inches long. (Those directions straight from the cookbook.  My Version: Cut the potato so it looks like fries.  You know what fries look like people.)

Pile potatoes on a large rimmed baking sheet and toss with olive oil and salt.  Spread in pan in a single layer.  Roast, stirring with heatproof spatula midway through baking time, until tender and edges are nicely browned, 20-25 minutes.

In a large bowl, stir together Parmesan, parsley, and garlic until well mixed.  Add fries and toss gently to coat.  Serve right away.

*The cookbook says 'if you're not a fan of raw garlic - feel free to omit' and obviously, you can.  But really, really consider giving it a try.  I think it was the best part.

Verdict:
If you've ever seen me eat fries (sweet potato or otherwise) or hamburgers or hotdogs or fish sticks or chicken nuggets, you probably realize that I pretty much view them as a socially acceptable vehicle for consuming massive amounts of ketchup.  I am a ketchup fiend.

In this case, ketchup would ruin the fries.  These are so, so, so damn good.  These will absolutely be a feature in my kitchen from now on.  I predict making this so often that someday I won't even need to check the cookbook.

When does grilling season get here?

As far as nutrition facts go, they are 180 calories per serving with 4 grams of protein, 31 grams of carbs, 5 grams of fat, no cholesterol, 5 grams of fiber, and 210 mg of sodium.

Sweet Potatoes are packed with beta-carotene and Vitamin A.  They are rich in fiber and potassium linked to heart health.  When paired with healthy fats, like the olive oil used here, the absorption of the nutrients is enhanced.  The parmesan cheese used brings in a source of calcium and, because it is so strongly flavored, you use much less than other cheese, thus reducing the overall fat and sodium.

Kale Chips with Sea Salt and Smoked Paprika

If you had told me six months ago that I would dream of the next time I could eat kale, I would have laughed at you.  Laughed so hard that milk snorted out of my nose.

Then when I went to my class at Williams-Sonoma, the very first thing they served us was kale chips.  I was hesitant and wondering how I could get out of eating the first course politely.  But I was starving.  Then I realized they were made with smoked paprika.  And as previously discussed, smoked paprika makes anything taste good.  Anything.

So I ate one.  Then another.  Then like 100 more.  Good thing they are only about 3 calories each.

I needed a side dish for the pulled pork sandwiches, and it's always a good thing to have something green with dinner, so homemade kale chips were up again.

Recipe: (from Healthy in a Hurry - Williams-Sonoma)
curly or dinosaur kale, 1 bunch (approx. 1/2 pound)
olive oil, 2 tablespoons
smoked paprika, 1/4 teaspoon
coarse sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon

(This makes 4 servings.  They don't save particularly well, so only make what you think will be eaten.)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Rinse kale well and blot dry thoroughly with a clean kitchen towel.  Tear leaves from ribs; discard ribs.  Using your hands, tear leaves into fairly large, appealing chip-size pieces.

Place kale in a bowl and sprinkle with olive oil, paprika, and salt.  Using your hands, toss to coat evenly with oil and seasoning.

Arrange leaves in a single layer on 2 baking sheets.  Bake, rotating pans top to bottom and back to front midway through baking time, until leaves are dry and crispy, about 25 minutes.

Serve right away; kale chips are best eaten within a few hours.

Verdict:
Yes.  They are that good.  Yes.  They look scary.  They.  Are.  Worth.  The leap.

If you are craving salty snacks, these will satisfy. Possibly even better than a potato chip.  And definitely better for you.

According to the cookbook, per serving these are 90 calories, 2 grams of protein, 6 grams of carbs, 7 grams of fat, no cholesterol, 1 gram of fiber, and 270 mg of sodium.  Kale is a spectacular source of antioxidants known to prevent cancer and promote eye health and detoxification.  It has a boatload of vitamins A, C, and K and provides and easily absorbed form of calcium.

This recipe works for me as a delicious side-dish, an appetizer, or even an afternoon snack.  I just wish they could be saved in an airtight container.  That would be much more convenient for an afternoon snack.

(Check frequently, especially if cooking only one tray.  They can easily and quickly be overcooked.)