Taco Soup

It's been a little cooler this last week and I've made several soups. I soaked kidney beans the other day and decided to make Taco Soup with them. This was a hearty, filling soup and you can play around with the ingredients that you like. This is my version.

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup TVP (textured vegetable protein)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium green bell pepper, finely diced
• 3 cups cooked or canned kidney beans (if using canned then rinse and drain) 
• One 14.5-ounce can petite diced tomatoes (undrained)
• 1 can Rotel, undrained
• 1 cup corn (I used frozen) 
• 2 teaspoons chili powder, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

Boil the cup of the water and pour over the TVP. Let sit 5-10 minutes to reconstitute.

Add all of the ingredients to your slow-cooker.

Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or on high for 4-5.

Serve with any garnishes you desire: hot sauce, cheese, scallions, tortilla chips, etc. (I added some Frank's hot sauce and a little salt.)

Enjoy!!

Butternut Squash Bisque

I had a butternut squash in the pantry that needed to be used and had this recipe from Better Homes and Gardens. I made it vegan and wish I had posted it before Christmas so people could have given it a try. It would be delicious as a first course followed by your main dish and then dessert. This is so flavorful and is worth every moment of making it.
TIP - to make peeling your squash easier: 1) poke it 6-8 times with a paring knife, 2) place on paper towel, 3) microwave for 1 minute, flip and microwave for 1 more minute.

• 1 2 1/2 - 3 pound butternut squash 
• 1/4 cup vegan margarine
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, coarsely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large Gala apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• 48 ounces vegetable broth
• 1 cup apple cider
• 2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup Toffuti sour cream

Peel, seed, and cube butternut squash. In 6-qt. Dutch oven melt butter over medium-high heat. Add fresh squash, onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Add apples, broth, cider, and peppers. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover; simmer 25 minutes or until vegetables and apples are tender.

Remove from heat; cool slightly. When slightly cooled, puree in pot using an immersion blender. (Or puree in batches in a blender; return soup to saucepan.)

Blend in sour cream.

Makes 8 servings.

Black Bean Chilie Dip

I knew I was going to need a snack for the football games today. I had the recipe this was based on sitting on the bar and decided to veg-anise this dip. It didn't require much tweeking and is really delicious. I served it with organic corn tortilla chips. It also reheats easily in the microwave.

• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed, drained 
• 1/2 cup frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
• 1/3 cup salsa
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• Cooking spray
• 4 ounces Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds
• 1 can chopped green chilies

Preheat oven to 375°F. Put drained beans in a bowl and gently mash some of the beans with a fork.

Combine beans and next 4 ingredients.

Mix well.

Pour into a greased pie plate.

Sprinkle with cheese and green chilies.

Cover and bake at 375°F for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and filling is bubbly. Uncover and cook an additional 5 minutes.

Serve with tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Salsa Verde

I love to use green salsa on enchiladas and in some soups/stews. My local store had tomatillos last weekend (a rarity in my small town) so I scooped them up to make salsa verde which ended up in some awesome enchiladas. This salsa has no oil in it and can be made hotter by adding more jalapenoes.  This version is pretty mild. This recipe can be split in half if you don't need this much salsa. I haven't tried to freeze it but I think it would freeze well.

• 20 tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed, halved
• 1 head garlic, cloves separated and paper skins removed
• 2 medium Vidalia onions, skin removed, quartered
• 1 large bunch fresh cilantro
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 large jalapeno, seeds removed (leave them in if  you want hot)
• 1 can Hatch green chiles, drained
• juice from 2 limes

Cover two cookies sheets in aluminum foil and turn on the broiler. Place onions, jalapenos and tomatillos onto cookie sheets.

Broil veggies for about 5 minutes, then turn and broil the other side for another 5.

Add 1 tray of the roasted veggies into a food processor and pulse 4-5 times. (My food processor couldn't handle all of it at once - so I worked in two batches).

Add half of the remainder of the ingredients and pulse until the desired consistency. You may need to scrape down the side of the bowl.

Pour contents into a bowl. Repeat with the second cookie sheet of veggies and the rest of the ingredients. Mix well once you dump it all into the bowl.

The salsa can be used immediately, but is better the next day after the flavors have a chance to marry.

Vegetable Soup

Okay so the last soup recipe was full of canned stuff, this one is full of fresh veggies. And, like a big dummy I forgot to take the picture of the ingredients laid out on the counter. Duh! Anyway, this is a yummy, fast vegetable soup recipe and as usual you can sub out for whatever you have in the frig.

1/2 Vidalia onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 yellow squash, diced
1 large tomato, diced
2 small potatoes, diced
5 cups water
1 vegetable bouillon cube
3/4 cup small pasta (elbows, alphabets, shells, anything small)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
pinch of sugar
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

In a large pot heat 1/4 cup water, steam onions until soft.

Add the rest of the vegetables, saute for 2-3 minutes.

Add water, bouillon cube, pasta and tomato paste.

Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium heat, simmer for 10 or so minutes.

Season with balsamic, sugar and seasoning.

Enjoy! I added a good shot of Frank's hot sauce to spice mine up a bit.

Black Bean & Salsa Noodle Soup

I love soup and made this a couple of weeks ago. I've been so busy with Thanksgiving, my birthday, Jack's birthday and now his retirement that I've not blogged as much as I had hoped to. However, I made this like a said a few weeks ago and took pics so I could blog it. You must make this super duper easy and fast soup. I know it's a lot of canned stuff, but that is one reason it's so fast to make. Feel free to load it with some fresh veg instead. As with all recipes you can substitute the type of noodles you have on hand, use frozen corn or canned, This was delicious, just remember that when soup contains pasta the pasta continues to absorb the juice so if you have leftovers you will have big fat noodles and need to add more broth. This was adapted from Betty Crocker.

• 3 cans (14 oz each) vegetable broth
• 1 jar (16 oz) Thick 'n Chunky salsa
• 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained, rinsed
• 1 cup whole kernel corn, drained (if frozen you don't need to thaw)
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 5 oz elbow noodles (or whatever you have, uncooked
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

In 4-quart Dutch oven, heat broth to boiling. Stir in remaining ingredients except pasta.

Return to a boil, add pasta.

Cook according to the length of time suggested on your package of pasta. My elbows required about 6 minutes. 

 Fast, yummy and warms you up from the inside out!

Vegetable Enchilada Casserole

This enchilada dish was really easy to throw together by using canned beans. I know, I know, but sometimes you just have to use up some of your pantry items and shave some time off of dinner prep. This was a delicious deconstructed enchilada casserole and the leftovers reheated well. Give it try!

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 Vidalia onion, chopped
• 1/3 pound baby spinach
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 can (19 oz.) red enchilada sauce
• 12 all-corn taco sized tortillas, quartered
• 1 can vegetarian refried beans
• 1 can black bean, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup Diaya shredded cheddar cheese
• 6 tablespoons chopped green onions

Preheat oven to 375°. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes.

Add spinach and cook, stirring as needed, until almost completely wilted.

Add corn and cook until hot. Set aside.

Using a 9- by 13-in. baking dish spread one-third of the enchilada sauce over bottom.

Top with one-third of tortillas and all of the black beans.

Sprinkle on one-third of cheese and spoon on mounds of the refried beans.

Add another one-third of tortillas.

Top with another third of the enchilada sauce.

Add the mixed vegetables and the rest of the tortillas.

Top with the remaining enchilada sauce and sprinkle on the remaining cheese.

Bake enchiladas until bubbling, cheese is melted, and tortillas are starting to brown on edges, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with green onions.