Black bean soup two ways

I love to cook and often become happily obsessed with trying new recipes. That said, I can also be rather lazy. When the slug in me wins out (but my appetite remains voracious), my saving grace is the much maligned leftover. I LOVE leftovers!! I cook, for example, a big batch of spicy black bean soup and freeze a portion of it for future hectic Wednesdays or boozy football Sundays. I eat said soup, eat it again (and probably again-I have a high tolerance for repetition and, luckily, so does my boyfriend). Then, when I finally tire of eating the same old delicious soup, I use it to make a brand-spanking-new dish. Enter baked potato skins with black beans and three cheeses. Then I retire to the couch.














Chipotle Black Bean Soup
Serves a small army

olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 7.5 oz. can chipotles in adobo sauce, chopped (this will be messy:)
4 15 oz. cans black beans, drained, and divided in half
2 28 oz. cans whole peeled tomatoes
hot water
2 bay leaves
4-5 sprigs cilantro, plus more for garnish
salt to taste

optional garnish: chopped cilantro, cheese (I like cojito or feta), sour cream, avocado, toasted pepitas, etc.

• In a large stock pot over moderate heat, use enough oil to coat bottom and cook onions and peppers until soft, about 10-15 minutes. Salt onion mixture to taste.
• Add chipotles and adobo sauce, and then half the black beans. Stir to coat beans with oil and adobo. Again, add salt to taste.
• Add tomatoes and enough hot water to cover beans by about two inches (your pinkie is a good measuring stick). Turn heat to high and bring to a slow boil, stirring often.
• Once soup has boiled, turn heat down to medium low, add bay leaves and cilantro and cook for about an hour. Again, salt to taste.
• Remove bay leaves and cilantro and puree soup until it's almost smooth. I highly recommend that you get an immersion blender, if you don't have one, because they are super handy. If not, puree the soup in batches in your standing blender. Make sure not to fill your blender more than half way unless you want to wear your soup!
• Add remaining black beans and cook until they're warmed through, 15-20 minutes. Add salt, one last time, if necessary.
• Serve hot and enjoy!

A quick note: Because you salt the soup a number of times while you are making it, don't be heavy handed; a small pinch will do. Most importantly, make sure to taste throughout the process. And, trust those taste buds of yours!

Freeze soup, cooled completely, for up to six months. Defrost under running hot water.














Turn your soup into...
Baked Potato Skins with Black Beans and Three Cheeses
Serves 2-4

1 1/2 cup black bean soup
4 baked potato skin halves leftover from making hash browns
1/4 cup each, shredded and combined: cheddar and jack cheese
1/4 cup feta cheese
cilantro, chopped

• In a small sauce pan over moderate heat, cook down the black bean soup until it has thickened and you have about one cup
• Preheat broiler
• Place potato skins in an oven safe baking dish. Fill each potato with one quarter of the black beans. Cover beans evenly with the cheddar and jack cheeses. Broil until cheese is bubbling and starting to brown.
• Top baked potato skins with feta cheese and cilantro, serve hot and enjoy!

Avocado Toast

I feel like I'm moving a million miles an hour these days. Perhaps that's hyperbole, but I am movin', so I'll cut right to the point- A GIRL'S GOTTA EAT and creative cooking and leisurely eating is certainly not in the cards until this here catering season comes to a screeching halt. Until I've got the time, I'll just have to eat fast food. Enter the avocado.













Now this is what I call fast food! It's healthy, tasty, totally satisfying and, well, fast. What you see pictured below is unadorned avocado toast. Go ahead dress her up though... add olive oil and some cayenne pepper for color. Top with a handful of spicy arugula, a spritz of lemon juice and freshly cracked black pepper. Or throw on some diced pickled jalapeno. Yummmy vinegary jalapenos;) Whatever you do, get on the avocado bandwagon. Pick up a couple once a week, give them a day or two to ripen and you'll have a happy breakfast, lunch or dinner at the ready.














Avocado Toast
serves 2

1 ripe avocado
2-4 slices of bread, depending on the size/shape and how hungry you are
salt

• Cut the avocado in half by rotating a sturdy knife around the pit. Rotate the halves to split and remove the pit. Slice avocado (see below).
• Toast bread to desired darkness. Spoon avocado onto toast and spread evenly. Sprinkle with salt.
• Enjoy!

Roasted Carrot Soup

This warm weather is for the birds. It is December after all. It's soup season. Soup season! So, I'm gonna soup and stew and roast and braise and thumb my nose at this weather by mashing my pretty purple carrots into a soothing soup. You heard me. I need to be soothed during this hustlin' and bustlin' time of year.

Roasting the carrots and onions until they are caramelized and slightly blackened brings out their sweet earthiness. The lemon juice brightens and balances. I feel better already.














Roasted Carrot Soup

8 medium carrots (about 1 1/2 lb), cut into 1 inch pieces
2 red onions, quartered
8 garlic cloves
olive oil
salt and pepper
3 1/2 cups water or vegetable stock
juice of 1/2 a lemon

• Preheat the oven to 400.
• Place carrots on one baking sheet (lined with parchment for easier clean up, if you like) and the onions and garlic on another. Toss vegetables with olive oil, season liberally with salt and pepper and roast until they are soft and slightly blackened, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a large pot, boil the water or stock. Add the cooked vegetables and puree with a hand blender until smooth, adding more hot liquid for a thinner soup. Alternatively, puree in batches in a blender or food processor.
• Stir in the lemon juice, add salt to taste and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
• Enjoy!

Roasted Eggplant Dip

I implore you to double, triple or quadruple this recipe. Seriously, so that no one gets hurt in the rush to scoop up every last bit of dip. It's THAT tasty! The roasted eggplant is silky smooth after a whiz in the food processor. And with loads of parsley and a touch of lemon, it's herbaceous and bright. The perfect antidote for a blustery fall day.














Roasted Eggplant Dip
serves 2

3 small eggplants
2 garlic cloves
juice of half a lemon
1/2 cup parsley, roughly chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

• Preheat oven to 400.
• Pierce each eggplant with a fork several times. Roast until tender, 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and remove the pulp from the skin.
• In the bowl of a food processor, combine the eggplant, garlic, lemon juice and parsley. Pulse until combined.
• With the processor running, slowly add the oil. Combine until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve with toast, pita, bread sticks, vegetables...
• Enjoy!

Gazpacho

Hooray, it's tomato season! For the next month or so I can think outside of the can and use fresh tomatoes to my heart's content (literally). The irresistible sweet and acidic fruit never comes cheap and this summer the prices have been inflated due to devastating "late blight", a fungal disease that has knocked out a huge number of the tomatoes in the Northeast. Our cold and wet spring made for unhappy tomatoes. And, in turn, unhappy farmers, who often rely on tomatoes to turn a profit. So, all the more reason to get out there and buy what's left of this years not-so-bumper crop. Make some gazpacho...no cooking required!

Gazpacho

6 ripe tomatoes, cut into chunks
1/2 large cucumber--peeled, halved, seeded and cut into chunks
1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped or, for added flavor, roasted and cut into strips
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 cup water
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons sherry or red wine vinegar
salt to taste

optional garnish:
diced cucumber
sliced onion
hot sauce

• In a blender or food processor, combine the tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, garlic, water, oil and vinegar and process until coarsely pureed. Season with salt and adjust amount of vinegar if needed. Refrigerate until chilled.
  
• Serve in chilled bowls with garnish.
• Enjoy!

When I dip, you dip, we dip...

Here are a couple of great dips. They keep in the fridge for a good week, making them perfect for impromptu entertaining. Whip these up in advance and spoon out as needed. Serve with pita, crostini, crackers or crudite...I especially love a big dollop of the beet walnut puree atop a crunchy piece of cauliflower. They'd be fantastic as a sandwich spread, as well. Sky's the limit.

Beet and walnut puree
adapted from Spain...On The Road Again

1 cup walnuts
1 pound beets, trimmed, boiled or roasted, peeled, and cut into large chunks
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons tahini
1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt

• Pulse the walnuts in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Add the beets and pulse until a rough paste forms.
  
• Slowly add the olive oil, water, and tahini and pulse a few times, just until combined.
  
• Add lemon juice and salt to taste.

Artichoke and white bean dip with rosemary

15-1/2 oz cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
14-1/2 oz artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed
1 small clove garlic, roughly chopped
2 T fresh lemon juice
2 T olive oil, more for drizzling
3 T freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
1 t fresh rosemary, chopper
salt and pepper

• In a food processor, pulse the beans, artichoke hearts, garlic, and lemon juice to a smooth paste.
  
• Slowly add the 2 T oil. If necessary, add 1 to 2 T water to get a smooth consistency.
  
• Blend in the cheese and rosemary and season with salt and pepper.
  
• Transfer to a bowl and drizzle with oil.
  
• Enjoy!
  

Awesome Empanadas

I am a crazed woman this week (and last, as you can tell from my stunted little blog) and don't have much time to write. I'll spare you the whiny details and leave you more time to make these awesome empanadas. The dough is really pretty darn good. It's a rare thing, but even I won't change anything the next time I make them. The filling is super tasty, but go ahead and use anything you like...mushrooms and cheddar, chicken and green olives...whatever is in the fridge. Oh, and you can freeze these bad boys! Make and bake 'em, wrap well and freeze. When you have a hankering, heat your gratifying little treats straight out of the ice box for 12-15 minutes at 350. Nice!

Empanadas with Sausage, Kale, Pine Nuts and Raisins














Dough

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (I like to cut butter into cubes and put it into the freezer while I get the rest of my ingredients together.)
2 eggs
1/3 cup ice water
1 T distilled white vinegar

• Add flour and salt to bowl of food processor and pulse once. Add cold butter and pulse 4 times. Lightly whisk together the eggs, water and vinegar, add to processor and pulse 3-5 times or until the dough just comes together.
• If you don't have a food processor, combine flour and salt in a large bowl and blend the butter in with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal with some (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Lightly whisk together the eggs, water and vinegar, add to bowl and stir with a fork until the dough just comes together.
• Put the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently with the heel of your hand once or twice, just enough to bring dough together. Form dough into a flat rectangle and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, for at least 1 hour.

Filling

1 onion, diced
1 T olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts, coarsely chopped
1/8 cup dark raisins, covered with boiling water until plump, 10 minutes, drained and coarsely chopped
1 cup kale, stemmed, coarsely chopped and rinsed well (no need to dry)
1 lb. sausage, removed from casings. Alternatively, use ground pork and add a few cloves of minced garlic when you add kale to the onions.

• Heat oil in a medium saute pan over medium low heat. Add onions and cook until soft, 12 minutes. Turn up the heat to medium high, add pine nuts and cook until onions are caramelized, 10 minutes, adding tablespoonfuls of water as needed so the onions don't burn.
• Add wet kale (and garlic, if using) and cook for a minute or two. Incorporate raisins and spoon mixture into a work bowl; set aside.
• Heat the same saute pan over medium heat, add sausage and cook, using the back of a fork to break it up (should resemble ground meat), until it is no longer pink. Drain all but 1 T grease.
  
• Add the onion mixture to the sausage and cool slightly. The filling can be prepared in advance and stored in the refrigerator. Remove from fridge 20 minutes before filling empanadas.

Fill and bake empanadas

1 egg
1 T water
flour for rolling dough

• Preheat oven to 400 and lightly oil a baking sheet.
  
• Lightly whisk together egg and water
  
• Divide dough into 12 equal pieces and form each one into a ball.
  
• Roll out each piece (keeping remaining pieces covered) on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 5-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick).
  
• Spoon 2 generous tablespoonfuls of the filling onto the center of each rolled piece and fold dough in half to enclose filling. Press edges together to seal and crimp with the tines of a fork or your fingers. Brush lightly with egg wash.
  
• Transfer empanadas to baking sheet and bake until golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer empanadas to a rack to cool for at least 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
• Enjoy!

Sweet and Savory

This has been one of my go to recipes since I started cooking (though I wouldn't really call this cooking. Toasting, I'd call it toasting and assembling.). If you can toast bread, you can make this delectable sweet and savory crostini. It's great as an appetizer, but the blue cheese makes it rich and satisfying enough to be the main attraction if paired with a mixed greens salad in mustard vinaigrette. And it's a great excuse to drink a little red wine! Not gonna argue with that...














Crostini with blue cheese, hazelnuts and HONEY
1/3 cup hazelnuts
baguette, sliced 1/3 inch thick
olive oil
salt and pepper
3 oz blue cheese, crumbled
honey

• Preheat oven to 350 and place rack in middle position.
  
• On a baking sheet toast hazelnuts for 10 to 15 minutes, or until lightly colored and skins are blistered.
• Wrap nuts in a kitchen towel and let steam 1 minute. Rub nuts in towel to remove loose skins (don't worry about skins that don't come off), cool completely and coarsely chop.
• Turn oven up oven to 400

• Place the baguette slices on the baking sheet. Using a pastry brush, lightly coat the baguette slices with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until lightly toasted, about 8 minutes. (Use this method to make any type of crostini.)
• Spread/press cheese onto each crostini, sprinkle with hazelnuts and drizzle with some delicious honey.
  
• Enjoy!
• pepper. Bake until lightly toasted, about 8 minutes. (Use this method to make any type of crostini.)
• Spread/press cheese onto each crostini, sprinkle with hazelnuts and drizzle with some delicious honey.
  
• Enjoy!

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