Heart Sisters' Garden Black Bean Soup

Okay, please ignore the fact that I have been incognito for, er, a long time.

Some interesting developments: Mr. Heart and I have been tending our very own little garden this summer which has involved harvesting a large number of scallions and salad greens which have been wonderful! I also have five or six pots of herbs which has been a thrill too--I can just lean out the back door and snip off a bit of greek oregano (which is growing like crazy) or fresh basil or thyme. Hopefully August will turn some of the small green tomatoes we see peeking out into fresh, lucious fruit. Alas, our pepper plants seem to be very unhappy with all this rain and the cool temperature. I should have known. Sister Heart warned me.

She should know because she's been working on a farm this summer! Ah, the way sisters' lives orbit one another and weave together. So she has been a bounty of first hand knowledge (and produce!) Because of her Mr. Heart and I have resolved to plant english peas next summer. The ones she shared with us were like candy. There's nothing like having so many delicious fresh veggies at hand. I've been doing my best to hit up the small farmer's market near my office every Thursday, and the bigger one downtown when I have time.

I want to get the recipe down on paper because I got it from Sister Heart (!) and she inspired me to make it the very same day. These are more like a set of guidelines really, because you can put whatever you have on hand straight in. I've included my contributions and Sister Heart's so that you can get a sense of the variety (and health benefits!). This makes 4-5 "cup" size servings and maybe 2 -3 "bowl" size servings. Pictures will come later!

Heart Sisters' Garden Black Bean Soup

1/2 lb dry black beans, rinsed and sorted
2 cans of vegetable broth + 2 cups water (I used canned broth, Sissie used the water from blanching 864168161 lbs of peas)
1 white onion, minced
1 tomato, diced
1 small zucchini, diced
2 scallions, chopped
1 clove of garlic or garlic scape minced
1 1/2 tsp sea salt (this is an estimate... put in as much as you like!)
1/2 tsp cumin (ditto)
1/2 tsp black pepper (ditto)
1/2 TBS fresh chives
1/2 TBS fresh thyme
1/2 TBS fresh oregano
1 TBS olive oil

Sister Heart's version also included:
fresh parsley
carrots
kohlrabi greens
radish greens
purslane (has 5 times the amount of omega-3 fatty acids as spinach)
wood sorrel (has lots of medicinal properties)

The latter two are edible weeds!

Optional Toppings
1 lime, juiced
greek yogurt or sour cream
grated cheddar cheese

1) Bring the vegetable broth and water to a boil in a dutch oven or large heavy bottomed pot. Add the beans and half the onion and half the salt. Bring back to almost a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and mostly cover. Simmer for 2 hours or until beans are tender but not split!
2) Meanwhile, in a non-stick skillet, heat olive oil until shimmering. Add remaining onion, tomatoes, zucchini, garlic, any greens, salt, cumin, and black pepper. Sauté until the tomatoes have fallen apart and the rest of the vegetables are tender. Add scallions and fresh herbs. Toss to combine and remove from heat until the beans are done.
3) Once the beans are tender, add the sautéed vegetables to the beans. Turn heat up to medium and heat to incorporate flavors and cook off some of the liquid. Season to taste.
**At this point I also went at it with my handy-dandy immersion blender to make it a little smoother. Cook's Illustrated recommends using a potato masher to achieve the same effect. I'm pretty sure Sister Heart left her's au naturel.
4) If serving immediately, stir in lime juice. Serve with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream and a TBS of grated cheese. Goes great with quesadillas!

Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days. Otherwise, freeze in handy single serving portions for those nights you don't feel like cooking or need a heartening pick-me up meal.

Classy Vegetable Stir-Fry

No picture, my apologies. The hard drive with all our photos on it is not yet set-up, but will be shortly. Once it is I will include some super photos of us attempting to unpack the kitchen. Which I am sure you are all dying to see.

In the mean time, here's a dish we whipped up in honor of my sister coming to dinner for the first time in the new house! She is vegetarian and so I have made it my mission to find some tasty vegetarian dishes to make for her when she visits that she, as a college student, may not have time/money/facilities/motivation to. Alas, she is not big into pasta, so that eliminated about 90% of my initial ideas, but Mr. Heart suggested a vegetable stir-fry. So we took it up a notch by including a wide variety of vegetables, and made it simple by only adding the bare minimum of seasonings. It came out delicious. We served it up with couscous and a dark rye bread. And then we ate cookie dough and played cribbage like old people.

"I'm so proud of myself," Mr. Heart said, as we drove back from dropping off Sister Heart, "Before I met you I wouldn't have even touched a dish like that." And he liked it! Excellent. So I AM having a positive culinary influence. My main challenge with him? Legumes. Some day, some day...

Classy Vegetable Stir-Fry
Serves 2-3

1 Portabello mushroom cap, diced
1 bell pepper, diced (or half of a red and half of a yellow)
3-4 green onions, chopped
1/2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch crescents
1/2 cup sugar snap peas, cut in half
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 lb spinach, roughly chopped
1/4 cup cashews
1 - 2 TBS olive oil
a good squeeze of lemon juice
salt and pepper

(for omnivores: add a link or two of your favorite chicken sausage, sliced)

1) In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat until shimmering, but not smoking.
2) Add bell peppers and green onions. Sauté until peppers start to brown, stirring often.
3) Add zucchini, mushrooms, and garlic. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper to taste. Continue to sauté, stirring often, until vegetables are just tender.
4) Add spinach, snap peas, and lemon juice. Toss together, then cover for 1 -2 minutes, or until spinach is wilted and cooked down.
5) Add cashews toss to combine. Cook for 1 -2 more minutes, until cashews are heated through. Add more salt and pepper as desired.
(For omnivores: Transfer vegetables to a separate dish and cover to keep warm. Add sausage and a splash of oil. Sauté until lightly browned, scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add vegetables back to pan and toss to combine. Cook an additional minute to heat through.)

Tortellini with Broccolini and Summer Squash

I have this bad habit. I find these delicious looking recipes, write down all the ingredients on my grocery list, go to the store, buy them, return home, go to prepare the recipe, and find out I am missing half of what I need. Does this habit to other people, or am I just a forgetful ninny?

Case in point: for this recipe, which was originally "Tortelloni with Vegetable Sauce" I forgot the stewed tomatoes and tomato paste that created the sauce, fresh basil to toss in, and wound up substituting cheese tortellini for meat tortelloni and broccolini for zucchini (because my grocery store is still going under renovation and there was no zucchini). It's not even the same recipe.

Never the less, it still came out tasty. I should have blanched the broccolini first, and will correct for that in the recipe. However, I would use zucchini if you can find it--that was the whole point of this dish anyway.

Tortellini with Broccolini and Summer Squash
Serves 2

olive oil cooking spray
1 cup jarred tomato sauce (of your choice... we like Classico)
1-2 TBS broth or water
1/2 medium summer squash, cut into 1/4" rounds
1 cup broccolini, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and blanched
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp dried Italian herbs
2 cups cheese tortellini
1 TBS grated Parmesan

1) Bring a large pot of water to boil. Prepare tortellini according to package directions.
2) Spray a non-stick skillet, generously with olive oil. Heat over medium heat until the pan and oil are hot. Add broccolini and summer squash. Sauté until the squash begins to brown, about 2 -4 minutes. Add garlic and Italian seasonings; sauté an additional minute or until fragrant
3) Add tomato sauce to the pan and stir. Add broth/water as needed to loosen the sauce. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
4) Add tortellini to the vegetable sauce. Toss until thoroughly coated. Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve.

Peanut Chicken with Vegetables

So the recipe I had hoped to use was a Chinese five-spice chicken stir-fry, but alas, our ever friendly Shaw's Market is going through major renovations and none was to be found. So instead we picked up some peanut sauce.

I know, I know, peanut sauce is easy enough to make, but hey, we were feeling lazy AND we're going to Europe this week, so the last thing we wanted to do was buy more ingredients. After sifting through several mixes and jars, we settled on Thai Kitchen Peanut Satay Sauce. We chose this because it seemed to have mostly natural ingredients and very few (if any) preservatives. We've also had some success with their products in the past (I buy their rice noodles to make Pad Thai.)

However, it seemed to lack a little something when used as a sauce over all of the ingredients in this dish. I'm not sure what it was, maybe it needed a little more spice, a little more zing. It wasn't bad, it was just kinda plain.

But when we used this to make wraps for lunch (peanut sauce, cucumber, shredded chicken, rice, and fresh red pepper) I thought it tasted great. Mr. Heart was still not a huge fan. So I would say it might be worth a try. Or you can always just make your own.

Feel free to substitute any vegetables in that you like! This is what we had on hand. I actually served it over orzo, which was tasty. I am sure it would be equally delicious over rice.

Peanut Noodles with Vegetables
Serves 2

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1" chunks
1 TBS plus 1 tsp canola or peanut oil
1/2 cup cornstarch
salt and pepper
pinch of ground red pepper
1/2 head of cauliflower, cut into florets (~1 cup)
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 red pepper, cut into thin strips
1/2 cup fresh green beans, trimmed
1-3 TBS water
1/4 cup peanut sauce mixed with 2 TBS water or chicken broth
1 TBS peanuts, chopped fine (for garnish)

1) In a ziplock bag, combine cornstarch and salt/pepper/red pepper to taste. Add chicken and toss to coat.
2) In a large non-stick skillet, heat 1 TBS of oil over medium heat until hot, but not smoking. Remove chicken from ziplock bag, shaking off any excess cornstarch. Add chicken to pan. Cook until a golden crust has formed, turning frequently, about 5 minutes. Transfer chicken to a paper-towel lined plate and set aside.
3) Warm the remaining teaspoon of oil in the skillet until hot, but not smoking. Add the vegetables a cook, stirring, for 1 minutes. Add 1 TBS of the water to the pan and cover. Cook for 2 more minutes, or until vegetables are tender (add more water as needed, if the pan gets too dry).
4) Add the chicken and peanut sauce mixture to the pan, tossing to coat. Cook an additional minute until heated through.
5) Serve over rice or orzo and garnish with chopped peanuts.

Roasted Garlic Soup (with Pasta Veggie Toss)

Approach this soup softly, caring a large slab of toast. Delicious, but quite potent, this soup is best served in small portions as a first course or side dish, over buttered slices of toasted baguette. I also served this with egg noodles tossed with sautéed vegetables and butter.

Roasted Garlic Soup
from Williams-Sonoma Food Made Fast: Soup with mods
Serves 2, as a side
9/10

2 heads of garlic
2 TBS olive oil
6 slices of baguette or other crusty bread
2 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper

1) Preheat oven to 325ºF. Slice the top off the heads of garlic and arrange in a shallow baing dish, cut side up. Drizzle 1 TBS of olive oil over the garlic and cover loosely with foil. Roast until the cloves are very tender when pieced with a fork, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and cool, then squeeze the soft garlic pulp into a small bowl and set aside.
2) Warm remaining olive oil in a non-stick skillet over med-high heat. When hot, add the bread slices, reduce heat to medium, and fry bread on each side until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Remove from pan and set aside.
3) In a medium sauce pan over med-high heat, combine broth and garlic pulp and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Using a wand mixer (or food processor), purée the soup until smooth and frothy. If necessary, return pot to stove and reheat to serving temperature. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4) Place 2-3 slices of bread in each bowl. Ladle soup over top and serve!

Simple Pasta Veggie Toss
Serves 2

2 cups of egg noodles
1/2 bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1/2 red onion, coarsely chopped
1 cup broccoli florets
1 TBS olive oil
2 TBS butter or margarine (or our favorite... olive oil spread)
salt and pepper

1) Fill a large pot half way with water and bring to a boil.
2) Once boiling, add broccoli florets and blanch for 3 minutes. Remove from water with slotted spoon and set aside. Add egg noodles to boiling water and cook according to package directions.
3) Heat olive oil in a non-stick skillet over med-high heat. When hot, add peppers, onion, and broccoli. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sauté until tender.
4) Drain egg noodles. Add egg noodles to skillet. Toss with butter until melted. Serve!

Roasted Vegetable Sandwiches

Knowing that my parents and sister were straining in the heat to unload her things and unpack her dorm room, I knew I could only be a good daughter and sister if I brought them a picnic lunch. I lay in bed, trying to sleep in on a hot Saturday morning, but all I could think about was roasted vegetables and pasta salad, until I had to get up and get cooking.

I decided to forego the pasta salad (instead I brought leftover salad from the night before). But the roasted vegetables persisted. We still had a zucchini from my uncle's garden, tomatoes from my great aunt, an extra loaf of bread from the fondu, feta from salad making, and balsamic vinegrette from the boy's experiments with a medditerranean tortellini dish. With these powers combined, huzzah! Roasted summer vegetable sandwiches. Somehow I managed to divy the bread into six sandwiches, but I would say a safer bet would be four (the sandwiches were quite skinny a hard to eat, though tasty). Also, any summer veggies would do--eggplant, summer squash, onions--this is just what we had on hand. They could also be good with cheese, olives, and a variety of other toppings/condiments.

The rest of the picnic consisted of: salad, cheese (cheddar and fontina) and crackers, iced tea, and pound cake with cool whip.

Roasted Vegetable Sandwiches
Serves 4 - 6
8/10

olive oil
1 large zucchini, cut into thin, diagonal rounds
1 large tomato, cut into thin slices
3/4 cup frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
1/2 jarred roasted red pepper, drained and cut into thin strips
1/2 cup balsamic vinegrette (2 parts olive oil, 1 part balsamic vinegar)
1/2 teaspoon oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1 large loaf of crusty italian bread
1/4 cup feta, crumbled
2 - 3 TBS sour cream

1) Brush the zucchini with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.
2) On a grill or grill pan, grill the zucchini until seared, about 4 minutes each side, adding more oil as necessary. Remove and transfer to a large plate or platter, laying the slices in a single layer.
3) Grill tomato slices and artichoke hearts until just seared (only about 1- 2 minutes per side). Transfer to the plate and layer on top of the zucchini slices.
4) Add roasted red pepper strips to the vegetable platter. Pour balsamic vinegrette over the vegetables. Season with oregano, and salt&pepper to taste. Cover and refridgerate for at least 20 minutes to allow the vegetables to cool and the flavors to mingle.
5) Combine the feta and sour cream to form a spread. Cut the loaf of bread length wise. Spread the feta spread evenly across the top half.
6) Remove vegetables from the fridge and drain. Apply the vegetables in an even layer across the bottom half of the bread. Put the top half back on and cut into equal portions for sandwiches.
*If picnicking, wrap each sandwich individually in foil or wait until you arrive at your picnic destination and divy up the sandwich there.

Steak and Penne Stir-fry

So originally I was planning on doing a more Asian type stir-fry, but since we had rice last night, we decided to use pasta with tonight's dinner, and I felt inclined to shy away from typical Asian flavors. I still used all the same kinds of veggies, but the base of the very light sauce was beef broth rather than soy or teriakyi sauce (though I did use soy to marinate the beef... so sue me :) ). This is a nice, simple, light meal, and it's pretty quick (took me maybe 30 minutes) as long as you prep things in advance to cooking. Things go so much quicker if everything is already chopped to just toss in the pan when the time comes.

Steak and Penne Stir-Fry
Serves 2-3
8/10

1 lb. top-sirloin steak, sliced and cut into pieces about the size of a postage stamp
3 TBS soy sauce
2 TBS olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 TBS scallions, chopped
hamburger seasonings

1/2 red pepper, coarsely chopped
1/2 green pepper, coarsely chopped
1/2 onion, coarsely chopped
1 cup broccoli florets
1/2 cup snap peas, trimmed
2 TBS beef broth
2 TBS beef broth plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch, mixed to a paste
2 1/2 cups dry penne
2 TBS olive oil

1) Set a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Plan to put the pasta in at about the same time you start cooking.
2) Combine steak, soy sauce, oil, garlic, scallions, and seasonings in a bowl or plastic bag. Marinate for at least 15 minutes.
3) Add pasta to boiling water. Set the timer for 3 minutes less than the suggested cooking time.
4) Heat 1 TBS oil in frying pan or wok until hot. Add steak, but discard marinade. Cook over medium to high heat until no longer pink. Remove meat and any remaining liquid from pan. Set aside.
5) Add second TBS oil to pan and heat. Add onions and peppers and cook until tender and the onions begin to brown (turn down the heat if the vegetables are cooking too quickly)
6) When timer goes off, add broccoli florets to the pasta and water for the remaining 3 minutes. When finished, drain pasta and set aside. Add broccoli to pepper/onion mixture.
7) Add steak and snap peas to the pan and toss. Add broth and cornstarch/broth mixture and stir until thickened and heated through.
8) Add pasta to pan and toss to coat.
9) Serve immediately!

Grilled Vegetables and Cheese Tortellini

I found the recipe as per request from the boy who wanted some sort of tortellini dish with a vinagrette and vegetables. Now, I must admit, I'm not a big fan of vinagrettes and I messed around alot with this one until it tasted ok to me. I don't remember the exact changes I made, but I'll note some ingredients you can add to change the taste. You can also buy your own favorite vinagrette dressing.

This is pretty quick and easy!

I loved this recipe because of all the different veggies and flavors and textures. Definitely a summer dish. The original recipe also called for using eggplant, but I replaced that with zucchini. Any summer vegetables will do. I used my grill pan, but you could easily toss these veggies straight onto your gas or charcoal grill. If it's winter, or you don't have any kind of grill, you can always sauté the vegetables as well... the recipe includes instructions for that.

Grilled Vegetables and Cheese Tortellini
from "Whole Foods Market : Recipes : Grilled Vegetables & Cheese Tortellini (with slight modifications)
Serves 2-3
9/10

9 oz. cheese tortellini
4 asparagus spears, tough ends snapped off
1 yellow summer squash, sliced lengthwise about 1/2" thick
1 zuchinni, sliced lengthwise about 1/2" thick
1 red pepper, corred and de-seeded
1 TBS olive oil
1/4 cup pitted black olives, such as kalamata
1/2 - 1 cup baby spinach
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup red wine vinagrette

Red Wine Vinagrette
4 large basil leaves, chopped
3 TBS red wine vinegar (I would suggest replacing half or even all of this with balsamic)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup olive oil (up this if theres too much vinegar)
1 TBS dijon mustard (this adds ALOT of flavor, so go easy)
sea salt, to taste
ground pepper, to taste
*sugar, to taste (to cut the vinegar)

1) Cook tortellini according to package directions, drain and set aside. Whisk together vinagrette if preparing your own.
2a) Grilling Vegetables: Preheat grill to med. heat. Brush vegetables with olive oil. Grill 3-5 minutes on each side, or until veggies are tender. Pepper should be slightly charred when done. Chop up veggies into pieces of equal size.
2b) Sautéing Vegetables: Chop vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over med-high heat and sauté veggies until tender.
3) Toss pasta with vegetables, olive, spinach, feta, and vinagrette.