Bean soup

I threw this together tonight and it turned out really good. Should be pretty good for us too. This is what I used, but use what you have in stock.

I used can beans except for the lentils. We soaked the lentils over night. I think doing this again I would pre-cook the lentils a bit as they still seemed a bit tough. If you want to use dry beans make sure you soak them over night. Don’t forget to check for stones as sometimes dry beans have little stones in the bag. Can beans are fine really. You can get them pretty cheap too.

I finely chopped 1 onion, 1 yellow bell pepper, and several stocks of celery. I would of added Carrots but they where past their sell by date for sure. I then sweated them in olive oil for a good 10 mins. Make sure that they are sweated down.

To the sweating veg I added the spices. I used about a tablespoon of dried parsley,  a tablespoon or a bit more of dried Thyme, and about a 1/4 tsp or so of ground coriander seed and about 1 tsp of salt. I always try and add the spice to the oil. Its seems to make the oil infused and the whole thing comes out better.

I then added the beans.

The pre-soaked lentils ( 1 quarter of a small bag. It really makes a lot) 2 cans of Cannelloni beans, a can of red kidney beans, a small can of mixed beans. Really you can use any beans you like. I love the cannelloni beans and I love butter beans. They are white and light in flavour.

I poured a pre-boiled kettle of water over the beans and added about 4 or 5 vegetable oxo cubes. I covered the beans but didn’t add a ton of water above the bean line.

I boiled it for about 40 mins. It turned out really tasty.  The beans seem to naturally thicken the stock. Just make sure that you stir it so nothing sticks or burns to the bottom of the pan.

How to use a fresh pumpkin.

So you want to make something yummy with that pumpkin, but not sure how to?  Don’t worry, its easy peasy.

First, cut the top off  and scrape out the guts with a big spoon. Make sure you get all the strings. Then, after you separate the seeds and toast them, cut the pumpkin down the sides into 4 or so big quarters. Spay a little non stick spay on a baking pan and place the pumpkin quarters down with the skin out.  Place in an oven and bake at around 300f or 180c.  Back for 45mins to 1 1/2 hr depending on the size of the pumpkin. Just check around 45 mins by poking a sharp knife in. If is slides in easy its done. The skin will also be brown. Pull out of the oven an cool.

Once cool then scape all the pumpkin flesh out into a big bowl.  If you are going to use the flesh for soup or pies, then press it through a sieve. This gets all string out and makes a nice, smooth soup. If you will be using it for cakes, breads muffins or what not, then no need to sieve.

Creamy Pasta Shells with Peas and Bacon

I found this recipe on a site. Its from Jamie Oliver but for the life of me I cant find it again. I went out today and picked up the ingredients from memory so I hope I got it right. It sure tasted good.
What you need…

Cooked Pasta Shells. Follow instructions on the bag. I used about 3/4 of the bag for 3 of us for a full meal.
Streaky bacon (normal American bacon) Cut up about 10 slices into bits. I will admit that I used left over Italian prosciutto That we had left over. Cut up, raw ready to go.
1/2 cup of frozen peas.
Fresh shredded Parmesan cheese. About a handful
Small-ish container of creme fresh. Sour cream could be used I am sure
Mint. I used dry.

Just as the pasta was close to being finished, I put some olive oil in a frying pan and heated it up. I added the mint to the oil for a few seconds. Then I added the bacon and cooked for several mins until is was cooked through. Then I added the peas in and let that cook up a bit. I added the creme fresh and stired. Add the cheese. Stir well. (If it seems a little thick add some water from the coooking pasta. This is another trick I have seen Jamie do. Thanks Jamie) Then add the pasta and stir.

I wasnt really sure about the mint but its really nice. Its easy and not expensive at all.

Red beans and rice

I looked at a whole bunch of different recipes and combined them to come up with this. My husband loved it. So I thought I better blog it so I remember how I did it.

1 onion chopped

1 bell pepper chopped

1 celery chopped

Fry them up in oil. Sweat them longer then you would think as they seem to still be crisp although they looked well cooked. I added to the sweating veg…

bay leaf, oregano, salt, paprika, garlic powder, a few veg oxo cubes

When its all sweated down add a little hot water and …

cooked smoked sausage.  (if its not cooked then I would cook them at the begining I would think)

2 cans of red beans

1 can of chopped stewed tomato

Let it simmer for about 15 mins.

Serve over hot cooked rice.

Helpful Hint- Dried Spices

The best way to get the most flavor from your dried spices is to rub them between your hands and break them up a bit before adding them to your dishes. For some reason this make all the flavor and smells jump out.

Lime and Cilantro Chicken and Quinoa

I have discovered Quinoa again. Its been a good few years since I had any and found some at the store. Quinoa is a seed and is a super food. Extremely healthy and good for you. I decided to make some with what I had in the house. Turned out really good.

To make the Quinoa

I used 1 cup Quinoa to 2 cups boiling water with 2 chicken oxo cubes in it. This was enough for my husband and me and a small plate for my 2 yr old. No left over and no seconds. First, rinse the Quinoa really well as its got a coating that, if left on, makes it bitter. I use one of those little hand held strainers. I think you can use a coffee filter too. Boil for 10 mins then cover and take off heat. Just let it absorb the rest of the water.

I put some red peppers and Green Bell peppers under the Grill (broiler) to blacken the skin. This also makes them sweeter. Do remove the skins.

I take 2 boneless chicken breasts and put them in the freezer. If they are softly frozen it easier to cut them into small chunks. Then put in a frying pan with a little oil.

Cut up a few shallots and add to the cooking chicken bits.

Cut up mushrooms into chunks and add it.

Add the peppers.

Add some fresh Cilantro (coriander) at the end of cooking the chicken.

Juice a few limes and add the juice to the Quinoa.

Mix or just pile on a plate and enjoy.

Carrot and Coriander Soup- Healthy

This is a very easy and very healthy recipe.  No fat and very low calorie… if that. Great if you have a bag of carrots that need to be used up. Tasty and great on Weight Watchers I am sure.

Carrots, coriander, oxo cubes, water.

Buy a bag of carrots. Peel them and cut them into small chunks. Put them in a pot. This will be about the amount of soup so the more people the more carrots. Next, cover the carrots with water or broth. Just over the top of the carrots or its to runny.  Add some Oxo cubes to add a bit of depth to the flavor. Next add Coriander. Coriander is Cilantro for those of us in the Spanish speaking part of the world.   I like to use a big bunch of fresh, cut up and no stems. You can use dried too.  Add a little salt or Low Salt. Boil until the carrots are soft. Then let cool a bit. Get out your hand blender, or use a food processor, and blend smooth.

There you go. If you want to make it really rich and add calories and fat add some butter and cream. But I dont think it needs it.

Greek night. Easy meal.

We enjoy Greek night at our house. Its a buffet of sorts. I take a few chicken breasts and slice them really thin. Easy way to do this is freeze them and just as they start to thaw you can slice the breasts paper thin. I heat some olive oil in a pan and put in some Greek spices. Oregano, paprika, basil, mild chili and onion powder. Heat for 30 seconds or so. Then add chicken. The thinner the chicken the quicker it cooks.

Take some pita bread and cut in half with kitchen scissors.  Put some Hummus and Tzatziki.  *Tzatziki- chop cucumber up into small chunks. Add it to Greek yogart and add some mint. *   Add feta cheese and the chicken.  Add a few cucumber slices. Its yummy and pretty healthy.