Dances with Soup February 17, 2011
Posted by cirellih in Dinner, Food.Tags: Butternut Squash, Corn, Cornmeal Dumplings, Green Beans, Kidney Beans, Lima Beans, Soup, Vegetable Broth
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Tonight was a dinner and a movie night with my good friend, Lindsay, who is also in AmeriCorps in Boulder this year. In her incredible brilliance, she decided to go for a themed night… Dances with Wolves and Three Sisters Soup. Yay for Native American nights!
We started off my chopping a lot of veggies. Peppers, onions, garlic. Measured out cups of kidney beans, lima beans and kernels of corn. A dash of thyme, a pinch of cumin, some salt and pepper, two bay leaves and six cups of vegetable broth later our soup was bubbling away.
Onwards to the dumplings: corn meal, whole wheat flour, eggs, milk, canola oil, salt and pepper. Making a rounded tablespoon apparently is not my forte. I am more prone to making a quadruple scoop rather than simply rounded. All that was left was to drop them in the broth, and then let them simmer for a bit.
In AmeriCorps, we may not be wealthy, we may not have a lot of free time, but when we make soup… it. is. EPIC.
Our dinner for two could have fed a small, nay, medium army.
Our soup was ment to look like this:
As seen from the Vegetarian Kitchen. Doesn’t it look scrumptious???
The Lindsay/Heather attempt wasn’t as pretty. The dumplings had melded together in a raft on the surface of the soup. The soup itself burbled and bubbled like a mudpot in Yellowstone. Impressive sounds coming from a stock pot, to be sure.
It might not have looked pretty, but it sure tasted it!
A quick addition of swiss chard and cilantro gave our soup a healthy, green glow. It certainly went with our movie choice well. The soup left me dancing… even when I had to leave Lindsay’s at intermission. The second half will have to be viewed at a later date!
Beans, Beans the Magical Fruit January 31, 2011
Posted by cirellih in Food.Tags: Black Beans, Carrots, Ham, Onion, Soup
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I made Black Bean Soup the first week of January, and have been enjoying it ever since! The perfect lunchtime fix, a delightful dinner on the go, its possibilities seemed never-ending! My soup bowl has overrun with goodness. My soup seemed to last forever, but today was the sad day that brought an end to the magical soup.
The Recipe:
- 1 lb. bag of dried black beans
- 8 cups of water
- 1 ham bone
- 1 cup chopped ham
- 2 cups of chicken stock
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 large carrots
- 1 can of diced tomatoes
- 1 tbsp cayenne powder
- Soak the black beans overnight, making sure that the water is at least a few inches over the beans to account for expansion.
- Add the 8 cups of water and the ham bone to the beans and bring to a boil.
- Once the water has boiled, add in the stock, tomatoes, onions, carrots and cayenne powder. Reduce to a simmer.
- Let cook for simmer for 1.5 hours. Add in the chopped ham.
- Cook for an additional 1/2 hour. Remove the ham bone.
- Serve with a splash of vinegar or dab of sour cream. Enjoy!
Soups are such a wonderful way to get a hearty meal with lots of vegetables involved. I’m sad to see the black bean soup go, but it is an exciting prospect to think of my next project! Maybe a chili, perhaps a broth soup with greens… there are so many possibilities!