Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Tortilla Soup with Red Beans. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Tortilla Soup with Red Beans. Sort by date Show all posts

Monday, October 3, 2011

The Soup Project: 38 Soup Recipes and Still Counting

Tortilla Soup with Corn and Red Beans
This soup is my ode to the last rays of summer. I'd wanted to make it for a long time. I wasn't really sure how make it, but I'd tasted a friend's version a few years ago, and I knew what I wanted. When I searched online, I found a number of recipes. If you can dream it up, someone else has already done it and I wanted to see how they tweaked the ingredients.

First there were a ton of recipes that relied on "chicken stock." I cut those out first. Then I found this vegetarian tortilla soup that featured canned tomatoes, canned corn and a cup of cheddar cheese. Way too predictable for me. Then I found this one with beef broth and pinto beans. I'm not quite sure why people feel the need to add meat stock to an otherwise fine recipe. Do they think they can't live without the flavor of meat in everything? Even with the meat broths, most of the tortilla soup recipes seem are tired and uninspired. Makes me wonder why so called "foodie" websites waste my time. I mean really--a can of this a can of that, we're seriously suffering from way too many insipid recipes in this country. Please All Recipes--and all the other so called "foodie sites" we don't need any more boring recipes.

River Farm from Ellensburg brings this big roaster to the U-District and West Seattle markets. The scent of roasting peppers is intoxicating. Everyone loves them. But the fire department--that's another story.


A few weeks ago Liz from River Farm said they now had to come up with $450 for a permit fee to roast their peppers. "Put a sign up," I'd said and they did.

Maybe somebody at the fire department should taste these amazing peppers.

Loyal customers ponied up the cash and River Farm paid this new fee.

I wanted to use fresh tomatoes as well as dried tomatoes in this soup. My dried tomatoes came from Deep Roots Farm at the Hillsdale Farmers' Market. The fresh tomato was blanched to remove the skin. (Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut out the stem and cut and X on the bottom of the tomatoes. Drop in the water for 1 minute or until the skin peels back. Rinse in cool water.) I take the skin off because it doesn't add anything to the recipe and the bits of skin can be distracting, but if it doesn't bother you, skip this step.


You can also grill or roast your own red peppers if you can't buy fire-roasted at the market. The smokey flavor and corn broth make this soup special.


Most of the ingredients came from around here--not the avocado, salsa, lemon or chips. (I love the fresh salsa from Gathering Together Farm, and I'll get some at the Portland Farmers' Market if they have it this coming Saturday.) I also found a use for corn husks and cobs in this recipe. The milky corn husk broth form a basic layer of flavor in this soup.

I cooked the beans ahead of time, but you can also make this soup in a pressure cooker, cooking everything at once. I've mentioned Jill Nussinow's The New Fast Food in previous posts like this one. It's my favorite book this year. I really can't say enough about how pressure cooking has transformed my cooking syle.

Here is the recipe:

Tortilla Soup with Corn and Red Beans
(Serves 4)

2 ears of corn
4 to 6 cups water
1 small red onion
5 or 6 roasted peppers (use your favorite variety)
3/4 cup dried roasted tomatoes
1 large heirloom tomato, blanched, peeled and chopped
1 red potato, washed and diced
1 1/2 cups cooked red beans (or use 1 to 2 cans, drained, rinsed red beans)
1/4 cup salsa (your favorite variety)
1 teaspoon honey
Salt to taste
1 avocado, pitted, peeled and diced
Lemon or lime juice
Tortilla chips

1. Husk the corn and remove corn from the cobs. Reserve corn; cut cobs into pieces, and place the husks and cobs in a pot with the water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain and reserve liquid for the soup.

2. Peel and diced red onion and roasted peppers. Reserve.

3. Place corn broth, dried and heirloom tomatoes, potato, red beans, and salsa in a soup pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Adjust salt to taste.

4. Toss avocado with about 1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice.

5. Place onions, peppers, avocado and chips in a soup bowl. Ladel soup over vegetables and chips.



He really only gets a few chips and he does the "prewash" on the empty bowl because onions are toxic for dog. I think he's eyeing the chips anyway.

Just in case you're in the mood for soup, here are 38 weeks of soup and counting. Just a few more months of my "Soup Project."


1. Sweet Potato and Kale Soup


3. Basic Soup Stock

4. Locro Guascho Argentino (white beans, sweet potatoes and hominy)








16. Red Velvet Soup (with beets)






















38. Tortilla Soup with Corn and Red Beans (See recipe above)
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Monday, January 2, 2012

The Soup Project: 50 soups and 10 things I learned from making them

The 2011 Soup Project has come to an end.

I'd started the Soup Project partly to save our food budget and partly to see if it could be done. Sure books of soup recipes exist, but every one of them depends on meat, poultry or fish soup stocks and soups for variety. I wondered if I'd hit a wall doing all vegan soups (some had a bit of cheese for garnish) but it turned out, I didn't hit a wall, I could have kept going.

As I look back over my year of soups, I figured the best post for today would be a wrap up of all the things I learned about soup making this year.

Here are ten things I learned from making soup this past year:

1. It's incredibly easy to make soup. Homemade soup doesn't even even require a cookbook, just ideas jotted down from recipes that catch your eye. Anyone can create soup, just let your imagination go.

2. Mind the season. Make asparagus soup in the spring, fruit soups in the summer, and kale, potato and carrot soup in the winter.

3. Go with local choices because the flavors are better, you support local farms and doesn't it feel good to say this dinner came from a local farm.

4. Create layers of flavor with homemade stock. The prepackaged stock is usually loaded with sodium and will give your soup a "boxed" or "packaged" background flavor. If time is short, do a faux layer by adding carrots, celery, onion and parsley to the soup. Toss in a bay leaf. Sample as you cook. Before serving, ladle a cup of soup out and puree it. Return to the pot and season to taste with salt, pepper and add a bit of lemon juice to brighten the flavors.



5. Use a heavy soup pot, pressure cooker or crock pot. No need for special or expensive equipment, just the basics makes soup a great food budget meal. It really is a budget meal. Other things you might need include a colander for pasta and beans, measuring spoons and cups, a ladel and a few good knives.

6. Add less ingredients. I'd always thought if one carrot is good, two will be better. This is not always true with soup. It can become overcrowded and too many vegetables can be distracting. It takes practice to the perfect consistency for soup, but in the meantime it's all edible.



7. If you catch burned soup right away, carefully ladle the soup into another pot, avoid scraping the burned part. I've rescued many burned soups this way. FYI if you get a heavy soup pot, you won't have the "burned soup" problem very often.

8. Don't double hot peppers or salt in recipes. One folk remedy for too much salt in soup is to add a chunk of potato, bring the soup to a boil, then remove the potato.

9. Think of the bowl as a frame for your soup. The colors on our plates influence how we feel. I found most soups look best in black or white bowls. Red was a loser soup bowl color, and green or yellow didn't fare much better. Blue came in second to black and white. We instinctively eat with our eyes first so be aware of how your soup looks.


10. If the flavor is bland and you're near the end of cooking, consider the five flavors our taste buds experience--sweet, salty, sour, pungent, and spicey. Balancing these flavors isn't as tricky as it sounds. Often a squeeze of lemon, a dash of salt or a pinch of sugar is all the soup really needs.


Soup really is good for the food budget. (Except for the fruit soups of summer.) You can savor soup one day with warm crusty bread and the next day ladle leftovers over quinoa or rice another day.



Stay tuned for my new recipe project next Monday. I have a few ideas and my Assistant has more than a few. In the meantime, check out this collections of soups and take your pick.


The 2011 Soup Project

1. Sweet Potato and Kale Soup


3. Basic Soup Stock

4. Locro Guascho Argentino (white beans, sweet potatoes and hominy)








16. Red Velvet Soup (with beets)


































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Monday, December 19, 2011

The Soup Project: Black Bean Chili with Hominy (and 48 more soup recipes)

I was so busy last week, but it was all fun, and I'll tell you more about that in another post, but when my schedule is full, I bring out my favorite default recipes, like chili.

I posted this chili recipe from The Northwest Vegetarian Cookbook last February, so I suppose this makes the second chili recipe this year, but the truth is it's one of my favorites and I never get tired of variations of chili.

I found another version in Lorna Sass's classic Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure. I added hominy to because chili and corn are meant to be together and since fresh local corn isn't available in the winter, dried cooked hominy is a great option with a sweet flavor.

I used Rancho Gordo hominy this time. I first tried this hominy last year and my Cooking Assistant was willing to pose with the package, but he didn't like this little school boy outfit I made him wear for the picture. He definitely isn't a "dress-up" dog.

Rancho Gordo hominy has a different appearance than Ayers Creek hominy and the recipe for cooking it seems a bit less labor intensive than the posole or hominy from Ayers Creek Farm, but the flavor of these dried versions are more rewarding than canned hominy, which I've never really liked.

I mean seriously, take a look at those cans of hominy in grocery stores, how long have they been sitting there? Who eats that stuff?

Here is the post on how to cook hominy the Ayers Creek way--it's a bit of a process, but the colors are lovely and the flavor, stunning.

Cooked in a pressure cooker this recipe is ready in minutes. My Cooking Assistant almost missed posing with the soup of the week. But he runs fast, at least he thinks he does.

I don't think he realizes how goofy he looks when he runs.


This chili is definitely worth racing to the table to eat. I hope you like this version adapted from Lorna Sass's recipe.

Be sure to check out the other recipes I've posted since last January. The Soup Project only has a few more weeks to go, and I've got a few ideas for themes I'm noodling about for my Monday posts for 2012. If you have any suggestions for themes--sides, salads, etc., let me know.


You can make this chili as hot as you like, depending on whether you leave the seeds in the smoked jalapenos or take them out. Also I taste as I cook and if the flavor is too acidic, add a half a teaspoon of honey or sugar to the mix.

Black Bean Chili with Hominy
(Serves 4 to 6)

1 cup dried black beans, picked over, rinsed and soaked for at least 4 hours
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 cup minced onions or shallots
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 or 2 dried chipotle, stemmed, seeded and minced
1 heaping tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried whole fennel seeds
Pinch of ground cinnamon
1 28-ounce fire-roasted canned tomatoes
1 large carrot, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup cooked hominy
2 to 3 cups boiling water
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup minced cilantro
1 lime cut into wedges

1. Drain and rinse the beans and set aside.

2. Heat the oil in the pressure cooker over medium heat. Add cumin seeds and let them sizzle until they begin to pop--5 to 10 seconds.

3. Add onions and garlic; stir and cook for about 1 minute. Add reserved beans, chipotle chili, chili powder, oregano, fennel seeds, cinnamon, fire roasted tomatoes, carrot, hominy and 2 cups boiling water. Add more if you want a more soupy texture.

4. Lock lid in place Bring to pressure over high heat. Then reduce heat, just enough to maintain temperature and cook for 12 minutes. If using a regular soup pot, simmer, covered, on medium low for at least an hour, stirring every once in awhile.

5. Allow pressure to come down naturally or use quick release and if beans aren't quite tender, simmer a few more minutes. Open lid away from you. Add salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving stir in cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

The 2011 Soup Project

1. Sweet Potato and Kale Soup


3. Basic Soup Stock

4. Locro Guascho Argentino (white beans, sweet potatoes and hominy)








16. Red Velvet Soup (with beets)

































49. Black Bean Chili with Hominy (see recipe above)
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Monday, February 28, 2011

The Soup Project: Jamaician Bean Soup with Lime and Coconut

While I was working on the Northwest Vegetarian Cookbook, a woman from Port Angeles phoned me. She said she'd gotten my first book Local Vegetarian Cooking at the library and was crazy about my Jamaican Red Bean Soup recipe. I thought the recipe would be in the Northwest Vegetarian Cookbook, since I was revising the first book to create the new book, so I talked her into waiting to buy the new book.

But as it turned out, I didn't put the recipe in because I had to shave off 20,000 words. That's more than the dog biscuit chapter, which my Cooking Assistant protested and pouted over. I had to take out recipes, plus, I added farmer and co-op recipes to the new book, so many favorites stayed in the frist book. The new cookbook had a Northwest focus, so the Jamaican Red Bean Soup no longer fit the profile. But now every time I think of this recipe, I think about the woman from Port Angeles and I wish I'd gotten her name.

What exactly did this woman like about the soup? Had to be the coconut-lime combination. For me, pepper-coconut-lime is the key to the soup's success. (Though I suppose the cumin and oregano need some credit, too.)

When I bought beans for the soup yesterday, I grabbed white beans instead of the red listed in my original recipe. The potatoes are also white, which would make it a little boring to look at, so I added a yam and then some kale for something green. For me, every soup needs a little green. My Cooking Assistant agrees.


Jamaican (Red) Bean Soup with Lime and Coconut
Peppers, coconut and lime combine to make this irresistible hearty bean soup. Serve it with warm corn tortilla and a green salad topped with pickled beets.

2 tablespoons organic canola oil
1 red onion, medium dice
1 habanero or jalapeno pepper seeded and chopped or 1 tablespoon chopped Mama Lil's peppers
10 cloves garlic (about 1 head) peeled and minced or pressed
2 medium red potatoes, washed and diced
1 small yam, washed and diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dry oregano
5 cups water
2 cans rinsed and drained white or red beans
2 cups finely sliced kale
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 14-ounce can coconut milk
Juice of 1 lime, or 2 tablespoons fresh juice
Salt to taste

1. Heat a soup pot over medium heat. Add oil, onion and pepper. Stir and cook until onions are lightly browned. Add garlic, potatoes, yams, cumin, oregano and water. Bring to a boil; then reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are soft, about 25 minutes.

2. Stir in beans, kale, rice, red wine vinegar and coconut milk. Cook until kale is soft, about 5 minutes. Add juice of 2 limes. Taste and add more the remaining lime, if desired. Salt to taste.


I have to say anyone who has ever eaten this soup loves it, even Tom who normally makes few comments, said, "Excellent."

This is my Cooking Assistant's portion.

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Monday, September 30, 2013

White Bean Soup with Kale and Caramelized Garlic



Soup Season

I love soup so much I once blogged about it for a year.  Now the season has me almost giddy for what is also the original tightwad foodie meal.



Waste Not

Look for bargains at the farmers' market for your soup.  Also use all scraps of leftovers for the pot.  For stock, use a recipe like this one, or make up your own from various vegetables in your bag for the week.  Making stock is one way of not wasting vegetable scraps.

I originally thought I'd make a white bean and kale soup.  But the more I thought about it, I began to dream up soup toppings.  My favorite kale and caramelized garlic recipe seemed like a perfect addition to this soup.  I didn't want the caramelized garlic, which is amazing, to get lost in the soup flavors, so why not have a soup topping?  Avocado and tomatoes would complete the look I wanted for this dish. 

I could almost see and taste it.Why don't we have soup toppings like we do pizza, ice cream, pancakes, salads and casseroles?  It's always the same old croutons, tortilla chips or crackers--saltines.  Blah!  I've seen friends put a hint of Parmesan on top or chopped kalamata olive, but why not go all out?  How about an actual salad on top of soup?

Or maybe we should just banish croutons and crackers, and garnish soup with fresh vegetables.




Though I  love buying  beans at the farmers' market, these days, we're back to $100 a week.  Though I gave it up at one time, it's now here to stay.  I did use the remainder of my soldier beans from Ayer's Creek Farm, but use whatever white beans you have because the flavor of this soup does not depend on gourmet beans.

One thing I don't skimp on at the market is shiitaki mushrooms.  Shiitakis are known for boosting your immune system and I try to buy two pints every week at the farmers' market from Sno Valley.  Two pints for us lasts for 5 meals, and these fresh shiitake are so much better than anything you can get, even from natural food stores, around Seattle.  Some things are just too good to give up.  

Save the stems for stock. Let them completely dry on a flat surface.  Then put them in a little baggie or a jar until you need them.



Sweet potatoes, yams and potatoes are perfect soup ingredients, too.  If you peel them or cut the ends off, save those skins for stock.  Then take the spent soup stock veggies out to the compost.


Celery is always good in soup but it wasn't in my budget this week.  It's got to be part of the weekly menu board to make the cut.  So if you don't have a certain vegetable for soup, substitute another or skip it.

I used a shallot, and though typically shallots cost more than onions, use whatever you have. Soup is meant to be an adaptable budget meal. I got my shallots from a friend who had replanted with shallot bulbs I gave her last year. This was an unexpected amazing gift, and it's good to use a gift in your soup pot.  

Gifts in soup pots bring good luck. (I made that up, but you never know, the soup pot could change your life.)



One thing is certain about a strict food budget--we clearly don't waste food like we used to.  

This month King County is launching Food: Too Good to Waste  in mid-October.  Though our family wasn't poor when I grew up, we ate plenty of planned leftovers.  If mom had meatloaf one evening, the next dinner was spaghetti.    

If leftover cooking is new for you, check out the recipes, tips and videos, on the link above, on how to use the things in your refrigerator.

In my opinion, most people don't really respect food in America because an astounding amount of food is tossed out every day. Though restaurants and ready made deli foods have pull dates and end up in landfills,  people overbuy, change eating plans, don't keep track of what's in the refrigerator--for any number of reasons.  Most Americans simply don't take food and wasted food seriously. Maybe it's because supermarket shelves are piled so high and many people have adopted the idea you can always buy another one of--you name it.  

For years, I also threw out vegetables that were old or fruit that had gone bad.  I'd get too much in my CSA or buy something impulsively, and while I'm good at using leftovers,  I've found one of the best ways to use more of the food in your refrigerator is to put yourself on a strict food budget.  And stick to it.  

It's the upside of a living on what people spend when they have food stamps.  When food is scarce--you quickly learn to value what you have.  It's sink or swim for your weekly food.

Here I have dried mushroom stems and leftovers from the vegetable bin, both destined for soup stock.  I also focus on vegetables with a longer lifespan.

I'm going back to basics and getting tips from the old Tightwad Gazette.
My favorite mushrooms are also medicinal.  I cut the stems off the larger mushrooms and save them  for stock.

Root vegetables are coming into season and the price comes down for seasonal vegetables like winter squash, sweet potatoes, beets, cabbage and kale.  Prices are going up for red peppers, eggplant and cucumbers.

When you remove the center stem, you can discard the tough end and thinly slice the skinny part for a stir fry. 
From apple cores (minus the seeds) to carrots, our hound dogs get first dibs on anything that may go to the compost.

Like a salad and soup in one bowl.  What's stopping restaurants from doing this?  Serve with warmed bagels or corn bread.

White Bean and Quinoa Soup with Kale and Caramelized Garlic
(Serves 4)

2 tablespoons canola oil
1 shallot, minced
1 red pepper, diced
1 cup diced zucchini 
1 cup shiitake mushrooms mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 red potato, diced
1 garnet yam, diced 
2 to 3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup Riesling 
1/2 teaspoon thyme
6 sundried tomatoes, chopped
5 cups stock
1/2 cup white, beans, soaked overnight
2 cups corn (fresh or frozen)
1 cup green beans (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
Hot sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lemon, cut into wedges

Heat oil in a heavy soup pot over medium heat.  Add shallot and red pepper.   Stir and cook until shallot begins to brown.  Add mushrooms and zucchini.  Stir and cook for a few minutes before blending in garlic, red potato, and yam.  Stir to coat all vegetables with oil.   

Blend in tomato paste, Riesling and thyme before adding sundried tomatoes, stock, white beans and corn.   Bring to a boil.  Then reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour or until beans are tender.

Add green beans, quinoa and a dash of hot sauce.   Simmer until quinoa is done, about 15 minutes.  Serve soup with a lemon wedge.   Top with Kale and Garlic (below), fresh tomatoes and avocados.

Kale and Garlic
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 head garlic, cloves separated, peeled and sliced
1 bunch Tuscan kale, middle stem removed, leaves thinly sliced
2 to 4 tablespoons water, apple juice or Riesling 
1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and cook until browned.  

Add kale and stir until coated with oil.  Then blend in water or apple juice.   Stir, then cover and sweat the kale until it wilts.   When done, squeeze the lemon over it, toss, then add salt and pepper to taste.  Use tongs to spread kale over soup before adding tomatoes and avocado.

1/2 large avocado, diced
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes

We're still working on our abundant tomato harvest.



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Monday, July 22, 2013

Green Bean, Carrot and Cucumber Salad


Green beans have arrived in the Northwest!    I found number of varieties at the market and bargain prices at grocery stores this past week.  If you can them or make pickles, now is the time to load up.


I had an idea for making a pasta salad with green beans, so I used half the beans I bought  (about a pound) to add them with pasta.  I blanched them the last few minutes of cooking the pasta.  I realized half way through the cooking I had a boatload of basil, so what I made turned out to be more of a marinara type sauce and I blended the pasta and green beans in.  Lots of basil went into this, and I have more leftover, so I looks like I'll make an Italian Vegetable Soup tonight with more green beans and basil.  I love blanching green beans so much, that I blanched them two days in a row.  

The second day, I made this green bean salad.  I looked for recipes, but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for.  I'd thought about using red peppers for color but they haven't made an appearance yet at the market, so carrots were my second choice. I still think a good grilled red pepper would be awesome in this salad.  I may create a variation next week if I find red peppers.



I also realized I had three cucumbers to use.  Farmer Wade Bennett of Rockridge Orchards had a great deal on Japanese cucumbers, and I couldn't resist buying extra.  I tell myself, this is the time to gorge on produce, so I got three cucumbers.   I'm thinking of using diced cucumber, avocado and chopped olives as a garnish for a tortilla soup. 

Mair Farm-Taki sells amazing Japanese cucumbers, too.  I love the samples. Some people say Farmer Katsumi Taki's cucumbers are the sweetest at the market.


Now for the dressing.  Vinegar or lemon?  I could have gone either way with this salad, but I think lemon pulls the color from the green beans faster than vinegar, and I wanted a slightly mustard flavor, so I opted for a raspberry vinegar.  And for some heat--Mama Lil's.  People might say I'm a cooking fraud if Mama Lil's disappeared.  It's my secret ingredient for many things I make, and it's on sale right now, so check it out. 

Look, Wade has new flip top vinegar bottles.  They look so old fashioned.


Green Bean, Carrot and Cucumber Salad
(Serves 4)

2 cups fresh green beans
2 to 4 tablespoons apple cider or berry vinegar
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1 tablespoon Nayonaise (vegan mayonnaise)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon agave nectar
1 tablespoon chopped Mama Lil's (or use pickled jalapenos)
1 or 2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 cups grated carrots
1/4 cup minced sweet or red onions
1 Japanese cucumber, chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 

1. Blanch green beans in a large pot of water until fork tender (about 3 minutes).  Drain and plunge green beans into cold water to stop the cooking process.

2. Whisk together vinegar, mustard, mayonnaise, olive oil, agave nectar, Mama Lil's and garlic.  Set aside.

3. Combine green beans, carrots, onions and cucumber.   Gently toss with dressing.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.


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