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White Bean Soup with Mini Lamb Meatballs

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White Bean Soup with Mini Lamb Meatballs

They tell me it’s fall. Actually, advice I know it’s fall because the ice cream shop was serving pumpkin and chocolate pecan pie flavors. I know it’s fall because of college football and baseball playoffs and Octoberfest. But it actually feels nothing like fall down here. It’s all record highs and stifling humidity. And mosquitos. Sigh. At least we have the beach. I’ll always be happy at the beach.

But just because it’s hot, and that doesn’t mean that I’m not in the mood for fall flavors like squash and pumpkin and cranberries. And I’m always in the mood for soup, web so this week I made a simple white bean soup with mini lamb meatballs. This is definitely a soup that’s a meal. White beans, dark green Lacinato kale, whole wheat pasta and ricotta lamb meatballs. Very hearty. Very fall-like. I’ll just close my eyes and pretend the leaves are changing…

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Bacon, Potato & Black Bean Stuffed Poblano Peppers

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Bacon, <a href=order Potato & Black Bean Stuffed Poblano Peppers” />

On the rare occasion that I go out for brunch or breakfast, information pills it’s not the French Toast or Pancakes that grab my attention, page It’s the salty, starchy stuff. The eggs and omelets, the hash browns and tater tots, the hot sauce. If I see a “skillet” type thing on the menu, I’m probably ordering it. There’s nothing more satisfying than browned and crisp potatoes, smoky bacon and some eggs.

So, when I found myself wondering what to make with the random ingredients leftover from the week – poblano peppers, a potato, some eggs and not much else – breakfast-style stuffed peppers came to mind. No matter that it was 3pm on a Sunday afternoon, I love breakfast any time of day. I sauteed some peppered bacon until crisp, then cooked onions and potatoes in the bacon drippings. Toss everything together with some black beans, stuff into peppers, top with grated Cotija cheese and bake.

The peppers roast in the oven while the potatoes, bacon and cheese brown perfectly into a salty, crisp crust. Top with a poached egg (not pictured), and you’ve got the breakfast (or dinner) of champions.

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Zucchini, White Bean & Leek Soup

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Zucchini, <a href=pills White Bean & Leek Soup” />

I spent Labor Day weekend on Lake Michigan – eating s’mores by the beach bonfire, prosthesis drinking the first of the season’s Octoberfest and generally lounging around. At night the temperatures dipped into the 50’s and I snuggled into my hoodie. A very welcome taste of Fall for this Floridian. And it got me thinking about soup, even after I returned to the stifling Miami humidity.

So, with Fall on the brain , but summer in the pantry, I made this Zucchini, White Bean and Leek Soup. Instead of using potatoes and cream as a base, I simply sauteed some leeks and simmered those with zucchini and lots of garlic in some chicken stock. I added cannelini beans for creaminess and blended it into a nice, soothing puree. Topped with croutons, a dusting of Parmesan cheese and some basil oil – it was a pretty perfect lunch. A little summer, a little fall and just right.

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Southwestern Tuna Melt

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Southwestern Tuna Melt

Tuna Melts are some of the best comfort food around. They’re warm, skincare toasty and covered in melted cheese. I think melted cheese is the pinnacle of all things comfort food. Mac & Cheese, pizza, baked pasta, lasagna, etc, etc. And yummy, mayo-y, cheesy tuna melts.

Instead of going the traditional route, I made these Southwestern by mixing the tuna with roasted poblano mayonnaise, black beans and pickled jalapenos. Smother in shredded Jack and Cheddar cheese and you’ve got a big ole’ Southwestern Tuna Melt that’s creamy, spicy and absolutely delicious. Tom went absolutely crazy for it and I’m sure my sister-in-law will be making it as soon as she sees it. She’s obsessed with all things tuna and southwestern.

If I could choose one thing to eat every day, it might be this sandwich. It would probably be pizza, but it just might be this sandwich. It’s that tasty. Wish I had one right now!

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Drunken Beans

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Drunken Beans

Since it’s January, hospital food magazine and blogs everywhere are posting their top food trends for 2009. This year’s trends include upscale comfort food, drug cheap cuts of meat, pork, lots of egg dishes and beans. Beans are trendy? Apparently. Since I love beans of all kinds, sizes and colors, this is a trend I can definitely get into.

This weekend, I was browsing the Rancho Gordo site looking for some bean-cooking ideas, and I came across this recipe for Drunken Beans. Beans with beer? Yes please. I cooked some dried Good Mother Stallard Beans (sub pinto or anasazi beans) with dried chiles de arbol and dried chipotle peppers. Then I sauteed spicy Spanish chorizo and garlic, added some pale ale and stewed the beans in that.

The result? Something like baked beans, but infinitely more flavorful. We ate them with some Guava BBQ Chicken for a seriously hearty, spicy and delicious Sunday supper. So, be trendy this year and make yourself some drunken beans!

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Spanish Comfort Food: Caldo Gallego

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Spanish Comfort Food: Caldo Gallego

Is there anything better than a big pot of bubbly soup on a Sunday afternoon? Yesterday, purchase I made some classic Spanish Comfort Food — Caldo Gallego. The name translates to Galician Stew, viagra sale and the soup originates from the Northern Spanish region of Galicia, which also happens to be where my great-grandparents were born and raised.

This traditional white bean soup comes in many versions. With chorizo and without, with turnips and without, with bacon and without. My version uses slab bacon and a lot of smoked ham hock to create a smoky, salty ham stock. Add cannelini beans, potatoes, onions and lots of collard greens for soup full of flavor, texture and healthful goodness. Sop everything up with a fresh baguette and you’ve got comfort food at its best.

Make sure to make a whole bunch because it tastes even better the next day. You can also freeze individual portions for easy portable lunches or emergency week night meals.

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Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Casserole

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Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Casserole

It’s finally (finally!) cooling off here, case and so I can justify all of my soups, stews and casseroles. In honor of the cold weather (what? 55° is cold for Miamians!), I made a spicy Chicken Enchilada Casserole with a crumbly, cheesy tortilla crust.

This casserole reminds me of a 7-layer dip, even though you’ll find no canned chili or cream cheese in here. You start with a layer of brown rice, then follow up it with layers of beans, hominy, sauteed onions and poblano peppers, shredded chicken, Enchilada sauce, corn tortilla dough and shredded cheddar cheese. Into the oven for 35 minutes, and out comes a slightly spicy, bubbly, cheesy casserole of goodness.

This dish can be made a day or two in advance and baked just before you’re ready to eat. I suspect you could easily freeze the casserole whole for those times when you find your fridge and pantry bare (a trend in my house lately).

Tom loved this casserole, and I gotta say, it’s crazy delicious in that messy comfort food kind of way. I can’t wait to get into the leftovers, and I’m thinking about making another batch soon to stock the freezer. There’s just nothing better than a cheesy, melty casserole and a chilly beer to welcome the fall.

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Beans with Crispy Prosciutto, Sage, Pecorino & Olive Oil

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Beans with Crispy Prosciutto, <a href=heart Sage, hospital Pecorino & Olive Oil” />

I wasn’t going to post this recipe. This was supposed to be a super simple, bronchitis healthy weeknight dinner. Not interesting enough to deserve a whole post. But then I tasted it and knew I had to share. These beans are deceptively easy and mind-blowingly delicious. There’s something hearty and earthy about the combination of beans and smoky, salty, crisp-like-bacon prosciutto. Add a little fresh sage, Pecorino and fancy olive oil and you’ve got a quick and tasty dinner.

I used Rancho Gordo’s Black Calypso beans and grabbed the recipe idea from their site. You can substitute dried Anasazi beans, or even canned great northern beans if you’re not up to cooking dried beans. Either way, these beans are definitely worth a try.

And now it’s time for some shameless self-promotion. As you know, the Ile de France cheese company, sent me some goat cheese to blog about awhile back and I submitted my tartlets to their recipe contest. Well, it’s time to vote! Help a girl out and head on over to the contest page.

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stick-to-your-ribs sausage, bean & barley soup

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stick-to-your-ribs sausage, <a href=ed bean & barley soup” />

I see on the news that it’s starting to cool down in some places. Not here. It’s still getting up to 90° most days, internist but the humidity is starting to let up. And so, it’s time for soup. Warm and hearty soups full of beans and grains and vegetables. Yummy soup that fills you up and comforts you on a bad day.

I love soup. It’s so good for you, comes together in just a few minutes and you’ve only got one pot to wash when you’re done. A few years ago, when I still lived in a place where it snows in winter, I discovered bean and barley soup. It sounds so simple, I know, but there’s something about red kidney beans and barley that taste amazing together.

For this soup, I added in some hot Italian chicken sausage to really make it a meal and some smoked paprika and lime to perk it up. It’s the kind of soup I’ll make on a Monday morning and eat for lunch the rest of the week with some whole grain bread or crackers. It’s thick and flavorful, stick-to-your-ribs goodness.

Related: Simple Sausage & Red Lentil Soup

p.s. See if you can spot me in the spoon. Hi guys!

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vegetarian three-bean chili

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vegetarian three-bean chili

Some people find it surprising that the biggest tag on this site is vegetarian. People who know me know that I love big, visit juicy burgers, chorizo (duh), short ribs, lamb and sausage. And while I’m pretty sure I’ll never go vegetarian, I think more than half my meals are meatless. There’s no real reason why I make so many vegetarian dishes, I just like them. Besides, going meatless reduces greenhouse gases and so is good for the environment and good for my health.

This three-bean chili is warm and hearty and just perfect for lunch. Black, kidney and great northern beans are mixed with fire-roasted tomatoes and green chilies. Bulgur adds a nice texture and masa harina is my secret (not so much anymore) thickening agent. It also gives it a little bit of that cornbread flavor that goes so well with chili powder. My other secret is a bit of smoked paprika, which goes a long way at giving this chili a rounder, meatier flavor.

I made a little hominy salsa with lime juice and cilantro to top the chili and brighten the flavors. I also made some jalapeño cheddar and chickpea muffins, but those were a complete failure and I had to throw them out. Sigh. I hate it when that happens.

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shrimp, jicama & black bean salad w/lime serrano dressing

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shrimp, <a href=information pills jicama & black bean salad w/lime serrano pepper dressing” />

I think this is my new favorite salad. Actually, visit this I’m pretty sure it is. It’s spicy and smoky, emergency crunchy and refreshing, which is good because it’s been over 90° here this week with 10,000% humidity. It would also be the perfect bring-to-cook-out dish (and Monday is Memorial Day!).

It all starts with a giant jicama. This one was the last one in the store and was buried under a pile of celery root. I dug it out though. And it was huge. I mean, huge. At least 2 pounds. When I shredded it, it filled my entire food processor container, and that thing is big.

Next came the black beans. Those were simple — I used canned. Then I cooked a few slices of sweet, center-cut bacon. It has less fat than regular bacon and gives the salad that smoky, meaty flavor. Then I quickly sauteed the shrimp in the bacon fat until they were just done. (If you’re not into the whole bacon thing, you can always use steamed shrimp and add a tablespoon of smoked paprika for flavor.)

A lot of lime zest, lime juice, scallions, cilantro and a couple of serrano peppers went in as well and everything was tossed together in a big blue bowl. A refreshing and satisfying salad for a cook out or a quiet summer evening.

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spring asparagus soup with mini meatballs

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spring asparagus soup with mini meatballs

Earlier this week I posted a dish inspired by fall. Not very timely, bulimics though I hear it’s still snowing in some parts. In an effort to be more season-appropriate, I made a spring soup with a light broth, mini meatballs and fresh asparagus.

For the meatballs, I ground the pork myself from some cutlets. I also threw some turkey bacon in the food processor for that smoky depth and rounded it all out with fennel seeds and crushed red pepper. I’d never ground my own meat before, and honestly, it was a cinch. Just place everything in the food processor and run it for a minute or two. It’s a lot fluffier (for lack of a better word) than the compacted stuff you get at the butcher counter, and I bet freshly ground beef is the key to the perfect burger.

Anyway, nothing says spring like crisp asparagus. Washed and sliced, it went in at the last minute along with some lemon juice. The soup was somehow light and hearty at the same time. All it needed was a nice heap of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a big spoon.

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