Fired Up Green Beans

Oh dear. I got a sample of an easy fermenter kit and decided to make the recipe they sent me. It sounded like a great idea, but ...

Oops.

I went to a couple of different stores, and fresh green beans were nowhere to be found. Bummer. But then I realized that I had frozen green beans. Would it work?

The lid made a lot of sense and I loved that I didn't have to do anything except screw the lid on. Nothing else to think about, unlike other fermenting methods I've used. I really liked the glass weights, since they had a grooved top that made them really easy to insert into the jars and take them out.

After two weeks, I was really curious about the beans. there was a slight whiff of dill even before I opened the jar that was enticing. It reminded me of pickles that I like. Mmmm.

The brine had good flavor, but the beans were a big nope. They were too soft to be pleasant to eat (although the flavor was good when I nibbled a tiny bit). Not a problem with the recipe, though. I really shouldn't have started with those frozen beans. I'm going to be looking for beans in the stores and farmers market, and I'll give this a try again.

If you're curious about the recipe, here it is. Use fresh beans, okay?

Fired Up Green Beans
Recipe courtesy of Nourished Essentials

1 pound green beans, topped, tailed and trimmed to fit inside the jar
2 cloves garlic
2 sprigs of dill

1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
4 cups of water
2 tablespoons sea salt (I used kosher. Canning salt would also be a good idea. Table salt generally isn't used for pickles)

In a saucepan, heat water. Add salt and stir till dissolved. Cool to room temperature.

Place garlic cloves, dill and chili flakes in the bottom of a pre-sterilized, quart-sized wide mouth mason glass jar. Next, add the green beans.

Carefully pour the cooled brine over the green bean mix until completely covered, leaving 1 1/2 inches of head space. (I used one of the Easy Weights to hold the beans under the liquid.)

Cover the jar with the Easy Fermenter Lid.

Store in a cool, dark place (room temperature 60-70°F is preferred,) for 1 to 2 weeks.

Once jar has been opened, move to cold storage. The flavor will continue to develop with time.

I got the easy fermenter kit from the company at no cost to me to do a review. I decided to post the recipe, as well, since it's a keeper.

Green Beans with Sesame Dressing (Ingen No Goma Ae)

When I got a copy of Masuharu Morimoto's new cookbook, Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking, I wondered what I had gotten myself into.

Japanese ingredients aren't exactly common around here. So I wondered if I'd be able to make a lot of recipes from the book without substituting the heck out of them. I have to say that I was pretty pleased that the majority of the recipes were doable with things I could find at my local grocer.

And for the most part, the unusual items were of the dried, seaweedy variety that I could order from Amazon, if need be. There were a few that I probably won't be able to find easily, like vacuum-packed pre-cooked lotus root or some specific types of vegetables.

But that's okay. It's unlikely that I'd ever cook every recipe from any cookbook. And I'm pretty good at substituting, if need be.

I had a couple recipes bookmarked. One was a chicken meatball recipe with teriyaki. Another was a Japanese-style hamburger. But then I decided to make a side dish instead, and settled on a green bean recipe. I had absolutely everything I needed, so that was a plus.

Well, I have to be honest. I used frozen green beans. But I had everything else I needed.

This is intended as a cold salad, so it's a great prepare-ahead dish. The instructions say that it's good for up to a day, but I have no problem letting dressed vegetables sit in the fridge for longer. And while this is supposed to be a Japanese dish, it would work perfectly well as a side for fried chicken, meatloaf, or any typical American meal.

It's also nice added to a green salad.

Ingen No Goma Ae (Green Beans with Sesame Dressing)
Adapted from Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking by Masaharu Morimoto

3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
About 1 tablespoon salt (for cooking the beans)
2 cups trimmed, halved green beans (I used "tiny" frozen beans)
1 tablespoon Japanese soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin (sweet rice wine)
1 teaspoon granulated sugar

Put the sesame seeds in a small skillet over medium heat and toast, stirring or tossing often, until they're a few shades darker. Transfer to a bowl so they stop cooking, then pound them in a mortar or blitz in a spice grinder until you have a slightly coarse powder. Note: I liked the look of the photo that had some whole seeds, so I used the mortar and pestle so I would have some small bits and some whole seeds.

Bring a small pot of water to a boil and add the salt. Cook the beans until they're fully cooked but still with a little crunch, about 3 minutes (or cook to your liking - seriously, they're your beans!)

Have a bowl of ice water or super-cold water standing by. When the beans are done cooking add them to the bowl of cold water. When the beans are cool, remove them from the water and pat dry. Note: if you need to, drain the water and add more cold water to get the beans chilled.

Combine the soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and sesame seeds in a medium mixing bowl. Add the beans and stir to combine.

Mound the beans on a plate and serve.

I received the book from the publisher at no cost to me.

Chili, Four Ways

So, what do you do if you need to cook for people who have different likes and dislikes that simply aren't compatible?

What if you want to make a batch of chili and one person won't eat meat, one can't have dairy, and another can't have gluten?

Or maybe it's different levels of spice. Sure, you can add the heat at the end, but that's not the same as when you cook the peppers right into the chili.

Well, that's not my house, but I thought it could be a fun experiment to make a bunch of different chilis all at the same time. And the nice folks at Brod & Taylor made it easy for me when they sent me their latest folding proofer.

A proofer, if you don't know it, is a warm, cozy place where you set your bowl of bread dough to let it rise. Or you put the formed bread in there for a final rise before baking. And there's a little tray included that fits under the rack so you can add water to proof dough in a moist environment.

The "folding" part refers to the fact that the proofer folds down flat for storage.

I reviewed one of their previous proofers, but this one has a nifty new function - it has precise temperature control so you can use it as a slow cooker. You can also use it for making yogurt or creme fraiche. Or for cooking sous vide ... the water in your pot wouldn't circulate, but you could keep it at a nice even temperature.

I don't mean that you can dump food right into the proofer. That would be really messy. But you can put food into a pot and put the pot into the proofer and set a temperature and let it cook. Or put your yogurt in jars. Or put whatever food into whatever container it is you want to use.

In my case, I made 4 little pots of chili - each one just about a cup. The pots I used are made from cast iron and hold about a cup, but of course you could use larger little pots. Or little ceramic dutch ovens. Or little ramekins. As long as the containers are heatproof, you're good to go. You should have a lid, but foil would be fine on a ramekin.



Here's how it went.

4-Way Chili

1/2 medium onion, diced
1 can pinto beans, drained
1 boneless, skinless chicken thigh, diced
1 teaspoon chili powder (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 tablespoons small pasta (I used small shells)
4 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese
Tomato juice (as needed, about a cup)
1 teaspoon olive oil (optional)

Line up four 1-cup cast iron dutch ovens with covers. Or you could use 1-cup ramekins and cover with foil for baking.

Fill as follows:

Vegan Chili

1/4 of the chopped onion
1/2 of the beans
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon olive oil

Everything but Gluten Chili

1/4 of the diced onion
1/4 of the beans
1/4 of the chicken
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoon shredded cheese

Dairy Free Chili Mac

1/4 of the diced onion
1/4 of the beans
1/4 of the chicken
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
Pinch of salt
1 generous tablespoon small pasta

Meaty Bean-Free Chili

1/4 of the onion
1/2 of the chicken
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
Pinch of salt
1 generous tablespoon small pasta
2 tablespoons shredded cheese

These are just suggestions on how to fill them. You can put cheese on all of them, pasta in none of them, use beef instead of chicken, or go crazy with hot peppers. The point here is that you can make different chilis depending on what people like, or don't.

As you're filling the pots, try to make them relatively evenly filled compared to each other.

Fill each pot with tomato sauce until they're almost full. There will be some simmering, so if you overfill, there will some spillage. Cover the pots.

Place the pots in the proofer set to 195 degrees. That's a nice simmer, but below boiling.

The temperate in the proofer is the temperature of the items in the proofer, not the air temperature, as is the case with your oven. That's something to keep in mind if you're using the proofer for cooking.

For actual proofing, there's a rack that you set the bowl of dough on. For slow cooking, the pots don't use the rack. If I was making a large pot of chili, I'd probably put heat the pot on the stove to a simmer, then put it in the proofer for a long, slow cook. The small pots heated through pretty quickly, though, and then they started simmering just a little bit. Perfect.

Yes, you can make this in your oven. I didn't try it, but I'd suggest 325 degrees and just check it until the chicken is done.

The proofer doesn't have a timer, so I set a timer for 2 hours and walked away. I checked the chilis a couple times during the cooking time and decided they were done after 1 hour, 45 minutes. The ones without the pasta could have happily cooked longer, but I thought the chili mac was definitely done.

These can be topped with more cheese, sour cream, avocado, jalapenos, or anything else you like. Serve hot.

I received the proofer from Brod & Taylor at no cost to me.

Very Veggie Chili Spuds

There are a couple of theories about making quick dinners. One is to find things that can be cooked from start to finish very quickly. The other is prep and cook ahead as much as possible, so that dinner can be on the table quickly.

This is definitely the second version. The chili can be made ahead of time, refrigerated and reheated.

Or it can be tossed in the slow cooker earlier in the day and served straight from the slow cooker. This is particularly useful if people are on different schedules, since it can rest on the warm setting until everyone is done.

As far as the potatoes, they can be cooked ahead of time and reheated for dinner, or they can be cooked in the microwave right before dinner. A lot of microwaves these days have a "potato" button for cooking baked potatoes, so older kids can independently make dinner.

Very Veggie Chili Idaho® Potatoes
Makes 12 servings (1/2 potato plus 1 cup of chili per person)

For the chili:

1 pound ground beef*
2 medium bell peppers, cored and diced
2 medium onions, peeled and diced
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 small zucchini, cubed
1 28-ounce can plum tomatoes
Kernels from 2 ears of corn
2 15-ounce cans kidney, navy, pinto, garbanzo, or other beans, drained
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons salt-free chili powder
1/4 cup masa harina
1 tablespoon oregano (Mexican preferred)
1 tablespoon ground cumin

For the potatoes and toppings:
6 Idaho® potatoes (1/2 potato per person)
Shredded cheese, as desired (optional)
Sour cream or Greek yogurt, as desired (optional)

To make the chili:
This can be made in a slow cooker or in a heavy-bottomed pot on the stove. If you cook on the stovetop, you'll need to do some stirring to make sure it doesn't stick and burn.

If your slow cooker has a browning setting, you can make the chili entirely in the slow cooker. Otherwise, you'll need to brown the meat in a separate pan before adding to the slow cooker.

Brown the ground beef (you can add a splash of oil, if you think it's necessary), breaking it up as you cook it. Add the bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, and zucchini and cook for another minute or two, until the vegetables begin to cook just a little.

If you've used a separate pan for the browning, transfer to the slow cooker.

Add the tomatoes, breaking them up with your hands as you add them, or you can break them up in the pot with a wooden spoon. Add the corn kernels, beans, salt, chili powder, masa harina, oregano, and cumin. Stir to combine.

Set the slow cooker on low and cook, covered, for 4 hours, or up to 6 hours. While you could leave it a little longer if you need to, it's best to let it switch to warm after 6 hours or there's a chance the beans can begin to break down.

To cook the potatoes:
Scrub the potatoes, then stab the potatoes on all sides with a fork or paring knife and place them in the microwave on a microwave-safe plate. Use the "potato" setting on your microwave, or if your microwave doesn't have a potato setting cook on high. A single 7-8 ounce potato will be done in about 6-8 minutes; 2 potatoes will take about 10-12 minutes; four potatoes will take about 22-24 minutes, and six potatoes will take 28-30 minutes depending on your microwave.

It’s a good idea to turn the potatoes over halfway through the cooking time, and if you’re cooking a larger number of potatoes, you may need to rearrange them during cooking time so they cook evenly. Be careful, as they be quite hot. If the potatoes are not done in the time indicated, continue cooking as needed.

When the potatoes are done, carefully remove them from the microwave - they'll be very hot - and cut them in half lengthwise.

Place each half potato on a plate. Use a fork to fluff the meat of the potato, then top with chili and your other desired toppings. Serve hot.

You can cook the potatoes in advance, if desired, and refrigerate until needed. Just reheat to warm them enough for serving.

*You can use ground turkey if you like. To make it completely vegetarian, you can eliminate the meat, or substitute it with additional vegetables, beans, or your favorite meat substitute.

This post was sponsored by Idaho® Potatoes.

Vegetarian Taco Salad #MezzettaMemories

Here's the salad and the four types of peppers I used.

I used to love taco salads. Have you ever had one? They've gone out of style, it seems, but the ones I loved best were a spicy chili on top of sturdy lettuce, and topped with cheese and assorted garnishes.

That's the very first thing I thought of when Mezzetta offered to sponsor a post, because they happen to sell a whole lot of different peppers, and peppers are essential for a taco salad..

While taco salad might not seem like a holiday recipe, it was one of my favorite things to order when I was out holiday shopping when I was in my teens. It was filling enough to keep me going, but not so heavy that I felt like I needed a nap afterwards.

Best of all, it was a quick meal out of the restaurant kitchen, so I could get back to important shopping.

There's the whole array of Mezzetta items I used for this post.

While I loved the old-style taco salads, recently I started wondering why they always included meat.

When I think of salad, I think about vegetables, mostly. Okay, there's tuna salad and chicken salad. Even steak salad, I guess. But I thought that taco salad deserved a meat-free makeover.

It's not that I'm a vegetarian. Far from it. But I adore vegetables. And salads. So sometimes I just want to celebrate them all by themselves.

I might have gotten carried away with the peppers in this salad. But that's okay. They're all different, in color and in flavor.

If you have everything prepped in advance, you can have this assembled in no time. Even better, let everyone assemble their own salads with the ingredients they like the best.

Vegetarian Taco Salad

For the bean "chili":
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 15-ounce can navy beans (or other bean that you like), drained
1 14.5-ounce can petite diced tomatoes
1/4 cup Mezzetta tamed jalapeno slices, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 tablespoons Mezzetta sundried tomatoes, diced
Salt, as needed

For the salad;
Shredded lettuce (use a sturdy lettuce like romaine or iceberg)
Bean chili
Sour cream
Shredded cheese (jack, mozzarella, colby, cheddar, or a Mexican blend would be good)
Diced or sliced avocado (or guacamole)
Mezzetta peppers (I used Roasted Bell Peppers, Deli Sliced Mild Pepper Rings, and Deli Sliced Golden Greek Peperoncini)

To make the chili:

You couldn't see the chili well in the salad. Here it is.

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until the onions begin to soften. Add the beans, tomatoes, jalapenos, chili powder, and sundried tomatoes.

Cook, stirring as needed, until the tomatoes cook down and the mixture thickens so you have beans in hearty sauce that isn't too runny. Taste and add salt, as needed. If you like it spicier, you can add more chili powder or jalapenos, but keep in mind that peppers will be a garnish for the salad.

To assemble the salad:
Pile the shredded lettuce on a plate, then add a scoop of the hot chili. Add a dollop of sour cream in the center, then sprinkle with cheese overall - as much as you like. Add the avocado, then garnish with peppers, as desired.

You'll note that the garnish peppers I added aren't super-hot, but they have entirely different flavors that add a lot to the salad. The bell peppers I bought were all red, but the red-and-yellow ones are nice, too, for more color. I've bought those red-and-yellow peppers several times, and I like them as much as the all-red.

The deli-sliced peppers that I bought are a time-saver, but you can also buy whole peppers and slice them any way you like.

If you want more heat, add the same jalapenos that you used in the bean chili. The ones I used were "tamed," so they're not killer hot, but still have some spice. Or choose another pepper that packs more heat, like the Mezzetta hot chili peppers.

If you want to add other things to your salad, feel free. I was tempted to add cucumbers, hard-boiled eggs, halved cherry tomatoes, and some thinly sliced scallions, but I thought those were taking me too far from my taco ideal. Of course, feel free to add whatever you like!

A final gently sprinkle of snow ... uh, I mean more cheese .... just because it's pretty, and you're all done.

If you're still wondering if this is really a holiday recipe, take another look. It's all red and green and gold and white - traditional Christmas colors.

Okay can I tell you something funny? I was working on this post and trying to decide if I liked the 4-jar or the 5-jar photo better. Turns out I had space for both, so I didn't have to decide. But while I was looking at them, and trying to decide ... four jars ... five jars ... I kept hearing Patrick Stewart's voice saying "There. Are. Four. Jars."

If you're laughing, that's great. If not, search Google for "Piccard four lights" and you'll get it.

Giveaway is OVER

Every day in December, one happy winner will receive:

100% Italian Estate Grown Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Golden Greek Peperoncini
Garlic Stuffed Olives
Castelvetrano Olives
Pitted Greek Kalamata Olives
Roasted Marinated Red & Yellow Sweet Bell Peppers
Cocktail Onions
1 Apron (from House Party contents)
1 Metal Olive Spoon (from House Party contents)
1 Tote Bag (from House Party contents)
1 Ceramic Bowl

This post is sponsored by Mezzetta.

Spicy Orca Bean and Corn Salad

When I first got Orca Beans from Bob's Red Mill, my first thought was how pretty they were. The mottled black and white was striking.

My second thought was, "Gee, I wonder if those colors will stay after they're cooked." I've cooked a lot of different beans, and a lot of the spotted, mottled, and randomly colored beans tend to blur to a single color after they're cooked.

I was pleasantly surprised that the Orca Beans kept their color. The white wasn't as pristine and the black wasn't as dark after cooking, but the colors were still there.

I had considered using the beans for refried beans or bean dip or baked beans. But after they were cooked, I realized I wanted to use them in a recipe where they could be seen.

So I decided to make a chilled salad.

I'm really not really sure if I should call this a salad or a salsa, because you could use it as either. It's a nice spicy side dish, a great topping for a taco, and it's perfect perched atop a tortilla chip. The corn adds a nice sweetness, the beans add a creaminess, and the pepper adds that kick you're looking for.

Spicy Bean and Corn Salad

1 cup dried orca beans, cooked, drained, and cooled
1/4 red onion, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
1 4-inch piece of celery stalk, diced
Kernels from ears cooked corn
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons lime juice
Salt and pepper, to taste

These beans cook pretty much like any other dried bean. Read the package directions, or use your favorite method.

Since I live at high altitude, dried beans take longer than normal to cook here, so my timing would not be your timing.

When you're dicing the vegetables, you want the the jalapeno to be fairly small, but the rest of the vegetables should be cut to about the same size as the corn kernels.

Combine everything in a medium bowl. Stir well. You can serve immediately, but I think it's a lot better the next day, after the lime juice has flavored everything, and it has mellowed the onions a bit, so they aren't as sharp.

Refrigerate until serving time. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Bob's Red Mill is on Facebook!

Black Bean Soup with Ponce

This is my last recipe with ponce, and it's a good one.

I started with a black bean soup mix from the Women's Bean Project. I'm not usually much of a make-it-from-a-mix gal, but these aren't really that sort of mix. You get a bag of beans, a little packet of spices and some instructions.

The company itself supports women who need help getting back on their feet, so it's a good cause. And it's a local company.

Since the company is very local, I can find these at most of the grocers around here. They also sell their products online. For more info, I wrote about the company here.

Of course, this would work perfectly well if you started with regular dried beans and your own spices. The mix included 3/4 pound of beans and a small pack of mixed spices.

If you happen to be all out of ponce, (and I mean, really, how is that possible?) you could use ham or smoked sausage instead.

Black Bean Soup with Ponce

1 pkg. Women's Bean Project black bean soup mix
2 bay leaves
1 onion, diced
2 tablespoons tomato powder (or tomato paste)
Water and/or stock, as needed
Salt, to taste
2 cups ponce, diced
Cooked white rice, for serving
Diced raw onion, for serving (optional)

Soak the beans overnight in water. I used a cast iron Dutch oven, which was also what I used for cooking. No need to dirty an extra pot or bowl.

The next day, drain the beans, then add water (or stock) to cover them by at least a few inches Bring to a boil, skim of any foam that rises to the top, then lower to a simmer.

Add the 2 bay leaves and cook until the beans are just about tender - figure 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Add water or additional stock as needed during cooking, and stir occasionally to keep the beans from sticking to the bottom of the pot. You want this to be a soup, not refried beans.

Add the flavoring from the bean soup mix (or your own seasonings, if you prefer), the onion, tomato powder, and 1 teaspoon salt. (Add the salt only if needed. If your stock had salt, you might not need any more.)

Cook until the onions are and beans are cooked through - another 20-30 minutes should be fine. Taste for seasoning and add more salt, if desired. Remove the bay leaves.

Serve topped with cooked white rice and some diced raw onion.

Rootin' Beer Chili

Since I didn't grow up where chili was like a religion, I don't feel compelled to make my chili any particular way. This one is an homage to mom's chili (which, let's face it, was really close to being spaghetti sauce with beans) but with a couple of oddball additions.

Pretty sure this one doesn't mesh with ANYONE's traditional chili. But it's pretty darned good. It's a teeny bit sweet, but not terribly so. There's a little bit of heat from the seasonings, but it's not nearly what I'd call hot.

The sweetness in this chili is going to vary depending on the root beer you use. Some brands are less sweet and more peppery, while others are nearly syrupy, so keep that in mind. If you're scared, use less and make up the difference with water. Or use actual beer.

If you want a really spicy chili, you probably already have the means to make that happen. Feel free to add your favorite fire. And, as always, salt to taste.

Rootin' Beer Chili

1 pound ground beef
1 clove garlic, small dice
1 onion, medium dice
1 green pepper, cored, seeded, diced
1 tablespoon salt (plus more, if desired)
2 tablespoons tomato powder (Savory Spice)
2 tablespoons Chili con Carne seasoning (Penzeys)
1 15-ounce can pinto beans
1 15-ounce can navy beans
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 8-ounce can root beer (or measure 1 cup from a regular can)
Chili powder or chile powder (yes, there is a difference) as desired. Or cayenne or your favorite hot pepper.

Begin browning the ground beef in your slow cooker (or a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven on your stove.) When it's about half-done, add the garlic, onion, green pepper, salt, tomato powder, and chili con carne seasoning.

Continue cooking, stirring as needed, until the meat is cooked and the vegetables are starting to get tender.

Add the tomato powder, chili con carne seasoning, beans, and cornmeal. If you want your chili spicy, add your firepowder of choice. Stir to combine. Add the root beer and stir again.

Put the lid on the slow cooker, turn it to a low slow-cook, and let it cook for as long as you have time. And hour is good, four is better.

Taste for seasoning and add salt and/or more spice, as desired. Stir and let it cook another 10 minutes or so, if you've added more heat.

Serve hot.

Avocado chunks, lime wedges, and sour cream make a nice garnish. My mother would have served this with oyster crackers. I won't judge.

Dill Pickle Soup Oh Yeah!

Every time I enter a Marx Foods contest, I feel like I'm competing on some wacky TV show where I'm given a basket of unrelated ingredients and I have to make something from those ingredients.

But in the Marx Foods contests, I have a huge advantage over those contestants - I have plenty of time to think about what I'm going to make. And even better, I don't have to use all of the ingredients.

The current contest was all about green things, and the package I received included green eston lentils, mint herb crystals, green cardamom pods, dill pollen, and bamboo rice.

Ummmm ... well, okay.

I only needed to include two of the ingredients, but I still found this one very challenging. I can't wait to see what everyone else made, just because it was such a crazy challenge.

I had a few ideas that seemed too un-seasonal, but finally I settled on the lentils. For soup. Because it's winter. And then ... um ... uhhhhhh ... hmmmmm ...

Dill pickle soup!!!

Before you think I've gone completely mad, let me tell you that I've actually eaten dill pickle soup before. I've never made it, though, and my memory of it is pretty vague. But I know I liked it.

I picture my fore-mothers scrambling to make some sort of dinner mid-winter, and grabbing whatever was left in storage. And then, for flavor, grabbing some pickles. Maybe it sounded crazy then, too, but perhaps her husband loved it and told his friends how brilliant his wife was to create this amazing soup. And then they all wanted dill pickle soup.

Or something like that.

If you still think that dill pickle soup is a little wacky, think if it this way: the pickles add a nice tartness to the soup, just like tomatoes do.

For this recipe, use any type of dill pickles you like. I used baby dills, because that's what I had. And some of them were really teeny. When you measure the chopped pickles, pack them lightly into the cup. A little more or less isn't a big deal, but you want the pickle flavor.

Yes, you really do.

You can VOTE FOR ME in this contest HERE.
And be sure to look at the other recipes. There's some awesome stuff. Green. Yum.

Dill Pickle Lentil Soup
When you're chopping and dicing the vegetables, try to get them to about the same size as the lentils. Since this is a rustic, homey recipe, you don't have to be precise about the dicing - just try to get it close to that size.

For the soup:
2 quarts water (plus more, as needed)
1 cup green lentils
1/2 cup dill pickle juice
1/2 cup diced dill pickles
2 teaspoons salt (plus more, as needed)
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 onion, chopped roughly
1 carrot, peeled and chopped roughly
1/2 teaspoon dill pollen
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
1 teaspoon prepared brown mustard
Several generous grinds black pepper
1 tablespoon sherry or cider vinegar (optional)

For the garnish:
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon dill pollen
Chopped or sliced dill pickles

Combine all of the soup ingredients in a large, heavy-bottomed pot, excluding the vinegar. Simmer until the lentils and vegetables are cooked through. Add more water, if needed, to keep it soupy during the cooking, and stir as needed to keep the lentils from sticking to the bottom of the pot where they could burn.

Meanwhile, combine the sour cream and dill pollen. Refrigerate until needed.

To thicken the soup and add body to it, use a stick blender to blend part of the soup, or transfer some of it to a blender and blend carefully, then return the blended soup to the pot. (You know about hot liquids exploding from blenders, right?)

Taste for seasoning and add salt, if needed. If you prefer a slightly more tart soup, add the vinegar. Cook for a few minutes more.

Serve hot. Garnish with a dollop of the sour cream and some of the chopped or sliced pickles. I used baby dills and a few of them were tiny enough to slice into small rounds.

Aren't those little cast iron pots adorable? I think they're great for serving soups.

Whole Foods Friday: Spicy Garbanzo Salad

Hatch chiles are getting famous, but the season is short. However, you can buy Hatch products in cans. I love the little 4-ounce cans of chopped Hatch chiles. They're a nice amount and you can find them in mild or hot, to suit your taste.

I'm calling this a salad, but I loved it on a soft flour tortilla with some melted cheese. A perfect cheesy, melty, filling vegetarian taco.

Or, you could use it like a chunky salsa.

This was actually inspired by a salad that was served at the rehab hospital where my husband is recovering. That salad was a little less spicy and also included avocado as the "dressing." I liked the flavor of the avocado, but a salad like that wouldn't have much of a shelf life, since the avocado would go brown and unpleasant pretty quickly.

A few chunks or slices added to the salad at the table would be fine, though.

Spicy Garbanzo Salad

1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 4-ounce can hot chopped Hatch chiles
12 cherry or other small tomatoes, halved
1/2 small onion, diced
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
Pinch of salt.

Combine all ingredients and stir. I think this is best after it has rested long enough for the flavors to meld and the harshness of of the onions to soften a bit. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Black Bean Soup with a Cajun Twist

I adore black bean soup with plenty of white rice, plus a garnish of some diced onion for a bit of crunch.

I've been known to add so much rice that I end up with something more like a stew, and other times, I leave it a little more soupy. Sometimes I'll add a little cilantro or sour cream or crumbled cheese as well. Like any soup, there are plenty of opportunities for customization and embellishments.

This recipe is so simple to make, it's almost cheating. Sure, you have to do a little slicing and dicing, but then it all goes into a slow cooker and there's nothing else to do until you're ready to serve.

The sausage I used here was from Teet's who partnered with the blog group 37 Cooks. It was a smoked garlic pork sausage - a spicier Cajun version of a typical smoked sausage. It added a nice amount of spice to the soup, but it wasn't at all what I'd consider spicy hot - just what I'm looking for in a black bean soup.

Black Bean Soup (with a Cajun twist)

2 cups dried black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup diced onion
2 cups diced Teets smoked garlic pork sausage
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons salt
1 tomato, diced
1 fire roasted red pepper, diced
2 quarts water
2 cups rice, cooked
Diced onion, for garnish

Place the beans, 1 cup of onion, sausage, cumin, salt, tomato, pepper, and water in a slow cooker.

Set the cooker on low and cook until the beans are fully cooked. It took about 14 hours in my cooker, but the time will depend on your slow cooker. And I live at high altitude, and dried beans always take longer to cook.

If you prefer the soup with a little more body, you can use a fork or potato masher to smash some of the beans. If you prefer something even thicker, you can use a stick blender briefly to puree some of the beans.

Serve hot. Pass the rice and onions separately.

Spiralized Vegetable Nests with Mushroom Eggs

Sometimes I get an idea stuck in my head until I have to try it.

In this case, it was all about making nests out of carrots and putting in mushrooms to represent the eggs. The more I thought about it, the more complicated it became.

First, I added on green beans as the grassy base for the nests. Then, instead of just carrots, I also used zucchini for a little color contrast.

And the vegetables weren't merely shredded, I used a spiral vegetable slicer that essentially turns innocent vegetables into long strands, like spaghetti.

And of course, this wasn't salad, so all of this had to be cooked. Of course. And whole green beans, carrots, zucchini and mushrooms all cook at different rates and the mushrooms were cooked with a different method. It was vegetable madness, I tell you.

And then I served it on a leaf-shaped green platter. Interesting presentation, except that the green beans are almost the same color as the platter.

At least I restrained myself from Frenching the green beans.

Because that really would have been a crazy thing to do.