Roasted Pepper Soup

I've enjoyed making this flavorful sweet and spicy soup as an appetizer or lunch. You can make it vegetarian by using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. I like it either way.

Ingredients:

• 4 sweet red peppers
• 3 sweet potatoes or yams
• 1 large onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp Italian herb seasoning (rosemary and basil mix)*
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups cold water
• 2 cups chicken broth

Method:

1. Cut peppers into into 1-inch strips. Peel and slice yams. Coarsely chop up onion.
2. Toss vegetables, peeled garlic, oil, Italian herbs, salt and pepper in large roasting pan.
3. Roast (covered)  in 400 F for 45 - 60 minutes. Until tender.
4. Stir 1 1/2 cups cold water into roasted vegetables to cool slightly, then blend in blender or food processor (in batches) to puree.
5. Pour into cooking pot. Add chicken broth and a bit more water, to desired consistency. Bring to boil and simmer 5 minutes.
6. Serve with sour cream. Serves 4-6

* I use Pampered Chef Rosemary Herb seasoning mix

Black Bean Salad

I knew I'd like this salad even before tasting it, when I saw it on the buffet table! Thank you, Monika, for sending me the recipe. It's now one of my favorite salads.

Ingredients:

2 – 19 oz. cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup long grain rice
2 - 12 oz. cans cooked corn
2 sweet red peppers, diced
1 finely chopped shallot or some red onion
¼ cup chopped fresh coriander (or mint or more parsley)
¼ cup fresh parsley
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper


Method:

1. Cook rice and drain, then rinse.
2. In large bowl combine beans, rice, corn, peppers, onion, coriander and parsley.
3. In a small bowl whisk together oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic and spices.
4. Pour over salad and toss. Taste and adjust seasonings. I used mint and cilantro instead of coriander and added a bit of cumin.
   

Note: This makes a large salad (about 12-15 servings). You can adjust amounts according to personal preference. Salad keeps well in refrigerator for several days. We enjoyed the leftovers as a filler in beef steak wraps.

Spinach with Eggs

This is a unique recipe, of sorts, that my mother served (minus the mushrooms) when I was growing up. It’s the kind of dish that, if you are introduced to it early in life, you don’t have too much of a chance to think about the idea of not liking it because of how it looks. I have always liked spinach and have not kept this delicious vegetable from our kids either.

Ingredients:

2 – 3 Tbsp butter, divided
1 cup sliced mushrooms
10 cups fresh chopped up spinach (about 275 gm)
OR 1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed
4 – 5 eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Butter a small Pyrex dish such as a pie plate.
2. Cook mushrooms in a little butter until juices disappear. Dish into pie plate.
3. Cook spinach in a large pot with a small amount of water, just enough to steam it until it shrinks down (a few minutes). Remove any excess water and spread on top of mushrooms in pie plate. If using frozen spinach, no need to steam if it's thawed completely.
4. Season with salt and dot with butter.
5. Crack eggs on top.
   Bake at 375 F about 15 minutes or until done to your preference. When the egg whites turn white, watch yolks carefully if you want them a little runny.
6. Serve with hashbrowns, or on a toasted English muffin.

Lentil, Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chilli

A good source of fiber, protein and iron; the addition of lentils to vegetarian chilli is a bonus in more ways than one. Lentils do not require soaking before cooking if you are putting them in a liquid based dish like this one. Or, if you are like me and always have cans of beans...you can just as easily put a can of lentils in instead. All in all....vegetarian chili's such as this one are quick to make and GOOD for you. This is just one such version. There are lots of recipes out there so you can quickly come up with your own. One tendency I find, is for people to add everything 'but the kitchen sink' into their vegetarian dishes. Although it will all cook up nicely, you eventually tire of the dishes as they all taste the same. So if you find a recipe and want to 'replace'...make sure you stay in the same food group and replace...don't keep adding. For instance, for this chilli I found a similar one in the January issue of Alive Health Magazine. I followed it closely but made a few changes to make it my own.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil - I use extra virgin
• 1 large onion - chopped
• 3 or 4 stalks of celery (leaves included) - diced
• 2 to 3 cups orange fleshed sweet potato - chopped in 1 inch cubes (or substitute yams or yellow fleshed sweet potato)
• 1/4 cup carrots - chopped (I added these to give colour as I did not have the orange sweet potatoes.)
  
• 4 cloves of garlic - chopped fine
• 1 tsp of sea salt - salt is not imperative but it will 'boost' the spicier spices we are adding in a bit here
• fresh ground pepper to taste
• 2 tsp of chili powder
• 1/2 tsp of nutmeg
• 1 tsp of cumin (you could use curry powd. in a pinch but it does tend to 'meld' everything into a one blend taste)
• 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes - or a shot or two of red hot sauce
• 1 1/2 cups of dry red lentils - or canned (I use 1- 14 oz canned)
• 2 1/2 cups of low sodium broth - true vegetarian can use a veggie bullion or veggie broth...for today I only had chicken broth....
• 1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes - you can use diced but as you need thickener...you will need to add one small can of tomato paste to make the chili 'come together'
• 1- 14 oz. can of black or kidney beans - drained
• 1 medium bay leaf
• 3 tbsp of lime juice - remember 'fresh is better'....save the remaining lime wedges for decoration.

Put oil in large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, potatoes, carrots, garlic and spices. Stir until well mixed. Cover under heat for about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients except the lime juice and wedges. Stir. Bring to a quick boil WHILE stirring ocassionally. Turn on low and simmer for about 1/2 an hour. The sweet potatoes should be tender and have absorbed the extra moisture. Stir in the lime juice and serve with hearty brown bread and a slice of lime.