15 Bean Soup with Bacon

Lately we have been trying to eat more beans as main dishes (they're supposed to be so good for you and your heart and all that) and I have to admit I have been having a hard time finding good main dish recipes. Beans (in America, anyway) are usually served as a side dish, and more often than not are slathered in barbecue sauce and brown sugar. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but it's not exactly main course fare! If we're eating beans for dinner, I want the recipe to be hearty and satisfying, not sugary. Thankfully, this recipe is both hearty and satisfying, and it has become one of our family favorites. And of course as an added perk, beans are incredibly inexpensive - You can feed an army for less than $1 a person, as the saying goes!

It may seem like this recipe takes FOREVER to make (soaking the beans overnight, boiling the beans, simmering the soup), but it actually requires very little actual working time - I would say maybe 15 minutes total, just to saute the bacon and the onions.

Ingredients
1 lb bag 15 bean stew bean mix
1/2 lb sliced bacon
1 quart stock (I use beef, but chicken is great too)
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced or passed through a garlic press
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
kosher salt
cracked black pepper
optional: cayenne pepper to taste, white or brown rice for serving over


1. Remove the beans from the packaging, and place in a large pot. Discard that little packet of MSG (it's bad for you!) Fill the pot with cold water, covering the beans by at least 2 inches (I didn't do this last time, and my exposed beans sprouted. Lesson learned!). Let sit at least 6 hours or overnight (you can do this in the morning or the night before. More soaking doesn't hurt!). Rinse the beans in cold water, until the water runs clear. Cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Boil beans for about 2 hours, skimming off an scum from the surface of the water. When beans are tender and soft when pierced with a fork, they are done. Remove from heat, and pour off any excess water ( I never seem to have any - mine often turns to soup all on it's own when the small beans disintegrate. If this is the case, just reduce the amount of stock you use to 2 cups).

2. Dice bacon strips into a small dice. In a large, heavy bottomed sauce pan, saute bacon over medium heat until very crisp and golden, about 15 minutes (if it's soft at all, it get's mushy and chewy in the soup), being careful not to burn it. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon, and place diced onion and garlic in the left-over bacon grease. Saute until softened and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add stock, diced tomatoes, beans, bacon, parsley, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper. Bring to a boil, and simmer 60 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cayenne pepper to taste, and correct seasonings if it needs more salt or pepper. Serve on it's own, or with a little dollop of sour cream. Also great over rice!

Edamame Avocado Dip with Spicy Wasabe

Wow. All I can say is wow. It isn't very often that you stumble across a recipe that shifts your paradigms, but folks, this is it. It's like guacamole on steroids, and the craziest thing is that this stuff is good for you. No really! It is!

If you read my blog at all, you know that I am always trying to sneak healthy stuff into my family. The number one problem is that when you think "healthy" you probably also think "doesn't taste good."

That is so sad.

Healthy food, food that nourishes your body, should taste great. Maybe not like lots of bad fat, sugar, or salt, but it should taste good. And this does. This tastes so, so good. Creamy cool, with the dry heat of wasabe, ginger, and garlic, and a punch of protein from the edamame. It's so good that I want to eat it by the spoonful, and I have to keep reminding myself not to feel guilty if I do, because this really is good for me too!

Edamame Avocado Dip with Spicy Wasabe
adapted from The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen by Rebecca Katz

This is my new favorite cookbook, and before I freak you out, no, no-one at my house has cancer. But people who do have cancer need to eat really healthy food, and it has to taste really good because treatment has a way of killing the appetite. This cookbook does just this: really healthy food that tastes really amazing. Exactly what I need for my picky family!

Ingredients
1 cup fresh or frozen shelled edamame beans
2 avocados, peeled and pitted
1 teaspoon wasabe
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 clove minced fresh garlic
1/4 cup water
juice of 2 fresh limes (about 3 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

1. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Do a seasoning check, and add more salt, pepper, lime juice, or wasabe as needed (I like to kick it up to a tablespoon to really bring on the heat).

Four Pepper Black Bean Salad with Tangy Lime Vinaigrette

Oh internet. How I've missed you. What happened to us? Remember back when we used to hang out and talk about recipes every other day? And then tell each other secrets and brush each other's hair? Good times.

So. I don't even want to go into where I've been over the past two weeks, I don't want to bore you with tales of mystery soup and the odds and ends of our pantry and freezer. Honestly, I'm just too tired to even go into it all right now. Lets just say that the baby has been difficult (night. waking. every. hour. ack.) and there may have been a week or two where I mismanaged the budget and consequently, we didn't buy much in the way of groceries. There were also some failed pickles. I don't even want to talk about the stupid failed pickles. GAR! Damn pickles. I will conquer you yet!

Aaaanyway.






Lets talk about brighter things. Bell peppers! Oh, how I love them. I love them especially in this salad, in all it's tangy goodness. And darlings, it's so simple! This is one of my go-to recipes for summer, and it's a great on a hot summer evening, or as a pot-luck item at a summer barbecue. And of course, bell peppers are in season right now, so they are delicious and cheap. What's not to love?



Four Pepper Black Bean Salad with Tangy Lime Vinaigrette


What's the difference between a green, yellow, orange, and red bell pepper? They are actually all the same vegetable, just in different stages of ripeness.* The riper the pepper, the more red and sweet it is. I like that this salad has all four colors, because it provides a broad range of flavors, from the crisp tartness of a green pepper to the sharp sweetness of a red one, and the mellow flavor of the oranges and yellows between. Mix it up with some creamy black beans and lime vinaigrette, and you've got one hec of a salad.

* UPDATE: I stand corrected. While green and red peppers are indeed the same plant, yellow and orange strains are different altogether. Thanks Elizabeth! :)

Ingredients
4 bells peppers, preferably in green, yellow, orange, and red
1 14oz can of black beans
1 small red onion (or 1/2 a medium one)
1 bunch cilantro
3 limes
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (reduce to 1/2 if you want it milder)
kosher salt
black pepper



Take your four bell peppers and dice them up. Oh, what's that you say? You want me to explain how to do that? Oh! Oh! So excited! K, here goes: First cut the top off a bell pepper. Set it aside. It is a tasty snack for you to eat.




then cut off the bottom of the bell pepper. Revolutionary, right?




Cut pepper into thirds, and remove ribs and seeds.




Slice each third into strips...




... then cut across the strips to make little cubes. Voila! diced bell pepper. Wasn't that easy?




Remember that bottom? We are not done with it.




Slice into strips...




...and then slice crosswise. Wow, we are having SO MUCH FUN. Why did I neglect you for so long, internet o' mine? After this, let's go boil some water! Yeah! Good times. Repeat with other peppers, and then put all those peppers in a medium bowl.




Open 1 can of black beans. Oh yuck. What IS that stuff around the beans? I don't know, but let's wash those beans off.




Oh, so much better. Add to the bowl of peppers.




Now take 1 small red onion.




Slice into, er, slices.




Then slice those slices into, er, dices. Woo! I'm on a roll here. Add to peppers and beans.




Finely chop 1 bunch cilantro. Add to peppers, beans, and onions.




Ready for that vinaigrette? Add the juice of three limes.




Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Whisk together. Add 1/3 cup olive oil in a slow steady stream, still whisking. Whisk until combined.




Add 3 tablespoons honey.




Whisk in 1 teaspoon cumin and 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper. Whisk together and pour over pepper black bean mixture. Stir to combine thoroughly.




Let rest 5-10 minutes, to give the flavors a chance to meld. Enjoy!

Warm white bean salad with asparagus, feta, and bacon

Have you ever opened the fridge only to find the empty shelves staring back at you, the sad neon light blinking reproachfully? Most nights, that's my signal to pick up the phone and make a hasty call for some pad thai. Usually by the time I get to the point where I'm poking my nose in the fridge, it's too late for dinner creativity anyway, much less concocting something edible out or this and that, mad scientist fashion.

On the other hand, sometimes the grocery money is spent, the slush fund is spent, and it's too late at night to make a call for pad thai anyway. Which is how this salad was born. And may I say that it's crazy good? Maybe I should play mad scientist for often. Because really, this salad is one happy accident, and it's staying in my recipe book FOREVER.

One of the nice things about this "salad" is that it's so hearty: it really is a meal in and of itself, and it makes a great lunch. I also love the fresh asparagus. After a long winter (haha! I know, I know, I can hardly complain about "winter") of potatoes and rice and cheese and meat, it's so nice to eat something fresh and new.

Sometimes I put tomatoes in this... and sometimes I don't. Usually, this time of year, I don't. All the tomatoes you can get are mealy and white and totally disgusting. However, I had a box of them from Mexico, and they were really ripe and sweet, so... I put them in. They were delicious, by the way.



Beck's Favorite White Bean Salad with Asparagus, Feta, and Bacon

Feeds 2 for lunch, or up to 6 as an appetizer

There are three things that really "make" this salad. The first is the dressing. Without the dressing, this is not a salad, just a bowl of beans and asparagus. The other two things are the bacon and the feta cheese. They play off of each-other, and the beans, and the asparagus, and everything else. The whole really is greater than a sum of the parts. Please don't skip the bacon. Nate would be sad.

Ingredients
• 1 can white beans packed in water, thoroughly rinsed in a colander
• 1 bunch fresh asparagus, ends trimmed
• 1/3 cup black beluga lentils (they have these at Trader Joe's pre-cooked, I imagine they probably have them at Whole foods and regular markets as well)
• 2 strips bacon, cooked until crispy, drained on a paper towel, and chopped
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (but if they're not in season and you can't get them, just skip them, OR maybe use sun-dried tomatoes, those are good too)
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese (I like sun-dried tomato flavor)
• 1 tbs white balsamic vinegar, or white wine vinegar
• 3 tbs virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt
• cracked black pepper



Bring a pot of water to a boil. Chop asparagus into 1" pieces, and blanch in the boiling water until just tender and bright green, about 4 minutes. Drain in a colander.


Combine rinsed beans, black beluga lentils, bacon pieces, asparagus, feta, and tomatoes in a large bowl.


In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, some black pepper, and a pinch of salt, until salt is dissolved. One tablespoon at a time, add olive oil, whisking constantly, until all is combined. Add a little more oil or vinegar as necessary, until it tastes delicious and you want to drink the whole bowl. Pour over the bean mixture. Toss to combine. Enjoy!