Southwestern Black Bean Soup

This is quick, easy, and gooood! I was impressed how quick this was to fix and how flavorful and hearty it was. Defiantly a keeper! I found this recipe on a website called EatingWell.

It was icy and cold out the night we had this soup. It was also late in the evening by the time we got home from work and school -so I wanted something warm, hearty, and quick! I saw this recipe a few nights before and thought it sounded good, easy to make and I had everything in my kitchen - which was defiantly awesome! I don't recall how long it took to make this, but it was not long at all. I made it all in one pot and got everything ready to toss together while I was sauteing the onion. I totally didn't think to take a photo as we were so eager to eat, so below is the photo from the website. Perhaps the next time I make this I'll get a photo of it, as ours was garnished with shredded cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream and some chopped fresh cilantro. Very good - enjoy!

From EatingWell: January/February 2010 —This is a zippy Southwestern-flavored black bean soup. It is made with canned beans so it comes together in minutes. If you have leftovers, pack them up in individual serving containers for lunch the next day.

4 servings, about 1 1/4 cups each

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed
• 3 cups water (I used 1 can beef broth and enough water to make 3 cups)
  
• 1/2 cup prepared salsa
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste -I added a little at the end)
  
• 1 tablespoon lime juice (I used just a little splash at the end)
  

optional (but totally recommended) garnish:

• dollop of sour cream
  
• a pinch or two fresh cilantro, chopped
  
• a pinch or two shredded cheese
  

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat (I did this right in the big stock pot I was going to use). Add onion and cook, stirring, until beginning to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Add chili powder and cumin and cook, stirring, 1 minute more. Add water, salsa and beans. The recipe says to add the salt at this point too, but I suggest to wait until the end - you may find you don't need it. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in lime juice.
2. Transfer half the soup to a blender and puree (use caution when pureeing hot liquids). Stir the puree back into the saucepan. I used a hand immersion blender right in the pot, and as always - it worked like a charm. I blended to the consistency I wanted . Serve and Enjoy!
   

Note: I garnished with sour cream, fresh chopped cilantro and some shredded cheese and it was wonderful!

• Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Garnish with sour cream and cilantro, if desired, just before serving.

ENJOY!

Cream of Chicken/Turkey & Wild Rice Soup

This is a very good soup. The flavor and texture makes this one I'll defiantly make again!!!! Below is where I got the recipe from as well as a few things I did differently. Enjoy!!!!!

From EatingWell: November/December 2008 — Subscribe to EatingWell Magazine Today!

4.4 out of 5 stars based on 70 reviews

This is a healthier twist on a classic creamy turkey and wild rice soup that hails from Minnesota. Serve with a crisp romaine salad and whole-grain bread.

4 servings, about 1 3/4 cups each

Active Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms, (about 4 ounces, but I used a little more) )
• 3/4 cup chopped celery (I used a little more)
  
• 3/4 cup chopped carrots (I used a little more)
• 1/4 cup chopped shallots (I used a little more)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (I used some broth as well as seasoned chicken bullion and omitted the above salt)
  
• 1 cup quick-cooking or instant wild rice, (see Ingredient Note) (I used 2 boxes of a store brand rice-a-roni, omitting the season pkt)
• 3 cups shredded cooked chicken, or turkey (12 ounces; see Tip) (I used rotisserie chicken)
  
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add mushrooms, celery, carrots and shallots and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add flour, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes more.
2. Add broth and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits. Add rice and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until the rice is tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in turkey (or chicken), sour cream and parsley and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes more

** I did a few things differently - I got a rotisserie chicken from the store and pulled the meat I wanted to use. I used a store brand wild rice mix, similar to rice-a-roni (2 boxes gave me just a little more than 1cup of rice and I discarded the enclosed seasoning pkt). I boiled the rice in a sauce pan w/ broth until cooked and tender and then incorporated it all together. I also diced and added more of the veggies and thus added more broth to compensate. This was very good and I will defiantly make this again! Perhaps I'll use left over Thanksgiving turkey next time.

Tips & Notes

• Ingredient note: Quick-cooking or instant wild rice has been parboiled to reduce the cooking time. Conventional wild rice takes 40 to 50 minutes to cook. Be sure to check the cooking directions when selecting your rice—some brands labeled “quick” take about 30 minutes to cook. If you can't find the quick-cooking variety, just add cooked conventional wild rice along with the turkey at the end of Step 2.
• Tip: To poach chicken breasts, place boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a medium skillet or saucepan. Add lightly salted water to cover and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer gently until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the middle, 10 to 12 minutes.

Nutrition

Per serving: 354 calories; 9 g fat (3 g sat, 4 g mono); 87 mg cholesterol; 27 g carbohydrates; 36 g protein; 3 g fiber; 378 mg sodium; 577 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin A (90% daily value), Zinc (20% dv), Iron (15% dv).

2 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 1/2 starch, 1 vegetable, 3 lean meat, 1 fat

Chocolate Cream Pie

I found this recipe on the web at cabcooks.com about a year ago and am soooo thankful I did!!! This chocolate cream pie is easy to make, really thick, rich and creamy!!!! I've made this pie many times and every time it gets great reviews that start with the first bite - "Mmmmm this is good!" Each slice holds together instead of oozing out all over the plate - this recipe is a total keeper!!! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 pie crust for a 9″ pie pan
1 1/2 C sugar
1/3 C cornstarch
2 1-oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
1/2 tsp salt
1 C milk
2 C heavy cream
4 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 Tsp real vanilla extract
Sweeten whipped cream

Line a 9″ pie pan with crust. Finish the edges as desired. Bake pie shell as directed by recipe or package. Cool on rack until needed.

In a saucepan, mix sugar, cornstarch and salt. Blend the milk and egg yolks. I used a whisk to incorporate the two ingredients. Stir egg mixture slowly into the dry ingredients, making sure to combine everything together. Whisk in melted chocolate.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and begins to boil. Make sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the saucepan to avoid any browning or burning of the cream. It took about 12 minutes before I saw signs of thickening. Don’t walk away at this point and stir, stir, stir. Don’t be alarmed if you start to see clumps of thickening cream on the spoon/spatula. The rest of the cream will thicken completely a few minutes later. Once the cream thickens and starts to bubble/boil, continue to cook for one more minute, always stirring! Remove from heat and mix in vanilla extract. Immediately fill pie crust. Press plastic wrap onto the filling to prevent crust from developing on top of the filling.

Chill pie for at least 2 hours. I took out the pie about an hour before serving and scooped large dollops of sweetened whipped cream on top. Here’s a picture of it after chilling in the fridge for 2 hours.

This tasted like a very rich and creamy chocolate pudding. The filling looks very dense but had a surprising lightness to it. I don’t know if it’s because I used a whisk the last minute of cooking and to incorporate the vanilla. But if you like chocolate pudding, you'll love this!