(Panera Bread) Black Bean Soup

Lyla found this recipe on Food.com and made it for me while I was sick. It was really good. I liked it a lot. Lyla would have preferred it thicker so next time she is going to blend more of the beans to make it a thicker creamier base, rather than a thin base with chunks in it. 

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 celery ribs, finely chopped
• 1⁄4large  red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 small  chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 -1 1⁄2cup  boiling water
• 2(15 ounce) cans black beans, undrained
• 1⁄2teaspoon  salt
• 1⁄2teaspoon  cumin
• 1⁄2lemon, juice of
• 1 1⁄2tablespoons  cornstarch

In a pot, combine the first six ingredients; simmer for 10 minutes.

Add half a can of beans, salt and cumin; cook for 5 minutes.

Puree soup (I use an immersion blender which makes it easy to do it right in the pot).

Add the rest of the beans to the soup.

Combine the cornstarch with 1 1/2 tablespoons of water.

Add the lemon and the cornstarch to the soup; cook until thickened.

Thanksgiving 2016

I always like to track what we had for Thanksgiving dinner. I will try to go back and post a picture. In the meantime, the menu was:


Green Bean Casserole
Mashed Potatoes
Pumpkin Pie
Rolls
Vegan Turkey Roast
Cabbage Salad

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Vegan Overnight Oats

This is a delicious recipe from the ohsheglows website. I make it for special occasion breakfasts and it always hits the spot.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Vegan Overnight Oats

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup oats 
• 1.5 tbsp chia seeds 
• 1/2-1 tbsp chopped walnuts 
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon 
• 1.25 cup Almond milk 
• 1-1.5 tbsp raisins 
• 1/2 sliced banana (optional) 
• Pure maple syrup, to drizzle on top
• Raisins, to garnish (optional)

Directions: In a bowl, add the oats, chia seeds, walnuts, cinnamon, and raisins. Whisk for 5 seconds or so until mixed. Add Almond Milk and whisk until the clumps are gone. Add chopped or mashed banana if desired. Place in fridge overnight or for 1-2 hours. In the morning, remove from fridge and drizzle with a bit of pure maple syrup.

Vegan Chili Con Carne (very child friendly)

We served it with guacamole, chips and white rice. It was delicious!

Ingredients

 1 1/2 large onions, diced

11 oz Beyond Beefy meat crumbles (vegan)

1 garlic clove, finely choppe

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp paprika

14 oz can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 bay leaf

14 oz can chopped tomatoes

1/2 tsp oregano

ground black pepper

basmati, rice, to serve

Cook the onions and meat for 5 minutes in 2 tbsns of olive oil. Stir in the garlic, chili powder, and paprika, and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the kidney beans and bay leaf and fry for 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and oregano. Bring to a boil, season with salt and pepper, then simmer on low heat for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Take the bay leaf out and serve over rice.

PINK SAUCE by Chloe Coscarelli

This is from chloe's vegan italian kitchen cookbook

PINK SAUCE

SERVES 4 TO 6

Are you nuts about nuts?!

INGREDIENTS

2 Tbsp olive oil

3 minced garlic cloves

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

2 tsp sea salt

2 tsp organic sugar

½ cup raw cashews

½ cup water

½ cup chopped fresh basil

PREP

If you are not using a high-powered blender, such as Vitamix, soak cashews overnight or boil for 10 minutes and drain. This will soften the cashews to ensure a silky smooth cream.

METHOD

Heal olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for about 1 minute, stir in tomatoes, sea salt, and sugar. Cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a blender, combine cashews and water on high until very smooth, about 2 minutes. Stir cashew cream into the tomato sauce and turn off heat. Stir in chopped basil.

NOTES + SERVING TIPS

Toss in some freshly cooked pasta and enjoy!

Pro Tip: try serving with chopped fresh basil cut into chiffonade*.

Greenbean Mushroom Casserole

This is from the Post Punk Kitchen Website. Lyla made the entire recipe and we all thought it was delicious! Lyla didn't love it personally but maybe next time we'll leave out the nutritional yeast (which adds a cheesy taste) or the bouillon to give it a milder taste. I thought it was fantastic and tasted like what I remember from Thanksgiving's past. Just a bit healthier. Adrian didn't taste it. It was fun to see Lyla in the kitchen though. She has great instincts and it was SO helpful to have her with me.

Now this was the real fake cooking, it had like three whole steps or something. Can of cream of mushroom soup, bag of frozen greenbeans, and if you could hold off on eating them, a tin of prefried onions.

There are plenty of Thanksgiving menus going around and maybe yours is already planned, but perhaps you can squeeze this baby in? It is a must for my table, all that creamy savory flavor and onion-y crunch. My version has a few real ingredients, but don’t let that fool you, it’s still as embarrassingly good as its predecessor.

This recipe is pretty flexible in terms of what kind of dish to use. My favorite is this 10×10 casserole I have, but if you don’t have that size, I’ve done it in an 11×13 pan and it was fine, just a little thinner. You can also double it for deeper casseroles. You’ll see that two of the ingredients are optional. I’ve done this with nutritional yeast and broth powder, and without. Those optional ingredients definitely add flavor, but you don’t miss ’em too much if they’re not around.

4 cups green beans (1 lb), fresh or frozen (ends chopped if fresh)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cups sliced mushrooms
4 cups creamy mushroom soup (one box)*
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
fresh black pepper
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
2 tablespoons vegetable broth powder (optional, Frontier brand is my fave)
6 oz can of fried onions, divided*

Bring a pot of water to boil for the green beans. When ready, boil for about 7 minutes then drain.

Meanwhile, in a large pan over medium-high heat, saute onions in olive oil for about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and saute for 7 minutes more.

Mix the flour into the mushroom soup until very few lumps are left. Add to the pan along with the salt, peppers, and, if using, the nutritional yeast and vegetable broth powder. Stir often for about 10 minutes, until thickened.

Preheat oven to 375. Add the green beans to the pan and use your spatula chop them up a bit into smaller pieces (roughly in half). Mix in half of the fried onions. Transfer to an oiled casserole and top with the remaining onions. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until browned and bubbly. For yummiest results, let cool for at least 1/2 an hour before serving.

*A few words about finding vegan ingredients. The box of creamy mushroom soup is made by Imagine, and I believe they may have more than one vegan version. I remember a non-portobello one, but this year I couldn’t find it. But this is definitely vegan, for reference. Your Whole Foods will have it, but I bet it’s in well stocked groceries as well. As for the fried onions, French’s, the most popular brand, has Propylene Glycol, which seems to be questionably vegan and is, in any case, one of the main ingredients in under arm deodorant. Does that make you hungry? Probably not. Look for organic ones in your friendly neighborhood health food store. Here’s one brand from Holland, for reference. Last year Food Fight was carrying some good ones. But I had no problem finding them at a normalish grocery store in Portland.

Edited to add: Apparently Trader Joes is a source for healthier onions, too!

Creamy Alphabet Tomato Soup 

Serves: 6 | Prep Time: 0:10 | Total Time: 0:35

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup Eden Organic Vegetable Alphabets
1 TBSP Eden Selected Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 cup oinion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup carrots, diced
1/3 cup celery, diced
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 28 oz can Eden Organic Crushed Tomatoes, do not drain
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp Eden Sea Salt, or to taste
1 cup Edensoy® Unsweetened

DIRECTIONS

Cook pasta per package directions; rinse, drain, set aside. Heat oil in soup pot, sauté onions and garlic 2 minutes. Add celery and carrots, sauté for 3 to 4 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes, basil, oregano, black pepper and sea salt. Mix, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 to 20 minutes. Pureé tomatoes and vegetables in a blender until smooth. Place the pureé back in the pot. Mix in Edensoy. Bring almost to a boil. Do not boil. Reduce the flame to low and simmer. Place pasta in each bowl and top with soup, stir and serve.