Black Bean Soup with Kale and Mushrooms

As if Black Bean soup isn't already good enough, I added Kale and Mushrooms to push it over the top!!

I started with a Black Bean soup recipe from allrecipes.com (link), and changed it up a bit.  What I ended up with is below, and it's been a huge hit with our friends and families so far!  It's a hearty soup that covers 5 of the 7 GBOMBS (Greens, Beans, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries, and Seeds) that we are suppose to be eating every day.

Serves: 6
Prep time: 15 min
Cook Time: 45 min

Ingredients:

2 medium onions

2 stalks celery, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

2 cups mushrooms, sliced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

black pepper to taste

4 cups low sodium vegetable broth

8 cups (or 4 15 oz cans) black beans

2 cups sweet corn (frozen is fine)

1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 bunch Kale, chopped

a dash or two of hot sauce (optional)

Instructions:

In a large pot over medium-high heat add onion, celery, carrots, mushrooms and garlic and cook for 10 minutes or so, until the onions and mushrooms are cooked. 

Add chili powder, cumin, and black pepper.  Stir, and cook for 3 minute or so before adding the vegetable broth, 4 cups of beans, and corn. Bring everything to a boil.

While that's cooking combine the remaining 4 cups of beans and the crushed tomatoes in a blender, and blend until smooth. Stir the blended beans and tomatoes into the boiling soup mixture, reduce heat to medium.  

Add the chopped kale, and simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally.

If you want to spice it up, which I almost always do, add a little hot sauce when serving!  Delish!!

Onions, Celery, Carrots, Mushrooms, and Garlic in the pot!

All stirred up and cooking nicely, just before adding the spices.

Fast forward, and it's finished and ready to eat!!

Stewed Greens

Sometimes I have such a backlog of greens from the farm I just put a whole bunch in a pot with a can of diced tomatoes, some corn for sweetness and a little Italian seasoning. It comes out so good! Even Ev commented on how good it smelled while I was cooking it tonight. Let's see if he actually eats some for dinner tommorrow. This batch has kale, spinach and collard greens.

Vegan Eggplant Rollatini

The vegan eggplant rollatini is by far my favorite recipe. It is so good, and the cashew ricotta is so creamy it really makes the dish! Also, the key to cooking this eggplant healthily is baking it so you don't have to use tons of oil to make it soft.

It's a little work so I usually don't do it on a weeknight, but if I do make it I usually make extra and freeze it. It also makes a good party food. Here is the recipe and some pics of me making it. Enjoy!

The pic shows it with a side of steamed kale and some avocado.

Eggplant Rollatini
* Mostly taken from a recipe in Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman

3 large eggplants
1 lb frozen spinach
1 batch Cashew Ricotta
2 jars tomato sauce (approximately)

Cut off top and bottom of eggplant and peel. With a sharp knife, slice ¼ inch slices long ways. Spray pan lightly with spray oil so eggplant won’t stick and place eggplant on pan. Heat in oven for approx. 15 minutes at 350 degrees or until eggplant is soft and pliable.

Heat spinach and drain excess liquid. Mix the spinach and cashew ricotta in a large bowl.

Cover the bottom of a lasagna sized pan with tomato sauce. On a plate, place about a heaping tablespoon of cashew ricotta mixture on a piece of eggplant and roll. Place the roll in the pan. Cover the rolls with more tomato sauce when finished. Heat in the oven for 50 minutes at 350 degrees.


Cashew Ricotta
* From the Veganomicon by Isa Moskowitz & Terry Romero

1/2 cup raw cashew pieces (approximately 4 ounces)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 cloves fresh or roasted garlic
1 pound firm tofu, drained and crumbled
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil


In a food processor, blend together the cashews, lemon juice, and garlic until a thick creamy paste forms. Add the crumbled tofu to the food processor, working in two or more batches if necessary, until the mixture is thick and well blended. Blend in the basil.