Smokey Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili

From Fitness Magazine: http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipe/smoky-black-bean-and-sweet-potato-chili/

I loved this, and more importantly, my girls (3 and 5) loved it too!
I omitted the chocolate and the chili peppers, but only because I didn't have any at home and didn't have time to go shopping ;)
I had forgotten that this recipe was a slow cooker one, and didn't check it until 3 hours before dinner... so instead, I cooked it in a Dutch Oven, on low, for 2.5 hours. Worked perfectly!

Ingredients

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 tablespoon chopped canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
• 1 ounce unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 15 ounce cans low-sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3/4 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 2 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup shreded reduced-fat cheddar
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Coat the inside of a slow cooker with cooking spray. Combine chipotle pepper, chocolate, cumin, oregano, chili powder, cinnamon, garlic, black beans, sweet potatoes, corn, bell pepper and tomatoes in cooker; cook on low 8 hours.
2. Serve chili topped with cheddar and cilantro.

Photo and full recipe credit to http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burritos with Lime, in the slow cooker

Recipe from http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2012/03/slow-cooker-recipe-for-sweet-potato-and.html


Mmmm mmmm good :)

INGREDIENTS for Filling:

• 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans (or use 1 can (15 oz.) black beans)
• 2 large orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, diced in 1 inch cubes 
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1/4 cup vegetable stock or canned vegetable broth
• 2 T fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• salt to taste

Ingredients for Burritos:

• medium-sized flour tortillas (use whole wheat or low-carb tortillas for South Beach Diet)
• chopped fresh cilantro for serving (optional)
• shredded mozzarella cheese for serving (optional)
• shredded lettuce for serving (optional)
• sour cream for serving (optional)
• lime pieces to squeeze on filling (optional)

 DIRECTIONS

1. Spray a small slow cooker with olive oil to prevent sticking.
2. Put beans, diced sweet potatoes, corn, vegetable stock, lime juice, and spices into the slow cooker.
3. Cook on high for 3 hours, or until potatoes are tender. (I will often steam them a bit ahead of time to speed up the cooking process, about 10 minutes of steaming).
4. Assemble burritos and add toppings as wanted. Enjoy!

Taco Pasta Salad

Made this dish for a dinner playgroup and it is soooooooo so good! I will definitely be making this a lot over the summer :)

Original recipe from http://www.carascravings.com/2009/05/wagon-wheel-taco-pasta-salad.html

INGREDIENTS

• 1lb pasta or choice
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 10oz package frozen corn 
• 2 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 8oz shredded Mexican-blend cheese
• 1 1/2 cups salsa
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• salt, to taste
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro 
• 1 avocado, diced

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook the pasta al dente according to package directions.
2. Drain and rinse with cold water.
3. In a large bowl, combine the black beans, corn, tomatoes, salsa, and cheese. 
4. Add the cooled pasta and mix well. 
5. In another bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, garlic, cumin and chili powder. 
6. Pour over the pasta salad, add the cilantro, and mix well. 
7. Season to taste with salt. 
8. Just before serving, stir in the diced avocado. 

Crispy Roasted Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans)

I found this recipe on the Steamy Kitchen blog and decided to give it a try. My girls love baked kale, so why not baked chickpeas? I was right, they love them! I really liked them too. What a great, healthy snack that's also a good on-the-go snack. Win win :)

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 bag of dried garbanzo beans/chickpeas (same thing), soaked and cooked in advance
• olive oil
• salt
• garlic powder or whatever seasoning you'd like

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. I had just finished cooking the beans, so I strained them and placed them on a paper towel on top of the cooking stone (or cookie sheet) to dry them. Cover with a second paper towel and rub dry. This will also loosen any loose skins that you can then easily remove.
3. Sprinkle with olive oil and salt and garlic.
4. Shake around to coat well.
5. Bake for about an hour, or until nice and crispy.
6. Enjoy!

Since I cooked the entire bag of beans, I am freezing the leftover unbaked ones and plan on making hummus with it soon. Stay tuned for that recipe, as it will be my first time making homemade hummus!

White bean stew

This stew started out as a vegetarian stew, but then I decided to add chicken. It could be made either way! I served this with homemade French bread.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large (28oz) can of diced tomatoes, with liquid
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1.5 cups elbow or other small pasta, uncooked
• 2 cups precooked white Northern beans
• 2 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 3 cups vegetable or chicken stock

DIRECTIONS

1. Into a large pot, pour the diced tomatoes with liquid, vegetable stock, seasonings.
2. Bring to a boil, then add the chicken and simmer for about 15 mins.
3. Add frozen peas and bring back to a boil.
4. Add pasta and cook according to package directions.
5. Once everything is cooked, remove chicken and dice. Put chicken back into stew.
6. Mix baby spinach and white beans (mine were still warm from precooking in the slow cooker. If they're cold, you'll want to add them in and cook a little longer, until warmed through) into hot stew.
7. Enjoy with fresh bread!

Bean and Ham Soup

A first for us...a trial. It turned out pretty good.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup cubed hm
• 2 cups Great Northern Beans
• 1/2 an 8-ounce can tomato sauce
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups baby carrots, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp butter
• salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large pot, saute onions, carrots and garlic in butter until crisp tender. 
2. Add ham and saute for another couple minutes.
3. Add broth and tomato sauce and mix well.
4. Bring to a boil then cover and reduce heat to simmer. 
5. Simmer for 20 minutes, or until beans and veggies are tender.

Black Bean and Shredded Chicken Soup

INGREDIENTS

• 2 chicken breasts, frozen
• 1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 can black beans
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1/2 tbsp chili powder
• 1 cup frozen chopped bell peppers
• 1 cup frozen corn
• sour cream, optional

DIRECTIONS

1. Add all ingredients to the crock pot.
2. Mix and cook on high for 4 hours (or low for 8 hours).
3. Add frozen corn and cook another 30 minutes.
4. Shred chicken in crock pot, stir, then serve with sour cream if desired.

Italian Chicken Soup

Original recipe from Parenting magazine, November 2009

Perfect on a cold Fall day! Next time I'll probably use fresh chicken (just haven't found frozen chicken that I like..) and will serve w/ French bread.

INGREDIENTS

• Chicken stock
• precooked chicken slices
• bunch of spinach, chopped
• pinto or cannellini beans
• frozen gnocchi
• oregano to taste
• garlic to taste

DIRECTIONS

Head prepared chicken stock in a large pot.
Season.
Add chicken, spinach, and beans.
Bring to a boil and then add in frozen gnocchi.
Cook for about 8 mins (or according to gnocchi package directions).

Chicken, Bean and Kale soup

This week I got my first order of fruit and veggies from Door to Door Organics. I was very happy with the selection they sent! Everything was super fresh and nice.. I have a hard time finding such nice fruit/veggies at the supermarket! And how nice is it that it gets delivered to my door step, is very reasonably priced, is organic, and you even get to substitute items that you want/don't want! Definitely check them out if they deliver in your area.

One of the vegetables offered this week was kale.. I considered substituting it out since I have never cooked w/ kale (have I even eaten it before? My husband thinks it's in minestrone soup..?). I decided to go for it and try something different. So in search of a good kale recipe (allrecipes.com wasn't much help this time), I asked on the cooking board on thenest.com. Thank you blogger Savory Spicy Sweet for suggesting your Bean and Kale Soup ! It was delicious!!! I have to admit I was a bit wary of how it would turn out, but even my husband commented that this was one of the best soups he's ever had... that says a lot coming from him! ;)

I made a few changes.. mainly added chicken to the recipe. You can see the original recipe by clicking on the link above.INGREDIENTS

2 chicken breasts, cut to bite size pieces
4 cups chopped raw kale (1 bush)
1 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves (for once I used real garlic as opposed to powdered! Thank you Door2Door ;)
1 cup frozen chopped onions
4 cans chicken broth
2 cans beans (I used white and pinto)
1 can diced tomatoes
2 tsp Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese
Chopped parsley

DIRECTIONS

In a skillet, brown chicken in some olive oil.
Heat olive oil in a large pot.
Add garlic and onion. Sauté until soft.
Add kale and stir until wilted.
Add cooked chicken, broth, beans, tomatoes, herbs, salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil then simmer 20 minutes.
Ladle into bowls.
Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley.