White Bean and Kale Soup

1/2 onion

2 cloves garlic pressed

1tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1/2 tbsp salt

1/4 cup ground pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

3 carrots chopped

1 tomato chopped

2 cans white beans

4 handfuls of kale (tear up into small pieces before adding)

1 can tomato juice

4 cups water/vegetable broth

Sauté onions until soft. Add all ingredients together basically in the order listed above. Cook 1-2 hour until desired consistency. 

*for this soup I tried not using any oil to sauté the onions (just water) or at any point and it turned out just fine. 

Vegetarian Pozole

Ingredients:

1-2 29 oz. cans of hominy

5 cups mock chicken stock or vegetable broth

2 cups water or more for desired consistency

1-2 limes (juiced)

4-6 chicken patties (optional)

1 tsp salt

pinch of black pepper

2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp mustard powder

1 tsp Mexican oregano

1 small white onion

2 cloves pressed garlic

2 tsp cumin

1tsp masa

 1 cup pumpkin seeds

2 chile anchos (dried)

5 chiles de arbol

2 chile guajillos

1 cup cilantro

1-2 tbs vegetable oil

Garnishes:

Avocado cubed

 Radishes thinly sliced

Cabbage thinly shredded

Cilantro

Directions:

Open up the dried chiles and remove the seeds. Toast pumpkin seeds and dried chiles in oil. Once peppers have softened and the seeds are toasted, remove from pan and place in a blender or food processor with the cilantro and about 1 cup of broth. Blend until smooth and place to the side. Add another tbs of oil to the pan if necessary. Sauté onion in oil. Add pressed garlic and spices and continue to saute until the onions are soft. Add in blended chile mixture and "chicken". (I like to use fake chicken patties with the breading removed and cut them up like shredded chicken. I tried using morning star chicken strips meal starters and the texture was too gummy. This can be experimented with or left out all together.) Add hominy, broth, lime juice and water. I used one and 1/2 cans of hominy. Cook until hominy is soft and you have the desired soup consistency. Add water as necessary.

I cut up 2 avocados into cubes and added to the soup at the end. Garnish with radish and cabbage when served. This recipe yields about 1.5 quarts.

 

Cheap and Easy Dinner for 4

This recipe is so great because you can cater it to whatever you have on hand.   The onion makes it super flavorful all by itself!  Great as leftovers.  Can also be thrown on the grill.

Ingredients:

1lb ground beef substitute

1/2 Onion

1/2 bag Baby Carrots

4-5 Potatoes

Salt and Pepper to taste

Olive Oil

Some Optional Add-Ons or Substitutions:

Garlic cloves

Brussel Sprouts

Cayenne or Paprika Powder

Anything you want!

Cover a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and layer with all ingredients, ground beef substitute added last because it cooks the fastest.  Drizzle with Olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to your liking.  Toss lightly to coat.  Bake at 400 for an hour or until potatoes are soft.
Easy!

If you would rather grill it just wrap in aluminum foil and throw on the grill until the potatoes are soft.

Garden Tomato Salsa

This is a very simple salsa that is spicy and full of flavor, especially if you can get your tomatoes from the backyard. 

Ingredients:

1 medium onion

3 cloves garlic

3-4 jalapeños

5 large tomatoes

1/2 - 1 cup cilantro (or a handful)

juice of 2 limes

1 tablespoon salt

1 tsp pepper

Preparation:

Chop onion, garlic, tomato into chunks. Remove stems from jalapeños, de-seed and chop up. Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Blend until combined and a little chunky (salsa will be fairly smooth).

Serving sugestions:

Scoop it up with tortilla chips, top of tacos, tostadas, burgers or anything else you want to add a little kick to. I love mixing this salsa in with eggs and serving with warm corn tortillas.

Notes:

This makes a full blender of salsa. Freeze half of it for later or serve it at a party!