Buy these seasonings if you like yummy stew.

Lately I have a basic crock pot recipe for North African stews. It consists of the following:

Chunked zucchini, yellow squash and eggplant or other squash
Tomato base (canned tomatoes, diced tomatoes, sometimes juice or sauce in a pinch)
Minced Garlic
Lentils
Cilantro

Diced bell peppers of the sweet, multicolored variety, if I have them.

I have purchased (and received as gifts) the following seasonings for my collection, which make this stew positively delightful:

Nirmala's Kitchen Moroccan Tagine Seasoning
Nirmala's Kitchen Ethiopian Berbere Seasoning
Nirmala's Kitchen Tunisian Harissa Blend
Zamouri's Chicken Tagine Seasoning
Zamouri's Berbere

(The Nirmala's seasonings are superb, but Zamouri has more variety and tends to qualify for Super Saver Shipping on Amazon.)

Add salt to taste (sometimes a lot, as these seasonings can be sweeter than desired). Serve with some couscous/whole wheat couscous.

I've also been adding shredded and chopped rotisserie chicken, but it's not really necessary if you're a vegetarian/vegan.

Today I made the most ridiculous black bean patties just fooling around...

I hate canned beans. They taste like a can, and it kind of feels like cheating. However, sometimes I have difficulties making the dried ones (i.e. I burn them).

At Veronica's suggestion, I was attempting to make black beans in the crock pot for the first time to see if they would come out right, so I just threw a serving size in with some water, a little bit of broth and cumin and left it on high for a few hours while I did other things, checking occasionally to make sure it was not burning.

When I was done, I wanted black bean burgers, so I mashed up the beans and liquid and added an egg and chipotle chili powder. It was a bit too runny, so I put in a couple of tablespoons of bread crumbs, then decided to add the little bit of cheddar that was left in the bag.

I sprayed the frying pan and dumped it into the pan like a pancake but thicker, then cooked it as I would cook a pancake.

Served this with a little bit of taco sauce and sour cream. Wow.

I will never get a cold again without making this soup...

Chicken Soup... Our whole lives people have touted this as the miracle cure to the common cold... Well, I am convinced this one is. It cures congestion, anyway... And why? Because it's awesomely spicy, of course!

To make the broth, I boiled a 1 pound package of chicken and removed the chicken from the water, then poured about 4 cups of water in a saucepan. You can also use packaged broth, but I've found this works better for this particular soup because I like to start without the salt.

Ingredients

4 cups broth or boiled chicken water
1/3-1/2 head of cabbage, chopped into small pieces
1-2 tbsp soy or Bragg sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp chili oil
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp sriracha sauce (hot pepper paste)
1 tbsp chili garlic sauce
1 tbsp dried or minced ginger
1/2 chicken breast, shredded
Optional : 1/4 tsp Szechuan peppercorns, ground

Directions

Boil the broth and cabbage together for 10-15 minutes.
Reduce heat and slowly stir in the seasonings one by one, tasting to decide if you like that quantity.
Keep in mind that each ingredient will make it a bit spicier so don't add too much of any one.
Add chicken, simmer for a few more minutes and serve.

Enjoy your clear sinuses!

Makes 2-3 servings, depending on how much you want...

Some really healthy stuff that took 5 minutes to make...

I have some weird cravings. This week I have been watching The Biggest Loser just a bit too much, as well as saving as many calories as I can for the holiday weekend... That being said, here are two random, very healthy snacks/mini-meals I had tonight that I wanted to remember for next time...

Szechuan Tuna in Cabbage - All ingredients cold

1 can tuna
1 tsp minced ginger (from a jar)
1 tsp soy or bragg sauce
2 tbsp Szechuan stir fry sauce
2 large cabbage leaves, cut into 3 strips each

Mix tuna with other ingredients in a bowl, scoop with a spoon into the cabbage pieces and roll up. Super good, between 200-250 calories total.

Mashed cauliflower

4 cups cauliflower (I used a bag of frozen cauliflower from Kroger)
1 tsp butter
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
Salt and pepper

Microwave or steam the cauliflower, throw it all in a blender or food processor. Serve. Less than 200 calories, delicious and super filling.

African Peanut Soup

Following the cues of a recipe I found on my FAVORITE soup site, delish.com, I have been using this as a staple in my soup-making.

Original Recipe: http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/african-peanut-soup-recipe-3706?click=recipe_sr


My version:

1-2 cloves of garlic instead of an onion
1 tsp olive oil instead of canola (or no oil at all since peanut butter is oily)
1 tbsp curry powder
1 can(s) (10-ounce) condensed tomato soup -OR- 1 can tomato juice or V8 (this could also make it more vegan-friendly)
1-2 cups of water and a veggie buillion cube. I never buy ready made broth. If I am doing it with chicken sometimes I will use the water I boiled the chicken in instead of a cube.
2 tablespoon(s)peanut butter
1-2 tablespoon(s) chopped cilantro
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

To make it heartier:

I always add chopped veggies -OR- the easier version of bagged broccoli or cabbage slaw from the store.

Sometimes I add shredded chicken

*Note: Even if you're not a huge cilantro fan, use the cilantro. It brings out the other flavors without being overpowering in itself.

Homemade salad dressing. I heart you.

The problem with eating fresher foods and making everything from scratch is that store bought products I used to enjoy taste fake now. I can't eat Campbell's soups, and I stopped eating salad because store bought dressings just taste like vegetable oil or mayonnaise. However, as a girl with 13 flavors of olive oil in my kitchen, the latter issue is not difficult to resolve.

Dressing - As made last night

1 tbsp mushroom olive oil
1 tbsp herb olive oil
4 tbsp regular olive oil (I just won't use vegetable. I don't care if recipes call for it.)
4 tbsp aged balsamic
4 tbsp fig balsamic
4-8 tbsp white vinegar (to taste, and to desired texture)
8 thin slices fresh garlic
4-6 sun dried tomatoes
a few sprinkles of fresh or dried basil

Throw everything but the white vinegar into a blender and blend until everything is pureed into a sort of paste. Put it into a plastic container and add white vinegar by 1-2 tbsp quantities until you reach your desired flavor and texture. I used a lot because I like a thinner dressing, and the balsamic was a bit strong for me.

Croutons - My first attempt that was not a charred mess

Coated one side of bread in nonstick spray, garlic powder and olive oil and baked for 15 minutes on 250. Then I duplicated for the other side and sliced with a pizza cutter. I might slice the bread first next time.

So what exactly does one DO with four pounds of green beans?

I have compulsive grocery shopping issues. I always have. I have a pantry full of random boxes of bread mix I bought last year, canned whatever and anything else that won't spoil and happened to look like a bargain six months ago. I try to control this by centering recipes around the things I compulsively buy, but then I compulsively buy something else to go with those recipes. It's a vicious cycle.

So it was no surprise when I left the Farmer's Market a couple of weeks ago with thirty pounds of vegetables, half of which are now chopped up in my freezer because I had to unexpectedly leave town and my stove is broken.

Included in these thirty were four pounds of sugar snap green beans. (Note: This was before the broken stove.) I consulted my life guru, www.google.com, looking for ways to cook green beans, came up with some general ideas, and went to town. Here are my two favorites.


Easy Szechuan Green Bean Stir Fry

This is a total cheater recipe but still rocks. I use Szechuan stir fry sauce that I bought at Sevananda.

Stir fry 1-2 lbs of green beans, chopped to 1-2 inch length, along with some chopped red and green bell peppers and mushrooms. Cook in olive oil, soy or Bragg sauce, Szechuan stir fry sauce and minced garlic (I've recently switched to fresh over the little jars and WOW). When you have reached your desired texture, sprinkle a whole bunch of sesame seeds on top. Easy and awesome.


Goat cheese and almond delight

Stir fry 1-2 lbs of green beans, chopped to 1-2 inch length, along with some chopped almonds. Cook in olive oil (flavor of choice) and minced garlic. Squeeze lemon juice onto the beans while cooking. When you have reached your desired texture, stir in your desired amount of goat cheese. This one kind of wowed me. Goat cheese should be on everything.

I tried a fried green bean recipe, but haven't perfected how to make them "fried" without making them fatty and nasty. Maybe I will try breading and baking them when the oven is back in commission...