Rocking Red Beany Soup

Hey!

Do you remember our little field trip to Rice & Beans the other day? Great restaurant, amazing burrito's, lovely cheesecake! And remember how we were craving their black bean soup? And how it turned out to be not as veggie as we thought it would be? I decided to make one myself. I was just hoping black bean soup didn't really need pork to be tasty! With red beans instead of black (because they have been sitting around in my kitchen waiting to be used for ages), I got to cooking. Needless to say the result pleased me, or I wouldn't feel the need to share it with you and our humble peckettes.

Here is what I did:

1 TBS sunflower oil

2 red onions, sliced

3 cloves of garlic

2 tsp chili paste

1 tsp fresh oregano

1 tsp cumin seeds

12 half sun dried tomatoes

700 gr. red beans, cooked

750 ml vegetable stock

lime juice

Heat the oil in a big sauce pan. Putt in the onions and let them 'melt'. Make sure they don't golden. Add the garlic, chili paste, oregano and and cumin. Let it cook for 5 minutes to let the cumin work in it's flavors.

Add the tomatoes, the beans and the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil and let it cook for about 30 minutes. Season with the salt and the lime juice. Putt everything in a blender and blend until you get a thick, liquid mixture. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

Serve the soup. Non-vegans can garnish with a bit of creme fraîche and some fresh chopped cilantro. The soup is even more interesting if you top it of with a cilantro salsa. This fellow blogspot user has an awesome salsa recipe:

http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/2007/03/cilantro-salsa-dip-recipe.html

Some mexican beers and you are good to go!

Very Happy Noodlesoup

Dear Ella,

Because it is the beginning of the year and I don't want to break our New Years resolutions the first week in, I am blogging! For the first time in my life. The writing itself is already joyous, And I managed to make it even more pleasant by doing it in 'la fusée', one of my favorite bars in Paris.

I was never very interested in the chickpea, or any pea really. But reading about your curry inspired me to discover this pea world. And what a beautiful world it is! As a relatively new vegetarian I am happily welcoming the pea into my existence.

So, New Year, New favorite ingredient and thus, new recipe! Remember that little jar of soup I gave you the other day? I would like to share the (very easy!) recipe with you. It will take about an hour to for cooking and preparation.

In the original recipe borlotti beans are used, which I replaced with lentils. A great soup that can easily be turned in to a vegan dish. This is what you'll need:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 long green serrano, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 liters good-tasting vegetable stock/broth

100g split peas

100g brown lentils

200g cooked chickpeas

fine grain sea salt

120 g thin egg noodles
100g fresh spinach leaves
1/2 cup finely shredded cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
juice of one lime

Toppings:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced
100 ml sour cream or creme fraiche

Heat the oil in a large, thick-bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and the chile and cook until they soften, a few minutes. Add the spices and cook for another thirty seconds, just long enough for them to toast a bit, then stir in the stock. Bring to a boil and add the split peas and lentils to the pot. Cook until they are just tender, about 35 minutes. Stir in the cooked chickpeas. Once the peas have heated throughout, season with salt to taste.

In the meantime, you can prepare the toppings. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium heat along with a couple big pinches of salt. Cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until golden and caramelized, 8 - 10+ minutes. Set aside

Just before you're ready to eat, add the noodles to the simmering soup and cook until al dente. Stir in the spinach, and cilantro and dill. Add a big squeeze of lime to the pot or serve wedges along with each bowl of soup. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking.

Serve right away, each bowl topped with a big spoonful of caramelized onions and some creme fraiche.

Adapted slightly from: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/new-year-noodle-soup-recipe.html

Have fun!

Megalove,

josee