Creamy Bean and Vegetable Soup

So it appears that fall is upon us - the weather is cooling, the days are getting noticeably shorter, and a warm bowl of soup seems like a better idea now than it did even a few weeks ago.  Here's a recipe for a creamy, high-protien and nutrient-dense soup that will keep ninja bellies warm and full against the early fall chill.  Coconut milk, garlic, and jalapenos create the perfect backdrop to lots of mushrooms, potatoes, butternut squash and pretty little pink beans.  Serve with fresh-baked, crusty bread and you'll find yourself actually looking forward to the long, dreary winter months ahead.

Creamy Bean and Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

3 cloves garlic

2 jalapenos, seeded and coarsely chopped

3 Tablespoons olive oil

6 scallions, thinly sliced

8 oz sliced white or cremini mushrooms

2 cups frozen corn kernels

1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch chunks

1.5 lbs yukon gold potatoes, cut into bite-sized chunks

14 oz can coconut milk

15 oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

6 cups vegetable broth

1/2 of a 16 oz block of silken tofu

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

3 Tablespoons lime juice

2 Tablespoons maple syrup

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon ginger

freshly ground black pepper



Place the garlic and jalapenos into a small blender or food processor with the olive oil.  Puree until there are no large chunks of pepper remaining and the mixture resembles a paste.  Heat a large saucepan or stockpot over medium heat.  Add the garlic and jalapeno paste and mushrooms and cook for 4 minutes, until the mushrooms begin to brown.  Add the corn, potatoes, butternut squash, salt, pepper, cumin, and ginger and cook for 5 minutes.  If the mixture starts to look dry, add splashes of water or vegetable broth to keep everything from sticking.
Meanwhile, puree the coconut milk and tofu in a blender until smooth and creamy.  When your vegetables have been cooking for 5 minutes, add the vegetable broth and coconut milk/tofu mixture to the pot.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes until the potatoes and squash and tender.  Add the pinto beans and scallions and cook for 1-2 minutes until heated through.  Turn off the heat and add the lime juice and maple syrup.  Allow the soup to cool for a few minutes and then put about 2 cups of the soup into a blender and puree until creamy.  Add the puree back into the pot with the rest of the soup and stir well.  Add the cilantro and taste for spices and adjust if necessary.  Allow the soup to sit for 5 minutes before eating.

Tips and Tricks:


1. The half-block of tofu problem - as I mentioned in my last post for Pan-Fried Vegetable Fritters, you can save partial blocks of tofu by freezing them, or you can use them up by pureeing them with pasta sauce, soup, or smoothies.  Pureed tofu can also be used as a substitute for eggs in baked goods with 1/4 cup pureed tofu equalling one egg, so maybe make some brownies for dessert (and then invite me over so I can help eat them).

2. This soup is relatively spicy; if you think it might be too much, halve the spices and taste it and add more if necessary.  You can also use only one jalapeno instead of two if you'd like your soup less spicy.


Well I hope making this soup starts off everyone's fall season in the most ninja-esque way possible.  As the leaves start to drop, be sure to keep fingers, toes, hearts, and tummies warm and full and happy by sharing food and snuggling with those you love.  Lucy, Skye and I plan to do just that.  Until next time!

<3 The Fur Ninja

Pan-Fried Vegetable Fritters

Good day, lovely ninja readers!  Today's recipe is for vegetable fritters.  A "fritter" is basically anything that is batter-coated and deep fried, so be forewarned that this recipe is not going to be at the pinnacle of ninja-healthiness.  However, you can also be assured that these little crunchy veggie discs are DELICIOUS!  I mean, hey, what isn't delicious when it's dipped in batter and fried?  Feel free to try this recipe with other types of veggies (I think root vegetables like shredded carrots and parsnips would be great!) although stick to vegetables that have some "substance" to them and will hold up to the frying.  Leafy greens and veggies with a very high water content like tomatoes or cucumbers are probably not going to work here.  Most anything else is probably fair game though, so go nuts, get creative and fry up a storm!  These little fritters are best if eaten right away (well....let them cool off first!) so invite over some ninja friends to help you.  They have a tendency to get mushy if you keep them as leftovers.  If you don't have any hungry ninjas to help you eat them, you may want to halve the recipe, or just mix the batter and only fry up what you need while keeping the rest of the batter refrigerated in a tightly-lidded container; it should keep for a day or two in the fridge this way.

Pan-Fried Vegetable Fritters

Ingredients:


2 small zucchini, grated
1 cup frozen corn, rinsed under warm water to thaw
1/2 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 of a 16oz package water-packed silken tofu
1 teaspoon oregano
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
Several grinds black pepper
vegetable oil for frying

Place the grated zucchini in a large bowl and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt.  Set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and garlic and cook until onion is translucent, 3-5 minutes.
Mix the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, oregano, cayenne pepper, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and black pepper in a large bowl.
Take your 1/2 block of tofu (to divide the block just eyeball it and cut it in half with a knife; it doesn't have to be perfect) and put it in a small blender or food processor and puree until smooth.  Add the pureed tofu to the dry ingredients in the bowl. 
Go back to your zucchini, squeeze as much water out of it as possible, and add it to the bowl with the corn.  Mix everything very well.
Coat the bottom of a large cast iron or non-stick skillet with a 1/8" layer of vegetable oil, and heat over medium-high heat.  Test to see if the oil is ready by dropping a small amount of the batter into the pan.  The oil is ready when bubbles form around the edge of the batter and it starts to sizzle.
Drop about 3 Tablespoon-sized scoops (a scant 1/4 cup) into the oil and flatten them out slightly with a spatula.  Fry until golden brown on each side, about 5 minutes.
Drain the fritters on paper towels and allow them to cool for a few minutes before eating.  These are great with ketchup and hot sauce!

Tips and Tricks:

1. Don't make your fritters too large, or they will fall apart when you try to flip them, and make sure you squash them down a bit while cooking both sides so the middles get cooked evenly as well as the outside.  Also be sure not to under-cook them or they will fall apart as well.  You want them a deep, golden-brown color.

2. Please flip carefully!  Burning yourself with hot oil or setting your kitchen on fire would be bad!  To flip without splashing, try using two spatulas - one slid underneath and the other on top so you can flip and set the fritters back down into the oil gently.

3. What to do with your leftover 1/2 box of tofu - you have a few options here.  My favorite is to blend leftover tofu into pasta sauce, which gives you added protein and also turns red sauce into a nice, creamy pink sauce.  Just take about a cup of your sauce and put it into a blender with the tofu and blend until smooth, then mix it back into the rest of the sauce and stir until blended and heated through.  You can also freeze leftover tofu (although this works better for firm rather than silken); it will turn a weird yellowish color, but it's still okay for eating.  Just thaw and use however you normally would.

4. Thawing your frozen corn - it doesn't need to be totally thawed, but you want to make sure there aren't lots of ice crystals that will melt and make your batter too runny.  Just run the frozen corn under some warm water until most of the ice is melted.


So that's all for today....more recipes to come!  Creamy avocado dip and 3-bean vegetable chowder recipes soon to come!

<3 The Fur Ninja

Pesto Chickpea Orzo with Lemon Fennel Potatoes - 2 recipe special post!

Happy Labor Day weekend!  I know that I haven't been posting much lately, but it's because my crazy work schedule has been zapping all of my ninja skills and I haven't been cooking.  For the last few weeks I've been existing mostly on peanut butter and jelly, salads, cereal, and mass amounts of coffee.  However, last night I finally took some time to cook a real meal, and let me tell you - these recipes are weak-in-the-knees good!  The chickpea orzo is just a little bit spicy and perfectly flavored with cilantro and lemon pesto, and the creamy potatoes literally melt in your mouth with every bite.  I rounded out last night's meal with some kale sauteed with garlic in olive oil and a splash of vegetable broth.  Delicious!

Pesto Chickpea Orzo with Lemon Fennel Potatoes

Pesto Chickpea Orzo

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked orzo (I used whole wheat but any kind is fine)
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
6 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 scallions, chopped (green parts only)
2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup grated carrots
1 large bunch cilantro
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 1/2  teaspoons salt, divided
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
zest from 1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
3 Tablespoons water

First, start cooking the orzo.  Place the orzo in a medium saucepan with the vegetable broth, 2 Tablespoons of the olive oil, and 1 teaspoon salt.  Bring to a boil and cook until orzo is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, make the pesto.  Place the cilantro, 4 Tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a food processor or blender.  Process until smooth.  The pesto will be relatively thin, so don't worry!
Once your orzo is cooked, turn off the heat and stir in the chickpeas, carrots, scallions, and pesto.  Stir to incorporate all ingredients.  Add the mint and lemon zest and stir again.  Taste for salt and spices and adjust if necessary.  Allow the orzo to rest for about 5-10 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld.


Lemon Fennel Potatoes
*Note: this recipe was inspired by something I found in a cooking magazine.  I have tweaked it slightly, but just wanted to give credit where credit was due!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs unpeeled red potatoes (about 6 average-sized potatoes), cut into 1-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed slightly
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
zest from 1/2 a lemon
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped fresh italian parsley
several grinds of black pepper

Put the potatoes in a pot with enough water to cover.  Boil 20 minutes until tender.  Drain the potatoes and return to the pot.  Add the remaining ingredients and stir to incorporate everything and to break up the potatoes.  You're not trying to get a mashed-potato consistency, but you want them smashed and creamy.  Use the back of your spoon to kind of smush things around until all the large pieces of potato are broken up.  Enjoy!

Tips and Tricks:

1. Leave the skins on your potatoes; it adds lovely color to the dish and the skin of the potato is where most of its nutrients are.

2. Make sure you crush your fennel seeds slightly or you won't get their full flavor in this dish.  Don't pulverize them in a spice grinder or anything, but just gently crush them a bit with either a mortar and pestle or just do what I do - put them in a coffee cup and smush them a bunch of times with the bottom of a sea salt grinder.


And just in case anyone was wondering how I cook my kale, it's not really a "recipe" (because I just eyeball everything) but just take a big stockpot and drizzle a bunch of olive oil in the bottom.  Sautee a bunch of minced garlic (I use jarred minced garlic and I literally just take a big ol' spoonful of it and plop it in my pot) in the oil over medium heat for a minute or two.  Add your kale - make sure your kale is washed and the leaves are torn off the tough stems; I get around this by paying a bit extra for pre-washed and de-stemmed bagged kale - to the pot with a little splash of vegetable broth (if you have any; if not you can use a splash of water or even white wine) and stir your kale around until it's wilted and bright green.  If your kale doesn't start to wilt in a minute or two, turn up your heat.  That's it!

So I hope you enjoy my latest ninja recipes; have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend!  Summer is coming to a close, but that just means more excuses to cook - nothing like hiding inside and cooking up a storm when it's snowy and frigid outside.  This ninja is looking forward to it!  Well, that's it for now, love as always from myself, Lucy, and Skye.

<3 The Fur Ninja