Lima Bean & Sauerkraut Soup

Credit for this delicious soup goes to my friend

Lori Lynn, owner of Taste with the Eyes.

Sauerkraut soup, also known as Kapuśniak in Polish, is a traditional Eastern European dish that features fermented cabbage as a key ingredient.

Kapuśniak typically contains a variety of vegetables such as carrots, onions, and potatoes. These vegetables add sweetness and depth to the soup. Instead of potatoes, this version features plump large lima beans. A good source of protein and fiber – large lima beans have a creamy texture, and a slightly sweet, buttery flavor.

Smoked sausage or kielbasa are often added to sauerkraut soup too, as I did here in my version, but the soup can easily be vegetarian by leaving the sausage out and switching to a vegetable stock. It’s a great comfort food, and many variations of the recipe exist, allowing for personal preferences and regional differences.

Dill is popular in Polish cuisine – bright and grassy, herbaceous and aromatic, fresh dill enhances the overall sensory experience of soup. And here, a generous dollop of sour cream balances out the sauerkraut. A good artisan bread with butter is the perfect accompaniment for dunking in the savory sour broth. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 carrots - sliced
• 1 celery rib - thinly sliced
• 1/2 onion - diced
• 4 garlic cloves - thinly sliced or smash-minced
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/8 tsp ground allspice
• 2 cups reserved bean water
• 2 cup chicken stock (use vegetable stock for vegetarian version)
• 1 1/2 tsp whole grain mustard (I use Gulden's Spicy Brown Mustard)
• 2 cups cooked lima beans - bean water reserved
• 14-15 oz can sauerkraut - well-drained (and rinsed if less sour flavor is preferred)
• 8-12 oz low sodium turkey kielbasa - sliced to bite size (leave out for vegetarian version)
• sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Preparation:

Heat olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add carrot, celery and onion, cooking until softened. Add garlic, thyme, and allspice and cook a few more minutes, stirring frequently.

Add bean water, chicken stock, mustard and sauerkraut. Raise the heat and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer 15 minutes, then add the lima bean mix and kielbasa to heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

How to cook raw lima beans:

• 8 oz dried large white lima beans - rinsed and sorted
• 1 medium carrot - rough chopped
• 1 medium celery rib - rough chopped
• 1/4 yellow onion - rough chopped
• 4 garlic cloves - smashed
• a few glugs of olive oil
• sea salt to finish

Place beans, carrot, celery, onion, and garlic in a pot. Add filtered water to cover by two inches. Add olive oil. Boil for 15 minutes then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until beans are tender, usually 1-2 hours. Add salt to taste near the end of cooking. Pour mixture into a suitable strainer and reserve the cooking water.

To Serve Finished Soup:

• fresh dill
• sour cream
• your favorite artisan bread & butter

Ladle hot soup into warm bowls. Top with fresh snipped dill and a generous dollop of sour cream. Serve with bread and butter.

Carnivore Bowl

Vegetarian Bowl

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Quinoa Lentil Salad & Lemon Vinaigrette

 Credit for this bright & tasty salad goes to The Sweet Pea Chef.

Lacey Baier, aka The Sweet Pea Chef, put this recipe together after sampling a similar salad on a California family vacation. She describes her delicious version as follows:

"Quinoa is an amazingly healthy addition to this salad because it is packed full of yummy goodness, like protein, fiber, vitamins, and all nine essential amino acids, which most other grains lack. Combined with leafy greens and iron-and-magnesium-rich lentils, this quinoa lentil salad is seriously one of my favorite things to eat right now.  It's so tasty, filling, and good for you."

Ingredients:

For the Quinoa Lentil Salad:

• ½ cup cooked quinoa
• ½ cup cooked lentils
• ¼ cup kale, packed
• ¼ cup cooked garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• ¼ cup cucumber, peeled and diced
• ¼ cup carrot, ½ carrot, diced
• ¼ cup grape tomatoes, quartered
• 1 tablespoon red onion, finely diced
• ½ tablespoon raw sunflower seeds

For the Lemon Vinaigrette:

• ½ teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 teaspoon raw honey
• ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoon olive oil

Preparation: 

If cooking the quinoa and lentils, prepare well ahead and cool.

To prep the kale, remove the leaves from the spine and then break the kale into bite size pieces. Toss the kale with a little olive oil and rub all over the kale, massaging it until the kale reduces in volume and becomes less stiff. (This makes a huge difference in the texture of the kale.)

To make the lemon vinaigrette, combine the freshly squeezed lemon juice, lemon zest, raw honey, dijon mustard, sea salt, ground black pepper, and olive oil in a small mixing bowl, and whisk together until well combined.

To assemble the salad, combine the cooked quinoa, cooked lentils, kale, garbanzo beans, diced cucumber, diced carrot, quartered grape tomatoes, finely diced red onion, and raw sunflower seeds in a large mixing bowl. Toss to combine.

Drizzle over a few tablespoons of the lemon vinaigrette, and toss once more.

For garnish, sprinkle a few more sunflower seeds over the top.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Skillet Zucchini & Mushrooms with Chickpeas

This dish was adapted from Vera Beach's recipe Skillet Zucchini & Mushrooms. I changed up the process a tad and added roasted chickpeas to include a good protein. The result is a very good, balanced meal that is just perfect for us diabetics. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp avocado oil
• 3 tbsp butter, divided
• ~1.25  lbs zucchini - cut into bite size slices
• 1 can (15.5 oz) chickpeas
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 yellow onion - minced
• 1 lb white mushrooms - halved or quartered depending on size
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic - smash minced
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ¼ cup vegetable broth
• chopped fresh parsley for garnish
• grated parmesan for a light garnish - optional

Preparation:

Heat the avocado oil and 1 tbsp butter in a fry pan over medium heat. Drain the chickpeas and add to pan. Season with a touch of S&P. Toss frequently until chickpeas develop a little color, about 5 min should do it. Remove chickpeas from pan and set aside.

Add olive oil and 1 tbsp butter to a large skillet and set to medium-high heat. Add zucchini slices to the hot oil, season with S&P and cook for ~4 minutes until just tender. Remove zucchini from skillet and set aside.

Return skillet to the burner and add remaining butter; melt butter over medium-high heat. Stir in the onions and garlic and cook for 2 minutes, or until just softened.

Add mushrooms and cook for ~7 minutes, or until just tender and lightly browned. Stir occasionally.

Stir in the oregano and cook for 20-30 seconds.

Return zucchini to the skillet and mix with the mushrooms; cook for 1 minute, or until heated through.

Pour in the vegetable broth and add the chickpeas. Cook for two more minutes for even temperatures throughout. Taste for S&P and adjust as needed.

Remove skillet from heat. Sprinkle with parsley and parmesan and serve.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Greek Orzo Salad with Feta

Adapted from a recipe found on Skinnytaste.com.

This Greek Orzo Salad is perfect for any outdoor gathering this summer. Your friends and family will delight in the subtle Mediterranean flavors that make this salad bright and fresh. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 5 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 4 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1.5 tsp kosher salt
• 16 oz orzo pasta - whole wheat preferred
• 1/2 cup pitted & halved kalamata olives - plus 2 tbsp brine
• 1/3 cup red onion - diced small
• 3 cups English cucumber - diced small
• 2 cups halved grape tomatoes
• 1 orange bell pepper - diced
• 1/2 cup feta cheese - cubed
• fresh oregano (optional garnish)

Preparation:

Cook the orzo in salted water according to Pkg directions, adding 0ne minute beyond al dente for perfect salad pasta. Drain and rinse under cold water until cool. Also run the pot under cold water. Let the pasta drip dry in the colander for about a minute and then transfer to the cooled pot . Blend in a little olive oil to prevent sticking. 

In a large bowl, combine the dressing ingredients. Add the olives, red onion and brine from the olives and mix to combine. 

Stir in the pasta with the cucumber, tomatoes and bell pepper and toss well. Taste for salt and adjust as needed.

Add the cheese just before ready to serve.

Variations:

For added protein and still vegetarian, add chickpeas. Beef strips, shredded chicken or even shrimp will work well also.

Blessed be… and happy cooking!

 

White Bean Salad - Signature Collection

This fresh and bright white bean salad is another example of a restaurant cook not willing to share a recipe back in 2013. After finishing the bacon wrapped scallops that included this tasty treat I could not stop thinking about it all through dinner. Instead of dessert I ordered a second appetizer and we deconstructed right there at the table.

What follows is my version of a white bean salad inspired by the chef at S&P Oyster Company in Mystic Seaport, CT. I hope you enjoy this as much as Carolyn and I do. :-)

I never did write up the recipe back then, but fortunately I was smart enough to take a group shot of the ingredients I used, so that gave me a place to start.

After studying the old pic it was time to get to work cutting up the ingredients using sizes best I could see in the decade old images and guessing at quantities.

This looked like a pretty good balance so I just put it all together, taking really bad notes along the way. LOL Hey... creativity is not always pretty! :-)

Now that I had my salad it was time to create a proper dressing. I could see from the old picture that lime juice was included, so I immediately went to my Luscious Lemon Vinaigrette recipe for guidance. Trial and error came up with this mix.

My mix really brought it all together to create a fresh, vibrant, flavorful salad than can actually stand alone. And finally, here is the ingredient list I can call my own... Enjoy!

Salad Ingredients:

• +/-3 cups baby spinach - should yield 1.5 cups chopped
• 2 15oz cans white beans - drained and rinsed
• 1 orange bell pepper - diced
• 1 shallot - minced
• 2 medium tomatoes - seeded and then diced
• 1/2 English cucumber - peeled, quartered, seeded and diced - should yield 1 cup

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1/8 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/8 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper

Blessed be... and happy cooking!