Black Eyed Peas + Creole Okra side dish

https://www.simplyhappyfoodie.com/instant-pot-black-eyed-peas/

This was delicious, made it for new years with corn bread. Definitely add to rotation.

and a creole okra side dish:
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/77400/creole-okra/
Tasted pretty well for okra that had been frozen over a year. Would make again if had okra that needed to be used. was maybe a 3.

Mung Bean curry soup

Based on this with alterations in parenthesis:
https://www.heynutritionlady.com/mung-bean-and-coconut-curry/

4 Tbsp sunflower oil
1 Tbsp whole cumin seeds
9 cloves garlic crushed (about 3 Tbsp crushed garlic)
14 oz can crushed tomatoes (i used stewed)
2 Tbsp freshly grated ginger (i used frozen cubes from trader joes)
2 Tbsp ground coriander (omitted, did not have)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper (1/8 tsp only)
4 cups water (only did 3 cups)
1 cup mung beans picked over for stones and well rinsed (I used less water because I used split yellow mung beans.)
14 oz can coconut milk
1-2 medium limes juiced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped (omit, did not have)

This turned out to be a very delicious soup. I served it with flatbread and it is really great. I used the instant pot to saute and did ~30 minutes on low after the beans went in. The beans still had some bite which was nice.

Pressure cooker split pea soup

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/vegetarian-split-pea-soup
Pressure cooker split pea soup

 Use an entire 1 lb package of split peas, it is just barely over 2 cups. Also I used chicken broth (or rather 6 cups water and 6 bullion cubes) instead of vegetable broth. Put first 9 ingredientes into pressure cooker.

I did 30 minutes yesterday and it was too long, so next time pressure cook for 20 minutes. Then after its done, add 1 pound of chopped ham or turkey ham and serve.


It tastes really great and doesn't need a ham hock or sauteing veggies ahead of time or anything. Just put uncooked veg in with the broth and split peas.

Note 3/23/19: I doubled it and pressure cooked for 25 minutes and it seemed perfect.

Split Pea Soup

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Ever-Split-Pea/Detail.aspx

I added ~1 tsp oregano, ~3/4 lb chopped ham, 2 bay leaves. I used 3 large carrots, 5-6 stalks celery, and 2 onions. I cooked it for about 90 minutes after veggies were sauteed. I did not puree at all. DH and I prefer chunky soups and this was very good, especially considering my history of disliking most split pea soup.

Lentil Soup

Originally based on http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000000549829

3 slices bacon

2 quarts beef broth

(Add the water/oil from any containers of tuna or sardines you may have saved. It adds some complexity to the flavor.)

2 diced carrots

1 tsp dried thyme

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 parsley sprigs

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons butter

3 cups chopped onion (2 onions)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 3/4 cups dried brown lentils (about 1 lb)

6 cups torn Swiss chard (or just torn leaves from 1 bunch of chard)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cut up bacon and drop into large pot. Saute until cooked. Add chopped onion, garlic, and carrot. (Keep bacon drippings for flavor). Saute for a couple minutes and then add broth and everything else but the last 4 ingredients. Cook on low.

30 minutes before you want to serve dinner, add lentils.

When lentils are cooked, turn off heat and add lemon juice, chard, and pepper and stir until chard is wilted. Remove bay leaves and parsley.

----------

I like this better than the Alton Brown recipe I've made in the past. I like the bacon and beef base.

Boilermaker Tailgate Chili

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Boilermaker-Tailgate-Chili/Detail.aspx

This was very good. I did not used canned chili beans, but rather used dried kidney beans that I soaked ahead of time. I used 1 jalapeno pepper instead of the 2 chili peppers and left out the sugar.

Portuguese Bean Soup

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Portuguese-Bean-Soup-II/Detail.aspx

This was very tasty soup. I didn't know what portuguese sausage was though and couldn't find any where I looked, So I used spicy pork sausage instead.

Modifications:

1 lb hot ground pork sausage (instead of 2 lb portuguese sausage)

extra ham to make up for less meat

extra quart of water (though it really should be an extra 2 quarts since most of the liquid was absorbed during cooling)

1 tablespoon of chicken stock base (equivalent to 3 bullion cubes)

For next time:

Add 4 quarts water total.

Add 2 T chicken stock base.

Put in half the amount of pasta called for.

Navy Bean Soup with Ham

I baked a ham (no glaze). I saved the ham water and used it as stock in this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 lb navy beans (or white..I really can't tell the difference)

4 T oil

2 large onions, chopped

2-3 carrots, chopped

2-3 stalks celery, chopped

3-5 garlic cloves, minced

6 cups chicken broth (or ham broth if you've got it)

3 cups water or broth ((use water if you are going to be clever and boil a ham bone in in the soup to get more flavor). I used chicken broth here. I might have added more so there was enough liquid. I forget.)

2 bay leaves

1 T italian seasoning

2 large potatoes, chopped

chopped ham (2 cups?)

directions:

I think I soaked the beans overnight and then made the beans in the crockpot. Cooked on low for 8 hrs I think, along with ham broth.

Saute onion, carrot, celery, and garlic until softish. Add beans (soaked or fully cooked) and the rest of ingredients. Boil until veges are cooked. (or for 2 hrs if beans were only soaked)

note: (I got this recipe off of the back of the Safeway Navy Beans wrapper. It says to use a 2 lb ham hock and cook it for 2 hrs with all the ingredients (and soaked beans). Then says to remove ham hock, cut ham off of it and return to soup.)

Turkey Chili with White Beans

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Turkey-Chili-with-White-Beans-3090

I have made this according to the directions, as well as in the pressure cooker. It is good either way.

For the pressure cooker:

I browned the turkey and soaked ~1.5 cups dried white beans for 6 hours (longer is fine for sure, soak at least 4 hrs I think though). Rinse the beans. Then I put it all in my 4 quart pressure cooker pot with the rest of ingredients (raw chopped onion) and brought it to pressure, then cooked for 15-20 min, then let sit for 10 minutes off heat (so to let it naturally depressurize), then pulled off the pressure regulator and let the rest of the steam escape. Turned out great.

Red Bean Chili

http://lululuathome.com/2010/06/red-bean-chili.html

This chili was good. It had a lot of flavor, but I think there is still room for improvement. Serving it with the red onion garnish was a good idea. It added some nice crunch. I didn't let is simmer for 2 hours (was like 1.25 hrs) and I didn't have carrots or corn, so I left those out. You could probably sub beef broth for the beer if you prefer. I've kept a bottle of dark lager beer in the cupboard for a while since I see it every now and then in recipes. Like this one.

Corn and Black Bean Salad

Corn and Black Bean Salad

I adore this salad. It is best when you have really sweet corn. This might work with a super awesome brand of frozen corn, but fresh is best.

2 cobs of sweet fresh corn

1 can of black beans, rinsed

1-2 tomatoes, chopped

1 avocado, chopped

handful cilantro, chopped

Cut the corn from the cob. I had never eaten corn raw like this until Reija made this salad at a dinner last summer. It rocks. You could add other raw things too, like red bell pepper or fresh green beans.

Mix corn with other ingredients.

Eat.

I love this recipe since it is so fresh and good. I have discovered that DH would like this much more sans cilantro. Next time I'll put it in a bowl to pass around as a garnish.

Tuna and Butter Bean Salad

http://thestonesoup.com/blog/2010/01/how-to-cultivate-the-packed-lunch-habit-save/

I didn't have butter beans. Neither did the store. It turns out, butter beans are white lima beans. I didn't discover that pertinent fact until after I'd already bought white kidney beans (Cannellini) to use in this recipe. It was fantastic and very quick and easy.

Update: Safeway DOES have butter beans. I found them. They were great with this!

Tortilla Pie

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Tortilla-Pie-231795

This was very quick and good. I did not heat/fry the tortillas. It fit perfectly into an 8x8 inch baking dish since I used 8 inch diameter medium size tortillas.

notes:
If using GF Udi brand white tortillas, they should be fried and crisped up first. They get too soggy otherwise. (But still good..but could be better!)

Lentil Soup with and without ham bone

I have made this lentil soup before: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/lentil-soup-recipe/index.html

and it was great. I think I included sausage last time too and swapped chicken for vege broth.

With Ham bone (4/28/2010):

So I used the same recipe but replaced the chicken broth with broth from boiling a ham bone for a few hours.

The result: bland. The ham bone (from a ham shank) was not enough flavor to spread over 2 quarts. There was still some meat on it too, but that didn't make enough difference.

-----

Without ham bone (10/25/2010):

I made this recipe again tonight, but used leftover black bean broth from cooking black beans (salted with garlic) combined with beef broth instead of the 2 qts of chicken broth the recipe calls for. I also added 1/4 lb hot bulk sausage, which I would increase to 1/2 lb next time. It turned out extremely flavorful, if a bit salty. (I'd forgotten the bean broth was already salted.) But it was the best version of lentil soup I've made so far.

Kale and White Bean Stew

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/healthy/nutritiousdishes/lowcholesterolhearthealth/recipes/food/views/Kale-and-White-Bean-Stew-351254

This was pretty good considering how healthy it is. DH lamented the lack of meat (at which point I said I had planned on adding ham but he had eaten it). I swapped chicken broth for the vege broth. The fresh thyme is important for flavor. I put fresh tarragon in at the end and that made for a great flavor as well. Tarragon is awesome, by the way. It is great in yogurt sauce for gyros.

Libby's Black Bean Soup

So, I made black bean soup using this recipe from my friend libby:

http://grandmasrolls.blogspot.com/2010/03/super-quick-black-bean-soup.html

It was ok. I used from scratch black beans, and used 1.25 cups dry to equal 2 cans. I soaked them overnight and then pressure cooked for 20 minutes. Then I let the pressure slow release (takes 20 min). I think the cooking time could be decreased by 5 minutes, but it didn't matter since I was pureeing the beans anyway. The soup was good so long as you have avocado, cheese, and chips to eat with it, but it doesn't stand as well on its own (sour cream would have been good too, but we were out). Plus, David doesn't like soups that don't have chunks. (nice visual there...)

I think some spices, meat, and veges would make this better.

Creamed Kidney Beans and Lentils

This is from my San Francisco Chronicle cookbook. I really liked it. I cooked brown rice to go with it and it is superb. I didn't have hot chiles, so I sprinkled in some red pepper flakes. I used half and half instead of cream.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dried red kidney beans, picked over

1/2 cup dried brown lentils, picked over

2 1/2 cups water

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/2 cup minced onion

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

1/2 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

2 fresh hot green chiles, stemmed and minced

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/4 cup milk (low-fat or whole)

1/4 cup whipping cream or half-and- half

1 tablespoon minced cilantro

Instructions:

Wash the kidney beans in several changes of water. Place in a pan and add water to cover by at least 2 inches. Let soak for 8 hours or overnight.

Drain and rinse the beans. Rinse the lentils and combine with the kidney beans. Place in a large, heavy saucepan; add the water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, cover (partially at first, until the foam settles, then snugly), and cook until the beans and lentils are tender but still hold their shape, about 40 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.

Heat the butter in a large nonstick saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and chiles and cook until the onion is lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add the tomato paste, coriander, cumin and pepper; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the cooked beans and lentils, the salt and milk. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed, 6 to 8 minutes.

Add the cream and heat through. Transfer to a warmed serving bowl and garnish with cilantro.

Taco Soup

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/02/original-taco-soup-crockpot-recipe.html

I made this recipe with dried kidney beans that had been soaked overnight and then frozen. DH wasn't too excited about the corn, he didn't think it added to the dish. I didn't use the seasoning packets, but tried to instead add the ingredients that are in the packets (like onion, garlic, dill, chili powder, cumin, etc).

I don't think I'll use this version again. So many taco soup recipes call for a zillion cans, and I wanted to make it more from scratch. Dried beans are much cheaper.

It was good (though not as good as it could be) and is great with tortilla chips. Marra Brothers chips are the best if you go to JJ&F in Palo Alto!

Tuscan Lamb Chop Skillet

http://www.diabeticlivingonline.com/recipe/lamb/tuscan-lamb-chop-skillet/

This recipe is in the New Better Homes and Gardens cookbook that I got for Christmas from my bro-in-law Jonny.

The recipes calls for 8 lamb rib chops, but I used only 3. They were big chops! One chop per person was plenty. The chops shown in the picture on the website are probably half the size of what I used.

I liked the beans and balsamic flavor, but David isn't a huge fan of beans.