Soup Night

I've mentioned before that we made up some new "rules" to govern our food shopping and menu planning.  The gist is that we are eating local and/or organic whenever possible and having 2-3 vegetarian dinners per week.  The vegetarian meals help us cut down on the grocery bill, because organic meat is expensive, and we believe eating less meat is good for our bodies too.

But now we are adding a new "rule"... Soup night!  We love soup at the 4 Pears house and even though it still isn't out of the 80's here yet, we've got to figure it will get chilly around here sometime soon.  Mr Pears is starting up his Tuesday night soccer league this week so having a Tuesday soup night works out great for us.  Soups can be made up during the day and reheated whenever someone is ready for dinner.  They are also easy to double and freeze to give myself a break from slaving away in the kitchen. ;)

Last week I made a really simple tomato soup with some grilled cheese sandwiches and this week I'm going to try another tomato-based soup, this one with Indian spices and pinto beans.  And soup night isn't complete without some homemade french baguettes.  If you haven't tried these yet, you should!  They are so quick (2 hours start to finish) and easy to make.

Some of my other favorite soups include:

Lobster Bisque - super super easy and really good!
French Onion- time-consuming but totally worth it

Spicy Pumpkin Soup - pumpkin....soup....delicious
Minestrone - a vegetable soup that is anything but bland (but does include some bacon)

image from foodnetwork.com

Visit my Recipe Index page for a few more soup recipes and stay tuned for plenty of new soups this fall/winter!

Black Beans Cakes with Eggs

So, our first "ethical" food shopping trip went well!  On Saturday morning we packed up the kiddos and headed to Whole Foods where we loaded up on organic fruits and veggies, cage-free eggs and grass-fed meat.  Rather unexpectedly, we didn't pay that more than usual.  A bit more, but nothing catastrophic as we had feared. We have some great recipes planned and we are happy to know that those meals are going to be a little healthier this week.  (For us and the planet).  Ok, tree hugging over.  :)

Well, sort of... as promised I've got a great new vegetarian recipe to share today.  I'll admit that black bean cakes and eggs don't necessarily sound super delicious and full of flavor... but these are!  The cakes are super simple to make. The garlic, cumin and cilantro give them a lot of flavor (no bland beans here) and the panko coating give them some crunch.  We topped them with some creamy avocado and ate them with a runny-yolked egg and some salad with a fresh vinaigrette.  Delicious.  Made in about 15 minutes.  And only 322 calories per serving (without the avocado....but I think the avocado is worth a few extra calories).

I'm really happy this first new recipe was a hit.  Easy, inexpensive and definitely something we won't mind eating again sometime soon.  The only one who wasn't a fan was Aaron, my picky little guy.  His brother liked the cakes and eggs which wasn't surprising since he likes most everything.

image from here

Black Bean Cakes with Eggs, adapted from Cooking Light
cakes:
2 tablespoon of canola oil, divided
1 egg
1 (15oz) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup panko, divided
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons cilantro
3/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
eggs:
2 teaspoons canola oil
4 eggs

Put the beans, 1 tablespoon of canola oil and the egg in your food processor and pulse about 20 times until the beans are fairly well chopped and making a sort of paste.  Transfer that to a bowl and stir in 5 tablespoons of the panko and the rest of the ingredients for the cakes.  Shape the bean mixture into four patties.  I made up my cakes during naptime so they were ready to go when it was time to cook dinner. Around here, minimal prep around toddler twins is always best! I just kept the patties covered in the refrigerator.

If you have the luxury to prepare your meal all at once, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a medium pan over medium-high heat.  Put the rest of the panko on a small plate and dredge each cake.  Put the cakes into the pan and cook them 3 minutes per side until crispy and golden brown.

For the eggs, heat the oil in another pan (or just use the one from the cakes, wiped clean) over medium-high heat. Crack the eggs into the pan and then cover them and allow them to cook about 3-5 minutes.  Eggs cook quickly so keep an eye on them.  I like mine runny so it only took me about 3 minutes but cook them to your preference.  No need to flip them, just remove from the pan when the whites are cooked and the yolks looks done enough for you.

Plate and serve your cakes and eggs with a little fresh salad greens and (if you are willing to take on a few more calories, half of an avocado.  Enjoy!

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Moroccan Eggplant

Yesterday I did something wild and crazy....I made myself lunch.  Might not seem that crazy to you but it is a rare occurrence around here.  Most days I don't eat lunch.  I've discussed this before...you can read about it on the only other lunch post I've done, back in August, which was probably the last time I made myself lunch.

Anyway, I know I should eat lunch more often and since we had an extra eggplant left over from the yummy eggplant parm we made the other night, I decided to revive an old favorite of  mine, Moroccan Eggplant.  It is super easy to make but it does take about an hour since the eggplant has to roast for 40 minutes.  It's not a labor intensive dish though, and I actually did something else wild and crazy while it was roasting.  I cleaned out my spice cabinet.  Woo Hoo.

For anyone who is interested in some house organizing/decluttering motivation, check out this calendar from My Simpler Life.  The calendar is free to download and each day you have just one item to declutter.  I'm loving it so far!  And Jan 5, 2012 was the day to clean out the garlic salt that expired in 2004.  No lie.  Plus I didn't even live in this house in 2004!  (Mr Pears owned the house before we met).

Ok back to the recipe....it's good.  It is easy to reheat throughout the week and it is healthy.  I hope you like it.

Moroccan Eggplant, adapted from....I don't know!  I've been making this awhile and I've no idea where I found the recipe....sorry!  If it's yours let me know and I'll give credit where credit is due.

(makes three lunches, double the recipe to serve four for dinner)

1 medium sized eggplant
1 can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons smoke paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
a pinch of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
Serve over couscous

Start by spraying a large pot or dutch oven with vegetable oil cooking spray and heating it on medium for about 5 minutes.  Prick your eggplant all over with a fork and then put it into your hot pan and cover it.

Let it roast for 20 minutes, turn it over, then let it roast another 20 minutes.  When it is cool enough to handle, slice off the top stem, slice the eggplant lengthwise and then put it face down in a colander to drain for about 10 minutes.

Once drained and cool, scoop out the flesh and put it into a saucepan.  Mash it up with a wooden spoon.

Turn the heat on to medium low and add the remaining ingredients, stirring to combine.  Heat all the way through, about 10 minutes.

While the eggplant is heating, make your couscous.  I make mine by heating 1 cup of water in the microwave until boiling (about 1min30sec) then pouring it over 1/2 cup couscous in my serving bowl.  I just stir it together and put a small plate on top for 5 minutes.  Fluff, drizzle some olive oil and voila!

Top the couscous with the eggplant and enjoy!  This is easy to reheat and keeps well in the refrigerator for a few days.  You can make the couscous fresh each day (only takes 6 minutes!) or make a bigger batch and reheat that too.