Mexican Style Black Eyed Beans Soup

I had my vaccination yesterday morning. I took the rest of the afternoon off from work as I was feeling rather nauseated, as well as anxious for a number of reasons, including the fact that i have not gone out for such a long time - only to be surrounded by so many people in one place.  It was anxiety inducing to say the least.  When I got home, i got a blanket and snook under it on the sofa and snoozed for a couple of hours.  I am feeling much better today, but have been taking it easy, which means the garden is neglected again for another weekend.

Anyway, early  in the week, I made this Mexican Style Black Eyed Bean soup. It was after making the Kunde -  Black Eyes Peas and Tomatoes in Peanut Sauce last week and laying my hands on the black eyed peas jar, i thought i'd  make another recipe with them.  

Also its been quite cold here. I am not ashamed to say that i have been cuddling my hot water bottle like a childhood teddy.  

We even had a flurry of snow at one point and although it did not stick.  It was rather beautiful falling.  If you have watched the movie Edward Scissorhands, then that is the snow fall i am referring to, as in fairytale like.

This is a Black Eyed Beans soup with red pepper happens to be vegan, but too tone down the spices, I garnished it with grated cheddar cheese for coolness. To make more of a substantial meal of it, i made cornbread. I remembered the packets of cornbread mix that my American friends brought over a couple of years back.  By the way, i also have Quick Grits and Corns grits too. 

I am sharing this Mexican Style Black Eyed Beans Soup with Soup, Salad and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen. 

Roasted Aubergine Lasagne with Puy Lentils

It was after tinkering with a recipe that I was reminded of  the glass jar full of the king of lentils -  Puy Lentils. 

And wait for it, i haven't eaten aubergine aka eggplant for over a year, or maybe more.  

So it was on our shopping list.  I planned to make Roasted Aubergine Lasagne with Puy Lentils. Then I remembered why, I don't make lasagnes that often and leave it as one of D's speciality's. 

Tinkering with A Recipe

Today, I decided to do a bit of house work, goodness my home needs it.  

Staring at the work computer, I ignore the dust and cobwebs gathering behind me and  i feel rather good for the little i did.  I even exceeded my fit bit steps!

Tomorrow, my intention is to sow some more seeds in the greenhouse. I would have done some digging too, but my garden boots/wellies have worn.  I have ordered a pair of groovy wellies on-line. I don't like shopping for clothing or shoes on-line, but i do need them if i am going to get stuck in the the garden and get grubby.  

I am also off on Monday.  D has said with lockdown easing in Wales, that we should go out together for shopping! It does not appeal to me, especially as we are both waiting to have our vaccinations still. I don't miss shopping, I actually miss going to the library, second hand/charity shops looking for interesting bits and pieces; and going to Bristol to check out the graffiti art. 

Some of you may remember that I made some veggie meatballs with tofu and I couldn't remember what the original recipe was for the Tofu that I got D to pick up from the supermarket.  Well I was reminded this week of the Cajun style tofu and butternut squash recipe it was intended for , as it came from the same cookbook as this tinkered Mock 'Beef' Soya Chunks with Puy Lentils. I will have to try and remember it for the next time we buy tofu. 

Black-Eyed Peas and Broccoli Soup

For those of you asking about my allotment and vegetable growing antics.  I have started sowing some seeds.  Tomatoes on the window sill in our home; and all other seeds like climbing beans, broad beans, peas, courgettes in the greenhouse. 

Now onto some food.  For those of you who read my blog post last weekend about Broccoli, this may not come as a surprise to you - as yes, in true style D did come home again from the supermarket  with, Drum roll please - Yes more Broccoli head!

And it won't be a surprise to you Again, when i tell you that I made another Broccoli soup.  I chopped the florets roughly and added it to this spicy Black Eyed Pea soup. I wanted it to cook the broccoli down, so that it would disintegrate, fall apart and get lost in the soup, but its still visible. 

It actually turned out to be a good bowl of soup.  I especially liked the black eyed peas which i don't eat often, but when i do.  I really enjoy them as they satisfyingly melt in the mouth that I can only describe like snow on your tongue with a light buttery sweetness.  The broth is lightly spiced with  cayenne, paprika and cumin.  The broccoli is optional if you want to give the soup some depth.  Also if you do decide to make this soup, you will need to soak the black eyed peas overnight or at least 2 hours before you make this recipe. 

I am sharing this Black-Eyed Peas with Broccoli with Soup, Salad and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen. 

Now onto this cake, another recipe that i am blaming on D as we had bananas going black and brown in the fruit bowl, and I really dislike waste.  

Yellow Pea Soup with Red Pepper and Tofu Croutons

Too much turmeric in a dish can be overpowering and that is what happened with this Yellow Pea Soup .  It was edible though, albeit not the flavour i was quite expecting.  

To tone down the turmeric yellow flavour and colour, i first added in some minced red pepper for sweetness and for a change,. I also  made tofu croutons that were fried in a little olive oil and fried until golden on sides to add a bit of body.  It was okay but nothing to get excited about.

However, on the following day, when i decided to through some chopped spinach from the garden and honestly, it made such a difference to the whole soup.  I think it made it even better I think, but no photographs and I regret it. Still, I am not going to share the recipe as it's not one I'd recommend highly. Even though it was not such a good soup, i will still share it with Soup, Salad and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen only because i like participating and admiring other contributors contributions. 

The soup is all gone, so next few days we will be tucking on another homemade Cheese and Onion quiche - just like school days .  

Here it is, still to have its pastry sides trimmed down, so don't go judging for poor presentation. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, i am going to perch myself on the sofa now having finished cooking for the day and watch some nonsense.   

Vegetarian Vegan Shepherds Pie the old fashion way

I made this vegan Shepherds Pie the old fashion vegetarian way with lentils.  

What made me smile was that I made a similar recipe, exactly a year ago with soy mince and mashed potato topping was enhanced with seasonal wild garlic that is plenty abound this year if you know where to look.  Unfortunately due to Covid-19 and instructions to stay at home and quarantine for the fourth week and set to continue for another three weeks, I will not be visiting my wild garlic spot. 

D and me were going to go for a little walk not far from where we live as we found a stream a little while back and wondered, if there was any Wild garlic growing there - but because of the April showers we haven't stepped today to explore, perhaps tomorrow.  To be truthful.  I have only been out for a long walk outside of my house only once since quarantine, I do need to stretch my legs and get some exercise - gardening every other day is not enough. 

This Shepherds pie is made with made with Beluga lentils, but use whatever lentils you have at home - green or brown, but not orange lentil as that will go to mush and are more suited to dal recipes, soups and stews, or at least that is what I think. 

This recipe is actually adapted from one of my most popular recipes (see my side bar) Fiery Chili Welsh Red Dragon Shepherds Pie. 

The recipe would serve a family with a side of green vegetables, but for us it makes a large quantity for two people, so we had this over three days. On one of the days, the topping was thinly sliced sweet potatoes. 

So what are you up to this weekend? and What have you been eating lately?  

I have been in the kitchen cooking and baking, and in a little while may plonk myself in front of the TV to watch some mindless nonsense, read a book or set myself a craft project - I am still deciding.

Sweet Potato and Blackeye Bean Soup

My toes have been cold. I think i may need to get myself some slippers when things return to some form of normality, as the thick slipper socks just ain't keeping my toots warm.  Feeling nippy also makes me hanker for a good bowl of homemade soup, both to warm my hands which are also often cold and for my belly.  

We have an abundance of sweet potatoes in the house, as one of our back up meals during the working week is often Double Potato Feta Bake, so it wasn't that hard to make soup with what we had at home.  I also have a stash of blackeye beans, so something a little more heartier was called for. 

We are eating twice a day, namely brunch and then supper, but sometimes in between we want something light and its a welcome excuse for us to have a lunch break at home from the solitary work, so soup is a good solution.  

This Sweet Potato and Blackeye Bean Soup was a well flavoured soup, not just from the sweetness from the sweet potatoes, but also hints from the other herbs, namely the sage.  I haven't had blackeye beans for a little while, so the soft nuttiness added both flavour and melt in the mouth texture.  On the last day of eating and reheating the soup, the sweet potatoes disintegrated completely. 

I am sharing this  Sweet Potato and Blackeye Bean Soup with Soup, Salad and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen. 

Other Blackeye Bean recipes
Aubergine, Black-eyed peas, Pepper and Coconut Pot
Baked BBQ  Blackeyed Peas and Rice
Black-Eyed Bean and Lemon Hot Pot
Black-eyed Bean and Squash Stew with Preserved Lemon
Blackeye bean and Vegetable Crumble.
Cajun Blackeyed Peas with Summer Vegetables 
Ginger Blackeyed Peas

Jamaican Vegetable Stew with Spinners

Another recipe from the cookbook in my kitchen Original Flava Caribbean Recipes from Home.

The recipe this time was for One Pot Vegetable Stew - Jamaican style!

I've seen similar recipes made with gungo aka pigeon peas, but the recipe here used kidney beans. Other ingredients in this stew were spring onions, carrots, butternut squash, scotch bonnet, allspice, thyme and coconut milk. 

I've also been wanting to make spinners which are small long thinnish dumpling that expand upon cooking for a long while.  So was pleased with the final hearty dish, though I need more practice to make the spinners. 

This Jamaican Stew with Spinners was easy to make, especially with tinned kidney beans. 

Broccoli and White Bean Soup

We went into Bristol at the weekend to do some shopping, as well as look at some graffiti art in an area we had not explored before Bishopston and Horfield. 

I have one piece of graffiti art to share.  It was quite large, so its taken in stages and I think quite relevant for the state of our depressing political environment at present.

 Images below start from the left to the right....

 Below a little hope....maybe...who knows...

With our legs heavy and feet sore, we were glad to get back home and tuck into a big bowl of homemade Broccoli and White Bean Soup.  

I had picked up some broccoli to accompany a potato dish but it did not get used in favour of tinned peas, so not to waste it I had decided to make a soup with it.  

My intention was to make Broccoli and Stilton Soup, but swayed for something different with this Broccoli and White Bean Soup.  I had made some chilli oil from a previous dish and swirled a little over the soup that looked plain.  

I had also picked up a loaf of sourdough bread from one of the many independent bakeries in the area.  It was good to dunk the crusty bread into this thick soup. 

I am sharing this with Soups, Salads and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen. 

Chocolate 'Beef' Chilli in Blue Tacos

I'd like to say I made this for Halloween , but the truth is this blog post Chocolate Chili in Blue Taco's has been languishing in my draft box for over a year.  

I was actually meant to be working on Halloween night, so had given D instructions to give out the trick and treating children sweets when they came knocking on the door, that responsibility often falls upon me, but as it turned out - the evening event got cancelled, so I was able to still be the giver of sweets to trick and treaters banging on the front door, but there were not many children as in past years.  I think the sodden weather kept many of them away, I have to be honest I was kinda glad as I did not have much energy to be jumping up and down like jack in the box to answer the door.  

Anyway, back to this Chocolate Chili in Blue Taco's - the recipe was adapted from a meat based recipe from Clodagh McKenna's Chocolate Beef Chilli.  I replaced the beef with soya mince and omitted the bacon lardons.  

I remember it being  very rich and 'too chocolatey' for my liking and I wasn't a great fan of the Blue  Corn Tacos either.  They broke on folding. 

I was glad that I was able to try the Blue Corn Tacos having admired them afar before, but I am in no rush to try them again, unless I go to Mexico and they are fresh. 

My Legume Love Affair in March Round Up

Here is the Round Up of My Legume Love Affair #126 for March 2019.

Thank you so much to everyone who came by and contributed a vegetarian or vegan recipe made with either beans, lentils or pulses.

The first entry comes from The VegHog who shared with us Tomato and Lentil  Soup with Oregano Lentils.  

Next we have Dhaba Sytle Kala Chana by Jayashree who blogs over at Evergreen Dishes. 

Lisa from Lisa's Kitchen, as well as MLLA Administrator brings to the MLLA table Azuki Beans in a Fragrant Spicy Tomato Sauce.

Johanna from Green Gourmet Giraffe shares with us her Slow Cooked Smoky Paprika Chickpeas with Tacos.

Finally, my contribution as host for MLLA was Sweet and Spicy Carrot Stew with Chickpeas.

I would like to Thank the contributors who continue to support this food blog challenge, its one of the long running food blog challenges started way back in 2008. I would also like to say a special Thank you to Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen who continues to administer MLLA  so that we can all join in and see what other food bloggers around the world are eating in their kitchen.  

Four Yellow Dishes

Around this time last year I shared a blog post of photographed dishes not worthy of getting their blog posts in their own right.  

This blog post is a continuation of that theme.  I share four very Yellow recipes I made last year, that tasted okay but not very well presented as I just plonked in the bowl.  

The first is Turmeric Pilau with Yellow (aka Split Pea) Lentils and Curly Kale.  It was nice, but not very well photographed as I just hurriedly plonked the food in the bowl.

The second yellow dish was Cauliflower, Fenugreek and Yellow (Split Pea) Dal.  It came about when my darling husband wanted me to make Cauliflower Curry and I had a hankering for the most delicious of pauper dishes - Dal, so I decided to combine the both.  Combing dal with a vegetable is not that unusual, many families of South Asian heritage or diaspora do this, to add either add more flavour or texture or to bulk it up to feed a family.  It was really delicious and quite comforting to eat, but as it was served late in the evening - the lighting was poor and my kitchen table top is not the best either.  

The third yellowish Lemon cheesecake was made over Christmas in place of my traditional Christmas Cranberry Cake.  It did not turn out well.  For a start, look at the scary googly eyes on that angel figure. The cake itself, although edible was a bit of a flop - the biscuit base to hard, the whipped cream too fluffy (and not set) and then I went and smothered it and made it look even messy and clumpy with Prosecco Apricot Jam with edible glitter. 

The fourth Yellow recipe is for Coconut and Lemon Cake.  We liked it.  Its simple and has no airs or graces about it, and its own golden topping is glistening with nature bling, but it was too simple to share - even the lemon sweet slice on top could not make it fancy.

Hot Chocolate Beluga Lentils with Rainbow Carrots

This is not the most attractive looking of dishes that I have shared on my blog, but I think its the perfect time for to pretend and say that I made it for a Halloween party and what you are seeing here are some damn ugly zombie or monster fingers coming out of the earthy ground.  

Truth is, this is spicy beluga lentils chili or sorts enhanced with chilli chocolate and the so called fingers are actually rainbow carrots. I guess to make this dish look even more horrific, I should have only used the purple carrots, that appear to be more effective in resembling fingers with the wrinkles. 

Despite the way it looks, it actually tasted okay.  

I don't cook that much with Beluga lentils as Puy lentils tend to be my go to in terms of sturdy lentils that keep their shape and do not disintegrate upon long cooking, but don't let that stop you from making this dish (if you dare),  you can use brown lentils, I find them just as tasty, if not more so. 

I served these with sweet potato wedges, soured cream to dampen the hotness, and even for me it was really hot  I am sharing this with My Legume Love Affair #121 hosted by Jagruti Cooking Odyssey.  The challenge was started by Susan from The Well Seasoned Cook and continues thanks to Lisa's Kitchen.  

Other Beluga and Puy Lentil Recipes
Beetroot Bourguignon with Puy Lentils
Leek and Puy Lentil Flan
Gratin of Cabbage with Puy Lentils
Strawberry, Tomato and Puy Lentil Curry
Beluga Lentil Salad with Avocado