As usual, I spent some time this Sunday afternoon planning out our meals for the week ahead. There are a few things I need to consider, like whether there will be evenings I won't be home, rendering my husband virtually dinnerless or whether we have plans to have dinner out with friends or family. As usual (but especially this month), I was sure to throw a meatless night into the mix. In fact, I think we deserve some bonus points this week...without even planning to, we ate meatless Sunday, too, which means we'll have TWO meatless meals under our belts this week. See how easy it is?
Now, if you're having a little trouble wrapping your head around reducing your intake of meat, consider this sentence that I recently read in my university Nutrition text book: "Vegetarians have been shown to have lower risks for obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure , and some types of cancer."
Makes you think twice, doesn't it?
Eating beans of a variety other than your garden variety green beans was an acquired taste for me, but now I eat them a couple of times a week. There is such a wide variety of beans available in most grocery stores, that ensuring enough protein and fiber is added to your diet in lieu of the meat you're sacrificing should be a snap (kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans are just a few). (Incidentally, I noticed that Kalyn Denny has written a great article about beans over at BlogHer. Go! Read!)
This week I'll be making one of my favourite recipes, Spicy Black Bean Soup. This particular soup is usually quite thick when it's finished, which I like. Sometimes I plop a dollop of sour cream or guacamole on top. If you like your soup a little thinner, you can certainly remedy the thickness by adding some additional stock, water or even wine to thin it out to your liking. I usually serve the soup with a dish of multi-grain tortilla chips, not that this dinner needs additional fiber.
Spicy Black Bean Soup (Source: Kitchen Life, by Art Smith, p. 113)
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 med. onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, ribs and seeds discarded, chopped
1 jalapeno, ribs and seeds discarded, chopped (I leave them in for a bit of extra heat)
2 garlic cloves, minced
3, 15- to 19-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 quart reduced-sodium chicken broth (substitute vegetable broth if you like)
1/3 cup dry sherry, optional
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Salsa, sour cream and chopped fresh cilantro for garnish, optional
1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and jalapeno. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and stir until it gives off its aroma, about 1 minute.
2. Stir in the beans and broth. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and partially cover the pot. Simmer for 30 minutes. During the last 5 minutes, stir in the sherry, if using.
3. Transfer the soup in batches to a blender and process until smooth. Poor the pureed soup into a large bowl. (If you have an immersible hand blender, you can puree the soup right in the pot.) Season the soup with salt and pepper.
4. Serve the soup hot. Pass bowls of salsa, sour cream, and cilantro so each person can add whatever toppings he or she likes.
Makes 6 servings.
(Edited to add: I calculated the nutritional values for this recipe using No Name Black Beans and Chicken Broth and by substituting a lower-fat No Name Vegetable Oil for olive oil. 1 serving=244 kcal, 3 g fat, 951 mg sodium, 73 mg potassium, 42 g carbohydrate, 12 g fiber, 15 g protein. Not too shabby!)
A couple of my favourite web resources that are good sources of vegetarian dishes worth trying:
Simply Recipes' Vegetarian Recipe Archive
Farmgirl Fare (scroll down to see a list containing many great and often beautifully photographed vegetarian dishes)
ohhhhh that looks glorious - great recipe, I must try this one.
Posted by: motherbumper | January 08, 2008 at 08:59 AM