Souper Easy Smokey Bean and Kale Soup

Sometimes it really feels that life conspires towards us. Take this example: Last night I was presenting a speech on overcoming emotional eating at Whole Foods during their Engine 2 28-day Challenge. A participant approached the leader of the challenge as I was standing next to her. She showed her a recipe for a very simple soup that she said was amazing. It was comprised of one can of refried beans, 1 can of beans, 1 jar of salsa, some oil and, I think, sour cream. She was so excited because she could see that all you had to do was eliminate the oil and sour cream and it would be a perfectly E2 soup.

After the evening was over and I was shopping in the store I remembered that Gena from http://www.choosingraw.com/ had been talking about a product called "Liquid Smoke" on her blog that day and raving about a smoky hummus that she had made with the liquid smoke. My mind started to put two and two together . . . a smokey refried bean soup with . . . can you guess? KALE!

Like I said, sometimes life just conspires towards us. This soup is incredible. The Liquid Smoke was only $1.99! But better yet, this soup couldn't be easier. I think a child could make it!

Healthy Girl's Smokey Bean and Kale Soup
serves 6-8 people

Printable Recipe

1 jar of your favorite salsa
2 cans beans-black or pinto-drained and rinsed
2 cans fat free refried beans-black or pinto
1/2 bag frozen corn-I like Trader Joe's frozen roasted corn
1 box low sodium vegetable broth (4 cups)
1 bunch lacinato kale, sliced into ribbons and washed
1/4 tsp or more Liquid Smoke
a few tortilla chips, optional

Place salsa, beans, refried beans, frozen corn, and vegetable broth in soup pot over medium heat. Stir and bring to a simmer.

Add kale, stir and lower heat to low. Simmer for 15 minutes. Taste. Add 1/4 tsp liquid smoke. Taste and add more Liquid Smoke to your taste.

Great with a few crunched up tortilla chips sprinkled over the top! O-M-Goodness!

Serve with a giant salad for a souper filling dinner. Okay, enough with the "souper" now.

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Healthy Convenience Food

Every once in a while an idea comes across my path that really makes a difference in my life. Well folks, the idea that I am about to share with you fits that qualification. The concept was presented to me last week at Whole Foods Market, where, as most of you know, my ten-year-old daughter and I have been participating in 28-day Engine 2 vegan food challenges. We're now well into our second challenge and still loving it and learning a lot.

At last week's meeting bowls of various foods were laid out on tables and we were given a container to concoct our own unique dinner on the spot. What was in those bowls was so simple that it could be categorized as follows:

(1) cooked whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat pasta, quinoa, barley, whole wheat cous cous, etc., etc.)

(2) canned beans (kidney, black, canelli, garbanzo, fava, etc., etc.), drained and rinsed

(3) cooked or raw vegetables (cooked broccoli, corn, string beans, spinach, chopped tomatoes, etc., etc.)

(4) seasonings (any dry spice/herb, any salt free seasoning, low-sodium soy sauce, and vinegar)

What resulted was surprisingly delicious. I started my bowl with whole wheat shell noodles, added a variety of beans, cooked broccoli, corn and string beans, and topped it all off with a dusting of sesame seeds. That's all. And it was good. Real good.

And I thought, this would be the perfect equation to prepare a never ending variety of hot lunches for my kids! Yipee! Eureka! (Those of you trying to prepare healthy lunches for kids every day know how challenging this is.)

So my first attempt at home involved the following:

one bag of frozen brown rice from Trader Joes, cooked

one bag of frozen broccoli from Trader Joes, cooked

one can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce

1 Tbsp mirin (a Japanese wine vinegar)

I just mixed everything in a large bowl. It was tasty and delicious. It went in my daughter's lunch box. But then, the leftovers became . . . DINNER! 

I had made a batch of Choosing Raw's Cheesy Red Pepper Hemp Dip in the morning. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but the recipe intrigued me and I had faith that something good would come of it. Well, it was delicious served over the leftover mix of brown rice, veggie and bean. So delicious that I find that I am craving the whole business right now as I type this! Served with a side of roasted acorn squash, it was a perfect healthy vegan meal!

Roasted Acorn Squash

1 squash generally serves 2 people as a side dish

acorn squash, washed, cut in half, seeds removed

cooking oil spray, I used coconut oil

salt

maple syrup or agave syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Place acorn squash halves, cut side up, on cookie sheet. Spray lightly with cooking oil spray, sprinkle lightly with salt, and drizzle syrup lightly on top. Bake in oven for one hour. Serve immediately, but keeps nicely in the refrigerator and tastes great cold too!

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Vegan Bean, Corn and Broccoli Enchilada Casserole

This summer I have developed a confidence in the kitchen that I never had before. I am finally starting to develop my own recipes.

So this morning when I was flipping through my arsenal of healthy cookbooks looking for something to make for dinner, but not finding anything that seemed easy enough and satisfying enough, I happened upon an enchilada recipe. But instead of transcribing a list of ingredients from the cookbook onto my grocery list, I just started pulling out cans and jars from my cupboard.  Cilantro and broccoli were the only two things that I needed from the grocery store.

Healthy Girl's Kitchen Vegan Bean, Corn and Broccoli Enchilada Casserole
Serves 8, 4 Weight Watchers Points per serving

1 large head broccoli, washed and cut into florets (this would also be great with a big bag of frozen spinach, defrosted or any other combination of steamed veggies--the more the merrier!)
1 can fat free refried beans
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn, drained
1 jar of your favorite salsa, in this case I used Trader Joe's Pineapple Salsa
1 bunch cilantro, washed and chopped
1 package (6 count) Food for Life Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Tortillas
1 jar or can of your favorite enchilada sauce

Fill the bottom of a large pot with two inches of water. Place a steamer basket into pot and put broccoli florets into the steamer. Let water come to a boil and steam broccoli until soft but not mushy. Remove pot from heat and let sit.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine next 5 ingredients and stir to combine. When broccoli is cool enough to handle, rough chop it and add it to the bean and corn mixture.

Spray a 9x13" casserole dish with cooking spray. Place two tortillas at into the casserole, letting the edges go up the sides of the dish a little. Place half of the bean, corn and broccoli mixture on to the tortillas and spread the mixture evenly.  Layer two more tortillas and the rest of the bean, corn and broccoli mixture. Place the last two tortillas on top. Finally, pour the entire can of enchilada sauce over the top and spread it out.

My husband said this was "excellent," my 10 year old daughter loved it, and I agreed with them both!

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