Chickpea Salad with Herbs and Yogurt Dressing

This makes good use of the herbs that are going absolutely crazy on the sunny side of our house.  Loosely inspired by butternut-squash-and-chickpea salads like this one.
Serve with roasted potatoes with rosemary.

Chickpea Salad with Herbs and Yogurt Dressing

 3 cans low-sodium chickpeas, drained and rinsed
5 tbsp olive oil, divided
several sprigs of lemon thyme, leaves picked off stems
several large or many small sage leaves
2 oz feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 container plain yogurt
1 tsp minced garlic


Heat 3 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Meanwhile, julienne the sage leaves.  Fry them until crisp, just a few minutes, watching the heat closely.

Combine chickpeas, feta, lemon thyme, and fried sage leaves; toss to mix well.  NB: lemon thyme is strong, so start with less than you might think.  Separately, mix together the yogurt, garlic, and remaining 2 tbsp olive oil.  Before serving, spoon the yogurt dressing over the chickpeas.

Spicy Lima Bean Dip

Pureed lima beans with Mexican seasonings make a very good dip not unlike hummus or white-bean dip. This also works well as a filling for enchiladas. In fact, it was inspired by a recipe for guacamole-filled enchiladas with adobo sauce. (We didn't have any avocados, and I also wanted a higher-protein, higher-fiber filling.)

Spicy Lima Bean Dip

1 1-lb bag frozen lima beans
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 cup water

Bring lima beans, jalapeno, garlic, and water to a boil. Cook until the lima beans are very soft, about 10 minutes. Drain. Using a food processor (regular or mini), process beans, jalapeno, garlic, oil, lemon and chili powder until mostly smooth - some texture is nice. Add water by the tablespoonful if needed for processing. Garnish with additional chili powder.

Makes dip for a party, or enchilada filling for 3.

Spicy Sweet Potato-Black Bean Soup

This is a favorite of my spouse. It is rich-tasting, full of warm spices, and very delicious, although not particularly attractive. I've made two big batches in the past two weeks, to take advantage of the last cold weather of the season.

If you have any leftover beans lying around -- e.g., half a can of refried beans -- just dump them in.

Spicy Sweet Potato-Black Bean Soup

2 large sweet potatoes/yams, peeled and diced
2 cans reduced-sodium black beans, well rinsed
1 medium or large onion, chopped roughly
4 cloves garlic, diced (or not; it'll just get pureed anyway)
1 tbsp olive or canola oil
3 tbsp cumin
3 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/2 tsp Sriracha (or to taste)
1 pinch dried oregano
(1-2 tbsp honey -- depends on the sweetness of the sweet potatoes)
Water -- lots
salt & pepper to taste

In a large soup pot, cook the onions in the olive oil over medium heat while you are peeling and dicing up the sweet potatoes, about 5 minutes, adding the garlic in the last 2 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and beans; add about 8 cups of water (until the vegetables are covered), and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add the remaining ingredients except the honey. Boil until the sweet potatoes are very soft, 30-45 minutes, adding water if it runs low. Puree using an immersion blender. Taste, and add honey if you think it is necessary. Thin with more water if you'd like a thinner texture.

Serves at least 5.

Spicy Tofu and Vegetables with Black Bean Sauce

An excellent and healthy summer meal to make while listening to the president talk about health insurance reform. Combines many flavors into something new -- not identifiably black bean, but still tasty. It's good with experimental half-whole-wheat cornbread.

Spicy Tofu and Vegetables with Black Bean Sauce

1 large red pepper, diced
1/2 habanero pepper, diced
8 diced scallions, divided
1.5 cups chopped green beans
1 brick firm tofu, diced in small cubes
1/2 can (8 oz.) refried black beans
2 heaping tbsp peanut butter
1/2 to 1 tsp Sriracha or other hot sauce
1 can no-sodium-added diced tomatoes
1 sliced avocado (for garnish)

In a large frying pan, saute the red pepper, green beans, habanero pepper, and 4 of the diced scallions in a little oil over low to medium heat, about 5 minutes. Add the tofu and continue to cook about 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix the beans and peanut butter together until smooth, adding a little bit of water -- a couple of tablespoons -- to form a smooth paste; mix in the Sriracha. Add this paste and the can of diced tomatoes to the pan. Cook over medium heat about 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until fairly thick and smooth. Serve with cornbread, garnished with avocado slices and the remaining scallions.

Serves 4.

Quick Savory Bean Soup

This is the kind of soup to make when it is cold out, you are hungry, and you need to make soup NOW -- in half an hour or less. It's an excellent dinner when topped with cheese and accompanied by a baked sweet potato. Since the refried beans are already pureed, you end up with a silky, thick broth studded with onions and tomatoes.

Quick Savory Bean Soup

1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic,chopped finely
1 can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
1 to 2 cups water
1 can vegetarian or fat-free refried beans
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp soy sauce
2 dashes hot sauce (I used Sriracha)
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp to 1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 to 1 tsp cumin

In a saucepan, saute the onion and garlic in the oil until quite translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the soy sauce and hot sauce and cook another two minutes. Add the tomatoes, beans, 1 cup water, and herbs and spices. Turn the heat to high, and bring to a boil, stirring vigorously until the beans are well incorporated. Turn the heat to low and simmer 15-20 minutes, until the soup has reached the desired consistency. If you want a thinner soup, add more water.

Garnish with cheese, cilantro, baked tortilla strips, etc. If you have leftover spicy sauteed chicken, add that as well!

Serves 3-4.

Winter Soup with Sweet Potato, Lamb Sausage, and White Beans

Our intention, last night, was to make another, labor-intensive recipe for Shabbat dinner. But we got home at 8:15, and couldn't really wait another two hours to eat. We ransacked the fridge and freezer -- and ended up with quite possibly my favorite soup ever. The flavors blend extremely well. A little sweet, a little spicy, and very filling, it is great for a wintertime Shabbat dinner!

Winter Soup with Sweet Potato, Lamb Sausage, and White Beans

2 large onions, diced
2 large sweet potatoes
3 links sweet lamb sausage (spicy would work, too)
2 cans white beans, drained and rinsed (one cannellini, one Goya "small white beans")
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 + cups water
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
2 large pinches oregano
1 large pinch rosemary
Several good shakes red pepper flakes
1 tsp + black pepper

Cut the sweet potatoes into large chunks and microwave about 10 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork. (Alternately, and a tastier option, if you have more time you can bake the sweet potatoes at 425 for a bit over an hour.)

In the bottom of a very large pot, cook the onions over medium to medium-low heat until they are translucent and slightly colored, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic after about 5 minutes. When the sweet potatoes are soft, dice them and add to the onions (or if you baked them, add the puree that they have become to the onions).

While the onions are cooking, remove the casings from the sausages and brown them in a saucepan, breaking them up into small chunks. When brown, add them to the sweet potato/onion mixture, leaving the fat in the saucepan.

Add the beans and at least 5 cups of water, the soy sauce, enough to mostly cover everything else. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Add the spices. Simmer, covered, for 20-30 minutes. Add more pepper to taste.

Serves 5-6.

Spicy Chickpea and Potato Soup

I've been cooking a lot of late, but nothing entirely new: a week where everything I cooked had cilantro green sauce in it, a lot of cooking from recipes, etc. But I finally made up a new recipe, and it is one of my favorite new recipes ever.

Spicy Chickpea and Potato Soup

4 cans chickpeas, rinsed well and drained
3 medium-large red potatoes, peeled and diced
1 very large sweet onion, diced
1 large red bell pepper, diced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
6 oz. tomato paste
4 1/2 cups water (approximate)
1 tsp sweet Pimenton de La Vera (smoked paprika)
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 to 1 tsp black pepper
VERY SMALL dash cayenne
3 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste

In the bottom of a large pot, saute the onions and bell pepper in the olive oil until the onions are translucent and beginning to be soft, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and the Pimenton de La Vera, and cook until fragrant, about one minute. Add the chickpeas, 3 cups of water, potatoes, and spices. Bring to a boil; turn the heat down to a low simmer and simmer covered about 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are soft but still in cubes. You will probably have to add the rest of the water after about an hour and a half. Serve immediately with good crusty bread.

Serves about 5 as a main dish.

White Bean & Turkey Sausage Stew

Possibly I've given up on photos, or possibly I just haven't charged my camera batteries yet... to be determined.

When you have not gone grocery shopping, you excavate the freezer and the cabinets, and come up with this delicious winter stew!

White Bean & Turkey Sausage Stew

3 links uncooked sweet (not hot) turkey sausage
3 cans of white beans (any size), rinsed
1 large onion, sliced finely
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cans diced tomatoes, preferably no salt added
1 cup chopped frozen spinach
1/2 cup red wine
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp black pepper
olive oil

In a large frying pan, remove the sausage from the casings and brown in olive oil over medium-high heat until just beginning to brown, breaking into small pieces with a wooden spoon. When it is just starting to brown, add the onion and saute about five minutes, until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and cook about two more minutes. Add the wine and vinegar (or a little more wine and no vinegar if you have more then 1/2 cup of wine in the house) and reduce until the liquid is nearly gone, about four minutes.

Combine beans, tomatoes (with liquid), and sausage-onion mixture in a large pot. Add rosemary, fennel seeds, and pepper. Cook over high heat about 20 min, until much less soupy. Add the frozen spinach and cook about five more minutes over low heat.

Serve with crusty bread.

Serves about 5.

White-Bean Chili

This dish was born in Washington, DC, where I was subletting an apartment for the summer. I had planned to make chili, but was shocked to discover--just before my guests arrived--that the girl I was subletting from had no chili powder. She did, however, have "Yemenite hwaig" seasoning, which seemed to be a mixture of cumin and turmeric. Combined with hot pepper, it did a fair job of approximating chili. Now, I add some regular chili powder as well, but I still concentrate on cumin and turmeric.

White-Bean Chili

2 cans small white beans (Goya brand is good)
2 cans cannellini beans, or 1 of cannellini and 1 of large butter beans
1 medium onion, chopped roughly
1 clove garlic, crushed
6-8 green onions, chopped finely
1 medium bunch of cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup tomato sauce, any type
2 tsp tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
Good pinch red pepper flakes
olive oil
about 2 cups water
3 oz queso casera or feta for garnish

Saute half the onion and the garlic in olive oil till translucent but not too soft, about 5 minutes. Drain and rinse the beans carefully. Combine beans and remaining half onion with onions and garlic in pot. Add 2 cups water and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to a simmer. Add cumin, turmeric, black pepper, chili powder and red pepper flakes. Simmer about 15 minutes, adding water if becomes too thick. When you have about 3 minutes to go, add 1/3 of the cilantro. Just before serving, add half the remaining cilantro and half the green onions.
Garnish with remaining cilantro, green onions, and queso casera (if you have a good Hispanic foods section at your grocery store) or feta.

Serves 3 or 4.

Summer White Bean & Tomato Salad

Seems kind of silly to keep track of the recipe for something as simple as this, but hey, it's what I made today, so here it is.

Summer White Bean & Tomato Salad

1 15-oz can cannellini beans, rinsed very well and drained
3 small-to-medium tomatoes
4 green onions
4 leaves fresh basil
olive oil
red wine vinegar
black pepper

Cut the tomatoes into small wedges. Slice the white and light green parts of the green onions finely. Tear the basil into small pieces. In a large bowl, combine beans, tomatoes, onions and basil. Dress with about 1 tbsp olive oil and about 1 tsp vinegar. Season heavily with black pepper and salt if necessary.

Serves 1 for dinner or 2-3 as a side dish.
Could garnish with mozzarella or feta if you were looking for a heavier dish.