Steamed Veggies for a Week of Healthy Eating

I spent a few hours on the weekend chopping, washing and steaming a bunch of veggies, including squash, onions, garlic, spinach, cauliflower and broccoli. I also made a good portion of whole rice mixed with barley to keep in my fridge, and defrosted some black beans i had cooked a while back. I have talked before about how my busy schedule makes it hard for me to cook during the week, and I have found that washing and cooking the veggies in advance helps me eat home cooked meals throughout the week!

Reimagining the veggies and creating dishes with them later in the week is fast and easy! A bit of vegetable broth and I have soup, a few spices and I have curry, a blender and I have a dip or purée to eat with chips or pita...

This pic is of the veggies eaten pretty much straight up, with some salt, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and some olive oil! Yum!

Brazilian Black Bean Soup with American Characteristics

As the weather begins to cool and the leaves begin to fall, it's wonderful to sit down to a warm and filling meal. Soups are some of my favorite dishes of the season, and I love how they can be used to deal with leftovers of all sorts. This black bean soup is hearty and healthy soup that is most accommodating of anything you want to throw in it!

I added fresh tomatoes and a dollop of plain yoghurt along with a drizzle of olive oil to my bowl, something distinctly un-Brazilian ;)

Usually, I make my black bean soup with the leftover black beans I have on rice, Brazilian style. All it takes is adding some broth and tossing the beans in a food processor or blender. It's up to you whether you want to puree the whole thing, or varying proportions of it, to achieve the desired blend of whole beans and thick soup.

Cooking Black-Beans:
Soak the desired amount of beans overnight. (I usually make a whole kilo at a time since the cooking process is so lengthy, and the beans do well frozen. Once cooked, you can use them in salads, stews, etc.)
Bring the beans to a boil in plenty of water, some salt, and a couple of bay leaves. It will take 1.5-2 hours to cook all the way through or, if you use a pressure cooker, just 45min. or so.
Once the beans are cooked, you can do a lot with them. You can also vary the amount of water you leave, to achieve the desired brothiness. The important thing now is to get the flavoring in!

Flavoring the Black Beans:
(I am sure you can do this in an infinite number of ways, but this is just a basic recipe you can vary.)
Sautee a finely chopped onion and 8 finely chopped cloves of garlic in some vegetable oil.
If you are not vegetarian, you can add a nice piece of Canadian bacon or fatty pork here for a delicious flavor boost!
You can also add diced carrots or cubes of squash/pumpkin here, for a vegetarian dish!
Sautee until the veggies begin to turn soft.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Add the cooked beans to the sautee mix!
Add cumin (around 2 teaspoons) as well as Cayenne to taste.
Add a bit of orange juice! I swear it is delicious.
And feel free to experiment with other stuff as well. Like last time I tossed in some red bell peppers to the sautee.

Once these beans are ready, they can be served over rice or you can make them brothier and serve as soup. Either way, I usually put at least a couple of cups into the blender, and then mix that back into the beans so you have a heartier broth.

You can also add cooked pasta to the soup once it's ready, and I often add chopped tomatoes and plain yoghurt (instead of sour cream) to mine, along with a drizzle of olive oil. At lunch today I even added some fresh avocado. DELICIOUS.