Trinidadian Split Pea Soup

When I was in high school and as a freshman in college, I was a vegetarian. I ended the vegetarianism when I traveled to Cuba for two weeks. It seemed like it would be inappropriate of me to request special meals when people there were living off of rations.

My mom always worried about me getting enough nutrients. When I came home from college for winter break, my mom and I went to the book store, and bought this cookbook. My mom and I chose a recipe together, and then went to buy the ingredients. She wanted me to learn how to cook and eat a healthier vegetarian meal than what I had become accustomed to eating (I didn't really like vegetables back then). She and I made this soup together. I made it a few weeks ago, and it was still as good as I remembered it to be.

Trinidadian Split Pea Soup

from Madhur Jaffrey's "World Vegetarian"

Pg. 602-603

Ingredients:

• 3 TBSP peanut or canola oil (I used peanut oil)
• 1 "good-sized" onion, peeled and finely chopped (I used my special chopper to quickly chop the onion, celery stalk, garlic, and chile)
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 fresh hot green chile, finely chopped
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (I used dried thyme)
• 1 TBSP. finely sliced chives (I used green onion)
• 1 cup coarsely grated peeled carrot
• 1 cup yellow split peas (picked over, rinsed, drained)
• 6 cups vegetable stock
• salt
• pepper
• 1 cup of diced yam (one large yam diced into 3/4 inch pieces)
• Tabasco sauce, or lime juice and cayenne pepper to season the soup.

Directions:

1) Put the oil in a large pan and set over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the onion, celery, garlic, green chile, thyme, and chives. Stir and saute for 5 minutes; a little browning should be encouraged.

2) Add the carrot and continue to stir and fry for another 3 minutes.

3) Add the split peas and stock and bring to a boil.

4) Cover partially, turn the heat down to low, and simmer gently for 1 1/4 hours.

5) Add the yams. Simmer for about 15-20 more minutes; until the yams are soft.

6) When done, taste for salt, adding as much as needed. Also add black pepper to taste.

7) Mix together lime juice and a little bit of dried cayenne. Use this to season the soup at the table. Be careful, because a little cayenne goes a long way. You could also set out Tabasco sauce or another pepper sauce for seasoning the soup at the table.

Angel Hair Pasta with Tomatoes

I made this recipe for the first time when I lived in Jamaica for a summer. I spent a couple of weeks right outside of Ocho Rios with two Peace Corps Volunteers ("PCVs") , and volunteered at an environmental day camp. It was a lot of fun, and I'm glad that I got to spend some time away from Kingston. Anyway, Jackie (a PCV who was "stationed" in Kingston) and I stayed with one of her friends (also a PCV), and we took turns making dinner. I was not a very good cook back then. I think that my main "specialties" were black beans (from a can) and rice, homemade pico de gallo salsa, and scrambled eggs. I am pretty sure that I didn't know how to cook meat of any sort. When it was my night to make dinner, I was scared. Then I thought of a pasta dish that I once ate at a "fancy" restaurant, and decided that I would attempt to recreate it. Miraculously, I didn't start the PCV's house on fire, and my dinner actually turned out to be pretty good.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 package of angel hair pasta (cooked and drained)
• 2-3 cloves of garlic (chopped or crushed)
• 4 hot house tomatoes or 8-10 roma tomatoes (diced)
• 1-2 TBSP of chopped fresh basil
• salt and pepper (to taste)
• olive oil
• freshly grated parmesan

Directions:

1) Heat olive oil in a large pan on medium heat.

2) Saute garlic for about 1 minute

3) Add tomatoes, basil, salt, & pepper to the pan. Saute for about 5 - 10 minutes.

4) Toss the tomato mixture with the angel hair pasta.

5) Serve with parmesan.

Pesto

This recipe is courtesy of my stepmom. It's a great recipe :) Pretty easy to make, too.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (packed) of fresh basil (do not chop)
• 1/2 cup of EVOO
• 2-4 cloves of crushed and peeled garlic (we used 2 cloves, and that was plenty; just ask the people who sit by me in class...haha!)
• 1 tsp. of salt
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of toasted pine nuts
• Fresh shredded parmesan cheese
• Hot cooked & drained pasta

Directions:

1. Place basil, EVOO, garlic cloves, and salt into food processor and process. (We also added the pine nuts to the food processor; just our personal preference).

2. Pour pesto over the pasta.

3. Top with lots of parmesan cheese and pine nuts (if you didn't add them to the food processor).

Spinach, Pine Nut, Feta, & Craisins Salad

Our friends, Rachel & Ryan, brought this salad to a friend's house a few months ago. It was delicious, and it seemed like a nice summer dinner. E & I recreated it at home recently. We got about 5 (big) servings of salad out of this recipe. 

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of fresh spinach leaves (pre-washed)
• 2/3 to 3/4 cup of pine nuts
• 1 package of Original Craisins
• 1 package of crumbled feta
• Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing (we cheated and used the Kraft brand, but you could make your own)

Directions:

1) Toast pine nuts in a shallow baking pan in a 325 degree oven, stirring occasionally, until golden brown (about 5 minutes). Allow them to cool. NOTE: You could also toast the pine nuts in a pan on your stove if you don't want to heat up your house by using the oven. 

2) Combine spinach leaves, pine nuts, Craisins, and feta in a large bowl. Toss.

3) Serve with Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing.

Crockpot Dried Beans

In an attempt to lower our sodium intake and to save money, I made pinto and black beans in our crockpot. It worked out well. A bag of dried beans costs about $1, and it makes about 3.5 cans worth of beans. That's a good deal :) I made 2 bags worth of black beans and 2 bags worth of pinto beans (on separate days). Then I divided them up into freezer-friendly containers, and froze them.We have the equivalent of 14 cans of beans in our freezer. It wasn't too much work, and it saved us money AND it is also saving our health. We are going to use 3 cans worth this week for our dinners, so we're not hoarding too much food :) 

I used this recipe: Cooking Dried Beans in Your Crockpot

I followed the recipe exactly when I made the black beans. When I made the pinto beans, I turned the crockpot up to "high" and cooked them for 5 hours. They turned out, and the 5 hour cook time worked better for my schedule that day. 

Spinach-Artichoke Dip

E & I have a mini crockpot (The Little Dipper) and it is perfect for making this dip. It has a 16 oz. capacity. Yesterday I was craving Spinach-Artichoke Dip; I think it was the weather. Here is what I came up with:

Ingredients:

• ½ of an 8 oz. pckg of cream cheese (cubed)
• ½ box of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• ½ can of artichoke hearts, drained & chopped
• ½ cup of shredded cheese (either use Parmesan OR we used a 3-cheese Italian blend)
• 1/3 cup of mayonnaise

Directions:
1) Combine all ingredients in the Little Dipper.
2) Cover and heat. Stir after ½ hour (if you’re around)
3) You can leave it on for about 3 hours (or I did, at least).
4) Serve with crackers, chips, bread, or veggies.

NOTE: I left mine on for 3 hours while I was at class, and came home to some WONDERFUL spinach artichoke dip. We also have some leftovers: ½ a pckg of cream cheese, ½ can of artichoke hearts and ½ box of frozen spinach, so it looks like I will be making this again soon. Sounds good to me :)

Mom's Minestrone Soup

I made a double batch of this soup today, using my mom's recipe. It made 16 servings of soup. E & I are eating 2 servings for dinner and freezing the rest in individual serving size containers. I added up the cost per serving, and it comes to 81 cents; I'd say that's a good deal. My calculation doesn't include the olive oil, salt & pepper, and any cheese that you serve it with, but it's still very thrifty and will be nice around finals time :)

Here is the recipe for one batch (about 8 servings)

Ingredients

• 2 TBSP. olive oil
• 1 med. onion, chopped
• 2 medium carrots (peeled), sliced or chopped
• 1 medium-size zucchini, peeled and diced
• 6 c. vegetable broth or chicken broth (you can use bouillon; we used pre-made broth because the lower-sodium canned broth was on sale this week)
• 2 c. water - or a little more if needed
• 1 (14.5 oz.) can of Italian diced tomatoes with basil, oregano, and garlic
• 1 c. uncooked pasta (elbow or spiral or whatever is in your cupboard)
• 1 can (15 oz.) dark red kidney beans, drained
  
• 1 ½ c. frozen green beans
• salt & pepper
  

Directions:
1. Heat oil in large pot, add onions, sauté for 3 minutes.
2. Add carrots and zucchini; sauté for 3 minutes.
3. Add rest of ingredients. Bring to a boil, turn down after a couple of minutes and simmer until veggies are tender (about an hour). Stir occasionally.
4. Sprinkle with fresh grated Parmesan cheese after dishing it up in a bowl.

Cheese and Bean Quesadillas

This recipe made good use of some salsa we already had in our fridge, the leftover tortillas from the burritos, and the rest of the Monterey Jack cheese. It also made a good dinner (and lunch leftovers). The rest of the ingredients were inexpensive.

Ingredients

• 1 - 15 oz. can of pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup of salsa (we used the Archer Farms Medium salsa - cheap at Target)
• 1 tsp. of chili powder
• 4 (10-inch) flour tortillas
• 1 cup of shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup of sour cream
• Pam or other nonstick cooking spray
  

Directions:
1. Place beans in a medium saucepan and mash with a potato masher or fork.
2. Stir in salsa and chili powder.
3. Cook over medium heat until bubbly.
4. Reduce heat to low.
5. Simmer 5 minutes.
6. Spray a griddle with nonstick cooking spray.
7. Heat over medium heat until hot.
8. Brush 1 tortilla lightly on both sides with water.
9. Heat on griddle until lightly browned, then turn the tortilla.
10. Spread with 1/2 of bean mixture, sprinkle with 1/2 of the cheese and 1/2 of the cilantro.
11. Top with a second tortilla and press lightly.
12. Brush top of tortilla with water.
13. Carefully turn quesadilla to brown & crisp the second side.
14. Remove from heat, and then repeat with the remaining 2 tortillas.
15. Cut each quesadilla into wedges and then serve with sour cream.

Spicy Bean and Cheese Burritos

E & I have been on a strict grocery budget lately, and in order to stay within our budget we have been eating around themes. Right now it's been a mostly vegetarian Mexican theme.

We used this recipe, courtesy of Rachel Ray. It was really yummy. It provided us with a good, and pretty easy to make dinner. And we had leftovers the next day for our lunches :)

Ingredients:

• 1 TBSP. EVOO
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 - 15 oz. can of black beans, rinsed
• 1/3 cup of pickled jalapenos, drained and chopped
• 1/2 cup of Mexican beer (we just used a non-Mexican beer that we had in our fridge)
• 1 - 15.25 oz can of corn kernels, rinsed (we used half a bag of frozen corn since we had it in our freezer)
• 1 - 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes, rinsed
• Juice from 1/4 of a lime
• 4 large flour tortillas
• 1 1/2 cups of shredded monterey jack cheese (if you buy a $2 block of cheese at Target, it will yield about 2.5 cups of shredded cheese which is why we ate cheese and bean quesadillas later on that week)

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, heat the EVOO over medium high heat.
2. Add garlic and cook until golden (about 1 min.)
3. Stir in the black beans & jalapenos and cook, lightly mashing the mixture against the side of the pan, for 2 minutes.
4. Stir the beer into the black bean mixture & bring to a boil.
5. Cook, continuing to mash, until thickened (about 10 min.)
6. Stir in the corn and tomatoes and cook, stirring, until heated through (about 5 min.)
7. Stir in the lime juice, and then set this aside.
8. Lay the tortillas on a "work surface" (plate/counter).
9. Sprinkle 1/4 of the cheese in the center, and then scoop 1/4 of the bean mixture on top of the cheese.
10. Fold the tortilla up, "burrito-style".
11. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
12. Place the burritos folded side down in the skillet and cook until brown on each side (about 1 minute).