Vampire Inhibitor Garlic Soup

This is my entry for the soup challenge for March-it has to be spicy!

read more here

So I had to give this a goofy name. If you love garlic as much as I do, you will be making pots of this to have on the ready when you are too tired to move. And even better, it is so low in fat that you might eat the whole pot in one sitting!

15-20 garlic cloves-peeled

2 cups of water

6 medium Roma tomatoes (blanched and skins removed) cut into quarters (don't drain-you want that tomato juice too)

two large handfuls of fresh spinach-big handfuls if you like more

2 teaspoons of smoky paprika

1 teaspoon oregano or basil

1/4 cup of chopped cilantro

2-3 cups of veggie broth (homemade is best but you can use store bought-use salt free if you do)

1 teaspoon olive oil

pepper flakes (to taste)

sea salt-freshly ground-to taste

black pepper-freshly ground-to taste

Place water and fresh garlic in a pot and bring to boil-then simmer with lid off for half hour. DO NOT DRAIN!

While that is going on, boil a pot of water and blanch your tomatoes for about 1 minute. Quickly dip tomatoes into cold water and gently peel off skins (put skins in compost or mix with your dog food). Cut into large chunks. Set aside.

Remove garlic with a slotted spoon and add to a pan with the olive oil and gently sear the garlic. Cut into large chunks and add back into the garlic water, add the tomatoes and all the other ingredients and simmer for a bit with the lid off. It lets the flavors blend.

If you like spicy, add a drop of hot sauce. If you have another spice you like, add a bit and taste. There is an ease with this soup. Serve with chunks of crusty French bread or cheesy crackers for dipping.

For a more filling soup, add some leftover cooked rice or small size cooked pasta-about a cup will do.

Chick-a-Boom Chili

I love canned beans and use them a lot in my slow cook recipes. So I was playing the other night trying to make a white vegetarian chili. I ended up with something different but I was still happy with the taste and textures.

1 15 oz can (or so) Cuban Style Black Beans drained (not rinsed)
1 15 oz can Garbanzo Beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz can no salt black soy beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz can no salt navy beans, drained and rinsed
1 14.4 oz can (or so) diced tomatoes with chili (hot or mild) slight drain (drink the juice for breakfast)
Meatless "chicken" strips" 1 package-diced

Frozen Corn-half package
handful of sun dried tomatoes (dried)
veggie broth
creamy veggie bisque
1 cup diced onion
two tablespoons minced fresh garlic (use fresh if possible)
2 peppers of choice-mild to hot-diced and seeds removed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter or margarine
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (again fresh is best)
chili powder-2 or 3 teaspoons or a cupped palmful
crushed cumin-teaspoon or so
smoked paprika-teaspoon or so
cinnamon (a tad or to taste-grated)
salt and paper to taste

And the kicker! grated Valencia orange peel!

Add olive oil and butter to pan and add onion, garlic and peppers, simmering for about 5 minutes to sweat them out. While this is going on, add canned beans and corn to slow cooker, then cut up the veggie chicken into bite size pieces and add to pot. Add sun dried tomatoes either chopped or whole. Cover with a mixture of broth and bisque (I like Trader Joe's brands). Add the onion/garlic mix. Add your spices adjusting for personal taste and crank it up to high for several hours or low for 5 or more. About halfway thru, add the grated orange peel. I kid you not, this was the missing link in this. It smells so good! You can add more liquid if you want this more like soup or let it thicken up as chili.

Serve with hard crusty bread for dipping and freeze half the recipe for later. This is thick and so filling. And simmering blends the flavors even more.

African Sweet Potato Stew

Some aromas are indescribable. This stew at full simmer was incredible. I took this photo about 2 hours into the 8 hour slow cook on low. I let it simmer all night and then added the peanut butter right at the end. I did play around with some of the ingredients as I had more of some items and less of another. Since I love garlic, I used more.

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced (I used 5)
• 4 cups peeled and cubed sweet potato (1 1/2 pounds)
• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained (I wanted red beans but didn't have any) and any legume you like will work as long as they are fully cooked.
• 1 cup baby carrots cut in half
• 1 cup frozen full green beans cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger grated (use less if dried)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• fresh ground cinnamon to taste-I used 1/2 teaspoon
• 1 can diced tomatoes drained
• a few chopped chili peppers (depends on the heat you want)
• 3 tablespoons peanut butter
• chopped peanuts
• one lime-wedged

Heat oil in skillet and add onion and garlic. Sweat these for 5 minutes over medium heat. Place onion mixture in slow cooker adding sweet potato and other ingredients. Cover and cook on slow for 8 hours or until tender.

Spoon out 1 cup of liquid into a small bowl and add 3 tablespoons of peanut butter,using whisk to blend out any lumps. Stir into hot stew evenly. Top each serving with chopped peanuts and a lime wedge squeezed over the top.

6-8 servings

Serve with spinach salad and crusty bread. Protein 11 grams, fiber 10 grams and 220 mg sodium based on 6 servings.