Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup

This is a great soup for winter. It doesn't have as many fresh vegetables as I usually like but its really easy. It also gets better as it sits so its a good one to make the night before.

2 (15 ounce) cans Black Beans drained and rinsed

1 yellow onion, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

½ Tbsp olive oil

1 (14 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes

1 Tbsp cumin

½ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp salt

½ tsp ground pepper

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1 can (15 ounce) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

1 Tablespoon Balsalmic Vinegar

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil in a large soup pot over high heat stirring frequently until the onion begins to soften (5 to 10 minutes). Lower heat to medium and continue to sauté stirring occasionally (10 minutes) until onion is tender and translucent.

Add the tomatoes, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, salt and pepper and sauté until the tomatoes begin to break down and give off juices (about 5 to 10 minutes). Pour in stock, pumpkin, vinegar and beans. Bring soup to boil. Lower heat and simmer 15 minutes. Remove soup from heat and let stand until cool enough to puree. Puree soup, heat and serve.

Butternut Squash and Chickpea Soup

This is good. The red pepper gives it a kick. Good for the fall with the butternut squash, which I bought already cut up at Giant.

1 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. ground coriander
2-inch piece of cinnamon stick
2 15-ounced cans diced tomatoes
juice of one lemon (I used lemon juice in jar)
1 ounce dried tart cherries (raisins or other dried fruit may be substituted)
1/2 pound butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes (about two cups)
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup Israeli couscous
4 cups chicken stock
1/4 t. crushed red pepper
1/4 t. salt for taste

Saute onions in olive oil until soft. Add garlic, cumin, coriander, and cinnamon stick, stir for one minute. Add tomatoes. Add remaining ingredients except for salt. Turn up heat and bring to simmer. Turn to low and let simmer for 30 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick before serving. Garnish with chopped cilantro if desired. Yields six servings.

Molasses crinkles

These are really yummy to make in the fall/winter

Ingredients:
3/4 c shortening
1 egg
1/4 c molasses (spray the measuring cup with cooking spray before you pour it and it will come right out when you add it to the bowl)
1 c sugar
2 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1 t cloves
1 t ground ginger
2 c flour

Directions:
I usually just mix together all the ingredients except the flour and then add that in last. Form the dough into 1" balls and roll in white or raw (demerara) sugar. Bake about 2" apart on a greased cookie sheet for 10 min @ 350 degrees ( might need to go ~1 minute extra on a stone). I usually let them cool for a few minutes before removing from the baking sheets. Makes ~3-4 dozen.

Frosted Pumpkin Cookies

I made these for Peter's birthday last week and they came out really well!

Click here for the original recipe. I changed a few things, though:

-I used another cup of chopped pecans instead of the dates because I don't like dates. I think raisins would work well, too.

-I added a teaspoon of nutmeg to the dough. I would recommend adding any other pumpkin pie spice that you have, too--I would've added cloves if we'd had any.

-I used store-bought whipped cream cheese frosting instead of the recipe they provide for caramel frosting.

I ended up refrigerating the dough overnight because I didn't want to stay up really late baking them. I'm not sure if that changes anything. They didn't spread out at all when they baked.

Stir Fried Vegetables and Pasta

I’ve recently been cooking this dish a lot in the dorm. It’s pretty quick and easy and I think it tastes good! The quantities are completely up to you, I have no idea how much I use. I really just eyeball it. It also depends on how much of each flavor you prefer. You can always add more soy sauce later on when you’re eating if you feel it’s lacking.

I like to start cooking the vegetables when the pasta is almost cooked to save on time.

Ingredients:

Pasta of your preference

Frozen stir-fry vegetables (I just buy the pack from the grocery store. The one I’ve been using consists of broccoli, carrots, onions, water chestnut, celery, and green beans)

Cooking oil or vegetable oil (not olive oil)

Garlic powder

Ginger powder

Chicken stalk (optional and only about a teaspoon for one serving of this dish)

Soy sauce

Oyster sauce (not essential)

Procedure:

Cook the pasta to your liking and strain.

Heat some oil in a frying pan, add vegetables. Add garlic powder and ginger powder. When vegetables are heated through, add pasta. Like in a stir fry, you don’t need to cook the vegetables very much. Add chicken stalk, soy sauce and a little bit of oyster sauce. Basically just cook a little until it’s dry.

That is all.

P.S.
You can buy some sort of Asian chili sauce to eat with the dish if you like. I prefer Thai chili sauce.

Chicken Masala

This is a pretty simple chicken masala recipe. In Indian cuisine, masala usually means the dish has curry powder in it and is spicy. The curry powder I use is from home. I have yet to try this recipe with a curry powder you find in stores, but the curry powder I use is red rather than yellow and is spicy because it has chili powder mixed in. Unfortunately, I’m not very familiar with the curry powders you can find in stores but I’m sure it’ll work just as well!

For the onion, you can really use red or white. I have tried both but personally prefer red onions because they’re more like the onions I use back home. As far as fennel seeds, cumin seeds, cinnamon, and cloves go, you don’t HAVE to use all of them. If you don’t like cloves, take them out! These ingredients basically flavor the oil.

I’m really not the best cook and my estimations are often off (a lot of my quantities here are estimated) so hopefully you are a decent cook (of course you are!) and can judge the amounts as you go. I think I estimated pretty well this time though.

Ingredients:

For Marinade:

1 tbsp Curry powder

1 tsp Ginger powder

1 tsp Garlic powder

1 to 2 tbsp Honey (just enough to make a thick paste when mixed together. I say 1 to 2 because I can’t remember exactly.)

1 tsp Salt

For the Rest:

Vegetable oil or cooking oil (not olive oil)

½ tsp Cumin seeds

½ tsp Fennel seeds

1 stick Cinnamon, cut into 2 or 3 pieces (I like to sort of whack it with the blade of the knife because you can’t really cut a stick of cinnamon like you cut a green bean. If it’s not too strong, you can also just break the stick by hand).

8-10 whole Cloves

Onion, chopped (I would say about a quarter of an onion considering how HUGE onions are here)

4 Chicken breasts

Procedure:

Cut chicken breasts into cubes (I like to cut them into roughly ¾ inch cubes) and set aside.

Combine curry powder, ginger powder, garlic powder, and salt. Add honey to form a paste. Mix marinade into chicken (I just use my hands to mix it in a bowl). Transfer to a ziploc bag and allow chicken to marinate as long as you like. If you don’t have time to let the chicken marinate for a long time, no worries! It works just as well if you don’t let it sit.

When you’re ready to cook it all up, heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a frying pan (less oil if you’re using a non-stick pan). Add cumin seeds, fennel seeds, cinnamon, and cloves. Toss it around a little, the cinnamon stick will get darker. Then add the onions and cook until the onions start to change color. Finally add the chicken cubes and cook until the meat is cooked through.

P.S.
If you like drumsticks and wings, you can use this recipe as well. Just don’t cut the chicken into cubes, and be prepared to cook the chicken longer. Also I would suggest covering the chicken while it’s cooking so as not to burn the outside while trying to cook the inside. Sometimes liquid will collect because the pan is covered; so just take the cover off when the chicken is almost cooked to dry up the liquid.

Also, feel free to experiment with quantities for the marinade. Those are just the quantities I think I use.

White Chicken Chili

This is Greg's favorite.

1 T. vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped (1 cup)
3 cups chicken broth
2 T. chopped fresh cilantro
2 T. lime juice
1 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. dried oregano
1/4 t. red pepper sauce
1/4 t. salt
1 can white shoepeg corn, drained (I use frozen)
2 15-ounce cans canelloni beans, drained
2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast

Heat oil in heavy pot over medium heat. cook onions and garlic in oil, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender. Stir in remaining ingredients except chicken. heat to boiling, reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 20 minutes. Stir in chicken; simmer until hot. You can serve this with sour cream if desired.

Chicken Marsala

This was really good, especially the second day. I looked on youtube for a tutorial on how to flatten the chicken breasts. It is a little pricey for one person, though, unless you have the appropriate wines or good substitutes lying around.

Citrus-Curry Quinoa Salad

I had this salad at John's aunt and uncle's anniversary party in New York and it was amazing. John's cousin Chuck had made it and gave me the recipe at the party because I wanted to make it for our People of Praise picnic the next day. He told me the ingredients and I was able to remember it (that's amazing!). It was really good. I had to use regular quinoa but the red quinoa is better. Also I substituted orange juice for the citrus juice mixture and it was just as good. Here it is:

2 cups cooked red quinoa
1/2 cup diced apples with skins
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup sliced raw amonds
1/4 cup green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 golden raisins (I actually used cut-up dried cherries)
1/2 cup diced red pepper

Dressing: (makes enough for two recipes)
1/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup grapefruit, orange, and lemon juice (I used all OJ)
1 T. pure maple syrup
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 1/2 t. curry powder
pinch of salt

Mix together salad ingredients. Mix together dressing ingredients and whisk. Pour over and chill.

Slow cooker sausage and tortellini soup

Another slow cooker recipe... once the weather gets cold I am using mine all the time. This meal is easy (only one thing to cut up) and the ingredients are stable so you can work it around your schedule. Makes 8-10 servings.

Ingredients:
2 14.5oz cans Italian-style stewed tomatoes
3 cups water
1 10.5oz can condensed French onion soup
2 cups frozen cut green beans
14oz cooked smoked turkey sausage,halved lengthwise and sliced into 1/2" pieces
2 cups packaged cabbage and carrot coleslaw mix
9oz package refrigerated cheese tortellini

Directions:
Combine undrained tomatoes, water, soup, green beans, and sausage in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. Stir in coleslaw mix and tortellini and cook an additional 15 minutes on high. Top with parmesan cheese to serve.