Black Bean and Sweet Corn Soup with Cilantro and Lime

I am so happy soup season is here! Soup is the perfect comfort food on a chilly fall day. I always make a big pot so we can have leftovers and freeze some for later. This weekend I made Black Bean and Sweet Corn Soup with Cilantro and Green Chiles.

In the summer, we froze some sweet corn when it was at it's peak. I took some out of the freezer and added it to my black bean soup. I also stirred in cilantro, green chiles, diced tomatoes, spices, and fresh lime juice. This soup is great on it's own, but even better with toppings. I cut up corn tortillas and baked them in the oven. They are crisp and so much better for you than fried tortillas:) I also set out Pepper Jack cheese, cilantro, lime wedges, and avocado slices.

Josh has been working very hard on our basement remodel project. We dug out window wells, added new big windows for extra light, and now Josh is busy sheet rocking, dry walling, painting, etc. It is a disaster downstairs, so I stay upstairs in the kitchen and cook/bake for my handsome, handy husband. It is my contribution:)

Josh doesn't like to take breaks, he is a hard worker, but he did stop to eat a big bowl of my black bean soup. I had all of the fixings ready for him to pile on. He said the soup hit the spot! I am glad he approved.

Black Bean and Sweet Corn Soup with Cilantro and Lime

(Printable Recipe)

1 T olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 green pepper, chopped
2 cups sweet corn (ours was frozen, no need to thaw)
1 small jalepeno, minced
1 can diced green chiles
4 cans diced tomatoes (I use low sodium)
4 cans black beans, rinsed and drained (I use low sodium)
3 cans vegetable broth (I use low sodium)
2 T chile powder
1 1/2 T cumin
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
Juice from 1 lime

Toppings:
Tortilla strips
Pepper Jack cheese
Avocado slices
Cilantro
Lime wedges

1. In a large soup pot heat olive oil. Add in onion and cook until tender.
2. Add in garlic. Cook for 2 minutes and add in green pepper.
3. Stir in sweet corn, jalepeno, green chiles. Stir and let cook for about 5 minutes.
4. Stir in tomatoes and black beans. Next, add the vegetable broth. Stir in the spices, cilantro, and salt/pepper. Squirt in the fresh lime juice.
5. Let simmer for 30 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
6. Taste, you might need to add more seasoning. I always end up adding a few extra dashes of chile powder and cumin.
7. Serve hot. If you want to add toppings, go for it. It makes the soup even better!

If you like this soup, you might also like:
Black Bean and Rice Soup with Lime and Cilantro from Kalyn's Kitchen
Black Bean and Quinoa Chili from Closet Cooking
Black Bean Chipotle Soup from A Good Appetite
Vegetarian Tortilla Soup from Two Peas and Their Pod

Recipe for Black Bean Salsa

Happy Friday! Any fun weekend plans? I am determined to feel better today. I still haven't eaten all week, well dry toast, cereal, a little soup, but I want real food today! I miss my kitchen. I really hope I can cook, bake, and workout this weekend. Thanks again for caring about little ol' me!

I am a sweets gal all the way, I usually don't crave salty foods. I do have a little crush on chips and salsa though. Of course it has to be the good stuff. I love fresh salsa with salty chips. Josh makes a killer mango salsa that I love and fresh pico is always good, but this time I made a black bean salsa.

I love black beans, since I don't eat meat they are one of my main sources of protein, so why not add them into my salsa? I love the heartiness it added. I also threw in red and yellow bell peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, lime, garlic, onion, and jalapeno. The salsa was very colorful and very tasty! This is a great appetizer for Spring/Summer parties or a healthy snack to munch on. I also enjoyed the salsa on a salad. It is good in so many ways! Enjoy!

**I recently did a photo shoot with Quinn Curtis, from Limelight Food Photography. She is a fabulous food photographer here in Utah. She was in the mood to take pictures and I was in the mood to cook/bake, so we teamed up for a fun photo shoot. It was loads of fun. I will be sharing some of her photos on our blog. She is darling! Check out her site here! Thanks Quinn!**

Black Bean Salsa

(Printable Recipe)

1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 yellow pepper, diced

1/2 red pepper, diced

3-4 Roma tomatoes, diced

1/2 red onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

1 jalapeno, minced

Fresh lime juice

Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a medium bowl mix the black beans, peppers, tomatoes, onion, garlic, cilantro, jalapeno, lime juice, salt and pepper. Taste. Adjust flavors if necessary.

2. Let chill so flavors can "come out."

3. Eat it up!

Mexican Tofu Scramble

I hate being sick. It is not fun, but I REALLY hate being sick when I am traveling. I am on a work trip and woke up with the flu this morning. The hotel staff bought me some medicine, I am extremely grateful for their help, but I really just want to go home. I need my own bed and my hubs. I have been trying to rest, but I am still not feeling better. I hope I can survive the rest of the week. Luckily, my co-workers stepped it up today and covered my duties. They are the best. I owe them big time.

I don't feel like food today, but hopefully you will enjoy this post:) Last week we made a Mexican Tofu Scramble and it was sooooo good! I like tofu, but have never tried to scramble it. I wasn't sure if I would like it and I was really worried if Joshua would like it. Well, it was a huge success! Two thumbs up all around the table:)

Tofu really takes on any flavor you want it to, so we went with Mexican. We sauteed onion, garlic, and red peppers and added in the crumbled tofu and diced green chiles. We seasoned everything with chili powder, cumin, and cilantro for an added kick.

We served up our scramble in a whole wheat tortilla with the works: diced tomatoes, avocado, fresh salsa, and cheese for Josh. I loved this meal! It was delicious and nutritious! Try scrambling tofu instead of eggs! I know we will be making this one again.





Mexican Tofu Scramble

(Printable Recipe)

1/2 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, diced
Extra firm tofu (we used 1/2 package)
Diced green chiles
Chili powder
Cumin
Cilantro, chopped
Salt and pepper
Whole wheat tortillas
Diced tomatoes
Diced avocado
Fresh salsa
Shredded cheese

1. Take the tofu and press it between two plates to drain out the liquid. Let it sit for about 15 minutes.
2. Saute the onion, garlic, and red pepper in a little olive oil, in a large skillet until tender.
3. Crumble the tofu into the large skillet and add the green chiles.
4. Add the chili powder, cumin, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Add a little and taste. If you want more flavor, add in more seasonings. We didn't measure, sorry!
5. Cook for about 5-7 minutes.
6. Serve scramble in a whole wheat tortilla.
7. Add tomatoes, avocado, salsa, and cheese.

Chicken and Vegetable Tostadas

Happy Friday! Today is my day off, yahoo! I am going to do some Spring cleaning. Don't worry it is snowing outside, but maybe if I clean the entire house Spring will come. My fingers are crossed:)

Are you looking for a quick, healthy dinner idea? We love making tostadas!! They are so easy and very tasty. We use whole wheat tortillas for the base. A quick note on tortillas...make sure you read the nutrition label and ingredients. Most whole wheat tortillas say they have no trans fat in the label, but in the ingredients you will see hydrogenated oils. That means there are trans fat, so be careful and choose wisely. We like Tumaro's Gourmet Tortillas or Whole Foods tortillas. Sorry to ramble, but this is a pet peeve of mine:)

We don't fry the tortilla. To keep it healthy, we put them under the broiler on high and they crisp right up. Josh likes chicken on his tostada, but I just use vegetarian refried beans. We also top them with taco sauce, fresh salsa, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, lime juice, cilantro, and Josh adds cheese.

You can make these in a matter of minutes! A great meal for weeknights or when you are in a hurry. Add whatever toppings you like!!

Chicken and Vegetable Tostadas

(Printable Recipe)

Whole wheat tortillas

Chicken Breast-Josh covers his in taco sauce and grills it on our indoor grill pan

Vegetarian refried beans

Taco sauce-we use La Victoria

Salsa

Shredded lettuce

Fresh lime juice

Cilantro

Avocado

Cheese

1. Turn on the broiler to high. Place tortillas in the oven on a pan. Cook them for a couple of minutes and then flip them over to heat the other side. Watch them, they crisp up quickly.

2. If you want to use chicken, smother a chicken breast in taco sauce and grill on a grill pan.

3. Cut chicken into cubes or strips.

4. Spread refried beans on the crisp tortilla.

5. Add all of the other toppings and chicken, if using.

6. Enjoy!

Recipe for Salmon Tacos

Our good friend Lincoln recently came up for a visit. He is a big supporter of our blog, so he knows that we are always in the kitchen. We decided to make him Salmon Tacos for dinner, since they are one of his favorites. We had to spoil our guest of honor!

We grilled up some salmon on our indoor grill pan. Thanks All-Clad! It was too cold to go outside:) Josh made a basic rub with cumin, chili powder, and black pepper.

We spiced up the tacos with fresh pico, lime crema, chopped cabbage, fresh cilantro, and lime. The perfect pairings for fish tacos! We also made our favorite cilantro lime rice and some black beans to go with.

It was one tasty meal! And most importantly, Lincoln approved! It was fun cooking for him. He is the best!

And a BIG thanks to our friend Celsa, for helping us design our new header! We love it!!

Salmon Tacos

Fresh Salmon

Cumin

Chili Powder

Black Pepper

Cabbage, chopped

Fresh corn tortillas

For the Pico:

Tomatoes, diced

Garlic, minced

Onion, diced

Jalapeno, minced

Fresh cilanto, chopped

Fresh lime juice

Salt

Pepper

For the Lime Crema:

Sour cream (I used fat free)

Garlic, minced

A bit of diced onion

Fresh cilantro, chopped

Fresh lime juice

Salt

Pepper

1. Mix cumin, chili powder, and black pepper together. Josh didn't measure so just guess:) Rub this on the salmon filets. Grill salmon for a few minutes. Make sure the fish is tender and moist. Don't overdo it.

2. Prepare the fixings. Heat up the corn tortillas. Place them in tin foil and heat them in the oven or on a skillet on the stove. Chop the cabbage.

3. Make the Pico. Chop up all of the ingredients in a small bowl and mix. Taste. We don't measure, we just do it to our taste!

4. Make the Lime Crema. You can add mayo to the sour cream, do half and half...but I hate mayo, so I just used sour cream. Again, I didn't measure, just add ingredients to your taste.

5. When the salmon has cooled, pull it apart so it is in chunks. Place the salmon on the hot tortillas. Load on the toppings: cabbage, pico, lime crema, fresh cilantro, and lime juice.

6. Serve with black beans and cilantro lime rice.

Recipe for Huevos Rancheros

I usually don't make New Years resolutions, but I do like to set goals for myself...in January or any other month. Well, this year we set some goals as a couple and one of them was to eat more protein.

Most people get plenty of protein, but I don't eat meat, so I struggle with this sometimes. And since we cook and eat together, most of our meals are meatless. Poor Joshua. I don't care if he eats meat, it doesn't bug me, we just usually go the veggie route. I am glad he likes veggies:)

So I am trying to sneak more protein into our diets. We recently made huevos rancheros for dinner. It is traditionally served at breakfast, but I don't think I could stomach this in the morning. It is more of a lunch/dinner meal for me.

There are tons of variations of this meal, we really didn't follow a certain recipe, we just used our favorite flavors. We used flour tortillas and topped them with the goods. Josh fried up two eggs for his, but I used scrambled egg whites. We both used black beans, tomatoes, cheese, cilantro, avocado, and fresh lime juice. I really liked this meal.

It was easy, filling, and loaded with protein!!





Huevos Rancheros

Flour tortillas
Eggs (or scrambled egg whites)
1 can of black beans (rinsed and drained, low sodium)
1/2 small onion, diced
Cumin, to taste
Diced tomatoes
Shredded cheese (we used Colby and Pepperjack, I go light on the cheese, Josh loads it)
Avocado, diced
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Fresh lime juice

Heat up your tortillas. In a small sauce pan, warm up your black beans with the onion and cumin. Fry up your eggs or scramble your egg whites. Place the eggs on the flour tortilla. Top with the beans. Next, add all of your toppings-tomatoes, cheese, avocados, cilantro, and lime juice.

Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

I am never a fan of Mondays. The weekends always go too fast!

Last night we made enchiladas for dinner. We did black bean/cheese enchiladas and Josh added some of his cilantro lime chicken to his side. I made sure they were divided in the pan, no chicken for me please!! It was easy to tell which ones were Josh's, he likes a ton of cheese and I don't like very much:)

We rolled up the enchiladas in no time and then baked them until the cheese and sauce was nice and bubbly. I also made some guacamole for an appetizer. I don't know why we haven't been making these more often. They were awesome!!









Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas
(Chicken too if you want to add it!)

10 corn tortillas
1 big can of red enchilada sauce
1 15 ounce can of black beans, low sodium, rinsed and drained
1 small can of diced green chilies
1 small onion
Chopped fresh cilantro
Salt
Pepper
Shredded marbled cheddar and pepper jack cheese (or whatever kind you like) Use whatever amount you want. We didn't measure!
Cilantro Lime Chicken-optional. Josh used his leftovers!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl mix the black beans, green chilies, onion, cilantro, salt, and pepper together.

In a small casserole dish, spread some of the enchilada sauce on the bottom. Dip the corn tortillas in the sauce as you go to keep them moist. This will prevent them from breaking. Fill the tortillas with the bean mixture, sprinkle some cheese on top, and add chicken if you are using it.
Roll up ten tortillas with filling.

Pour the remaining sauce over all of the tortillas. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. We added extra green chilies and cilantro on top. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling.