I love a carefully crafted cocktail, made with seasonal ingredients and internally sourced liquors, as much as the next person. But, sometimes it's hot, you're busy and there just isn't time. I was very happy to discover that Tito's and La Croix Cerise Limon with a squeeze of lime is refreshment perfected. La Croix makes a variety of flavors, but this one from their 'curate' line (ugh, curate) is flavorful and delicious. They have a lot of different ideas for cocktails on the La Croix web site. Cheers!
Beans, Beans the Magical Fruit
March in West Texas is frought with rapid changes in the weather--beautiful and sunny one day, cold and snowy the next. Sometimes, it's a challenge to know what to cook. This soup balances the seasons perfectly: light, but filling; rich and luxurious; with numerous options of toppings and garnishes.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, finely chopped
- Vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 2 large carrots, finely diced
- 3 stalk celery, halved lengthwise and finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 (15-ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 28-ounce can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
- Salt
- Pepper
- Garnishes of your choosing...
DIRECTIONS
Heat a large Dutch oven on medium-low heat, add vegetable oil. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes. Stir In carrot and celery, continuing to cook for five minutes. Add garlic, then cook for five more minutes. Stir in chiles, cumin, oregano, chili powder, and bay leaves; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in beans, broth, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Partially cover, reduce heat, and simmer an hour, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat; discard bay leaves. Place 3 cups of soup mixture in a blender or large mixing bowl and use am immersion blender to purée. Add pureed soup back to pot, stirring to combine. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, taste and adjust seasoning. Serve with wedges of lime, sour cream, cotija cheese, toasted pumpkin seeds, diced avocado, salsa, hot sauce and strips of fried tortilla.
Greens
For New Years, my grandparents usually cooked up black eyed peas, some winter greens and a little fat back. I won't go into the details of fat back, but suffice it to say it smelled to high heaven and isn't eaten at herr haus. Greens, however, that is another story. And what goes great with greens? Andouille sausage.
And guess what? Tofurky has come out with a vegan andouille as part of their new artisan line! And I have to say, it's a little spicy and pretty delicious with a mess of Swiss chard and some brown rice to soak up all of the pot liquor.
Recipe: Garlicky Swiss Chard
- Olive oil
- 1 onion, in a very small dice
- 2 bunches of rainbow Swiss chard, butchered according to the directions below
- 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp. crushed red pepper
- 3 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
- Liquid smoke
- Salt and pepper to taste
To prepare the chard, cut the leafy part of the greens away from the thick stem. Also, cut out any of the thick veins that may be at the lower end of the leaves if they are the really large ones. Now, I usually take the stems and make sure all of the greens are trimmed off, then I trim the top and the bottom and make long slices (two or three, depending on the size of the stems) in the thicker part of the stem. Now, I gather them all up and slice them as fine as I possibly can. The stems take longer to cook than the greens, but it doesn't mean they aren't edible and delicious...
You can do all of this while the onion is cooking (about 10 minutes) on medium heat in the olive oil in a nice, large lidded pot. Now add the Swiss chard stems and continue to cook for about five more minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another two minutes. Your kitchen should be smelling fantastic right about now.
At this point, add the crushed red pepper, rice wine vinegar, a dash of liquid smoke then salt and pepper to taste, stirring and cooking everything for another two to three minutes. Add the greens and stir to combine everything, then cover the pot and let them cook for three to five minutes. The greens should be good and wilted, so just taste and adjust the seasoning, then your ready to eat.
Stir in some delicious sausages you cooked in another skillet and serve with a little bit of rice. It's all so nice!