Slow Cooker Bean and Beef stew

We have lots of dried beans in our pantry which we rarely cook.The other day while I was cleaning the pantry my hubby suggested we use these beans. I was wondering if I had to cook one bean dish a day to consume so many different types of beans. Hubby said why don't we make some bean soup (which he is good at making but doesn't have the time to) so I decided to make a bean and beef soup with some veggies.
Our internet was down that day so I couldn't go online to check any recipes so I ended up making my own version. You will find many different ones online. To be honest anything that you cook in a slow cooker tastes good so I was not worried. I had a can of Hunt's tomatoes which was supposed to go bad in two months and I had no clue why I had purchased it as we don't eat canned food. I thought I should add it in here and use it up.

Ingredients:

2 cups Bean mix (you can use the store bought mix but I just mixed different beans like Garbanzo, Kidney, lima, black eyed peans, big white beans, red lentils, whole brown lentils, whole yellow peas etc.) Soaked in water for atleast 6 hours
4 carrots peeled and cut into big pieces
1 potato peeled and cut (optional I didn't add it)
1 can Hunts Tomatoes or 2 big tomatoes chopped into small pieces
6-8 cloves of garlic chopped
lamb/Beef cut into small pieces fat cut out and washed (use cuts for stewing)
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
2 bay leaves
6 peppercorns
1 tsp Coriander powder
1 tsp Cumin powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
Salt

Soak the beans/lentils for atleast 6 hours in water. Discard the water and wash them once before use.
In a slow cooker add  the garlic, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, meat, beans, all the dried herbs, peppercorns, bay leaves and the spice powders. Add around 1-2 cups of water and some salt. Close the slow cooker and set on 10 hours slow cooking (I did 6 hours slow and 4 hours high).
You will smell the flavors blend and the whole house will be filled with the flavors of the hearty bean soup.
Once the soup is ready adjust salt mix well and enjoy.
The soup is very filling so I didn't serve it with any bread.

Note:
You can skip the meat and only add root veggies like carrots, potatoes, butternut squash, sweet potatoes etc.
Some people add 2-3 tbspn of peanut butter for flavor - it's the African bean soup recipe.
If you don't have a slow cooker you can make it it a high pressure cooker or just in a pot on the stove top. Just make sure you soak the beans for longer preferably overnight.
I did freeze some soup for later use and it was handy when we didn't have time to cook and were starving.

**Apologies for the messy bowl I just poured the soup in the bowl and clicked the pic will do a better job the next time.

Grilled Cajun Fish

We have been walking and trying to eat healthy. The walking part is not a challenge, eating healthy is! I am not a diet food fan and I need my meals to be tasty. I am fond of spicy food so I thought a combination of spices and fish will be a tasty and healthy idea. I looked through my freezer and found a packet of Mahi Mahi fillets. Mahi Mahi is a white fish from the pampano dolphin fish family. It is not dolphin and not related to the dolphin family according to wikipedia. I guess it is a Hawaiian fish and it is pretty expensive.
So I defrosted the fish while I attended to other chores and decided to grill the fish and serve it with steamed veggies. I had a bunch of Chinese broccoli at hand which my hubby is in love with so I decided to steam it.

I had a big bottle of Tones Cajun Seasoning which interestingly my aunt back in India had introduced me to. She used it as a marination for frying pomfret (a sea fish found in India). My MIL, mom  and sister love it too so I end up taking bottles back to India when I visit. Cajun is the name for Louisiana style cooking which is spicy and has some French influences as well. Cajun seasoning is a blend of herbs, garlic, hot peppers (cayenne, paprika), black pepper and salt.

Ingredients:

4 Mahi-Mahi fillets or any firm white fish
1-2 tsbpn Cajun Seasoning or more if you want it spicier
PAM's olive oil spray or few drops of olive oil
1 lime (juice)

Defrost fish fillets and wash and dry them with a kitchen towel.
Now in a bowl put the fillets and coat them with the Cajun seasoning. Make sure all the fillets are coated well. Keep aside for 15 mins and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Now drizzle some olive oil or spray it on the fillets and on a baking pan lined with foil. Place the fish on the foil and place the pan in the oven for 20-22 mins or until the fish is cooked. Broil for a min or two for a crispy fillet.
Squeeze some lime juice and enjoy.

Note:
If you can't find the Cajun seasoning just marinate the fillets with garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, thyme, oregano, black pepper, red pepper flakes and salt.
The seasoning already has salt so I didn't add an more but taste your seasoning before using it and add salt according to your taste.
You can use the Cajun seasoning with turmeric powder and some red chili powder and marinate any fish then coat it with semolina or rice flour and fry it. This is the Indian way of frying fish.

Noodle Soup

When you are on a full blown cleaning spree and have no time to cook something elaborate, this is  the end result, a yummy soup. I am not sure how healthy the noodle part is but the clear soup is surely very healthy. I just added the noodle so it would be a filling bowl of soup and suffice both of us.
I had lots of chicken broth from boiling chicken, to make chicken salad for pita pocket sandwiches for our lunch. I always save the broth and make soups or use it for fried rice, it gives the rice great flavor.

Here goes the recipe

2 cups chicken broth (boil chicken till it is cooked removed chicken and use broth - I used plain skinless chicken breasts)
1/2 cup shredded boiled chicken
Rice noodles or any noodles or pasta
2-3 tbspn green/spring onion
1/4 tsp red chili paste/sauce (I used Sriracha)
Salt & pepper

Heat the broth if it is cold add 1 cup water to it and boil add the rice noodles or pasta, shredded chicken, some green onion, chili paste, salt & pepper.
Let it boil adjust seasoning. Once the rice noodles are cooked put them in a bowl and garnish wth more green onions.
Enjoy a cup of this soup on a rainy day!

Note:
My Chinese friend Z once told me when you boil chicken or any meat to make the broth they first place the chicken in a pot add cold water and once it boils they throw away that water and refill the pot and let it boil again. This ensures all the fat and toxins from the meat are washed away.
Guess this is one of the tricks the Chinese use to remain skinny ;)  I have started doing the same!

Quinoa Pulao

I am literally starving while typing this post. Though I have a plate of this delicious and healthy quinoa pulao ready but its piping hot so I have to wait for it to cool down a bit. I bought few packets of quinoa from Trader Joe's. The one that I used in this pulao is a mix of white and red quinoa.

Quinoa is a grain packed with proteins and is native to south America. It's a good substitute to rice.
Usually I make a salad out of it but today I thought I should give it a desi tadka and make an Indian version of it.

So I went ahead and made some quinoa pulao packed with Indian spices..here goes the recipe..

2 cups Quinoa (Soaked in warm water for 20 mins and drained)
1 onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped fine
1/2 cup peas
whole garam masala (1 bay leaf, 4 peppercorns, 1 small piece cinnamon and 1/4 tsp whole cumin)
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Coriander powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
salt to taste
1tsp oil


Heat oil in a kadai/wok once hot add the whole garam masala when they sizzle then add the onion and garlic and fry till brown. Now add the tomatoes and all the dry powders and mix well till the tomatoes are soft. Now add the peas and mix well and and the drained quinoa. Mix well so all the masalas coat the grains. Add salt and 3 cups hot water cover and cook for around 20 mins or till quinoa is cooked.
Fluff with fork and garnish with cilantro/coriander leaves.

Note:
You can add other veggies like corn, carrots, potatoes etc.