Bean and Tortilla soup with Memories

Some of my most vivid childhood memories are usually triggered by smells. It doesn't make me special or unique in fact, scent is the sense most strongly tied to memory. It is also quite normal or common for these smells to trigger emotions in us. Whether the emotions are of happy or not so happy memories to just memories of experiencing something for the first time. The other day while I was boiling pinto beans, something that I do often, I suddenly had one of the most vivid childhood memories. I was immediately transported back to my Mother's kitchen in Mexico in the mid 80s and sitting around the table with my sisters waiting for our lunch. My Mother's sopa de frijoles con tortillas ( bean and tortilla soup) , was a lunch she often made for us, and my sisters and I all loved this soup. I could not only remember the taste of the sopa but the way it looked in our white bowls with the slices of tortillas floating around in the soup. We were all sitting around that ugly green Formica table (that was so popular back then) , I could even see the way the sun light would shine in from the patio into the open kitchen. Wow, I haven't had such a strong memory like that in a while. It brought back such beautiful memories of my childhood that the emotions it evoked in me stayed with me for a few days.

Coming back to the present, I craved my Mother's sopa so much that I right away changed my dinner plans so I could include the sopa that night. The only problem was that I never saw how she made it so I didn't have a recipe. Immediately I logged into Facebook and sent a message to my sisters to please give me the recipe or contact Mom for me. Unfortunately being that we are on opposite sides of the world, the recipe didn't come until quite late that night and after my dinner time. So I ended up just experimenting myself. First is the recipe for the way I made it following that I will share my Mother's actual recipe.

( 1 large serving, but can be adjusted to larger portions)
Your ingredients:

Boiled/cooked Pinto Beans
2-3 Corn Tortillas ( if you can't find real corn tortillas try my substitute recipe)
ground cumin , a pinch
garlic powder, a pinch
salt and black pepper to taste

1. Whether you are using whole home cooked or whole canned pinto beans, reserve the liquid for the soup base.
2. In a large pot add about 1 tsp. of corn or sunflower oil and add the cumin and garlic, fry for about 1-2 minutes. Next ladle in 2 cup of the boiled beans mixed with liquid. If you are using the canned beans pour in the entire can contents. Add enough liquid from the boiled/cooked beans to cover the beans. If using canned beans you may need to add some water to get the soup consistency.
3. Cook for 10 minutes ( or as long as you want), taste for salt and add a pinch of black pepper. When you are ready to serve, warm up the corn tortillas then cut into triangles or just tear into pieces. Ladle the soup into bowls and add as much tortilla pieces as you like, then mix into the soup.

The soup was delicious! Even though it was very good it still didn't taste just like my Mother's sopa but it did give me some comfort and satisfied the craving. Now for my Mother's recipe, 1. Boil/cook the beans and right before serving tear up the warm tortillas. Ladle the beans into the bowls and add the torn up corn tortillas. Serve! That's it, no other spices just the beans and tortillas. I couldn't believe that was all the went into something that tasted so magnificent.
I hope you enjoy this recipe and perhaps if you make it for your children they will enjoy it as much as my sisters and I did.

Now tell me what food triggers the most vivid or fond memory for you ??

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Spicy lentils with cornbread

When people hear lentils the general reaction is, eeww lentils. But they don't have to be, all they need are some simple spices and you can turn lentils into a healthy, little spicy , delicious and nutritious meal. Lentils are very good for you, they are one of the highest sources of protein, so they are very important for vegetarians and people that can't afford to eat meat, that's why lentils are know as the poor man's meat. Lentils are a good source of dietary fiber, help lower your cholesterol, help to stable blood sugar, good for your heart, and high in iron, so eat your lentils!

This recipes is a morph of cornbread and beans and Indian lentil recipes. It super simple, and it just came together one day with leftover cornbread and a plain lentil soup.

Your ingredients:
2 cups (390 grams) green lentils
1 carrot, sliced
3 - 4 garlic cloves , minced
1 bay leaf
1 beef bouillon cube
6 whole cloves
6 peppercorns
1 teaspoon(5ml) of paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 or 2 dried/fresh hot chilies
3 cups (675 ml) water
1 Tablespoon(15 ml) oil

1. In a large pot warm the oil under medium heat, then add the sliced carrot and minced garlic, fry for about 5 minutes just until the garlic has cooked. Then add the bay leaf , peppercorns, whole cloves and chilies ( leave out for a non spicy version), you'll fry these for about 2 minutes, this brings out or release the flavors and scents of the spices. You'll smell the spiciness from the chili and peppercorns, and the intense scent of the cloves.

2. Have your water ready, next add the paprika, salt, bouillon and lentils. Stir to distribute all the spices and lentils. Now you can add your water to the pot, ( note for every cup of lentils you add one and half cups of water.)

3. Bring the lentils to boil over medium heat, then lower the heat and continue cooking until the lentils are soft. It depends on your taste if you want the lentils to have more of a soupy texture than you'll need to add more water. Check on them often to make sure they don't get to dry.

This recipe makes a hearty meal by serving the lentils with some smoked meat, smoked ham is what you see here, and corn bread. Or vegetarians can skip the meat and just enjoy with the cornbread.

*see cornbread recipe below*

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Bean Burritos ~ Simple Fast and easy

Burrito means a small donkey in Spanish. They are Tex-Mex food and found in the border states of Mexico and all over the US. I'm not quite sure why they are called this, if you look it up on Wikipedia it says that it's because they resemble either a donkey's ear or the rolls of blankets that the donkeys carry. I don't know, because I didn't have a "burrito" until I went to the states. The variety and ingredients that you can put into a burrito are endless. Not to mention the different ways to cook or fry it, to add sauce outside or inside, what kind of sauce, well it goes on and on. This recipe is both simple and quick for a lunch or a dinner, if you add rice and or meat you can make a big meal out of it. This recipe is so simple that I sometimes feel like I'm cheating, but what can I say when my husband loves these bean burritos with just beans, tortillas, some salsa and cheese, ( so easy to please:).

Your ingredients:

cooked refried beans (see recipe)

flour tortillas

spicy fresh salsa (I'm using pico de gallo aka mexican salsa)

grated cheese ( any Mexican cheeses or cheddar,edam, or crumbled Feta - what I'm using)

Jalapenos or any hot pepper sliced (optional)

1. Warm up your tortillas either in the microwave or on a hot griddle/skillet, for a 1 or 2 only on each side. tip: you don't want to over heat the tortilla or it will become hard and crack. 2.Place your tortilla on a plate, spread some beans on it ( you choose how fat you want your burrito) 3. Add your fresh salsa,peppers and top with cheese. 4. roll it up like the photo above. If you want you can fold both top and bottom ends to make it less messy for eating.Now you can add rice to your plate, if you want, or I am serving mine with spicy pickled carrots and peppers (recipe coming soon).

Serve with a nice cold beer or your drink of choice and ENJOY! now wasn't that fast and easy?

(*I will be adding other variety of burritos soon. *)

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Refried Beans ~ a low fat healthy version

Frijoles refritos(refried beans), are beans that are fried with oil/fat, mashed and then refried again. That's the meaning of refrito- twice fried. Refried beans in Mexico are traditionally cooked or fried in lard. I know it's sounds gross and fatty, but the lard does adds flavor. That said I hate lard and I don't cook with it. This is how I have cooked my "refried" beans for years. This recipe is simple and hassle free, and most importantly it's a lighter low fat, and completely vegan/vegetarian version. Why? because you wont use any oil or fat what so ever.

You need some cooked beans, the amount depends on how much you want. You can see an older post on how to cook dry beans.

You need to strain your beans but make sure you reserve some of the liquid, or you'll need a little water. In a large pan over medium low heat add 2Tbs of the bean broth or plain water , then add your beans. Now you need a potato masher, and slowly starts mashing your beans, if they are too dry add a little more liquid. Don't mash completely, you want to leave some whole or unbroken, so that they don't get to runny. (in case that you over mash, you'll need to cook longer to burn off some of the liquid.)

Continue to cook for a couple minutes and stir to prevent from burning. You can taste them now to see if they need more salt or add any other spices that you want. Some people take a chopped onion and fry along with the beans. I like to keep it simple for these type of beans.

There you have it, fast, easy, healthy, delicious and nutritious!!

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Mexican Beans

Frijoles,Beans are an essential part of Mexican food, I remember when I was growing up my Mom always had a pot on the stove or ready made in the refrigerator for our weekly meals. If you want to make good Mexican food you should learn how to make simple beans to work with that you can later add other ingredients or spices to. Although you could just buy a can of beans nothing compares to the fresh-no preservative- no tin can taste of home made beans, (buying dry beans is also cheaper). Pinto beans are the most common bean used, although some regions use black beans, and we will be using Pinto beans here.

The very first thing you need to do is clean your beans, of course running them under water, but you also need to pick out the pieces of rocks or really dirty ones, I also discard the split halves. This is quite normal.

There are 3 ways you can cook your beans, 1. you could soak the beans in water overnight to soften them and shorten the cooking time.2. You could use a pressure cooker, this shortens the cooking time considerably. I'm not a fan of pressure cookers, it could be from a "childhood scar". One day my Mom was using her pressure cooker, goes into the kitchen to check on the beans. Then we heard a load banging noise, and my Mother screaming. We ran to the kitchen and saw a bean explosion. Beans were everywhere. On the walls, the ceiling and my poor Mother. It's kinda funny now, but we were just glad my Mom was Ok. You don't want to know how hard it is to remove bean stains from the walls. So no pressure cooker for me. 3. You can put them in a big pot and boil, nice and safe; for everyone.

To make enough for 1 meal for 2 adults you'll need 1 1/2 cups or about 275 grams of beans. After you clean the beans put in a large pot to start with enough water to cover them above by 2 inches/5 cm. Bring them to a boil then reduce heat and continue to cook until they are tender, have doubled in size and their skin starts to split. You need to check on them often, stir and keep adding water to make sure they don't dry out and burn. Cooking time can take up to 2 hours depending on weight. After they have become tender you can now add 1 teaspoon or more of salt. That's all, now you can use them in many Mexican recipes.

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