Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Meal Plan- March 1st- March 5th: Yam and Black Bean Soup with Orange

The past few days have been quite a whirlwind! Purim is only a couple of days away and Ive been practicing hard to get my reading perfect. That coupled doctor's appointments and such and I'm already wiped out. This week's recipe is the Yam and Black Bean Soup with Orange and Cilantro from Appetite for Reduction. (Yup, I'm continuing to cook through it until the end of March; after Pesach, I'll be cooking with something else.

Although I did my regular shopping on Sunday (it was a madhouse!), I didn't get around to making this soup until Monday night. I had about a serving of leftover split pea soup from Shabbat that I didnt want to go to waste so I had that instead.

My grocery bill this week was only 80 shekels, which is pretty good considering it included two jars of raspberry jelly (each thirteen, down from the usual twenty) and a bag of sugar (for the hamentashen that I'll make tomorrow). I also got peppers, cucumbers, some tomatoes for the soup, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes for the soup, orange juice (which I'll use for the hamentashen as well) and carrots.

The soup was pretty easy to make and pretty hands off, considering I made it in the Instant Pot. My, I love that thing! I started by sauteing some red onion eventually adding some sriracha and garlic. To that I added some freshly chopped tomatoes. I added most everything else and then set the pressure cooker to about seven minutes at pressure. The sweet potatoes were perfectly cooked. I opted to puree the soup with an immersion blender, but I was sure to leave a bit of texture in there. Added the orange juice and beans and voila! (I left out the cilantro.) The soup was pretty good. (I wonder if the flavors will have developed just chilling in the fridge.) The orange gives it a bit of a zing and I like the addition of the black beans. I thought this was a rather different soup and I enjoyed it. A salad would definitely be appropriate with it.  As per usual, I omitted the oil in the recipe.

Yam and Black Bean Soup with Orange
adapted from Appetite for Reduction

1 red onion, sliced thinly
a squirt of sriracha
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 pounds yams or sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
3 cups water
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained

Preheat your IP to the saute setting. When it's hot, add the onion and saute until it's softened and translucent, about five minutes. Add the sriracha and garlic and continue to saute for another minute or two. Add the tomatoes, cumin and salt and stir, This should deglaze the pan and add a quite a bit of liquid. Cook this mixture down for about five minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and the water. Cover the pot and set the cooker to 7 minutes pressure. I did a quick pressure release. Using an immersion blender, process the soup until almost smooth, with just a few chunks left. Stir in the orange juice and black beans and let sit until warmed through. Taste for seasoning and serve.

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