spicy roasted tomato & black bean soup

The pressure is on! Tomorrow is the first day of the Vancouver One of a Kind Show & Sale and there is all kinds of prep work that needs to be done. Walls are painted, shelves are installed, cards & birthday calendars are packaged up but there's also carpet and under pad to be laid, furniture to be set up and then just the general nervousness that comes with a big event. Let's just say that it's a soup kind of week.

Earlier , when my thoughts were still about what to eat for dinner than the panicky thoughts that are filling my brain at the moment, I roasted up some tomatoes, garlic, herbs and jalapeno peppers. At that point, I wasn't sure what I was going to make. A pasta dish maybe? But it had been a while since I had made soup, and when that thought entered my head, I just couldn't shake it. Into a stock pot these fragrant tomatoes and peppers went, along with some onions and celery for balance, some homemade stock and a can of black beans. A squeeze of lime near the end also didn't do this recipe any harm either. For the recipe, please head on over to Poppytalk.

So wish me well at the sale if you are from out of town, but if you are in Vancouver tomorrow until Sunday, please stop by our booth (we'll be at booth G18: The Hob Snobs Craft Collective). I'll be the nervous red-head wishing she had a bit of spicy soup to help calm her nerves.

a winning trifecta: tortilla pie

This past week was busy. Not only did I have my own design work and meetings to attend to, but I had to play corporate graphic designer at my old job, filling in for a old collegue on vacation. There wasn't a lot of cooking or baking to be had. Instead, we ate leftovers, I tried and failed at a pasta/beet experiment, and we went out to the Foundation for natchos. You see, the Foundation has the best natchos ever. Smothered in cheese, corn and black beans and served with tubs of guacamole, sour cream and salsa, it's an $8 spread that almost has me convinced that gobs of cheese can't be that bad for you. With an icy cold beer, it's the perfect thank-god-tomorrow-is-Friday kind of meal.


Inspired by the Foundation's natchos, I wanted to recreate that delicious corn and bean awesomeness but without the artery clogging heavy cheese factor, so I decided to make a mexican pie of sorts. You can think of it as a Mexican lasagna using corn, beans and rice...the staples (or delicious trifecta) of latin cuisine. Cornelius and I both loved it...it was creamy without being heavy and it had a great spicy kick. It was simple to put together and perfect for an easy weeknight meal.

tortilla pie
1 T olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper
1 T chili powder
1/8 t ground cloves
1/2 t cinnamon
1 t chipotle powder
1 t dried red chilies
1 can of black beans, drained & rinsed
1 small can of corn, drained
2 c fresh salsa
1 c cooked rice
12 corn tortillas
1 c cheddar cheese, shredded

1. In a large pan, heat olive oil and add in onion. When onion wilts, add in red pepper and garlic and saute until soft. Stir in spices, black beans, corn and salsa and heat through.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil a 9x13 casserole dish and overlap 6 of the corn tortillas at the bottom of the dish. Spoon half of the bean mixture overtop and then cover with the cooked rice. Top rice layer with half of the cheese, layering the remaining 6 tortillas overtop. Add the remaining bean mixture and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake until casserole is heated through and cheese is bubbling, about 20 minutes or so.

hot damn: black bean pumpkin soup

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you're probably aware that I am a huge soup lover and my dear husband is not. But I've recently discovered a way for my picky husband to finish a bowl (or sometimes even two). All I need to do is serve the soup with garlic bread or cheese bread and he'll actually put down the spoon and start dunking the bread into his soup until the bowl is wiped clean. I know, amazing.

When I saw this recipe from the always excellent and totally drool-worthy blog, Smitten Kitten, I knew that like it or not, soup = dinner. Last weekend, I had made Cornelius' favorite cookies and had a lot of leftover pumpkin puree on my hands. This soup seemed an easy way to use it up. I made a few changes to the recipe, leaving out the tomatoes, sherry and ham but found the results to be stellar. The soup was hearty, spicy and full of texture and a snap to make. Of course, I made a batch of cheese covered garlic bread to go along side and I heard no complaints at all.

And now for something completely different...did you know that the Food Network Canada has another new blog? Joining Food for Thought is Bazaar, a collection of food and kitchen related finds. This afternoon why not check out my new post in Bazaar on the joys of hotel bars and leave a comment!

black bean pumpkin soup
1 T olive oil
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 large onion, chopped
6 fat garlic cloves, minced
2 T cumin
1 t chipotle powder
salt & pepper
4 c beef broth
1 1/2 c pumpkin puree
1 T cider vinegar

In a large pot, saute the onion and garlic in oil until soft. Add the cumin and chipotle and the can of beans and mash with a potato masher. Dump in the pumpkin puree and the broth and bring to a simmering boil. Just before serving, add in the cider vinegar and season with salt and pepper.

salad days

One of the qualities that my husband admires in me is my resourcefulness. He thinks I have the ability to turn what seems like nothing into something wonderful. I hate being wasteful and I'm thrifty by nature, so being resourceful just seems to come naturally. It's kind of like creative work in that respect. If I'm working on a design project where I have free reign to do what I want and no restrictions to hold me back, it can make the whole process seem way too easy. But throw in a couple of contraints and left turns and then I've got a real creative struggle. Many times, that's where some of my best work comes from. Looking for ideas in the kitchen can be the same. If your fridge is full and your cupboards are stacked, well, looking for inspiration is easy! But when you knock choice out of the equation, that's when your skills in making something out of nothing can really shine.


This past week, I made a couple salads just by throwing stuff into a bowl and calling in dinner. Salad #1 turned out pretty good. I shredded up some leftover cabbage, diced up some leftover jicama, carefully diced a lonely jalapeno and a sweet red pepper, and tossed everything with fresh orange slices, dried cherries, toasted walnuts and mustard/lime dressing. Not bad. It filled our bellies, tasted fresh and bright and I'll bet it would have tasted a hundred times better with some crumbled feta cheese. Next time.


Salad #2, however, was a wild success. A weird jumble of pasta, beans, lettuce and a super simple yet hella good vinegrette. Sure, this salad ain't fancy but it's perfect for those days cooking doesn't seem like an option and all you want to do is watch America's Next Top Model with a big bowl of something awesome on your lap. And by awesome, I mean this salad. If you do make this salad, throw in some diced avocados. That's what I'm gonna do next time. Or just throw in what you've got on hand and make it better.

southwest bean & pasta salad
250 g whole wheat rotini, cooked, drained and cooled
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 c frozen corn, thawed
1/2 c salsa
a few romaine leaves, torn into bite-sized bits
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/4 of a red onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 t cumin
1/4 c cheddar cheese, shredded

Dressing:
juice from 1 lime
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 t chili powder
1 T honey
salt & pepper to taste

Toss everything into a bowl and then pour dressing over top and mix until combined. Top with shredded cheese. Makes 2 super large servings.

happy bloggerversary to me

Little did I know that my one-year food blog anniversary had slipped me by. No public ceremonies, no cake. My very first post was written on February 20, 2005 and even though I had good intentions to write often about my own culinary adventures, life and wedding plans seemed to take over. Things didn't really kick in until August when I had returned from a 1 month honeymoon road trip. Work was slow and I needed to keep the creative juices flowing so I privately created one of those 101 things to do in 1001 days lists. Lucky for me, sandwiched between "buy a home" (not completed & probably will never happen according to this article which lists Vancouver's average housing prices way out of league for teachers, police officers and nurses -- not to mention poor arty types like freelance designers!) and "get bangs again" (done!) was this blog entry which read "post at least 1 new recipe a week on food blog". Done! So yay me!

I made this for dinner tonight and even though I just played about making this recipe up as I went along, it turned out fantastic, impressing both myself and Cornelius! It looks like a lot of steps, but it didn't seem labourious at all...especially since I made the black bean salad component for my lunch and used the leftovers for this dish. Make sure to read through the recipe first before starting so you don't miss anything!

Mexican Fish & Bean Salad
For the bean salad:
1 can of black beans, drained
1/2 c of corn
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/4 c red onion, diced
3 T fresh salsa
juice of half a lime
1 t cumin
salt & pepper
1/4 t chipotle powder

Mix the above ingredients and then start preparing the following:

Panko-crusted fish:
1/2 c panko crumbs
salt & pepper
1 t cumin
1 large fillet of white fish cut into bite-sized peices (I used cod)
2 T vegetable oil

Mix the spices and panko crumbs together and dredge fish in this mixture until coated on all sides. Heat oil in a large skillet and when hot, add the coated fish. Turn fish over once and then remove from pan when done, about 5-8 minutes.

Salad dressing:
2 T mayo
juice of 1 lime
1 t honey
1 t cumin
1/2 t chipotle powder

Mix the dressing ingredients together until you have a nice smooth consistency. Taste to make sure the dressing is to your liking!

salad greens
1 avocado, diced

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER:
Line 2 bowls with salad greens and top with the bean salad mixture. Drizzle with the salad dressing and top with the panko-crusted fish. Drizzle with a bit more dressing and throw on some diced avocado for extra creaminess.