Instant pot Spicy Black Bean Soup

Black beans are rich in fiber and good for you. I am sure you know all the good stuff about including beans regularly in your diet. This black bean soup is filling and keeps you satisfied.

We had this for dinner with some corn bread, sliced avocado.

Can also be paired with a salad and sour cream on the soup.

Let us get to the recipe.

1 medium onion sliced

3 cloves of garlic crushed

1 cup celery diced

1 cup bell pepper diced

1/2 cup carrots diced

1 roma tomato diced

2 cans of black beans ( without salt)

2 tbsp cumin powder

2 tsp red chili powder or to taste

2 tsp salt or to taste

water 1 cup

lots of cilantro

Juice from 1 small lime

2 tbsp oil

Method

turn the instant pot to sauté mode. Add the oil and once it’s hot sauté the onions garlic and tomatoes till the onion is soft and translucent.

add the celery carrots diced bell peppers and give them a toss.

add the cumin powder red chili powder salt and give them a toss.

add the two cans of washed and drained black beans to the instant pot and give them a toss with the veggies and onion mixture.

cancel sauté. Cover the instant pot. Sealing, with pressure cook for 3 minutes

wait for natural pressure release.

immerse your stick / immersion blender into the instant pot and give it a couple of pulses to get the soup into a creamy consistency with the black beans.

alternatively you can take a couple of ladles of the soup and use the immersion blender separately and then pour that mixture into the instant pot

check for salt and other spices and adjust as per your taste.

add lots of cilantro and squeeze the lime juice.

Enjoy your soup warm.

This soup freezes well and would be a great option to take for lunch if there are any leftovers. This recipe was adopted from cookie and Kate. The blending of the black beans gives a very creamy consistency to the soup Black beans are rich in fiber and good for you. I am sure you know all the good stuff about including beans regularly in your diet. This black bean soup is filling and keeps you satisfied.

We had this for dinner with some corn bread, sliced avocado.

Can also be paired with a salad and sour cream on the soup.

Easy Spanish Rice with Picante Sauce

Let me apologize that this post does not have step by step pictures, as I was in a hurry to make it.

A very easy to put together Spanish rice with Pace Picante Sauce. This  brand that is readily available in all the grocery stores in USA. Normally Spanish rice uses long grain variety, but I had only Basmati rice and that is what I used.
One can use any salsa to make this.
Spanish rice is our tomato rice's sister, I guess!
I cooked the rice on a stove top. However u can use the rice cooker as well.

I made this rice and served with cheese quesadillas, sour cream and guacamole.

Get Ready

• 1 cup Basmati Rice
• 3/4 cup Pace Picante sauce ( u can use any salsa , add more if you want it a little tangy)
• 1.5 cups water
• 1 small onion finely chopped
•  salt to taste
•  chilli flakes to taste ( optional)
• Olive oil 2 table spoon.

Go

• In a medium sized pan, add the olive oil.
• Add the onions and suate till translucent
• Add the rice ( I used unwashed rice) and saute till it changes color.
• Add the salsa, water, salt, chilli flakes to taste.
• Let it come to a boil  and allow it to boil till most of the water is absorbed on medium to high heat, uncovered.
• Now lower the heat, cover and cook till rice is done.
• Fluff it with a fork, turn the heat off and enjoy

Vegetarian Enchilada

During my trip to the grocery store, I picked up a bag of Corn tortillas by mistake! I usually make a simple cheese quesadilla for my kids and was wondering what else to do these guys. Turns out there are lots of options including cutting them in strips or triangles and making tortilla chips, enchiladas etc. I decided to make enchilada's!

These babies are so hearty and filling with black beans, spinach and corn. I used the store bought enchilada sauce. Las Palmas is what I used, but if you want to make your own enchilada sauce, there are wonderful recipes available all over the net!

Get Ready ( Serves 2-3)

• 1 can of black beans ( 15 oz ) washed and rinsed
• 1 cup chopped spinach
• 1/3 cup frozen corn kernels
• 1 medium sized onion chopped
• 1 tso cumin powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• a pinch of garlic powder
• 1 green chili ( optional)
• 1 can eenchiladasauce
• Corn tortillas ( i used small)
• Blend of mexican cheese
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt to taste
• Cilantro/ black olives/ green onions for garnishing

Go

• Preheat oven to 375 F
• In a skillet add olive oil and saute the onions till translucent. 
• Add the green chillies for heat if you choose to use it
• Add the chopped spinach and saute for few secs.

• Add the back beans, corn, spice powders and salt to taste

• Add a little water and then cook, stirring in between till the mixture is dry and come without sticking to the pan.Turn the heat off. Our tortilla stuffing is ready.

• Take 7-8 corn tortillas and wrap them in a wet paper towel. Microwave them for 30 sec . This will make them soft and easy to roll with the stuffing.

• Sprak your baking dish lightly with cooking spray or brush with some olive oil.
• Spread couple of table spoons of the enchilada sauce at the bottom.

• Spoon a small portion of your black bean, corn and spinach mixture in the centr of the soft corn tortilla. Roll them carefully and keep the seam side down into the baking dish. Do not over stuff them.  Use all the stuffing and the tortillas to fill your pan. You can see some of my tortillas got ripped, but it's OK!

• Generously pour the enchilada sauce on the mixture.

• Sprinkle cheese all over the sauce and bake till golden and bubbling. It roughly takes 25 -30 mins.

• Make slices and serve with sour cream, salsa or guacamole. I had only sour cream on hand to indulge!
• Garnish with cilantro or sliced green onions and balck olives. It is pretty obvious that i did not have any of those on hand:))

Enjoy Enchillada and play with your creativity for what you roll those tortillas with. I did not want mine to be too cheesy and did not add cheese in the stuffing.

Cilantro Lime Rice -- Chipotle style

For those who don't know,"Chipotle" is a famous mexical grill eatery here in the US. Their burrito bowl and salads are super yummy. One side dish that they serve is a cilantro lime rice. A very humble rice dish with tons of flavor.

Lemon rice needs no introduction to south Indians. Green chillies, ginger, asafetida, turmeric and lime juice make this a heck of a dish. However in cilantro lime rice, ther are no extra spices. Rice is cooked and flavored with lime juice and loads of cilantro.

I searched the web for this rice and found one Here at copykat.

Lets's get cooking!


Get Ready:

• 1 cup basmati rice
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 cups water
• salt to taste
• 1 and 1/2 lime to be juiced
• cilantro lots and lots chopped without stems.

Go:

• Wash the rice and let it stand for 15- 20 mins.
• In a pan, add the butter, olive oil and washed rice. Saute the rice till it is opaque.
• Add 2 cups of water, salt to taste. let it come to a rolling boil.
• Now simmer, cover and let the rice cook till soft.
• Turn the stove off and fluff the rice.
• Add the cilantro, juice from one lime and taste. If you feel you need more lime juice,add another half of lime juice.

Serve with curried beans, salad or anything.

We had ours with home made guacamole,spicy sauted green peppers and onions.

Enjoy chipotle style at home!

I am travelling and will be taking a break for 2-3 weeks. See you soon!

Mango Salsa

I've always like mango salsa more than the regular salsa. Costco carries an excellent one. Here, where I live Costco doesn't have a store. :((

So I tried to make it from scratch, Thanks to mriganayni!

So this is all what you need

1 ripe mango chopped into small pieces

1 onion
1 small tomato diced

1-2 cups orange juice

2 green chilli

Lots of cilantro

 salt to taste.

Mix all the chopped ingredients and there you go... Mango salsa is ready to tickle your taste buds!

The original recipe calls for lemon juice. But I forgot to add it, but it still tasted pretty good!

Tasty Vegeterian Tacos

It was Taco Night and that too on a weekday! I am not talking about eating out. It was in my own kitchen having the taco night. It was so easy to put together and yet so tasty to your palates.

All you need is some planning ahead to shop for the right ingredients to stock your pantry. And there you have complete weeknight meal.

Things you need:

Taco shells (1 box, I used the Old El Paso crunchy Taco shells)

For the filling:

Refried beans 1 can

1 tsp. cumin powder

2 tbsp. oil
1/4 tsp. lemon juice or according to taste
A little water
Shredded lettuce 1 bag
Montery jack Cheese 1 pkt

Low fat sour cream 1 small container

Salsa-store bought 1 bottle

Cilantro lots chopped

red onion 1/2 chopped-divide in 2

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Arrange the taco shells on a cookie sheet and place in the oven for 5-10 minutes. This will keep them crisp and helps to hold the filling.
2. In a pan, add 2 tbsp. oil and saute half of the chopped onions (you can add green chillies if you like your tacos spicy.).
3. Add the refried beans and mix well.
4. Add 1 tsp. of cumin powder and stir well.
5. If the mix is too thick, add a little water and let it cook for 2 minutes.
6. Turn the heat off and add lemon juice according to taste.
7. Arrange the fillings from lettuce to red onions in a bowl and set up the taco bar (You may add chopped bell peppers, guacamole, or anything you like to bite into your taco.).

To serve:

Spoon in the refried beans inside the taco shell. Top it with salsa, shredded lettuce, onions, cheese and sour cream and dive in....

How easy is this to put together!