Recipes

I bought this cookbook that is AWESOME. Rebecca forwarded me a coupon to use when we stopped in a bookstore after lunch the other weekend, for 50% off one book. I ended up buying a cookbook, which is not a normal purchase for me since you can get almost every recipe online these days......Anyway, I bought this one. All the recipes are low fat (which is super important to Kurt and I), as well as vegetarian and a lot of them are even vegan. Also, most of the recipes seem super simple and pretty quick.

So far, I have made two recipes for Kurt (and stole a bite of course), and they were both awesome!

First, yesterday, I made garbanzo bean soup. Decided to make this because Kurt LOVES garbanzo beans. It was very simple. Recipe as follows (I modified the recipe to make 2 servings instead of 4):

1 medium onion, chopped (I used a red onion cuz they were the cheapest at the store and used half a large onion)

1 garlic clove, minced (used a jarred one) and my garlic press

2 cups vegetable stock (I used Kroger brand cans)

1 can garbanzo beans (used organic Kroger brand)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme leaves

salt and pepper, to taste

1/8 cup of sour cream (I eliminated this totally)

paprika or chili powder, as garnish

Saute onion and garlic in lightly greased large saucepan until tender, about 5 minutes. Add stock, beans, cumin, and thyme and heat to boiling; reduce heat and simmer, covered, 10 minutes.

Process soup in blender until smooth (could also use food processor according to book); season with salt and pepper. Top each bowl of soup with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with paprika.

This was great. Almost tasted like hummus soup! And we all know how I love hummus.......

Second recipe was Black Bean and Jalapeno Pizza with Cheese Pizza Dough

First, make the cheese pizza dough. Take 1.25 cups of flour and mix with half teaspoon of sugar and 2/3 cup of very hot water. Mix. ADd 2 TBSP of parm cheese and another .5 cup of flour. Knead in .25 cup of cheddar cheese. I used fat free cheddar and parm, kraft for both. Let sit covered for 15 minutes before spreading on 12 inch pizza pan. (I let sit much longer as I worked out before making the pizza, and it was fine sitting for much longer).

Spread .75 cup of salsa on dough (i used a medium salsa). Lightly mash black beans (I used organic) with 1/4 cup of salsa. Spoon over pizza. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup of jalapeno chilies (I used banana peppers instead) and 1 cup of fat free cheddar cheese. Bake at 425 degrees until crust is browned, 20 minutes.

This crust was aMAZing and my first attempt ever at pizza crust. I would have never guessed the cheese was fat free, SO GOOD. Kurt ate almost the entire pizza, so I guess it was good! :).