Black Bean Stacked Salad

I believe we (our family) got this recipe from Vegetarian Times about 3 years ago...everyone loves it!

Ingredients:
Salad:
15.5 oz. can of Black Beans (drained and rinsed) or 1 cup of dried black beans cooked according to package directions
4 Plum Tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, crushed
2 Cups of frozen Corn, dethawed
1 English Cucumber (it has no seeds in it), diced
2 Jalapeño peppers, seeds removed and diced
1 red Onion, diced

Dressing:
juice of 4 Limes
1 Tablespoon Chili Powder
2 teaspoons ground Cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground Coriander
1/2 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 Cup Peanut Oil

Other necessary toppings:
1/2 Cup Sunflower Seeds, roasted and salted
2 Cups crushed Tortilla Chips
1 1/2 Cups shredded Chedar Cheese

Directions:
In a large, clear, glass bowl, layer the black beans, tomatoes, garlic, corn, cucumber, jalapeños, and red onion.

In a small soup bowl wisk together lime juice, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and coriander. Wisk in peanut oil slowly so that it mixes in well.

Bring the layered salad to the table. At this point you can make the decision of 1. adding the cheese, chips, sunflower seeds and dressing in the large bowl, mixing it and serving it, OR 2. letting everyone add the cheese, chips, sunflower seeds, and dressing in their own bowl after you have just mixed the vegetables together. I prefer option 2 because if there are leftovers the chips will be very soggy and it will not taste as great the next day. But, if you are sure you will eat it all in the same meal, then ontop of the red onion layer the cheese, sunflower seeds, and then the crushed tortilla chips.

The original recipe calls to add 8 Tomatillos, tusks removed, and chipped (this would be the second layer after the balck beans), but since there are no Tomatillos in Germany, I leave them out and in the summer when green tomatoes are in season, I add that instead. But, I leaft them out of the main recipe. The original recipe also calls for Moneray Jack cheese, but I prefere Chedar's stronger flavor.

Serves 4 as a main dish (without tomatillos)
Serves 6 as a main dish (with tomatillos)
Serves 14 as a side dish (with tomatillos)

Tomato Soup

This is a German recipe, that I modified, from the internet www.chefkoch.de

Ingredients:
1 kg (2 Lbs)Tomatoes, diced
1 small Onions, diced
2 cloves Garlice
3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1 Tablespoon Basil, dried
1 Tablespoon Oregano, dried
1/2 teaspoon Thyme, dried
1/2 teaspoon Marjoran, dried
1/2 teaspoon Rosemary, dried and ground
750mL (3 Cups) of Beef Stock
2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
1 Tablespoon Gin*
Salt
Pepper
4 Tablespoons Crème Fraiche

Directions:
In a large pot sauté the onions and garlic in the vegetable oil until the onions are soft. Add the tomatoes and all the dried spices and cook in the pot for 15 minutes with the lid on. Then pour in the beef stock and let cook for another 5 minutes. Then take off the heat and put entire soup into a food processor or blender and purée. Then return to pot and to medium heat and add the tomato paste and the gin. Stir until completely mixed in.

Once the soup is in individual serving bowls add 1 Tablespoon of Crème Fraiche to each bowl and stir in. This will make the soup much thicker.

*Gin is an absolutely necessary ingredient for this recipe. You can leave it out, but it will just not taste right. I heard you can also use Sherry, but I have never tried it.

Serves 4

Spicey Spring Onion Soup

Sometimes I just get inspired!

Ingredients:
3 Cups of water
3 Tablespoons of Chickenbuillon
1/4th packet of Rice noodles (vermacelli)
1 Green Onion, cut into long 2-inch pieces
1/4 of a Leek (the white part), cut into rounds
1/2 teaspoon of Sambal Oelek* (red chili paste) per bowl of soup served

Directions:
In a medium sized pot boil water. Once water has come to a boil add chicken buillon and taste to make sure that it has a strong enough chicken broth taste, if not, add 1 teaspoon at a time until it is strong enough for you. Add green onions and leek and let boil for 1 minute. Then, add rice noodles and take off the heat imediatly. Let the soup sit in the pot for about 2 minutes or until the rice noodles has softened. Serve into bowl and place sambal oelek in each bowl if desired. Stir and eat soup.

*Sambal Oelek is very spicey and if you are sensetive to spicey foods, just leave it out, the soup also tastes great without it.

Serves 4

Simple Bulgar Salad

This is a partial recipe from "Bulgarsalat mit Paprika und Tomaten" that is in my "Salate" cookbook.

Ingredients:
300g Bulgar
Salt
juice of 2 Limes
Pepper
1 teaspoon Cumin
4 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Directions:
Cook the Bulgar in 1 Liter of boiling water, that has been lightly salted, for 30 minutes. When done drain the excess water and put in a serving bowl.

In a bowl mix the lime juice, salt to taste, a pinch of pepper, cumin, and the olive oil. Pour over the Bulgar and mix. Let sit for 15 minutes so that the flavors really soak in.

Meant as a side dish.

Serves 8