Recipes Part II; Black Bean Soup & Greek Salad (jul 17, 2007)

Hello once again. I attempted something new for lunch today, and both of us found it quite tasty! I got the recipe from "You: On a Diet", and modified it a bit to suit what we had in our kitchen, and what I was willing to do. Anyway, here it is... Black bean soup and Greek Salad (with homemade dressing... Yummers!)


Black Bean Soup

-1/2 tablespoon olive oil
-1/2 onion, chopped
-1 garlic clove, sliced
-1 carrot, chopped
-1 stalk celery, chopped
-1 quarts (4 cups) low salt vegetable stock or broth (I used 4 cups boiling water and one cube of Knorr veggie boullion)
-1 can (15 or 16 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
-1/2 teaspoon ground coriander (if you have whole, just crush them)
-1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
-1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
-1 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped (I didn't use fresh...)


1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add garlic, carrot and celery; cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
3. Add stock, beans, coriander and cayenne pepper; simmer uncovered 10 minutes. Stir in vinegar.
4. Transfer to blender or food processor; process to desired consistency (I used a hand blender right in the pot). Reheat if necessary. Ladle into shallow bowls; garnish with cilantro (or not).
Makes 4 servings



Greek Salad

Dressing Ingredients:
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (Apple cider vinegar works too)
-1 tablespoon lemon juice
-1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
-1 clove garlic, minced
-1/2 teaspoon honey
-Salt and freshly ground black pepper (optional)



Salad Ingredients:
-1 head romaine lettuce, torn
-1 tomato, quartered (I didn't use a full tomato)
-4 pepperocini peppers (didn't have this... not on the salad then)
-1 small cucumber, sliced
-1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled low fat feta cheese (I used cottage cheese and added it on my plate)
-Several sprigs fresh dill, chopped
-1/2 green bell pepper, sliced into rings (I didn't feel like chopping any more... so I didn't add this)
-8 calamata olives (didn't have any... so I omitted them)



1. Combine all dressing ingredients except salt and pepper; mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper if desired; let stand 5 minutes.
2. Combine all salad ingredients in large bowl; toss with dressing
Makes 2 servings (in our case, more like 3 or 4)


Nutrition Facts


Now for the nutrition facts, which are for the entire meal (if you only have one serving of each)
Calories - 305 (Wow! Not a whole lot, huh!)
Total fat- 16.3 g
Saturated - 3.75 g
Healthy fats - 11 g
Fiber - 10.6 g (Check this! Over 1/3 of your recommended fiber!)
Carbs - 33 g
Sugar - 11 g
Protein - 13 g
Sodium - 1260 mg
Calcium - 193 mg
Magnesium - 43 mg
Selenium - 1 mcg
Potassium - 968.4 mg