The holidays have really messed with my blog schedule, but I am back with a vengance today, and cooking up a storm.
As we all know, tis the season to cook, and cook, and cook and cook. With that in mind, cooking can be very expensive during the holidays. Especially when you are cooking with all organic products. Today I want to share a most contaminated produce list.
The purpose of the list is to help you identify which produce is best purchased organic, as well as the least contaminated produce that is possibly safe to purchase non-organic. I always recommend all organic, but sometimes our budgets don't allow for this.
Most Contaminated Produce List
Always organic
Apples, celery, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes, hot peppers, spinach, strawberries, sweet bell peppers, kale, collard greens and squash.
Least Contaminated Produce
Asparagus, avocados, cabbage, cantaloupe, eggplant, grapefruit, kiwi, mangos, mushrooms, onions, papayas, pineapples, sweet peas and sweet potatoes.
Now on to some delicious plant-based cooking.
I can honestly say that if I could only make one soup for the rest of my life, this would be it.
I don't know if it is the smoky heat of the broth or the combination of the three grains, but this just hits the spot. It takes a little more work than most soups, but so worth it.
On the nutrition side, it has a whopping 11 grams of fiber per serving. This healthy vegan recipe is inspired by the savory tortilla soups served in Mexico. I recommend making a lot and freezing some for a cold, cozy night. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Spicy Mexicali Three Grain Soup
- 3 dried Chile de Arbol, stemmed, seeded and broken into one inch pieces
- 1 Chipotle pepper in Adobo, chopped (or more to taste)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- ½ cup pearl barley
- ½ cup short-grain brown rice
- ½ cup bulgar
- 2 quarts of low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1½ cups diced tomatoes (carton or fresh)
- 8 cilantro sprigs, plus ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 2 teaspoons salt (or more to taste)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ½ pound mushrooms, stems discarded, sliced (I used white but shitake would work well too or a combination of your favorites)
- 1 15-ounce carton black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 medium carrot, diced
- 1 medium zucchini, diced
- 1 medium parsnip, diced
- In a medium sauce pan, rinse and cover the barley with 4 cups of water and bring to boil. Cover and simmer over low heat until tender, about 35 minutes; drain. Return the barley to the pan and cover. In another medium saucepan, cover the brown rice with 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat until tenders, about 35 minutes. Drain the brown rice and add to the barley.
- In a medium bowl, cover the bulgur with 1 cup of boiling water. Cover and let stand until the water is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Add to barley, rice mixture.
- Place the three dried Chile de Arbols in a small bowl and cover with boiling water until softened - about 10 minutes. Chop with plastic gloves.
- In a large, heavy pot, heat the olive oil. Add the chile de arbol, onion and garlic and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the broth, tomatoes, cilantro springs, chipotle pepper and allspice and season with 1 tbsp salt (or less to taste) and a pinch of black pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer over low heat for 40 minutes. Let cool slightly. Puree the soup in a blender and return to the pan.
- Add the mushrooms, carrot, zucchini, black beans and parsnip to the pureed soup and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Add the barley, rice and bulgur and season with salt and pepper to taste. If you would like a little more heat, chop another chipotle pepper in adobo and add. Cook another 5 minutes. Add the ¼ cup fresh, chopped cliantro.
- Ladle the soup into bowls, sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds or baked tortilla strips. Sprinkle with some chopped cilantro and serve.
I’m not vegan or veggie but had to cut down on the amount of meat in my normal diet esp red after being ill recently (CFS/ME). During lent and advent I have a veggie diet. I’ve tried a few recipes and loved them.. will be trying the soup shortly.
Hi Kas – welcome to our community! Thanks for the kind words.