the poverty luxe kitchen vol. 22: red beans + rice.

one of my big personal goals for this year was to try out more recipes and to get more comfortable and creative in the kitchen. the main reason i made this goal is because i have a bad habit of settling into a routine and just making the same four or five dinners over and over again, which makes me really sad because everyone here is actually pretty adventurous with food and i feel like were missing out on SO many great new things because i just make the same recipes over and over again. another lame side effect of this habit is that sometimes a meal slips off the rotation, gets forgotten for months and months, before i remember how great it is and start making it again. 

this is one of those recipes. 

i used to make red beans and rice pretty frequently, and there was ALWAYS a jar (or three) of them in the freezer for when we needed a super fast and easy dinner. i guess its simplicity is what made me forget how great it is, but with the last few months being so crazy with work (for james), school (for me) and having a new baby, red beans and rice are officially back on the rotation. why? because its a dinner thats not only super healthy and dirt cheap, but also takes zero effort in the crock pot. 

you know those crock pot recipes that are so complicated you might as well actually cook them? this is not one of those recipes. theres some chopping, some putting things in the crock pot, some button pushing, and then you get to do whatever for a few hours. all you have to do at dinner time is make rice. actually typing this reminds me that i need to go get some kidney beans...

red beans and rice. 

(makes 8 servings)

heres what you need: 

1 lb dried kidney beans, soaked overnight. 

2-3 cloves of garlic

1 onion

3 ribs of celery

1 green bell pepper

2 tablespoons creole seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

heres what you do: 

place soaked beans in crock pot and cover with 1 inch of water. 

finely chop garlic, onion, celery, and bell pepper and add to beans. 

add creole seasoning and season with salt and pepper to taste (i add lots of pepper but no salt because the creole seasoning i use already has salt)

cook on low for 4-6 hours. serve over steamed white rice. 

to be completely honest, i dont use my crock pot a whole lot, what are your favorite crock pot recipes?

the poverty luxe kitchen vol. 20: black bean chipotle hummus.

for the (wait for it...) twentieth edition of the poverty luxe kitchen, i have a very, very special recipe for you: the black bean chipotle hummus that i have been meaning to post on here for literally an entire year. yeah... obviously im really on top of things. but better late than never, right? 
right. 
because this hummus is awesome. i mean, not to toot my own horn or anything and we all know that hummus in general is awesome, but this goes beyond regular hummus into fancy-six-dollar-for-a-tiny-thing-at-the-farmers-market-why-cant-i-make-this-at-home hummus territory. except, that you can totally make it at home and a huge batch costs less than the little 8 ounce tub you buy at the farmers market. oh, and its totally easy. 
are you ready to get started with the recipe? here we go: 
black bean chipotle hummus.  (serves 6-8)
heres what you need: 
4-5 cloves garlic 1/4 cup olive oil 1 can (or two cups cooked) garbanzo beans 1 can (or two cups cooked) black beans 3 tablespoons lime juice 2-3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (save the rest to make chipotle aioli!) heres what you do: 
finely chop garlic and place in a small dish with the olive oil and let it sit for 15-20 minutes. 
in the bowl of your food processor, combine the oil and garlic with the remaining ingredients and pulse until smooth. if the hummus is too thick, add water one tablespoon at a time until it reaches your desired consistency.  transfer hummus from food processor to an airtight container and store for up to a week in the fridge. 
im a big fan of eating hummus with carrot sticks and cucumber slices, how do you like to eat it? 

the poverty luxe kitchen vol. 15: how to make beans (with or without a crock pot)

fun fact: unless i absolutely cant avoid it, i never buy beans in cans. yeah, i know, im that mom. i actually wrote a pretty in-depth post about all the reasons why i do this about a year ago (you can read all about it here) but it was right around the time i was really floundering with this while blogging thing and i never got around to posting about how i go about making our homemade beans. 
which ended up being a great thing, because at the time i pretty much only made beans in my crock pot. in my opinion, this is by far the easiest method, BUT its the slowest, and it takes a little bit of advanced planning. something that i havent been so great at since ive been pregnant, in school, and parenting a toddler all at the same time. so over the last few months, ive actually learned some different methods of cooking dried beans. 
and today im going to share them all with you, right here in one post, so that you can easily decide which bean-cooking method will work best for your current bean needs without having to scour the internet for individual recipes (something ive had to do, oh, every time ive forgotten to soak the beans). so here we go, three different ways to make beans at home (that i have personally used multiple times and can totally vouch for): 
note: all of these methods are for cooking one pound of dried beans (approximately two cups, in case you buy them in bulk), and yield approximately eight cups (four cans worth) or cooked beans. 
1. in a crock pot: 
like ive already mentioned, this way is my favorite because even though the time commitment is the longest, its the most passive. also, because the crock pot regulates its own temperature, there is no possibility of anything getting burnt (maybe its just me but i often have a problem keeping a close eye on things for hours). heres how you do it: 
rinse beans and soak them overnight in a large bowl covered with AT LEAST two inches of water. 
in the morning, drain off the soaking water, rinse beans again and transfer them to the crock pot, again covering with at least two inches of water, salt (dont forget the salt at the beginning, its very important!), and any other seasonings you might want to use (obviously this will depend on the type of beans that youre making and what youll be using them for). 
set your crock pot on low and cook the beans for approximately six hours, checking occasionally to adjust seasonings and avoid over-cooking. 
drain and serve. 
2. on the stove: 
like using the crock pot, this method also requires an overnight soak, however unlike the crock pot method, its quite a bit faster and doesnt take up all our counter space. this is the method im most likely to use if i remembered to soak the beans but i didnt remember to get them in the crock pot first thing in the morning: 
rinse beans and soak them overnight in a large bowl covered with AT LEAST two inches of water. 
in the morning, drain off the soaking water, rinse beans again and transfer them to a large pot or dutch oven with a well-fitting lid, again covering with at least two inches of water. add salt and any other seasonings you may want to use. 
bring the beans to a boil, cover and reduce heat to a simmer. cook beans, stirring (and checking for flavor/done-ness) occasionally until tender (depending on the type of beans this may take up to three hours). 
drain and serve. 
3. in the oven: 
this is the method that im most likely to pull out in an emergency, (and by "emergency" i mean "i forgot to soak the beans the night before") because it doesnt require soaking. yes, you can totally make beans without soaking them overnight first. the only reason i put this method last, honestly, is because it does involve having the oven on for a long time, which i tend to try and avoid in an apartment as small as ours. however, it is still a fantastic way to cook beans: 
preheat your oven to 250 degrees. 
rinse beans and put them in a large pot or dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid and cover with at least two inches of water. add salt and any other flavorings that you desire. 
bring the pot to a boil on the stovetop, then cover and place in the oven for 45 minutes - 1 hour. stir, check for flavor and done-ness, and continue to cook until tender (another 20-30 minutes). 
drain and serve. 
so there you have THREE different ways of cooking dried beans and taking advantage of all the benefits they have over canned beans. 
do you make beans at home? whats your favorite method? 
 

the poverty luxe kitchen vol. 5: chickpea and brown rice soup.

im going to be completely honest here: researching recipes when youre gluten free is total lamesauce. typically youre faced with one of two options: you can either search for specifically gluten free recipes and being assaulted with a barrage of kale and quinoa and "skinny" this and "paleo" that until you silently weep because youre pregnant and have a family to feed and you need recipes for actual food. OR you can browse "normal" recipes for inspiration and try your best to figure out if its even un-glutenable before getting tired and just making something that you already know will work (and be safe to eat). 

this soup though, happens to be my first full-blown success with the latter option. i had originally found this soup on pinterest and thought it looked/sounded fantastic. quick, healthy, filling, and CHEAP, basically everything i look for in a weeknight dinner, with the added bonus of involving garbanzo beans (also known as chickpeas). alice LOVES garbanzo beans. it can be really difficult to get her excited over a new dinner, but not quite so much if it has her favorite beans prominently featured in it. 

the only problem with the original recipe was the orzo. orzo is definitely not gluten free. maybe somebody out there makes gluten free orzo but i wasnt really willing to put in the extra effort (and money) to find out when, you know, rice is pretty similar to orzo. and already gluten free. and 99 cents a pound. what could possibly go wrong here? not much, actually. the first time i made the soup i just followed the recipe verbatim, just substituting the rice for the orzo and while it was ok, it wasnt quite right. the rice soaked up WAY too much broth and i found it a little lacking in the flavor department. so i took a few notes and made a few adjustments and the next week: perfection. i think we have a new favorite soup on our hands. 

so are YOU ready to have a new favorite soup? i think so: 

chickpea and brown rice soup. 

(makes approximately 8 servings)

heres what you need: 

1 onion

3-4 cloves of garlic

olive oil

salt, pepper, dried rosemary, oregano, thyme, and bay leaf to taste

3-4 carrots

3-4 ribs celery (i tend to err on the side of more because who doesnt want more veggies?)

1 can of garbanzo beans (or two cups of cooked beans if you make your own)

3/4 cup brown rice

2 quarts vegetable stock + 2 cups of water

1/4 cup lemon juice

heres what you do: 

finely chop the onions and garlic and sauté with olive oil on medium-high heat in a large soup pot. 

when the onions become translucent, season with salt, pepper, and herbs (i dont really measure i just do what smells nice), and continue to cook until the onions start to brown. 

chop the carrots and celery into small pieces and stir them into the onions and garlic, cooking for another minute or two. 

add the garbanzo beans, rice, stock, water, and lemon juice and bring soup to a boil. 

cover, reduce to a simmer and cook for another 15-20 minutes, until rice is fully cooked (add more water if necessary depending on how much the rice swells). finish off with a little more lemon juice if desired. 

and thats it! now you have a perfect quick and easy soup!