Happy New Year Y’all! I’m big on tradition and for New Year’s I must have black eyed peas. I found this recipe to help make up for the fact that most black eyed pea soups call for a ham bone and I don’t have one handy.

This salsa is so refreshing and light and flavorful and it was a perfect snack after hiking Camelback Mountain’s Echo Trail yesterday. And not to brag, but temperatures were in the mid 70s, sky was crystal blue and this is the type of weather that makes you happy that you live in Arizona.

I think Carey and Corey were a little sun-struck too! We did a bit more sight seeing, had a margarita in Old Town Scottsdale and then headed home to grill dinner. Look at the love birds. Holding hands and hiking.

Texas Caviar
Active Prep Time 10 minutes/ Inactive 3 hours

1 can black beans, drained
2 cans black eyed peas, drained
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 pint plum tomatoes, quartered
4 stalks scallions, diced
cilantro to taste
8 oz zesty Italian dressing
salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients and allow to marinate for at least 3 hours.

Variations: Add jalapeños, green chilies, garlic.

Other recipies:

Old San Antonio Texas Caviar 

Texas Caviar 

Grandma’s Texas Caviar 

Cowgirl Hall of Fame Texas Caviar 

 Learning. I love the learning process that commences whenever I find a new recipe that either features a method, ingredient or region I haven’t explored before. While sifting though old magazines, I came across a page I had dog-eared with a recipe for Harira. A soup from Northern Africa.

We had a team building event a few weeks ago and one of the exercises was a simple one in the leader had a series of words and when one was spoken you either stayed standing or sat down depending on which word most like you; Like if I said Saturday or Sunday, stay standing for Saturday and sit for Sunday.

I’m a Sunday. For me, my whole weekend is working towards creating a peaceful, flavorful, relaxing Sunday evening. Laundry done, projects wrapped up, errands ran. Sunday for me is all about one night where I can sit with my book, magazine, TV, food, wine and just be still for a bit.

This soup is full flavored, rich and simple. I had to make some variations and the recipe I documented below is how I made it. You will find several different variations online.

Golden Lentil Soup (Harira)- Adapted from Martha Stewart
Serves 6-8 Prep/Simmer 10 minutes Cook 35 minutes

2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinced
8 cups low sodium vegetable stock
4 cups water
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 t grey sea salt
3 celery stalks, finely chopped
4 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup yellow lentils, rinsed
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 t ground ginger
1/4 t freshly ground pepper
3 cloves
4 oz orzo

1.  Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, and cook 5 minutes. Add chickpeas, stock and water. Simmer 5 minutes.
2. Mash garlic, finely chopped cilantro and salt into a paste (like a pesto). Add garlic paste, celery, tomatoes, lentils, lemon juice and spices to pot. Simmer until lentils are tender, 30-40 minutes.
3. Serve with lemon wedge and freshly chopped cilantro.

Action leads to motivation. I truly believe that. Over the past few months I’ve mimicked initiatives started by other people. AfricanKelli sent out a charge to see what each of her readers could do in a week focused on ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ and I picked up what I think are great habits.

I was just preforming an act. Following. But do you know what began happening? I starting seeing so many other opportunities in my life to be more conscience. AND IT FEELS GOOD.

This weekend I became uber conscience of the pantry. Ugh. How many times when running to the store did I pick up another can of Rotel or Cream of Mushroom soup?

Guess where all this goodness is going? To the food bank. It’s amazing how so much food came out of the pantry and I had a stock pile still.

The good news, since I’m more aware of what I have, my mind is just bouncing with all the goodness I can still cook with what I have. Lunch today is Black bean Couscous Salad. Delish! I might, I dare say, be starting to feel a little motivation!

Black Bean Couscous Salad

Prep 10 minutes Cook 5 minutes Serves 6

1 1/2 cup uncooked couscous
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring chicken broth to a boil in a 2 quart or larger sauce pan and stir in the couscous. Cover the pot and remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, vinegar and cumin. Add green onions, red pepper, cilantro, corn and beans and toss to coat.

3. Fluff the couscous well, breaking up any chunks. Add to the bowl with the vegetables and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve at once or refrigerate until ready to serve.

I love magazines. I’ve been trying really hard to cut back since I’m doing this whole live consciencly thing with recycling and reducing the resources I use. I went and took myself off the junk mailing lists and I have stopped a lot of subscriptions.

BUT I HAVE MY WEAKNESSES!

Southern Living and Real Simple. I justify that I buy them because I read them cover to cover, several times and I keep them for a few months, so I can reference back to neat projects and recipies.

In the 2007 recipe edition of Southern Living, I’ve found several tasty treats. The Chorizo Black Bean Quesadilla is one of them.

The *big* secret here is the cilantro pesto.

Chorizo, Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas

4 chorizo sausage links

1 can drained black beans

1/2 cup frozen whole kernal corn

1/2 t ground cumin

1/3 cup cilantro pesto

6 flour tortillas

8 oz shredded cheese

• Cook sausage in a large skillet over medium heat 5 minutes or until browned. Add black beans, corn and cumin and cook stirring occasionally. 3 to 4 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
• Spread cilantro pesto evenly on each tortilla; sprinkle with cheese. Sppon chorizo mixture on half of each tortilla and whip skillet clean.
• Cook, tortillas side down in lightly greased skillet over  medium high heat 1 minute or until lightly browned. Fold tortilla in half. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Cilantro Pesto

3 bunches fresh cilantro, stems removed

1 1/2 T fresh lime juice

2 T olive oil

1/2 t salt

2 T water

• Process all ingredients in a food processor until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides. Store in refrigerator up to one week.