I love to cook!

The weather is changing, perhaps we will have a winter yet! I am convinced the worst is yet to come, probably in early February. I might even break out a jacket this year. When the air turns chilly, I start looking for more soup, stew and chili recipes.  We love them all.  I do try alternating eating "regular" food with new recipes.  The familiar is always so comforting!

I love pilfering in the produce section at the grocery store. Just looking at fresh veggies makes me feel healthy! Creamy white cauliflower, brilliant green broccoli, smooth red tomatoes...well, you get the picture. I really like it when the little sprayers doused the veggies...it makes them look like the dew has just fallen and they are begging to be picked! After wandering through the aisles, I decided to make a regular veggie plate.  We had fresh green beans, corn on the cob, baby carrots with a side of southern potato salad. Yum!!

Today, the wind picked up and it was just cold.  I had a bag of dried lima beans; the big ones.  Originally, I thought I would just cook the beans like normal and have a side of fried potatoes.  I was curious about other herbs or spices to add to the beans (I  didn't want to use  ham bone), and saw a lot of people made lima bean soup.  Well, that sounded good.  I scanned a few recipes and decided to make one up.  You could do the same.....I just eyeballed everything.

I cooked the dried beans the quick method.  I covered them with water, brought them to a rolling boil for about three minutes, turned the heat off and let them sit for an hour.   Meanwhile, I  grabbed my soup pot and threw in a stick of butter. I chopped up equal amounts onions, celery and a yellow bell pepper and sauteed them for a few minutes and then added some fresh garlic. The smell was wonderful!!  I drained the beans and added them to the sauteed vegetables, along with some fresh sliced carrots and covered everything in vegetable broth (you could use chicken broth).  Now, for the seasonings.....salt/pepper, smoked paprika, oregano and cumin. I cooked the soup for a couple of hours. When the beans seemed to be getting close to being done, I added a can of diced tomatoes and some cubed potatoes.....simmered till the potatoes and beans were tender (but not mushy).  It was so good! 

Crackers didn't seem like a good match so I broke down and made something that I haven't made in forever - dropped Garlic, cheese biscuits!!!!   Add a glass of sweet tea and we were in hog heaven! Ah, what shall we try next?