Black Bean Soup

I LOVE black beans! I have a vegetable soup I make with black beans, but the other day I decided to skip the other stuff & just go with the beans. I sauteed some chopped onion in a little olive oil & added cumin, smoked paprika, little cayenne pepper & salt, & oregano. I added in a splash of champagne vinegar & then dumped in a couple cans of black beans. I then poured in some chicken stock, put the lid on & let it simmer for several hours. To thicken it up I scooped some of the soup into the blender, pureed it & poured it back into the pan. Voilà! Cheap, easy,1 pot, wonderful meal!! I topped mine with a touch of sour cream & chopped onion.......DELICIOUS!

Orange Chicken

We love Chinese in my house! One of our favorites is Orange Chicken. What's not to like.... It sweet, it's salty,& it delicious! Normally when you order it at restaurants or take out the chicken is battered & deep fried. I wanted to attempt a healthier version...& I believe I did just that! My chicken I just drudged in a little flour & browned it in a skillet with very little oil. I just browned it & took it off the burner bc I finished cooking it in the crock pot(ah! the good ol' crock pot!) Once the chicken was browned I threw it into the crock pot & added some fresh squeezed orange juice, soy sauce, agave nectar, chopped garlic, ground Ginger,a little water, & just a few red pepper flakes. I let that cook for several hours on low heat & the results were fabulous! The sauce was sweet & salty, & the chicken melted in your mouth! I served it with brown rice & topped it with some chopped scallions. This dish was a great substitute if not better than the deep fried version! Next time you're thinking about take out..... Try this!