Butter Bean Soup

Sunday night is generally not a time when many of us feel like making an elaborate dinner. At the same time, sitting on the couch chowing down on that leftover half a challah isn't the healthiest or least depressing of meal options. Soup, however, is as close to effortless as it gets, and has the added benefit of actual nutritional value. About the beans: butter beans, delightfully pareve in spite of the name, are basically just large, white lima beans. But they have a slightly milder taste than standard-issue lima beans, hold up very well in a soup, and contain useful stuff like potassium and fiber.

Butter Bean Soup (Serves 2)

Ingredients that need a hechsher:

- Soup base (recommended: Imagine brand vegetable broth), 2 cups
- Butter beans, if using canned, 1 cup
- Paprika (recommended: Trader Joe's Smoked Paprika)

Ingredients that don't need a hechsher:

- Onions, 1/2 cup
- Celery, 1 cup
- Carrots, 1 cup
- Zucchini, 1 large

Directions:

Chop the zucchini, carrots, celery, and onions. If using canned butter beans, drain and rinse the beans. Place 2 cups of the vegetable soup base, along with 1/2 cup water, in a large pot. Put the vegetables and beans in the pot, along with a few dashes of paprika. Cover and simmer on low for  about 1 hour, stirring occasionally:

(Gratuitous-- hopefully, at least-- pic showing you how to stir)

Put the soup in a bowl, and then eat it. Yep.

1/4 cup-cakes

Did the term "cupcake" arise because the cake in question is often about one cup in volume? Who knows! Probably the internet, but I'm feeling lazy, so I'll just assume that's why, and deem my tiny cupcakes "1/4 cup-cakes" for that reason.

Baking Implements:

- Mini cupcake pan
- Mini cupcake wrappers (optional)
- Spatula
- Large bowl
-Medium bowl

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

No hechser needed:
 - 2 large eggs, or kosher egg white product (no hechsher needed if you use whole eggs, but check for blood spots. You want a hechsher if you're using a processed egg product).

Hechsher needed:
 - Kosher vanilla or yellow cake mix (there are many available)
- Almond Milk (Pacific brand)
-  1 stick butter-- or if you can't find it, Earth Balance Baking Sticks (which are pareve)

Frosting:

No hechsher needed:
- Cocoa powder (pure cocoa powder, not a mix)
- Confectioner's sugar

Hechsher needed:
- Vanilla extract
- Whimsical sprinkles of some sort (Betty Crocker brand-- many diferent varieties have a hechsher, but be sure to check)
- More almond milk
- More butter or margarine

The cupcakes

Before you start, leave the butter out to soften (if using butter rather than margarine). Preheat your oven to 400 F.

Mix together the cake mix, 2 eggs, 1 cup almond milk, and 1 stick of butter in a large bowl. Keep mixing until all clumps are gone, but don't over-mix.

Place cupcake liners into your pan, if using them.

Bake cupcakes until the tops are golden brown-- around 20 minutes, but keep an eye on it, as ovens vary. Once they're all done, set them aside to cool.

The frosting

In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup of cocoa powder and 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine. When the mixture is smooth, add 3 tablespoons of almond milk. Now, add 1 1/2 cups of confectioner's sugar, and 1/4 tsp vanilla extract (the latter of these is optional). Mix all ingredients together. If it's too runny, add more confectioner's sugar as needed. If it's too clumpy, add a bit more milk.

When the cupcakes are completely cool, frost them using a spatula. Adorn them with liberal amounts of sprinkles. Save a few tablespoons of frosting, and then eat it.

Shabbat Shalom!

Ginger Kale Mozzarella Wrap

There's nothing better on a cold winter night than grilled cheese, maybe with a side of soup or salad. But a standard grilled cheese isn't exactly the healthiest thing in the world. So here's a dish that will satisfy your desire for warm, cheesy goodness, with fewer calories and far more nutrition.

Ingredients that need a hechsher, and product recommendations:

- Whole-grain tortilla (Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Whole Grain Tortilla)
-  2 oz. Fresh mozzarella cheese (you can find kosher fresh mozarella at Trader Joe's)
- Hummus (Trader Joe's, or Tribe)
- Ginger salad dressing (Newman's Own Lite Low Fat Sesame Ginger Dressing)

Ingredients that don't need a hechsher:

-Fresh kale

Directions:

Wash 2 cups of kale thoroughly, and check for bugs. Place washed kale in a microwave-safe bowl with 1 tbsp of water. Microwave on high for 2 minutes.

If there's any water left after microwaving, drain it. Then, toss the kale with 2 tbsp of ginger salad dressing.

Chop mozzarella into small pieces, for easier melting. Not sure how much 2 oz. of cheese is? It's about 2 pieces of string cheese. Place cheese pieces in the center of a tortilla, on a microwave-safe plate. Microwave for 30 seconds; if cheese is not melted, continue microwaving in 10-second intervals until it is.

Spread hummus on sides of tortilla. Fill tortilla with kale, and wrap it up.

Pan-Fried Tofu Pilaf

Rice pilaf has a glorious history in many areas where Jews reside, from Eretz Yisrael to the Balkans. Plus, it's delicious, and takes about 5 seconds of actual effort to make. What more do you want? And tofu, while having less of an illustrious Jewish heritage, is healthy, cheap, and also pretty easy to prepare.

Laziness Rating: 1 (uses boxed products, but you actually have to chop, stir, and whatnot)

Category: Pareve

Ingredients that don't require a hechsher:
- Extra-virgin olive oil (make sure you buy extra virgin!)

Ingredients for which you may or may not need a hechsher, depending on your views and whether you use fresh or frozen (more details below):
- Broccoli

Ingredients that do require a hechsher, and recommended brands:
- Tofu (try House Foods organic, if it's available in your area)
- Rice pilaf mix (Near East brand)
- Sriracha (has a hechsher in the U.S)

Stuff you'll need to do the actual cooking:
- Frying pan for the tofu
- Medium/large frying pan or a pot for cooking the rice pilaf
- Sharp knife, to evenly cut the tofu
- Heat-proof spatula for flipping tofu while cooking
- Bowl for washing and microwaving the broccoli
- Optional: salt for making a saltwater solution in which to wash the broccoli, and for sprinkling on the tofu
- A fork and plate, for eating-- because seriously, eating this dish with your hands would just be one step too lazy.

First, open the cupboard and take out your box of rice pilaf. Or maybe you didn't even bother to put it away. You didn't, did you.

In a medium frying pan or saucepan, put 1 3/4 cups water and a teaspoon or so of extra-virgin olive oil. Bring to a boil. Yes, all the way to a boil, don't cheat.

Add the rice pilaf, and seasoning mix packet. It'll look like this:

Stir it, and return to boil. Now turn the heat down to low, and cover the pot. Set your timer for 20 minutes.

While the rice pilaf is cooking, get your tofu ready. First, open the package and rinse off the gross tofu juice, using cold running water. Then, place the block of tofu on a plate and press out the remaining water in it using a paper towel:

When the tofu is nice and de-water-ized, cut it into thin, even slices, around 1/4" thick:

Before you put the tofu on the stove, get started with your broccoli. If you're using fresh broccoli, you want to rinse it and check it carefully for bugs. Some authorities recommend rinsing your broccoli in a saltwater solution. If you are using frozen, two brands that have a hechsher are Birds Eye and Eden-- some people prefer Eden because it's greenhouse-grown, but it's hard to find in some places. So anyway, rinse your broccoli until the water is clear, and make sure that it's delightfully bug-free:

By now, your rice pilaf should be about done. When it's ready, most of the water will be absorbed, and it'll look like this:

Take the rice pilaf off of the heat, and get your tofu started. You want every piece of tofu to be laying flat in the pan, so if you have a small pan, you may need to do this in multiple batches. If using a small pan, put about 1 tsp olive oil in the pan; if a large pan, use 1 tbsp. Coat the pan with the oil, and then place your tofu slices in it. Sprinkle the tops of the tofu slices with a bit of salt.

With heat set to medium, cook your tofu, keeping a close eye on it. When you can see a nice tan color starting to creep up the sides of the slices, it's time to flip it over. When your tofu is done-- probably in around 6-8 minutes-- it should look like this:

(Ok, actually it could look a little better than that. Hopefully yours does).

Now, cook the broccoli. If using frozen: microwave for 3 minutes in a microwave-safe bowl. Stir and check, and microwave 1 to 2 minutes more if needed.

Now, put your food in a pile on the plate and eat it. Oh wait, I forgot the most important step of all: a heaping serving of that most glorious of kosher condiments, Sriracha.