A few people know that I actually grew up in the Middle East. I'm an oil brat. My dad's an engineer and so for 16 years we lived in Saudi Arabia. This is how I got to travel the world. I thank my dad often for that opportunity - in my head.  I'm now realizing that I probably have never actually told my dad that. I'll have to remedy that. 

It's this travel that has made me the foodie that I am. I am willing to try a lot of things. Just yesterday I tried jellyfish for the first time. Although not horrible, I think I can live without it. 


I also like spice. Don't give me a bland dish. I want flavor. Lentils and beans can be rather flavorless, but are easy enough to doctor up with veggies, broth, and a pinch or two of spices. I knew that this week I wanted to do a lentil soup, but I didn't want something boring. Give me a bit of zing. This is adapted from a Moroccan lentil soup. Throw in some cinnamon, cumin, and nutmeg and you've got something more exotic.

Rating: 4.5/5

This week's dish is a soup, one with beans. I've joined a challenge at Healthmonth.com and one of my goals for the month is more beans and nuts in my diet. So I decided to start it off with this hearty soup.

The soup does not call for meat, but you can add a browned chorizo or shredded cooked chicken if you want. I had some left over pork belly from the weekend. I sliced it and seared it and then cut it up into cubes and tossed it in. I also chose to puree about a third of it at the end so that it would be a creamier consistency.

This is a spicy soup. For me it's a medium hot level. Another note is that it does not call for salt. Salt will toughen beans so you never add it while they are cooking. But after it's finished I would suggest adding a teaspoon of salt to bring out the flavors a bit more.

Crock-pot cookbook

1 lb dry black beans

2 stalks celery, diced

2 carrots, diced

1 yellow onion, diced

2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 4 oz can of mild green chilis, chopped and drained

6 c chicken or vegetable broth

2 t cumin

toppings: sour cream, cilantro, salsa

Rinse and sort beans. Place in a large bowl and cover with water. Let beans soak 6-8 hours or overnight. Drain beans and rinse. Place in crockpot. (The water rehydrates the beans but also removes the indigestible complex sugars that make us get gas. If you are soaking during the day, I suggest changing the water at least once during the 8 hours.)

Add chopped carrots, celery, and onion. Add broth. In a medium bowl mix together the tomatoes, chilis, cumin, and chipotles. Add to crockpot. Stir everything together.