Sweet Potato Soup

This recipe has few ingredients, but it does keep you pretty involved. But I think it's worth it, especially for fall and winter!

What you need:

• 1 large head of cauliflower (I promise you won't have too much)
• Olive Oil
• Spice of your choosing (I added chili powder and paprika)
• 3 large sweet potatoes, cut into 1" pieces
• 1 vidalia onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 7 cups water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Cut up cauliflower into bite sized pieces. Place on ungreased  cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and and your spices.
3. Place in oven and cook until soft. I would suggest about 30 minutes, but check after 25.
4. In a large stock pot add sweet potato, onion, and garlic to a boil. I added a bit of salt when it came to a boil. Reduce heat  and allow to simmer until sweet potatoes are soft. I'd suggest checking around the 15-20 minute mark, but it won't take long since the potatoes are small.
5. Once the sweet potatoes are soft add the cooked cauliflower to the soup.
6. Divide the soup in half and blend one half. Keep the other half in the stockpot.
7. Once the first half is blended add back to the stockpot and stir.
8. Add salt to taste.
9. Enjoy. At this point I added a lot more salt because I like the savory sweet taste of things, and it was still a bit bland.

Mango Smoothies

This smoothie recipe is much tastier than the last. While I do like bananas, too much banana taste makes the smoothie less enjoyable for me because I prefer to taste the sweeter fruits. So, for this one I kind of adapted the recipe. 

What you need:

• 2 cups frozen mango chunks
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1/2 banana (save the other half for breakfast or a snack!)
• 1/4 cup orange juice

Directions:

1. I cut up my mango ahead of time and let it freeze overnight.
2. Simply add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
3. Enjoy with your breakfast!

Spinach Pesto Penne

What you need:

• Penne
• 1/4 cup penne pasta water
• 8 oz spinach, remove stems
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/4 grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 olive oil
• 1 garlic clove
• Seasonings of your choice
• ricotta (set aside)

Directions:

• Cook pasta according to box directions. When pasta is done save 1/4 cup of water. Drain the rest.
• Pulse spinach, walnuts, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, and garlic in a food processor until smooth.
• Add 1/4 cup of pasta water to blended pesto and mix.
• Mix pesto and pasta. Season to your liking.
• Top with ricotta cheese. Enjoy!

Avocado Smoothies

I love avocados. You can see my past avocado recipes here and here. So, when I saw a recipe for a smoothie that  called for avocado I jumped at it. I love that avocados easily conform to the salty or sweetness of any recipe. I'm not a huge fan of homemade smoothies because I always think they taste kind of bland. I would be lying if I said this was the best smoothie I ever had. It was good but I think it might have needed a bit more honey or more fruit added to it.

What you need:

• 1 avocado
• 1 banana
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 2 cups ice

Directions:

1. Blend all ingredients together. I would suggest blending the ice first so it breaks unless you have small pieces.
2. Blend until smooth.
3. Enjoy. Makes about 2.5 full glasses.

Black Bean Soup

Get ready for a load of food posts. It's hard to make food posts when I'm at my parents' house because I just don't have the desire to cook. However, for the next week or so I'm dog sitting at my grandma's house, so I have a few recipes I'm going to whip up!

I got the recipe Comfy in the Kitchen, but I'm going to adapt it the way I will next time I make it.

What you need:

• 1-1 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2-4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1 can chicken broth
• 3 cans seasoned black beans (2 not drained or rinsed, 1 drained but not rinsed)
• 1 1/2 cups water
• Rice (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large pot that you will use for the soup saute onion and garlic in the olive oil until the onions are soft. 
2. Mix in the chili powder and cumin.
3. Add the remaining ingredients (water, chicken broth, beans). Do not drain or rinse the beans. I am adding an additional can of drained beans because I really like beans and I want a more of a chunky consistency. If you don't I would suggest sticking with just the two cans. I drained the third can because there is already a lot of broth.
4. As I waited for the soup to boil in order to let it simmer I started my 20 minute rice.
5. Let soup simmer for 15 minutes.
6. After 15 minutes add half the soup to a food processor or blender. Puree the soup and add it back into the pot. This is why I added the extra can of beans. I accidentally pureed too many beans and was disappointed. This step also helps thicken the soup. Don't be alarmed if you think it's too brothy. It's still delicious.
7. Put some rice in a bowl and top with the soup
8. Enjoy!