Low Carb

Place beans in a large Dutch oven; add water to two inches above beans. Bring to a boil. Boil one minute; cover, remove from heat, and let stand one hour. Drain.
Bring beans and 8 cups water to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer one hour or until beans are tender. Add onion, pepper, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, salt, dry mustard, and pepper; simmer 30 minutes. Add tomatoes; simmer 30 minutes more.

Combine chickpeas and enough water to cover; refrigerate overnight. Drain. Cook onion and garlic in oil for 2 minutes, add chickpeas, soy sauce and 6 cups water. Bring to the boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 3 hours. Pour into blender and process until smooth. Reheat and serve with parsley and peanuts.

Brown turkey, drain fat, and crumble. Combine all ingredients into a large pot and simmer over low heat. Cook for 2-3 hours, stirring every 15 minutes. You can top it with chopped onion and low-fat cheese.

Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chicken pieces and sauté about 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Add onion, carrot, bell pepper, and celery; sauté about 4 minutes. Add chilies and the next six ingredients (chili through broth); bring to a boil.
Cover, reduce heat and simmer 25 minutes, adding water as needed for desired consistency. Stir in pesto just before serving.

Note: Chili can be made ahead and frozen for up to 3 months. Freeze 3 tablespoons pesto. In other words, freeze without the pesto and add it after it is reheated.

Roasted Pepper Cream
Level 1
Use to top the Black and White Bean soup recipe

Sort beans and place in large bowl, cover with water and soak overnight. The next day, drain the beans and add 6 cups of fresh water to the bowl.

Heat the oil in a large cast iron pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and celery and cook. Stir occasionally. Add beans and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 2 hours, or until beans are tender.

Remove half of the beans to a food processor or blender and process to puree, adding liquid from the soup to cover. Add black pepper to taste and celery seeds. Return the pureed beans to the pot and heat, stirring, until soup thickens. Stir in the lemon juice. Ladle into 6 serving bowls, and garnish with the sliced lemon and celery leaves.

Place beans in a large bowl and cover with the water. Add more water if necessary to cover the beans. Soak overnight. Drain beans and add 6 cups of fresh water to the bowl.

Heat the oil in a large bottom pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and celery and cook stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until tender.
Remove half of the beans to a food processor or blender and process to puree, adding the liquid from the soup to cover. Add black pepper to taste and celery seeds. Return the pureed beans to the pot

And heat, stirring until the soup thickens. Sir in the lemon juice.
Ladle into 6 serving bowls, and garnish with the sliced lemon and celery leaves.

This recipe calls for ditalini or small shell pasta, but any other small, shaped pasta will work equally well. If you leave the pasta out, it’s a Level 1 dish.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the leeks, celery, minced garlic, dried oregano, pepper, and salt. Cook, stirring frequently, for 4 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to soften.

Add the broth, Swiss chard, green beans, and pasta. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for
8 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and the pasta is al dente.

Meanwhile, in a cup, combine the chopped garlic with the parsley. Stir into the soup along with the zucchini. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, or until heated through.

Ladle the soup into 4 bowls and top each with 1 teaspoon of the cheese. Garnish with the oregano sprigs.

Submerge chard in cold water and rinse thoroughly; thinly slice stems and coarsely chop leaves.

Heat 2 tsp. of the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add celery and onion and cook, stirring often until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add broth, tomatoes with juice, beans and oregano; bring to a low boil.
Reduce heat to medium-low heat cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add chard and cook 5 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with oil, and serve hot.

Place black beans and beat northern beans I two separate large bowls and cover with water, and soak overnight in the refrigerator.

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, chili pepper, celery, garlic, and thyme and cook for 8 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Remove half of the vegetables to another large pot.

Drain the beans. To the first pot add the black beans, 5 cups of broth. Chili powder and the cumin, To the second pot, add the great northern beans, the remaining 4 cups broth, and the sage. Heat both pots to boiling and cover. Reduce the heat to low. Simmer the black bean pot for 1 ½ hours, and the white bean pot for 1 hour. Keep both warm over low heat.

To serve, ladle 1 cup of black bean soup into each of 4 serving bowls. Tilt the bowls and ladle 1 cup white-bean soup into the other side of each bowl. Drizzle with the Roasted-Pepper Cream and garnish with the cilantro leaves.

Put the meat and onions in a stock pot or large deep frying pan, and cook for 5 minutes, then add about 2 cups of water and mix and chop with a spatula until the hamburger is pretty well broken up. Then add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 45-60 minutes. Correcting the seasoning at the end is important. Although Cincinnati chili isn't supposed to be super-spicy, you can add heat if you like, or a little vinegar to perk up the flavor, or salt, or a bit of sweetener if it's harsh.

Nutritional Information Each of 8 servings has 6 grams effective carbohydrate plus 2.5 grams fiber, 23 grams protein, 13 grams fat, and 240 calories

Toss meat with 3 T. olive oil and 2 T. chili powder in non-aluminum bowl. Let stand in refrigerator overnight. Heat 3 T. oil in large, heavy skillet over med-hi heat. Brown the meat in batches (do not crowd) on all sides, about 5 minutes.

Transfer to a large pot, using slotted spoon. Add chorizo to skillet and brown well. Transfer to pot using slotted spoon. Reduce heat to med-lo. Add more oil to skillet, if necessary. Add onions and cook until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper. Stir 3 minutes then transfer to pot.

Stir in tomatoes, beer and tomato paste

Bring to a boil then reduce heat. Cover and simmer until meat is very tender, stirring occasionally, about 3 hours. Uncover during last hour if necessary to thicken liquid into sauce. Some good accompaniments are pinto beans and salsa as side dishes.

Boston Baked Beans
Level Two
For my 2 qt bean pot, I use the following (just double the ingredients for your "large economy-size" pot):

Soak the beans in cold water for 12-24 hours (put them in before you go to work on Friday). If you don't soak them this long, or they're a bit drier than usual, you may have to simmer them *just until* their skins start to burst. If you simmer them, save the bean water, as you can use it in the bean pot later.

Saturday morning, cut the onions in quarters and throw them into the bottom of the bean pot. Add the drained beans. Disperse the salt pork chunks throughout the beans or put them on top. Mix all of the other ingredients with 2-4 cup of hot water and dump it into the beans. Add enough water to cover the beans, and put the pot in the coals at the back of the kitchen hearth (or, if you must, an oven at 250 F or so is acceptable).
Cook until dinner-time (6-8 hours), adding water as necessary and occasionally stirring up the beans. For the last hour or so you can leave the pot uncovered to get rid of some excess water.

If you leave the leftovers (in the pot) at the back of the hearth, they'll be all ready for breakfast on Sunday.

Baked beans are just the thing for a blustery day. This is a great side dish to roast pork tenderloin or sirloin steak.

Saturday morning, cut the onions in quarters and throw them into the bottom of the bean pot. Sauté the sliced bacon until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Add the drained beans. Mix beans, onions, and bacon. Mix all of the other ingredients with 3 cups of hot water and dump it into the beans. Add enough water to cover the beans, and put the pot in the coals at the back of the kitchen hearth (or, if you must, place pot in an oven at 250 F.)

Cook until dinner-time (6-8 hours), adding water as necessary and occasionally stirring up the beans. For the last hour or so you can leave the pot uncovered to get rid of some excess water.
Serves 4 to 6.

Wash pinto beans in a colander. Put in bowl and cover with 3 inches of water. Let sit overnight. Next morning, drain the beans.
Place beans in pot and cover with 3 inches of water. Add onions, soy sauce, vegetable bouillon cubes and garlic. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes, reduce heat and let simmer for 6 hours. Check occasionally and add more water when necessary. Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with cheese, and serve with freshly steamed tortillas.

Combine the above and store, covered, in refrigerator overnight. Keeps well. For those of you who don't like sticky, sweet desserts, here is a recipe that will get everyone's attention.

Wash and pick over beans. Make several cuts into the salt pork down to, but not through, the rind. Combine all ingredients, except salt, in a heavy saucepan or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low simmer. Cook very slowly, covered. Stir beans up from the bottom occasionally, and add water if they start looking dry. Cook for at least 2 hours. When beans are soft (not mushy), but still hold their shape, they are done.

Drain the chickpeas, reserving ¼ to ½ cup of the liquid. Combine the chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini, onion, garlic, oil, cumin, pepper and salt in a blender or a food processor. Puree until smooth. Refrigerate 3-4 hours before serving to blend the flavors to blend the flavors, Garnish with parsley, if using.

Vegetable cooking spray
1 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise in half, sliced
1 cup sliced onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 small jalapeño chili, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 can Black beans or 1 1/2 cups cooked Black beans, rinsed, drained
1 can Pinto beans or 1 1/2 cups cooked Pinto beans, rinsed, drained
1 cup chopped tomato
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper, to taste*
12 South Beach whole wheat tortillas (6-inch), or home made
|3/4 to 1 cup (3 to 4 ounces) shredded low fat four-cheese Mexican blend or reduced-fat four-cheese Mexican blend Salsa, as garnish*
Sour cream, as garnish*

Spray large skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium heat until hot. Sauté zucchini, onion, garlic, jalapeño chili and cumin until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
Add beans to side of skillet; coarsely mash about half the beans. Mix beans, tomato and cilantro into onion mixture and cook 1 to 2 minutes. Spoon 1/3 cup mixture on one side of each tortilla and sprinkle with 1 1/2 tablespoons cheese. Fold tortillas in half and spray both sides with cooking spray.

Bake on cookie sheet at 450° F. until browned and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes, or cook in large skillet over medium heat until browned, 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Garnish quesadillas with salsa and sour cream.

Preparation: Rinse and drain beans. Discard damaged beans and any foreign material.
Cover beans with 6 cups water and boil for two minutes. Cover pot; soak for one to four hours. Discard soaking water.

Cut meat from ham bone into 3 or 4 large pieces. Sauté onion in butter or margarine until soft and golden in a 4-quart pot. Add beans, 4 cups water, bouillon cube, ham shank bone and ham pieces, bay leaves, thyme, oregano, salt, and red pepper flakes; bring to boil
Reduce heat, cover pot, and simmer for 1 to 1-1/2 hours, or until beans are tender.
Discard bay leaves. Remove ham shank. Cut meat from bone and discard bone. Dice meat into bite-sized pieces and return to the pot.

Remove 1 cup beans from pot and mash with potato masher or fork. Return mashed beans to pot and stir to thicken.
Add diced meat, chopped green pepper and rum (if desired); cover and simmer 15 minutes.
Serve beans over rice. Top each serving with a dollop of sour cream (if desired).

Drain and rinse all beans. Brown ground beef with vegetable oil; drain. Add remaining ingredients to slow cooker. Cover and stir occasionally. Put on low heat, can be fixed ahead and left on all day.

Pick over beans and rinse. Place in a large bowl; add water to cover. Let stand overnight; drain. Combine beans and onions in a large saucepan; add water to cover; heat to boiling; cover. Simmer 45 minutes, or until skins of beans burst when you blow on several in a spoon. Drain liquid into a small bowl. Measure 1 cup of the bean liquid and combine with molasses, mustard, brown sugar, and salt in a bowl. Layer half of the salt pork and all of the beans into an 8 cup bean pot. Pour molasses mixture overtop; add just enough more saved liquid to cover beans. Top with remaining salt pork, pressing down into liquid; cover. Bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 4 hours; uncover. Bake 1 hour longer, or until beans are deep brown, tender, and as dry as you like them. (After 2 hours baking, check beans, and if they seem dry, add more saved bean liquid to keep them moist.

Cover beans with water; soak overnight. Add salt to beans; simmer until tender. Blend garlic, onion and tomato juice, add to beans. Add sugar, molasses, mustard, and meat; pour into a 2 1/2 quart bean pot. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until beans absorb most of liquid. Stir occasionally while baking. Serves 12

1 tsp. olive oil
1 large Vidalia onion, finely chopped
1 medium butternut squash (about 1-1/2 pounds), peeled, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 32 ounce carton of low sodium, low fat chicken broth, divided}
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg or freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 cup Fibersure ( Adds 5 grams fiber per cup serving )
1 Tbs. Thicken Thin: Not Sugar
Yogurt (optional)
Fresh green chives (optional

Pour 1 tsp olive oil into large saucepan over medium heat. Cook till onions are translucent.

In a spaghetti pot, pour 1 inch of water in the bottom and place squash in the steamer basked and cook until softened. Pour cooked squash and chicken broth into soup pot containing cooked onions; Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 20 minutes or until squash is very tender. When squash is cooked through, use a hand blender to puree the soup.

Measure 1 cup of pureed soup into a small mixing bowl. Add Fibersure and Thicken Thin and whisk till blended smoothly. Add back into soup.

*At this point, soup may be covered and refrigerated up to 2 days before serving. Reheat over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Ladle soup into soup bowls. Place yogurt in pastry bag fitted with round decorating tip. Pipe onto soup in decorative design. Garnish with chives.

Makes eight 1 cup servings. Squash contains 14 grams of carbs per cup, less 4 grams of fiber in the squash and 5 grams fiber in the Fibersure.
One cup serving: net carbs equals 5 grams per cup.