Chicken and Red Date Soup

This soup is a classic in our house. Red dates are used in Chinese cooking to restore blood and energy, especially in women. If my (Chinese) mother in law has anything to say about it, I eat at least one serving of red dates every day for the first month after I give birth, or for the first week after I finish my monthly date with "Aunt Flo." I used to really detest the taste of red dates, but they have since grown on me. This is a truly simple soup, and pretty tasty!

Ma's Chicken and Red Date Soup

Ingredients:
10 red dates (hung jou) (紅棗)
1 chicken breast
3 quarts water (about half of a standard soup pot)

Bring ingredients to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer. Continue cooking until broth is a rich brown color, dates have burst, and chicken is cooked through and can be shredded.

Salt can be added, but you certainly don't need it. Enjoy!

Hearty Spinach Sausage Soup

This soup came together from what was kicking around in the refrigerator...and isn't that always the best way for a soup to happen? It was delicious - savory, hearty and light, all at the same time. Served with some broiled cheese bread, this was a fantastic little supper!

(The cheese pictured above is called No Woman, from Beecher's Cheese in Seattle, Wa. It's a tasty white jack-style cheese with some Jamaican spices, onions and raisins.) 




Aunt LoLo's Hearty Spinach Sausage Soup
Serves 4 as a main dish, or 8 as a side dish

Ingredients:
1 package smoked beef sausage, chopped (like Hillshire Farm sausage)
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
4-5 medium tomatoes, cut into quarters
1 bunch spinach, chopped
3 cups frozen corn
Olive Oil
Water
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large dutch oven, brown your sausage. (Mine was frozen, so I put it in the pot whole, then removed it to chop it and added it back later. If you plan ahead, then go ahead and chop your sausage up, brown it, and move on to the next step with your sausage remaining in the pot.) If your sausage is a little lean, add some olive oil to the pot, then add your onion and cook until slightly translucent, about 5 minutes.

Deglaze the pan with a splash of water, then add your chopped carrots and stir. Add about 4 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Add chopped sausage (if you removed it at the beginning) and tomatoes and reduce to simmer. Cook until the carrots are tender.

Add your chopped spinach and corn, and return to a simmer. Continue to cook until the corn and spinach are warmed through. Puree lightly with an immersion blender and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve with grilled cheese toast and enjoy!

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
5 stalks celery, chopped
2 pounds crimini mushrooms, chopped
5-10 dried shitake mushrooms
8 cups water (or broth)
1 can evaporated milk (can substitute milk, cream, half and half, etc.)
3 Tbsp oil


In a large pot, melt butter.  Let brown just a bit, and stir or whisk in flour very well.  Let it get a little color, and slowly whisk in water or broth.  Add dried shitake mushrooms, and bring to a simmer.  Simmer 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet.  Add celery and crimini mushrooms- saute until softened, about 15 minutes.

Add celery and mushrooms, with pan juices, to soup pot, bring to a boil, and simmer 15 minutes.  Add 1 can evaporated milk and heat through.  Salt and pepper to taste.

If desired, thin down with a little more water before serving- the longer this sets, the thicker it gets.  I cooked it in the afternoon, and added another 2 cups of water before dinner.

Cioppino!

A few weeks ago, my husband and I picked up a mixed bag of seafood from Costco. It had loads of goodies, like mussels, rings of calimari, dime-sized bay scallops, and smallish shrimp. Everything in the bag seemed to be prepared so that it could all cook in the same amount of time. The mussels were partially open, which told me that had been pre-cooked. The shrimp were small, as were the scallops, which meant they could cook in the same amount of time. It took the guess-work out of the preparation, for sure! When I looked at that bag, all I saw was seafood stew. Although, now that I think about it, those would all lend themselves to jambalaya or paella, as well. I'll let you know what I do with the other half of the bag!

If you do not happen to have a mixed bag of seafood waiting for you in your freezer, almost anything will work here. Crab would be amazing, or clams. Just pick up a few pounds of your favorite seafood, and you will love this dinner. We served this piping hot, with a loaf of fresh honey wheat bread and a nice green salad.





Cioppino, LoLo Style
(Adapted from Giadda de Laurentiis, www.foodnetwork.com)

1 onion, diced
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 small can tomato paste
2 regular cans diced tomatoes, in their juice
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. crushed bay leaves
6 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
2 tsp. salt
3 pounds mixed seafood (small scallops, shrimp, calamari and mussels)
Fresh ground black pepper and Tabasco, to taste


1. In a large dutch oven (I loved my ceramic coated Le Creuset for this, but any heavy pan will work), heat up a dollop of olive oil, then add your chopped onion and garlic. Cook until they are translucent, about 10 minutes. (This step is entirely up to you, but I've found that when making soup, if an onion is at all crunchy going into the broth..it will stay that way, or simply disintegrate.)

2. Add a little water to deglaze the pan, then stir in the tomato paste. Cook that until it smells divine, then add the remainder of the ingredients, except for the seafood, pepper and Tabasco.

3. Cover and simmer at least 30 minutes, then blend with an immersion blender. 10 minute before you are ready to serve, add the seafood and cook until just done, in order of necessary cooking time.

Season table side with hot sauce and pepper. Serve with fresh whole wheat bread and a crunchy green salad.

Coconut Curry Pumpkin Soup (Vegan)

This soup is thick and creamy, with a bit of spice from the curry powder (I used a yellow curry powder.)  A green curry paste would be phenomenal here, and you could use a different creamy liquid rather than my coconut suggestion.  Almond or cashew milk would be amazing, or just evaporated milk.  Maybe yogurt or sour cream?  Just be sure to not overcook the soup once you've added that last creamy ingredient, so it doesn't "break."  Or, for a simpler soup, omit the creamy part altogether- I love how forgiving veggie soups are.  This made good use of frozen pumpkin puree, roasted from this years' garden pumpkins.  We served this with lots of fresh bread, for dipping!

--Myrnie

Coconut Curry Pumpkin Soup
Serves 8

Ingredients:
4 cups pumpkin puree
8 cups water
2 heaping Tbsp curry powder
2 tsp salt
1 onion, sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced or grated
small knob of ginger, minced or grated
3 Tbsp oil

1 can coconut milk (can substitute cream, evaporated milk, other thick creamy liquid like a nut or hemp milk)

Heat oil in a soup pot over medium heat- add onions, garlic, and ginger.  Stir until fragrant and lightly cooked, 30 seconds to a minute.  Add water, and remaining ingredients (except coconut milk).  Heat to a simmer, and let cook 20-40 minutes until slightly reduced.  Remove from heat, puree with an immersion blender, and stir in 1 can coconut milk.  

Sweet Potato Dessert Soup with Tong Yuen

 

After a long day of sick kids, cancelled plans and one truly awful dinner (made by yours truly), Lo Gung and I both deserved something tasty (and filling..since dinner was so nasty). This is what came to mind. I had a few sweet potatoes in the refrigerator, and some ginger that was only getting spicier by the day. Sweet potato dessert soup (fan syu tong seui) is kind of a perennial staple around here. However, I am an absolute sucker for anything involving glutinous rice flour, so I got fancy and threw a few fresh tong yuen into the mix. The result was tasty, satisfying…and almost made us both forget about the long day we had just survived.

 

Aunt LoLo’s Sweet Potato Dessert Soup with Tong Yuen

Makes 2-4 servings

Ingredients:

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1” pieces (fan syu)

3-4” knob of ginger, peeled and cut into 1/2” chunks (geung) (fyi – ginger is super easy to peel – scrape it with a spoon)

1 lime-sized chunk of Chinese rock sugar (bing tong)

1/2 of a dried satsuma peel (chaang pei)

15-20  plain glutinous rice dumplings (tong  yuhn) (recipe here) (to make 15-20 dumplings, you will need approximately 1/2 cup glutinous rice flour and less than 1/4 cup water)

Water (4 rice bowls full)

 

1. Put your water, ginger and satsuma skin into a medium sauce pan, cover, and bring to a boil.

2. Add your chopped sweet potato, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until potatoes are almost fork tender.

3. Meanwhile, prepare your tong yuen. When the sweet potatoes are about 2 minutes from being done, drop your tong yuen into the simmering water. Continue to cook until the tong yuen float, then add your rock sugar and stir to melt. Taste the broth, and add more sugar if necessary.

 

Enjoy!

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Every member of my family, including the infant, loved this soup.  L.O.V.E.D.  Also, it had a boat load of vegetables in it.

Cream of Broccoli Soup
2 heads broccoli, chopped
1/2 head celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 Tbsp. oil
1/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp dried onions
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
8 cups water
Chicken base or bullion (I used 2 tsp)
1 1/2 cups powdered milk (or amount indicated on package for 2 quarts of water)
Cooked corn, optional

Heat oil in a large pot, and add chopped vegetables, granulated garlic, and dried onions.  Saute until softened, and stir in flour.  Cook a few minutes, then add a little of the water and clean the bottom of the pot.  Add the rest of the water and worcestershire sauce .  Once heated through, add powdered milk.  Let simmer, stirring often to keep from sticking to the bottom of the pan, until carrots are softened.  Puree in a blender (or with an immersion blender) and pour through a colander to strain.   We served ours with corn stirred in.

You could also add potatoes, or other mild flavored vegetables like cauliflower, or young turnips.

If you have extra milk, that could easily be substituted for the powdered milk and water.

Aunt LoLo’s Baked Potato Soup

So, there I was. I had thrown five potatoes into the oven a few nights before to roast…and the kids simply couldn’t wait for the potatoes to finish before they ate their dinner. And so the five potatoes sat. And waited. And yearned for their turn on the dinner table.

 

Finally, I’d had enough of staring at those potatoes. They were going to be dinner, and they were going to be delicious.

 

And they were.

 

(Inspired by Better Homes and Gardens, “Baked Potato Soup”)

Ingredients:

5 baked potatoes

2 cups grated cheddar

2 Tbsp. snipped green onions

3 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

6 cups skim milk

6 sausages, diced and sautéed (I used cheddar bratwurst, and they worked really well in this soup)

Frozen peas (to taste. I added 1/3 of a small package, because that’s what was in the freezer! More would be better – they add a pretty green to the soup, a nice pop, and a touch of sweet)

Sour cream, to garnish

 

1. Scoop flesh from baked potatoes. Discard skins.

 

2. In a large soup pot, melt the butter, then add your flour, salt and pepper. Stir to make a roux, then add your milk all at once. Stir to combine, and do your best to break up all of the clumps of flour.  Add the green onions.

 

3. Cook the milk/flour mixture for 12-15 minutes, or until bubbly. (The recipe I was referencing said to cook until thick and bubbly. I never saw that happen. What DID happen was that the milk scalded, and smelled heavenly.) Stir this mixture often! The flour will want to burn and stick to the bottom, and that is not good eats.

 

4. Add your baked potato flesh, broken into small chunks, the cheddar cheese and your sausage. (If you’ve just cooked it, be sure to add in the rendered oil as well. Because it’s tasty, and I say so.) Cook, stirring often, until everything is heated through and starting to meld together. Break out the immersion blender and give it a few good pulses if you are into that sort of thing. 

 

5. Finally, add your frozen peas, turn off the heat and round up some bowls and spoons.

 

Even my picky four year old loved this one!

Chinese Corn Soup Egg Drop Soup

This is one of my favorite Chinese soups. It’s quick, it’s sweet, it’s hearty…and did I mention it’s quick?

 

A lot of Chinese-style soups need to simmer for hours, pulling all of the tasty vitamins and flavors from the vegetables and meats into the broth. The result is a rich, dark broth that is nearly fat free, and full of nutrients.

This soup is perfect with a bowl of rice, some chicken and some veggies. Even kids love it!

 

Chinese Corn and Egg Drop Soup

Ingredients:

1 can of “cream style” corn

1 can’s worth of water, chicken broth or vegetable broth

1 egg, beaten

Salt, Pepper and Sugar to taste

Green Onions, sliced, for garnish (not pictured)

 

1. In a saucepan, combine the corn and water. Heat over medium high heat until simmering.

 

2. Carefully stir the soup clockwise until all of the soup is swirling. While the soup is still moving, carefully stream in your beaten egg. Allow to sit for one minute, or until the egg just starts to set, and then stir again (clockwise).  (Ok, fine. You could stir counter clockwise if you want to…just be sure to pick one direction and stick with it, alright? Good. Moving on.)

 

3. As soon as the eggs are set, remove your soup from the heat and season to taste with salt, pepper and sugar. Sprinkle with sliced green onions and serve.  吃飯 ! (Dinner’s served!)

Meatball Soup (Albondigas de Trigo)

Spicy broth, and enormous meatballs.  This is a complex soup, and delicious.

Broth:
Blend chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (available canned in the hispanic section of the grocery store) with 5 or 6 medium tomatoes, and some garlic.  Pour into pot with about 8 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Add salt to taste.

Meatballs:
Mix 2 cups cooked wheat berries with:
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup oats
a little salt
a little cumin

Form meatballs around 1/4 pieces of hardboiled eggs, and drop into simmering soup.

Let cook until  meatballs are fully cooked.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

For posterity.  And Aunt LoLo who has lost this recipe each of the four times I've sent it to her over the years.  *mwah*  I believe this originated with my mother-in-law's little sister.

Before you start, have cooked broccoli on hand, and 1 cup of broccoli cooking water.  How much?  Up to you.  1/2 a Costco bag is good for a big pot of this.

In a large pot, melt 1/4 cup butter and saute 2/3 cup chopped onion.  (An onion.  Chop an onion.  Or two.  I really like onions)

Add 1/2 cup flour and whisk well to make a white roux. 
Add 2 cups chicken broth, 1 cup broccoli water, 4 cups dairy (could be half cream, I use all milk), 1/2 tsp Worchestershire sauce, 3/4 tsp salt (taste first!!).  Mix all together, add broccoli and heat.  Add 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese, or more to taste. 

Don't let this boil, or it will curdle.  

Black Bean and Chipotle Chili

Before running out the door to church, I treasure-hunted in my cupboards to see what I'd serve for dinner that night.  This chili came together fast, it's vegetarian, and everyone (including my white-foods-only-diet preschooler) cleaned their plates.  And had seconds.  Definitely a keeper!

You could definitely go with dried beans, but I didn't have any dried black beans on hand so I wrote this up the way I made it.  

Chipotle peppers are smoked jalapenos- I purchase them in small cans, packed in adobo sauce.  They're smoky, a little spicy, and delicious.  Store the unused portion in the fridge- I hear they're great in eggs!

Black Bean and Chipotle Chili

Ingredients:

5 cans black beans

1 can tomato sauce

2 Tbsp. chili powder

2-5 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

2-3 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Optional garnishes: sour cream, shredded cheddar, green onions

Drain and rinse 3 cans of beans, and put in crock pot with remaining 2 cans of undrained beans, tomato sauce, chili powder, and chipotle peppers with their sauce.  Let cook on low 3-5 hours.  Taste and adjust seasonings.  Add cilantro half an hour before serving.  Serve over rice, and topped with sour cream, cheese, and green onions.  

Enjoy!

Cheese and Potato Soup

I didn't take any pictures, but this was a fabulous soup.  Thick, hearty, cheesy, and easy.  What's not to love?  The recipe was recommended by a friend- the original recipe is on epicurious.  My only changes were to use three large carrots, puree the finished product with a stick blender before adding the cheddar, and I used extra cheese (maybe 2 cups total?).  I left out the ham too, and let my family stir in bacon bits at the table, and sour cream.  



Cheese and Potato Soup
2 tablespoons vegetables oil
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
2 cups milk
1 10- to 12-ounce russet potato, peeled, diced
1 cup packed shredded sharp cheddar cheese (about 4 ounces)
1/2 cup chopped ham
Hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)
Chopped fresh parsley

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add celery, carrot, onion and thyme and sauté until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle flour over and stir 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in broth, then milk. Add potato and bring soup to boil. Reduce heat and simmer soup until potato is tender, about 20 minutes. Add cheese 1/3 cup at a time, stirring until melted and smooth after each addition. Mix in ham. Season soup to taste with hot pepper sauce, salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Bon Appétit
December 1995
by Dorothy Davis: Columbus, Ohio

Roasted Vegetable Soup

Food stylist I am not, but this was some GOOD soup! I can only give you guidelines, because this was created from what happened to be in my crisper drawer, but give it a go- I promise you won't be disappointed (and I think it will freeze well, too.)

Roasted Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

Hard winter vegetables (sweet potatoes, potatoes, beets, onions, carrots, squash)

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Chicken stock or broth

So. Take all your winter vegetables- I used:
two sweet potatoes
two russet potatoes
six beets
one large onion
five carrots
one acorn squash

Scrub them well, and chop everything but the squash into large cubes- mine were about 1 1/2 inches. Throw all the veggies onto rimmed cooking sheets ("jelly roll pans") and drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. (My vegetables filled 2 pans.) Make sure they're not crowded, and everything is in a single layer- you want these to roast, not steam. Oh, and skin-sides down, please.

Roast at 400 degrees, giving the pan a good shake or stir every so often. You want the vegetables slightly caramelized at the edges, and knife-tender.

Meanwhile, cook your acorn squash. If you have a big oven, go ahead and poke the squash all over and throw it in there. I microwaved mine for about 20 minutes.

When everything is cooked and soft, throw it in a big pot. Cut the squash in half and discard the seeds, and scoop all the flesh into the pot. Add enough chicken stock to almost cover the vegetables and bring to a simmer. Puree (I used an immersion blender) and thin with more broth if needed.

Serve with cheese and croutons. (Mozzarella is nice. So is cheddar.)

Chinese Pork and Watercress Soup

My husband, Lo Gung, made the yummiest soup. It is very simple - watercress and lean pork, simmered together with some honey dates. Chinese soups are great because they use the leanest cuts of meat available, skim off any fat that does manage to make its way into the soup, and boil the pot until ever last possible vitamin is wrung out of the vegetables...and into the delicious, dark broth.

The remaining chunks of meat and vegetables can be eaten over rice, but are usually dipped in soy sauce as they have relinquished all their natural flavors to the soup!

Chinese Pork and Watercress Soup

Serves 6

In a soup pot, combine:

5 honey dates

1/2 lb lean pork (I used two 1" pork chops)

Two generous bunches watercress

Simmer for 2-3 hours, or until the broth is rich and dark.

Tip: While simmering the soup, place a wooden chopstick along one rim of the pot, and put the lid on top of that, so that it is slightly open. This will prevent boil-overs.

(Yes, I always leave the lid ajar while simmering soup...but for some reason, simply leaving it ajar does not prevent boil overs - you must use the chopstick. Infuriating, but true.)

Chinese Carrot and Pork Soup

ETA - My mother in law recently made this with a small piece of "gwo pei", or dried mandarin skin. It was amazing! It smelled absolutely fabulous. You can buy gwo pei in an asian market, or just make your own. Make sure you use small oranges with VERY thin skins - like Cuties. You don't want any discernible pith inside. 


We call this Hung Louh Baat Jyu Gwat Tong (Carrot and Pig Bone Soup). It is super simple to make and makes a delicious, healthy broth.

Pig Neck Bones should be available in any grocery store that specializes in Asian or South American fare. I buy mine for $.99 lb when they go on sale. They usually run around $1.50 lb. Normal pork chops, sliced, can replace the pig neck bones if you can't find them.





Fill a soup pot about 2/3 full with water.





Add:


1/2 lb pig neck bones


1 1/2 lb carrots, peeled and chopped into 3" sections


4 Honey Dates (look in an Asian market)




(Honey Date)




Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, partially covered, for 3 hours or until carrots are tender and the broth is a rich brown. Periodically skim off any foam that collects on top of the soup and discard.





Season to taste with soy sauce.





To serve, remove the carrots, pork and dates to a serving bowl. Serve* the broth as a first course, and eat the carrots and pork over rice.





*We have a special little pitcher, specifically for Chinese soups, with a strainer on the top to catch any errant bits of "choi liu" (ingredients) and a spout that begins at the bottom of the pitcher to separate the broth from any oil that might be floating on top. A normal gravy separator would work fine, and is identical to my special pitcher...with the exception of the Japanese gibberish on my pitcher. You won't find that on your gravy separator if you buy it at Target. Other than that, they're identical.

Potato Meatball Soup, and a side note on meatballs

There's no pictures (how do you make soup look appetizing in a photo?) but we had a great soup for dinner tonight. Start to finish took about 45 minutes, and since everything went into the pot and then left to simmer, it didn't heat up the kitchen (or ME).

This soup might be good with the addition of canned tomatoes, or other vegetables, if that strikes your fancy.

One note on the meatballs- I try to keep a Zip-Loc bag of my meatballs in the freezer. Spaghetti with meatballs is a favorite meal for Ernie, and cooking it is a snap with the meatballs already made. I mix 1 pound of hamburger with a little tomato sauce, breadcrumbs, and dried herbs. Coat a jelly-roll pan with olive oil, coat your hands with olive oil, and make the meat mixture into balls about the same size as a small cherry tomato. I like little bites of meat. Cook at 425 for 7 minutes, and flip them all with a turner. Cook for another 7 minutes, which should be plenty of time if they're small. They don't fall apart, and have the most wonderful browning. Let cool, and flash freeze before storing in a Zip-Loc.

We served this with wilted spinach salad with warm feta dressing, a Serious Eats submission from The Paupered Chef's Nick Kindelsperger. Surprisingly, that salad is a new favorite for Wonder Daddy. For a guy who likes just about everything, finding a new *WOW* favorite is a big deal! Check out his gnocchi with gorgonzola cream sauce too, another "hit" this week. If you can add one more food blog to your reader, I heartily suggest Paupered Chef.

Meatball Potato Soup

Ingredients:
4 russet potatoes, cubed
bacon salt
dried basil, celery seed, savory, and rosemary
olive oil
meatballs

Cube the potatoes and put in a medium pot or dutch oven. Cover with about 2 inches water. Season with 1 1/2 tsp bacon salt (or other seasoning salt if you haven't yet succumbed to the marketing pressure), and the dried herbs and spices. Add 3 or 4 dashes of olive oil, and let simmer till potatoes are soft. Add frozen meatballs, return to simmer, and let cook another 15 or 20 minutes. Serve with parmesan cheese.

Mild, Tomatoey, Chili

Is tomatoey a word? You know what I mean. Ordinarily I wouldn't post a recipe like this- I made it up last night, trying to doctor up the weekly pot of beans. Turned out as a mild, almost sweet chili (the tomato sauce matched with the pinto beans to make something very different than kidney-bean chili.) BUT, Ernie has eaten 4 servings of these beans now, which marks the first time she has ever polished off a bowl of beans and asked for more. Amazing! So, if you want a spicy, hearty chili- doctor this up. Use kidney beans, add chuck meat, add chilies, etc.

If you want a 3-year-old to eat her fiber-filled beans- cook it up! I'm guessing if your kid likes ketchup, they'll like these beans (especially if you let them tear up a thick homemade tortilla and start out by dipping it in the beans.) (As a side note, beans and rice both contain partial proteins that, oddly enough, exactly match to form a complete protein like you'd find in meat.)

Ernie's Chili
3 cups pinto beans, soaked and cooked
Stir in:
2 cans tomato sauce
1/2 an onion, diced
2-3 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper

Let simmer, taking care to stir and keep the beans from sticking and burning. Serve over rice, topped with a little cheese (but not on Ernie's bowl).