13 Bean Soup & Hickory Cheddar Kale Sandwich

Today it is a cold one and there is snow on the ground. Tomorrow, maybe sunny and 60? Either way, the Chicago weather has provoked me to continue on with my soup kick. This time I changed up the Bob's Red Mill 13 Bean Soup recipe to be vegan and added some lazy additions.  It went quite well with a grilled cheese sandwich.


13 Bean Soup

2 cups of Bob's Red Mill 13 Bean Soup Mix
2 boxes of vegetable broth
2 cups of water
1 medium onion diced
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 of a bottle of marinara sauce
1 Tbs chili powder

1.Wash and pick through the beans. Cover with fresh water and let soak overnight. I happened to start mine in the afternoon and rinsed the beans several times before letting them soak until the morning. 
2. Rinse and drain the beans one more time.
3. Saute your onion and garlic in big pot.
4. Add vegetable broth, water, and beans.
5. Add tomato sauce and chili powder.
6. Let simmer until beans are tender.  Bobs says 3 to 3 1/2 hours. I just kept mine on until the soup was thick and reduced and the beans were tender.

Hickory Cheddar Kale Sandwich

Ingredients:
Bread Slices
WayFare Hickory Cheddar Dairy Free Spread
Sauted Greens ( I used kale, arugula, and beet tops sauted in garlic and olive oil)
Vegan Butter Spread. I used Earth Balance.


Make this just like you would a grilled cheese with greens in the middle. The vegan cheese spread gets very hot so be cautious when you bite into your sandwich!!

Pancetta Egg & Kale Cups

Eggs! Eggs! Eggs! The low carb diet staple goes great with pancetta and savory sauted kale. I cooked my eggs until they were completely cooked so you could literally pick up and walk away with your egg cup with very little mess.

For this recipe simply

1. line muffin tins with 2 slices of pancetta for each "cup". One package of my Whole Foods pancetta made enough for six cups.
2. add a tablespoon of kale that was sauted with onions and garlic into each cup. I used just under a cup.
3. crack an egg into each cup
4. bake at 400 until eggs are done and pancetta is cooked through. 

note: I cooked mine until my eggs formed a bit of a "crust". I sliced that off and ended up with a hard-boiled style egg. The kale was crispy on top like kale chips and the pancetta was crispy and chewy. So good. Serve with tomato slices topped with basil and a touch of olive oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan and season with salt and pepper.