Hot Soup on a Cold Day

Temperatures are in the single digits here in our little corner of the Midwest - sounds like a good excuse to make some tasty, hot soup! Especially when you can just dump the ingredients in the Crock-Pot and forget about it for eight hours. (By the way, I'm most impressed with my soup picture - you can even see the steam pouring off it! Not bad for our lower-end camera!)

Vegetable Bean Soup
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrot
1/2 cup diced onion (I used Ore Ida frozen diced onion)
1 large green bell pepper, cut into bite-sized dice
1 medium potato, skin left on, cut into bite-sized dice
1 container sliced mushrooms
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilis, not drained
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. black pepper
1 carton vegetable stock

Add all ingredients to large Crock-Pot. Cook on low for eight hours. Enjoy!

Amaranth Casserole

I had some amaranth in my cabinets but didn't know what to do with it. I bought it about six months ago and cooked it once, but I didn't know what to expect - it cooks up a bit like polenta. So, feeling creative, I thought I'd attempt a layered casserole. I based a lot of the recipe on one for lasagna that I found at the Fat Free Vegan website. My recipe is pretty tasty (I think the soy sausage makes it), but made a mess out of my kitchen because I had to use so many pots, pans and bowls.

Amaranth Casserole
Layer #1
3 cups water
1 cup amaranth
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

Bring water to a boil. Add all other Layer #1 ingredients. Cover; lower heat to medium low. Cook for 30 minutes. Stir thoroughly when done.

Layer #2
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lb. fresh sliced mushrooms
4 soy breakfast sausage links, sliced thin
1 jar pasta sauce
1 can sliced black olives, drained

Cook oil, mushrooms and soy sausage in frying pan. When mushrooms are beginning to soften, add pasta sauce and olives. Warm through.

Layer #3
10 oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 lb. firm tofu, drained
2 tbsp. plain soymilk
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Mash all Layer #3 ingredients together.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray and layer ingredients as follows: 1/3 of Layer #1, 1/2 of Layer #2, 1/2 of Layer #3. Repeat once again, then top with remaining 1/3 of Layer #1. Cover casserole dish with foil, bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil; bake an additional 15 minutes.