Hearty Southwest Black Bean Soup

January 27, 2016January 31, 2016 LauraJoli LookingJoliGood2 Comments

Lately I have been loving eating black beans! They have such a great hearty flavor and are so good for you too! This time of year when it is so cold outside, I love to eat soups!

When I saw this recipe on Tidy Mom, I knew that I was going to love it! So simple and so delicious!

Hearty Black Bean Soup | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com — Picture credit goes to Tidymom.org

Black Bean Soup Recipe

This Hearty Southwest Black Bean Soup is full of flavor, you’ll never miss the meat. Ready for the table in 30 minutes, but it’s even better the next day!

yield: 6 SERVINGS

prep time: 5 MINUTES

cook time: 25 MINUTES

total time: 30 MINUTES

Ingredients:

3 (15 ounce each) cans black beans, undrained, divided
2 teaspoons on minced garlic
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
14 ounces chicken broth, or vegetable broth
1 (10 ounce) can tomatoes with green chilis (I hate the flavor of peppers, so I skipped the green chilis)
1 (11 ounce) can yellow corn, drained

Directions:

Place one can of beans in blender; add garlic, chili powder, red pepper flakes, chipotle chili pepper, cumin and salt. Cover and blend on high until smooth, about 30 seconds. Pour mixture into stockpot.
Stir remaining 2 cans of beans, broth, tomatoes and corn into stockpot. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes

Check out the original recipe by clicking HERE.

I serve it with sour cream (or plain no fat greek yogurt) and cheddar cheese on top. I also make corn bread to serve with it. You can also serve it over white rice for a different type of dish completely. If you want to have meat in it, add ground beef or ground turkey or shredded chicken. So delicious!!! Enjoy!

Delicious Recipes

Broccoli Salad

January 20, 2016January 4, 2016 LauraJoli LookingJoliGoodLeave a comment

A few years ago we went to a cookout at my husband’s Aunt’s lake house. She served this broccoli salad, and I was in instant love! She has always been a wonderful cook with lots of great recipes. I think that every time I left her house I had a new recipe that to add to my collection. This broccoli salad is quite simple and very delicious.

broccoli-salad lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

Ingredients:

1 head broccoli, stems removed and florets cut into pieces
4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp white sugar
1/4 cup roasted no salt added sunflower seed kernels
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

In a small bowl combine mayo, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside.
In a large bowl combine broccoli, bacon, onion, cranberries, and raisins. Gently stir in the mayo dressing completely covering the broccoli mixture.
Sprinkle with sunflower seeds and serve immediately.

The only down side to this delicious salad is that due to the fact that it doesn’t keep well, it has to all be eaten on the day it is made . But hey, that is not really much of a problem considering how delicious it is!

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Delicious Recipes

Easy Cheesy Pizza Dip

January 13, 2016January 13, 2016 LauraJoli LookingJoliGood4 Comments

Pizza is usually an easy crowd pleaser! Not many people can resist the wonderful taste of a warm slice of cheesy pizza. This dip is a wonderful hot cheesy goodness with all of the favorite flavors of a cheese, pepperoni, and olive pizza! It is perfect for serving at a party (or eating alone :-)). As is, it serves four, but can easily be doubled, or tripled.

cheese, pepperoni, olives pizza dip | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature 1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano (parmesan), grated
1 cup pizza sauce
1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
2 ounces pepperoni, sliced
3 tablespoons sliced black olives
2 tablespoons diced green pepper, (I personally hate peppers, so I would never add these to my own dip, gross! But, hey if you love peppers, add them in.)

Directions

Pre heated the oven to 350 F
Mix the cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, mozzarella, and parmigiano reggiano cheese. Spread it across the bottom of a pie dish.
Spread the pizza sauce on top and sprinkle on the cheese, pepperoni, olives (and if you choose green pepper).
Bake about 20 minutes or until warmed through out and bubbling and the cheese is fully melted to a golden brown on top
Serve with bruschetta or tortilla chips.

You can also make this recipe in the crock pot. If you have been around Looking Joli Good for any amount of time, you know I love my crock pot! So simple, and perfect for keeping the dip warm if being served at a party! Layer everything in the slow cooker in the same way you would in the pie baking dish. Slow cook until the cheese is nice and melted usually about 1 hours on high or 2 hours on low.

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Delicious Recipes

Roasted Cauliflower

January 6, 2016January 6, 2016 LauraJoli LookingJoliGood6 Comments

Roasted cauliflower is one of my latest food obsessions. It is so delicious, simple, and yet super healthy. Cauliflower is is a great source of Vitamin A, folate, magnesium, and potassium. It also has a ton of phytochemicals. If you don’t know what phytochemicals are, they are an important part of health and wellbeing. Not only do they improve the health of our GI bacteria (also known as gut flora), they also promote healthy immunity.

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower cut into bite-size florets. A 2 pound cauliflower will give around 8ish cups. (you can even use frozen cauliflower*)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil or my favorite grape seed oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons kosher salt

Want to spice it up a bit more…
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped (instead of the garlic powder)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
3 teaspoons roughly chopped fresh thyme leaves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Mix together the oil, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and pepper. Toss the cauliflower with the oil mixture in a large mixing bowl (sometimes I even put it all into a gallon sized zip top freezer bag and shake it up.) Spread out evenly on a foil lined baking sheet; sprinkle with salt. Roast until golden and tender, about 20 minutes. Flip halfway through for an all over even roast. Put into your serving dish and enjoy!

I like mine extra crispy so I usually do closer to 23-28, flipping every 10 minutes.

*Just thaw frozen cauliflower out a bit first by briefly running it under cool to warmish water, letting it sit and drain. Repeat as many times as necessary. Frozen veggies often cook a bit faster, so keep a closer eye on them, set the timer for 15 min, adding 5 min as necessary.

Delicious Recipes

Creamy Garlic Scallops

December 30, 2015January 2, 2016 LauraJoli LookingJoliGoodLeave a comment

I love scallops! They are one of my favorite dishes to eat. While scallops may seem like they might be hard to make, they are actually one of those dishes that tastes amazing but is quite simple.

Here is a great recipe by Rasa Malaysia. You can check out her other 900+ recipes at rasamalaysia.com

Creamy Garlic Scallops

by @rasamalaysia
Serves 3

Ingredients:

1 lb jumbo natural scallops
Salt
Ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons white wine or Japanese cooking sake, optional
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt, to taste
1 teaspoon chopped parsley leaves
1 slice lemon wedges, quartered, for garnishing, optional

Directions:

Rinse the scallops, pat dry with paper towels. Season with salt and black pepper.

Heat up a skillet with olive oil and butter. Pan-sear the scallops on both sides until nicely browned, but don’t overcook them. Remove and set aside.

On the same skillet, add the garlic and saute. Add a little bit olive oil if you want. Add the cream, water, wine, salt and cayenne pepper. Bring it to a gentle simmer until the sauce thickens a bit. Add the scallops back into the skillet, add the chopped parsley leaves and lemon wedges, turn off heat and serve immediately.

For a lighter version that is just as delicious check out her Garlic scallops recipe by clicking HERE.

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Delicious Recipes

Caramel Popcorn

December 23, 2015December 19, 2015 LauraJoli LookingJoliGoodLeave a comment

A few weeks back my friends and I celebrated “Friendsgiving” One of my friends made some delicious homemade caramel popcorn. For me it was love at first bite! She gave me the recipe and I have been enjoying homemade caramel ever since! So simple and delicious. While I prefer to eat all of this homemade caramel popcorn myself, this recipe is perfect for giving away as gifts during the holiday season.

Homemade Caramel Popcorn | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

Caramel Popcorn

Ingredients:

1/2 to 3/4 unpopped popcorn

(simple instructions below on how to pop kernels in the microwave using a brown paper lunch bag.)
2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup white corn syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla

Optional: chopped nuts, sprinkles, chopped candy bars, M&M’s

Directions:

1. Pop popcorn and place in a large metal bowl.

2. Combine sugar, butter and corn syrup in heavy cooking pan.

3.Cook on medium heat; stir constantly.

4. When sauce turns medium caramel color, remove from heat and add vanilla.

**Warning: Be extra careful! The caramel is so super hot that if even a tiny bit gets on your skin it will burn soooooo bad! Also, don’t stand directly over the pan when you add the vanilla. It will bubble and steam when you add it to the hot mixture.**

5. Immediately pour over popcorn and stir with a long handled metal or wooden spoon.

6. Enjoy and try not to eat the whole thing yourself 😉

Paper Bag Popcorn Popping:

Measure 1/2 cup popcorn kernels into a lunch sized paper bag.
Loosely fold just the very top of the bag over so the kernels don’t spill out. Tape it shut (or you may end up with a microwave full of popcorn!)
Lay the bag in the microwave taped side down. Shake the kernels to spread them out evenly in the bag.
Microwave until there are no more than 3 seconds between popping sounds. (My microwave usually takes 2 min 30 seconds, but I stand by and listen very closely!)
Carefully remove the bag and open it carefully, the popcorn is hot! Enjoy!

Delicious Recipes

CINNAMON BREAD

December 9, 2015December 2, 2015 LauraJoli LookingJoliGood2 Comments

Just finished baking the last of 4 loaves of Amazing Amish Cinnamon Bread! The house smells delicious and I shared it with the ladies at the library. They said the bread was delightful! I highly recommend this very simple recipe from RedFly Creations!

CINNAMON BREAD
(makes 2 loaves)

Batter:

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk or 2 cups milk plus 2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda

Cinnamon/sugar mixture:

2/3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Cream together butter, 2 cups of sugar, and eggs. Add milk, flour, and baking soda. Put 1/2 of batter (or a little less) into greased loaf pans (1/4 in each pan). Mix in separate bowl the 2/3 c sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle 3/4 of cinnamon mixture on top of the 1/2 batter in each pan. Add remaining batter to pans; sprinkle with last of cinnamon topping. Swirl with a knife. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 min. or until toothpick tester come clean.
Cool in pan for 20 minutes before removing from pan.

Delicious Recipes

Eggless Cookie Dough

December 2, 2015October 11, 2015 LauraJoli LookingJoliGood2 Comments

If you remember from my Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe post, I love raw cookie dough. It is so bad for me to eat it, but it is so delicious! Here is a recipe for Eggless Cookie Dough that is just as tasty with out the risk of salmonella poisoning.

Eggless Cookie Dough

7 Tbsp Brown Sugar

6 Tbsp White Sugar

5 Tbsp Butter, softened

2 tsp Vanilla (1tsp)

3 Tbsp Milk

1/4 tsp Salt

1 Cup Flour (use almond or coconut flour for a bit of a change to the flavor or the cookie dough)

1/3 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips

1 tbs ground cinnamon

Combine the brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, and softened butter in a bowl and mix. Stir in vanilla and milk. Add flour and salt to the sugar mixture, and stir until combined. Stir in mini chocolate chips. Spread the mixture onto parchment paper and shape into a rectangle as evenly as possible. Put the square of cookie dough into the freezer and freeze for 1-2 hours. Remove from freezer and cut into small squares. Enjoy!

Delicious Recipes

Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars

November 26, 2015November 26, 2015 LauraJoli LookingJoliGood2 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving! We just finished enjoying these delicious “Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars” as part of our Thanksgiving breakfast. I highly recommend this recipe which can be found on the pillsbury website…

Ingredients

2 cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury™ refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2cup butter, melted

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F.
Unroll 1 can dough. Place in bottom of ungreased 13×9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish. Stretch to cover bottom of dish, firmly pressing perforations to seal.
In medium bowl, beat cream cheese and 1 cup of the sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Spread over dough in baking dish.
Unroll second can of dough. Carefully place on top of cream cheese layer. Pinch seams together.
Pour melted butter evenly over top. Mix remaining 1/2 cup sugar with the cinnamon, and sprinkle evenly over butter.
Bake about 30 minutes or until center is set. Cool slightly, about 20 minutes. Refrigerate for easy cutting. Cover and refrigerate any remaining bars.

Enjoy the holiday!

Click HERE to go to the Pilsbury website

Delicious Recipes

Sweet Potato Casserole

November 19, 2015November 16, 2015 LauraJoli LookingJoliGood3 Comments

I look forward to Thanksgiving every year for one reason. It is not the turkey or the mashed potatoes. It isn’t even the pies and desserts, although those are great too. The reason I look forward to Thanksgiving is this awesome Sweet Potato Casserole! It is so delicious!!! We had a Thanksgiving feast this past Sunday with a group of our friends. I made this dish to share with everyone and it was a crowd pleaser!

Ingredients

4 cups sweet potato, cubed
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Put sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan with water to cover. Cook over medium high heat until tender; drain and mash. (or use canned yams and skip this step all together.)
In a large bowl, mix together the sweet potatoes, white sugar, eggs, cinnamon, salt, butter, milk and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Transfer to a 9×13 inch baking dish.
In medium bowl, mix the brown sugar and flour. Cut in the butter until the mixture is coarse. Stir in the pecans. Sprinkle the mixture over the sweet potato mixture.
Bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until the topping is lightly brown.

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Category: Delicious Recipes

Hearty Southwest Black Bean Soup