Black bean eggplant GOMBS soup

This week's GOMB soup was inspired by a recent short clip from Dr. Gregor on the vegetables with the most antioxidant benefit.   Eggplant was very high on the list so that was my featured veggie in addition to GOMBs, oh and tomatoes.  I also used a recipe from the Fuhrman forums as inspiration (here, if you are a member).   I thought this turned out really nicely.   I snapped some pictures but must have forgot to save them so I don't have them.  It made 14 servings!  I might have 2 servings a day because they are fairly low-calorie and it might satisfy me more to have a bowl at lunch and dinner.  Anyway, getting to the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 lb black beans (or any other kind)

1 eggplant

1-2 bunches collards or kale

2 onions

1/2-1 lb mushrooms, any kind, I did a variety

2 16-oz cans tomatoes

1 Tbsp oregano 

2-3 tsp cumin

lots of garlic (I got rid of a bunch, must have been about 6 cloves)

2 Tbsp date syrup

I cooked the beans for 2 hours; chopped the collards, eggplant, onions and garlic in the food processor, added to the beans and cooked for another 1-2 hours.   I added the mushrooms too after chopping the other foods, added the tomatoes in the last half hour; added the date syrup at the end.  

Curry GOMB soup

Following on my GOMB soup theme (Greens, Onions, Mushrooms, and Beans), this week I made a curry version.  Last week I made a "spaghetti" version and the week before chili.  It's pretty much the same core ingredients, with different spices.

Ingredients:
1 lb dried beans or 2 cans
2 onions, chopped
1/2-1 lb mushrooms, chopped
3 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 red bell pepper (optional), chopped
few large stalks celery (optional), chopped
1-2 bunches collards or kale, chopped
1 can tomatoes
1 Tbsp curry
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp cinnamon
1-2 Tbsp date syrup

Note that the ingredient amounts are not important--you could halve or double each one and it will still taste good, if you like this sort of thing, that is.  Next time, I might double the spices.

Even though the picture is kind of dark, I like how colorful the soup is.  Here's what I did:  Soaked the dried beans over night, then cooked them up for 3 hours.  Add the can of tomatoes to the soup.   Heat a big fry pan up to hot, then throw on the onions which sizzle and brown.   They release enough liquid to keep from burning.  Add the celery, garlic, and spices, cook some more.  Add the red bell pepper, and mushrooms, cook until soft.  The mushrooms release lots of water which self-cleans the pan.  Add this to the beans.  Pressure cook or steam the greens and add them.  Add the date syrup.  

"Spaghetti"?

This was inspired by Spaghetti and GOMB but has no spaghetti in it.    Last week I made my GOMB chili, so this week I decided to make GOMB spaghetti.   I use GOMBBS as my easy way to remember how to eat healthy.  Greens Onions Mushroom Beans Berries and Seeds/nuts.  Dr. Fuhrman came up with this acronym.    I get my berries and Seeds in my salad, and lots of raw veggies of course.  So I aim for my GOMB in my soup--GOMB plus flavorings.  This week I was curious to try an old favorite:  spaghetti--well, the sauce anyway.   It turned out great:  the beans are a fine meat replacement, and the collard greens and mushrooms seem a fine substitute for the noodles, for me anyway.  I made noodles for housemate.  I haven't heard how she liked it.

Ingredients:
1 lb dried beans, or 2 cans already cooked, I used tepary
2 16-oz cans tomatoes or 1 28 oz can
1 can tomato sauce*
few Tbsp tomato paste if you have some (I don't)
italian seasoning herbs
2 onions
1 lb mushrooms
few cloves garlic
1-2 bunches of greens, like collards and/or kale
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 large carrot or 2 medium, cut into big pieces
1 cinnamon stick
1-2 Tbsp date syrup

*I actually don't buy tomato sauce because I use canned garden tomatoes that can't be beat.  I blend a third can of tomatoes in the blender (with the carrot, below) to make my tomato sauce.

Soak the beans overnight if dried.  Add the spices, cook for an hour, add the onions and garlic, cook for another hour, add the tomatoes and peppers and cinnamon stick, cook some more.  You don't want to add the tomatoes too early because they slow the cooking of the beans.  Steam the greens and carrot in a steamer or pressure cooker.   Blend the carrot with some of the sauce and add it to the soup--it adds a nice flavor and thickening.  Remove the cinnamon stick and add the date syrup at the end.   It adds just a touch of sweetness.  Since we don't get salt on our diet, the sweet is a nice touch.

I eat my nuts/seeds on my salad, but if you want some "parmesan cheese" for your "spaghetti," ground walnuts make a great substitute.  You could mix in some nutritional yeast to the ground walnuts.

mmm, Chili!

I was just planning to make my usual weekly pot o' beans, and it turned into a great pot of chili.   I always start with Dr. Fuhrman's recommended GOMB ingredients (Greens, onions/garlic, mushrooms, beans).  The beans I need for protein, calories and lots of other great reasons; the others are great for fighting cancer, plus they add flavor and texture.  Then I thought, huh, I could just add some chili powder, tomatoes, corn, and make some chili!   I looked up some recipes and saw cumin and oregano listed, so I added some of that too (the second time I didn't and I preferred it without).

Ingredients
1 lb dried beans, or 2-3 cans   (pinto, kidney, a dark bean, or just about anything---I used a mixture from rancho gordo)
2 16-oz cans tomatoes, or 1 28-oz can
1-2 onions
2-4 cloves garlic
1 lb mushrooms, any type
1 bunch greens, e.g., kale, collards, mustard, etc.
2 cups sweet corn (1 bag frozen) (optional)
1-2 Tbsp chili powder, to taste
1 tsp oregano and cumin (optional, I prefer without)

Toppings (optional)
chopped cilantro, chives, ramps, scallions, anything like that
home-made soy yogurt

Soak the beans overnight, or do a quick soak (bring to boil, then let sit for an hour).   Cook the beans for about 3 hours.  After 1 hour you can add the onions, garlic and seasoning.  Depending on how well-cooked you want the greens, you can add them to the chili at your preferred time or cook them separately.  I prefer them pretty tender and well-cooked, so I cooked them in the pressure cooker, then added them to the chili and let them simmer there for another hour (admittedly I was motivated by a sore tooth, but I ended up really liking the tenderness of them cooked this way).  I added the mushrooms in the last hour.  I added the tomatoes and corn towards the end.  The tomatoes can interfere with the cooking of the beans and they are cooked already anyway.  The corn hardly needs any cooking, especially if you like it a little crunchy.  If you like it tender, add it earlier.

Here's 10 servings ready for the freezer.