Adzuki Beans, Veggie Soup and Snow Peas.. Oh my!

My goal this week was to try at least ONE new thing.. I ended up with THREE! First I made a big pot of adzuki beans.. Holy yum! They taste like a cross between a pinto and a fresh black eyed pea.. And you know how I love my BEPs! My house smelled sooooo good as they cooked (a quick boil, 4 hour soak and then simmered away for about 2 hours.) They smelled like the south. Like comfort food.. And I was excited. Normally, I like my beans with either rice or corn bread. The way I doctor up my cornbread is so not healthy..LOL! I decided to go a different route and bought some polenta. It's made from corn meal and I bought the pre-made tube 'cause I was feeling lazy. I sliced them into rounds and pan fried them in a little olive oil to serve under the beans. Oh. My. Word. Tyler and I were in heaven!! Born and raised in the south, I know a good pot of beans and this was definitely one of those pots. Besides being super yummy, the adzuki bean is very healthy and great for the kidneys. I don't know much about eastern medicine, but my acupuncturist has been working on the kidney function as they relate to my reproductive stuff. Yeah. So I figure it can't hurt, right?
Here's the pot of beans cooking up. The green stuff is a 3-4" piece of Kombu. It's a great sea vegetable that adds minerals, nutrients and helps tenderize beans. I put it in my soups and it really brings out the flavor of my vegetables. Or maybe it's all in my head.




As for the other new veggies, they're not so exotic, just something I've never had. I wanted to beef up my veggie soup (so to speak.) I bought some leeks and parsnips. I'm having soup for dinner as I type this and I gotta say.. Yum. The parsnips are a lot like carrots, only stronger. Leeks have this yummy fresh onion scent. I can see why people put them in potato soup! In fact, the parsnips have a potato look and feel in the soup that makes me happy. Peel 'em and chop up like carrots. As for the leeks. I chopped them up and let them soak in a bowl of water. They're very dirty and gritty all the way through. Give 'em a little swish around and all that dirt goes to the bottom.. Thank you, Rachael Ray, for that little tip!


And on to our (Thank God for a kid who loves veggies!) new favorite side dish! Sautéed fresh snow peas :) I trim the ends, saute them in a little olive oil (sesame oil would be fantastic!) and sprinkle them with sesame seeds (apparently the little wonder seed! who knew?) YUMMO!! Crispy, crunchy, light and a little lemony. They're fantastic, easy to fix and fun to eat :)