SUN COOKING USA
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Solar Cook Today, Eat Today… and Tomorrow
With a little planning you can enjoy solar cooked meals even on cloudy days. Set aside some of the beans from this soup for lunch on a rainy day.
Sun Oven Vegetarian Back Bean Soup
Ingredients
1 pound dried black beans, picked over, rinsed, soaked overnight and drained
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
Sun Oven Italian Beans
Beans that have been seasoned while they cook make a great side dish on their own or they can be stored in the refrigerator for use in soups, stews, risottos, or pasta dishes.
Italian Style Beans
Ingredients
1 pound dried cranberry or cannellini beans, picked over, rinsed, soaked overnight, and drained
Solar White Bean Chili
Whether you call it chili or soup this rich bean stew makes a great dinner on a cold night. The first step, sauteing the onion and garlic, can be done stove top or in the Sun Oven. Use a cast-iron Dutch oven if starting out on the stove or a light-weight metal pot if you want to make it entirely in the Sun Oven.
Sun Oven White Bean Chili
Ingredients
2 cups dried great northern or cannellini beans, picked over, rinsed, soaked overnight, and drained
1 tablespoon olive oil
Solar Vegetarian Chili
Solar Soup with Fresh Rosemary
There were rosemary bushes all over the place in my old neighborhood. It was so easy to go for a walk and snip a couple of sprigs off of one whenever I needed it. No such luck here. Fresh herbs can be expensive, but the flavor is worth it and even though I have what ever the opposite of a green thumb is called I think I’m going to have to plant an herb garden soon.
Sun Oven White Bean Soup with Rosemary
Ingredients
1 pound dry cannellini beans, rinsed and picked over
2 onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for serving
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 rosemary sprig
Texas Caviar from the Sun Oven
A few years ago I heard a piece on the radio about traditional New Years foods from around the world. I was surprised at how many different cultures consumed some kind of legume to ring in the new year. In Italy they eat lentils with a fatty boiled sausage called cotechino. It’s believed to bring good luck and prosperity for the year. I was never very fond of it and usually limited myself to a few bites just in case there was any truth to that belief. Not surprisingly, I’ve never seen cotechino in the U.S. (but I haven’t really looked for it) so I was more than happy to adopt a new tradition when I learned that black-eyed peas were the legume American’s equate with the first day of the year.
Solar Texas Caviar
Ingredients
1 pound dry black-eyed peas, picked over and rinsed
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
Sun Oven Fava Bean Hummus
Fava beans make great hummus that can be served with pita bread or fresh vegetables. I prefer favas to chickpeas; they don’t need to be presoaked and make a smoother hummus. I used to buy mine at high-end, gourmet supermarkets until I found them for a fraction of the price in the Hispanic aisle of a local store. The expensive ones aren’t any better so don’t drive the extra miles or fork over the extra cash for the fancy packaging. Just make sure you get the ones that have already been shelled, otherwise they’d have to be soaked and peeled before cooking.
Fava Bean Hummus
1 1/2 cups dried, shelled fava beans, picked over and rinsed
1 clove garlic
Sun Oven Vegetarian Chili with Chard
Swiss chard has been on sale lately at my local grocery store. It happens to be one of my favorite vegetables and I’m always looking for new ways to cook it. I adapted this vegetarian chili recipe from one I found on epicurious.com. Previously cooked dry black beans can be used instead of canned. If you’re not going to serve straight out of the Sun Oven wait until mealtime to add the chard. When you’re ready to eat, gently bring the chili to a simmer on the stovetop, stir in the Swiss chard and let it cook for about 4 minutes.
Solar Black Bean Chili with Butternut Squash and Swiss Chard
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped (about 2 and 1/2 cups)
3 garlic cloves, chopped
More Soup from the Sun Oven
The bacon adds flavor to this rich soup but can be omitted for a vegetarian version. It’s added after the beans have been cooking for a while and I often forget. I like it either way.
Sun Oven Cuban Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
1 pound dried black beans, picked over, rinsed, soaked overnight, and drained
5 cups water
1 large onion, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon paprika
Hearty Solar Soup
Split peas don’t need to be presoaked making them ideal for the Sun Oven when the weather forecast is uncertain. I managed to throw this soup together with ingredients I had on hand despite the fact that I wasn’t planning on doing any solar cooking today.
Solar Curried Split-Pea Soup
Ingredients
1 pound dried yellow split peas, picked over and rinsed
1 small onion, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
