A number of you have asked for a couple of recipes that my family has liked lately so I thought I would post those before I forgot how I made them.

Miracle Chinese Vegetable Soup

This soup was inspired by a fantastic soup that was served by a family-owned Chinese restaurant in a town where a used to live. We jokingly called it miracle chicken soup because it seemed to cure the common cold. I always crave this yummy soup when I am getting a little sick. This recipe is my attempt to recreate that delicious and healthy soup.

1 cup Chinese rice sticks (also called rice noodles or rice vermicelli)
1 tsp olive oil
2 chicken breasts, sliced in bite-sized pieces
2 qts chicken or vegetable stock
1 teaspoon ground ginger or 1 tablespoon fresh ginger
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon Oriental five-spice powder, to suit your taste
2 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup baby corn
1 cup celery, slicked diagonally
1 cup carrots, sliced diagonally
1 cup onions, chopped
1 cup fresh green beans, snapped
1 cup fresh broccoli florets
1 cup garbanzo beans, cooked
1 cup snow peas
1 cup bok choy, pak choy or some of each, sliced diagonally
1 tsp sesame oil

Soak rice sticks in hot water for 10 minutes. While rice sticks are soaking, saute chicken in olive oil until no longer pink. Add small amount of stock and deglaze pan. Add remaining stock, ginger, soy sauce and five spice powder. Bring to boil. Drain and rinse noodles and add to stock. Reduce heat to simmer and simmer until chicken is tender (about 5 minutes). Add all vegetables except bok choy and cook until bright in color and almost tender (5 minutes) Add bok choy and cook for 3 more minutes until all vegetables are just tender and bright in color. Remove from heat and stir in sesame oil.

Black Beans of Complete and Total Awesomeness

Dried beans are a real budget saver. I am aways looking for new ways to cook them. Inspired by the savory flavors of Cuban black beans, I designed this recipe for the crock pot. It is delicious served with brown rice. My kids liked it so much they named the recipe.

1 pound Dried black beans (turtle beans)
1 large onion, chopped coarsely
3 large cloves garlic, sliced
1 cupk celery, chopped coarsely
1 large sweet green or red pepper, chopped coarsely
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
3- 4 cups broth
1.5 cups salsa
4 – 5 chicken breasts

Soak black beans overnight (or do quick soak*). Drain and rinse beans and add to 6 qt or larger crock pot. Top with onion, garlic, celery and bay leaf. Add broth and enough extra water to bring liquid level almost to the top of beans. Top with half the salsa. layer chicken breasts on top of beans. Top with remaining salsa. Cook on high for 4- 5 hours, on low for 6 – 8 hours or until chicken and beans are tender and chicken juices run clear. Serve with brown rice.

* Quick soak for beans – Rinse beans. Place in medium stock pot and add enough water to equal twice the depth of beans (1 pound of beans will take a minimum of 6 cups of water). Bring to a boil and boil for one minute. Cover, turn off heat but leave pot on the burner. Leave beans to soak for 1 – 2 hours. Drain and rinse beans and cook as described above.

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Now lest you think you have stumbled upon a cooking blog, here is my latest knitting. My latest pattern is one that I created for Sanguine Gryphon.

May I introduce you to Tess?

Tess of the D’Urbervilles follows the life of its tragic herione from maiden to mother to milkmaid to mistress to murderer. This corset-styled vest adorned with a delicate, crocheted lace edging is something I can imagine Tess wearing. The neckline is a flattering U-shape and the waist is shaped with ribbing for a snug but comfortable fit.

This vest is knit in one piece from the bottom up. Part of the waist shaping will be done with 1×1 ribbing, to reduce the number of decreases and increases necessary. This will allow a little more flexibility in the waist sizing.

The pattern is available from Sanguine Gryphon.

For a limited time, Sanguine Gryphon is offering a 10% discount if you purchase the pattern and yarn together. And as a bonus, I have a couple of copies Tess to give away. So let’s have a blog contest. Since the theme of the Sanguine Gryphon winter line was literature, leave a comment and tell me about your favorite book. To give you even more chances to win, if you mention this contest on your blog, Facebook or Twitter, I will add your name to the hat another time. Just leave another comment here telling me about each place you mentioned the contest – include a link to your blog, or tag me from Twitter or Facebook (I am @tabithaknits on Twitter and @Tabithas Heart on Facebook). I will draw one winner at random to receive a copy of the Tess pattern along with another of my patterns of your choice. Winner will be chosen on Valentine’s Day.