I think that black bean soup, especially when served with rice and topped with chopped onion, sour cream and a squirt of lemon juice, is one of the most perfect meals on earth. Savory and flavorful, low in fat and totally filling, it's just delicious. The picture you see above is actually one of mine, and I eat it just as you see it, out of my little orange pot, perched on a cutting board to protect the table from the heat. If the picture makes you hungry, you can find the recipe over at Super Eco.

As much as I love paging through all the beautiful cookbooks that are getting published at a rapid rate these days, I will always be devoted used cookbooks. I picked up this one, Simple Pleasures by Helen Hecht last December while I was in Portland (the main Goodwill Store in lower SE has one of the best book sections around) and it's become one of my new favorites. The first time I leafed through it, I had to leap up for a pad of post-it notes, to mark all the appealing recipes.

Helen Hecht wrote a series of cookbooks in the late seventies and early eighties, all of which seem to be out of print now. I'm sad about that, as this book is an accessible and gentle entry into home entertaining (and contains a number of recipes that are also perfect for everyday) and I imagine her other books are just as nice.

I've been trying to make at least one pot of soup a week, so as to get six to eight meals for Scott and me from a single cooking effort. This week, I used Hecht's recipe for Black Bean Soup (recipe after the jump) as my starting place (I made a few changes, as I'm simply unable to follow a recipe word for word). It turned out perfectly and will be good eating all week long (I'm also taking a couple of quarts to friends who had their second baby on Thursday).

Other recipes from this book that I've marked? Whole Roasted Onions, a Tomato, Peach and Red Onion Salad, White Bean Salad and Miniature Lime Muffins. When I make them, I'll be sure to let you all know how they turned out!

Between my vast cookbook collection, the over 100 food blogs that I read, and the wonderful recipe web sites that I use daily, I can find a recipe for just about anything. Anything, that is, except a dish that seems suitable for dinner. Why is it that I can easily find a recipe for chestnut-armagnac souffle (doesn't that sound good?), but not one thing that I feel like eating or cooking on a given night? I usually just end up falling back on old favorites, so I thought I'd share list some here, just in case anyone out there has the same problem as I do. Chances are that many of our default dishes overlap, but maybe if everyone shares some, we'll get some new dishes circulating...

1. Mario Batali's pollo al vino cotto -- The second tastiest chicken dish a person can prepare in a home kitchen (the first is chicken with figs from the Silver Palate Cookbook, but it takes some advance planning)

2. Chicken Caesar salad -- Healthy, plus it's easy to throw in other vegetables that you have laying around

3. Black bean soup -- I use my mom's recipe, but here's a really quick one from Epicurious

4. Roasted chicken -- Carrots, onion, potatoes, rosemary, thyme, lemon, salt, pepper.

5. Roasted vegetable chopped salad with reduced balsamic vinaigrette -- I roast any vegetables I can find at 400 for 30 minutes, then chop them up, toss them with chopped radicchio and chicken if available, and drizzle with a reduced balsamic dressing.

6. Soba noodle salad -- This is always easier than I think it's going to be, and just as refreshing. Here's a beautiful one from Simple Recipes to get you started

7. Lemon fish -- Any piece of any white fish doused in lemon juice, salt and pepper, usually accompanied by a baked potato

8. Sushi take-out -- If worst comes to worst, and I really can't bring myself to cook, this is my plan.

Now, your turn! Please share your default dinner menus!