Burritos: Black Bean and Sweet Potato

How have I not shared this recipe before?  I first made it over three years ago.  And it is yummy!  The original comes from the much-loved book Simply in Season. Does anyone have that book and not love it?  It is fabulous!  Here's my only slightly altered version.

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burrito
1/2 onion, diced small and sauteed in 1 T oil
then add
2-3 cups diced sweet potatoes, cooked covered until soft
use water or apple juice as needed to prevent sticking to the pan
Add
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 t cumin
a generous 1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt (or more as needed)
Heat until warm.  Serve inside warm tortillas.  Also good on top of rice.  Shredded cheddar cheese is a good topping option.

So Incredibly Delicious!

I found this recipe here and it's going to knock your socks off. I'm not gluten-free but if you are, it fits! I've recently discovered the awesomeness (word?) of quinoa. It cooks up like instant rice but is jammed packed with things your body will love and run on for hours so it's a great recipe for moms who need go-juice quickly.


Black Bean, Edamame, Corn and Quinoa Salad

1 cup shelled edamame
2 cups fresh corn kernels (only had canned on hand)
1 cup cooked black beans
2 cups cooked quinoa
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro (only used 1/4 cup)
1 cup tomatoes, seeded and diced
3 T minced red onion
1 tsp ground cumin
2 T fresh lime juice
2 T red wine vinegar
2 T olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (optional – and I didn't do this) 

1. In a medium saucepan bring water to a boil. Cook edamame for 10 minutes. (I got a steamable bag to save time)
2. Bring a fresh pot of water to boil and steam corn for 3 minutes.
3. Combine edamame, corn, black beans and quinoa.
4. Make salsa dressing by combining tomatoes, red onion, cumin, lime juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and cayenne.
5. Only dress the amount you are going to eat right away. Combine dressing, cilantro and salad. Toss and serve.


Make it! You won't regret it!

Amazing Soup!

I wasn't going to post this recipe yet when I first tasted it. At first, I thought that I wanted to mess around with it a bit more, make it a bit better. But then I had three cups for lunch. And a bowl for breakfast. And it's the first thing I went for as a snack today. So I decided it must be pretty good as is. I got the recipe here. And the following is how I made it, pretty similar. If you like beans, this stuff is absolutely amazing. Dip a French baguette in it and you almost feel like you're treating yourself to Panera.

Pureed Black Bean Soup

Ingredients:
1 small onion, finely chopped
½ cup bacon bits (the original calls for ham or bacon slices)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 – 1 1/2 cups water
1 chicken bouillon cube
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili
pepper to taste
1 can 14.5 oz diced tomatoes

2 - 14.5 oz cans black beans

Cook onion and bacon in small amount of oil. Add garlic, then water and bouillon cube (or broth) and spices. Puree tomatoes and beans in blender and add to soup. Bring to boil and simmer about 5 minutes. Serve with French bread. (I'm sure it'd be great with sour cream or cheese and tortilla chips as originally suggested.)

Next time I may try puree just 3/4 of the beans and smashing the rest to make it a bit thicker...or maybe I'll just put a little bit less water. Regardless it's delicious!!!!!!!!!

Pork, Beans and Rice....Cuban Style

I've been trying to cook out of my comfort zone lately, since we aren't eating out anymore. This is the perfect example of something different, yet easy to cook. This is a great recipe to entertain with, because it does make a lot (about 6 servings) or you can just enjoy it a couple more times (like we did).

There are a couple things (the Adobo seasoning and the Mojo Criollo) I could not find in my local grocery, so I had to get them on the Internet. So if you decide to make this, look for the spices about a week before you want to, so you have time to order them if need be.

I got this recipe from another cooking blog, but for the life of me I can not find it again! So if by chance the fellow blogger reads this, I want to give you credit for this recipe.

ROAST PORK WITH BLACK BEANS AND YELLOW RICE

PORK
4-5 pound Pork Rump Roast
Adobo Seasoning (Goya Brand)
3/4 cup Mojo Criollo marinade

1. Preheat over to 350
2. Generously season meat with Adobo Seasoning. Place in a dutch oven(or oven safe large pot with lid) along with the mojo criollo.
3. Cover and cook about 25 minutes per pound. Until the pork reaches 140 degrees internal temperature.

YELLOW RICE
1 package Vigo Yellow Rice (16 oz.)
mojo criollo

1. Cook according to the package, but instead of using only water, use 1/2 water and 1/2 Mojo criollo.
   

**The package doesn't tell you to stir the rice at all. You need to stir it 2 or 3 times during it's cooking process.

BLACK BEANS
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minces
2 tablespoons cumin
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup mojo criollo

1. In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, saute onions in olive oil for about 10 minutes.
2. Add garlic and cook for about a minute. Add cumin, and stir.
3. Add beans, bay leaves and mojo criollo.
4. Simmer for about 10 minutes, until beans are soft and warmed through.

**You will need to buy 3 bottles of the mojo criollo for this entire meal.

And there you have it! It's very good with a couple shakes of the hot sauce as well. If you think this is a lot of pork, I have a recipe coming to use the leftovers. :)

Black Beans

I just had to get this recipe from my great aunt after she served it to me for lunch the other day. I tried to make it from memory, but I botched it. So I'm looking forward to trying again, now that I have the recipe. Now my aunt labeled this soup but didn't serve it that way. She used a slotted spoon and just served the beans and veggies over rice. It was very yummy that way with corn muffins on the side!

Black Bean Soup
1small onion chopped/diced

2 carrots finely chopped/diced

Saute in 1-2 T oil and cook until tender.

Add 2 crushed cloves of garlic.

Saute about 1minute - do not brown (makes the garlic bitter)

Add:

2 cans of black beans

1/2 tsp. thyme

1 cup chicken broth /bullion

1can diced tomatoes
Cook over low heat for 5 min or until it starts to bubble.

Add:

3 T apple cider vinegar.

dash of Cayenne pepper (optional)
Cook over low heat for about 15min. or longer

Black Bean Brownies - Don't Skip This Post...

Um. Can I say I am blown away? My mom, the skeptic, is also blown away.
I don't have any pictures, they got eaten too fast at work, but they look like regular, DARK brownies. Very soft and gooey. Rather fudge like in appearance and taste really.

Seriously you guys, these are amazing. I think it's the little bit of coffee graunales that really brings out the chocolate flavor. I used unsweetened chocolate like the recipe calls for. Actually, I pretty much did the recipe to a T, I just cut it in half otherwise you'll get 45 brownies and that's a lot, even for my coworkers.

And the kicker is how, um.. healthy? they are ? I mean, we are talking about a flourless brownie, with agave nectar which has a lower glycemic index than other sugar. And they have black beans in them...like WHAT???

don't be a skeptic. Make them for your next get together. No one will know what's in them..

just remember to referidgerate them because these puppies are SOFT and WILL fall apart.

Thanks, Heidi for finding this awesome recipe. I posted the link in my previous post, but here's the recipe with Heidi's notes:


Amazing Black Bean Brownie Recipe
For those of you who have a hard time tracking down agave nectar (which is becoming much more readily available) substitute honey 1:1 for the agave nectar. Ania's head notes encourage you to keep these brownies in the refrigerator, they will slice much better if refrigerated several hours or preferably overnight. I used instant coffee this time around, but you can find natural coffee substitute at many natural food stores.

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups soft-cooked black beans, drained well (hs: canned is fine)
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (granulated) natural coffee substitute (or instant coffee, for gluten-sensitive)
¼ teaspoon sea salt
4 large eggs
1½ cups light agave nectar

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line an 11- by 18-inch (rimmed) baking pan (hs note: or jellyroll pan) with parchment paper and lightly oil with canola oil spray.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a glass bowl in the microwave for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on high. Stir with a spoon to melt the chocolate completely. Place the beans, 1/2 cup of the walnuts, the vanilla extract, and a couple of spoonfuls of the melted chocolate mixture into the bowl of a food processor. Blend about 2 minutes, or until smooth. The batter should be thick and the beans smooth. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the remaining 1/2 cup walnuts, remaining melted chocolate mixture, coffee substitute, and salt. Mix well and set aside.

In a separate bowl, with an electric mixer beat the eggs until light and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the agave nectar and beat well. Set aside.

Add the bean/chocolate mixture to the coffee/chocolate mixture. Stir until blended well.

Add the egg mixture, reserving about 1/2 cup. Mix well. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Using an electric mixer, beat the remaining 1/2 cup egg mixture until light and fluffy. Drizzle over the brownie batter. Use a wooden toothpick to pull the egg mixture through the batter, creating a marbled effect. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the brownies are set. Let cool in the pan completely before cutting into squares. (They will be soft until refrigerated.)

Makes 45 (2-inch) brownies.

Reprinted with permission from Baking With Agave Nectar: Over 100 Recipes Using Nature’s Ultimate Sweetener by Ania Catalano. (Ten Speed Press 2008)

Call Me Crazy...

but I'm making these tonight to bring for my co workers in the printshop who did me a favor.

Will let you know how they turn out..

thanks to Heidi at 101cookbooks.com for the recipe, she got it from :
Reprinted with permission from Baking With Agave Nectar: Over 100 Recipes Using Nature’s Ultimate Sweetener by Ania Catalano. (Ten Speed Press 2008)


http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/amazing-black-bean-brownies-recipe.html

Black Bean Burgers

Sorry to be hogging the bloglight...but i've also been feeling ambitious like jill has.

Amazingly delicious. 8 minutes to make. 3 minutes to cook.

Black Bean Burger
(adapted from Cooking Light & snagged from someone else's cooking blog)

2 cups rinsed, drained, canned black beans
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 tsp salt
1 large egg white
1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice (we had cheddar on hand)
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup cornmeal


Place 1 1/2 cups beans, garlic, and salt in a bowl. Partially mash with a fork. Place 1/2 cup remaining beans and egg white in a food processor. Process 30 seconds till well combined. Add bean puree to mashed beans in bowl and stir till combined. Add cheese and onion and stir till combined. Divide bean mixture into four parts and shape into patties. Place cornmeal in dish (or plate) and dredge both sides of patties.

Add oil or cooking spray to a skillet and cook patties till brown or for 3 mintues.

Notes: I was too lazy to get the food processor out and have to clean it after so i mashed eveyrthing with a fork and was satisfied that it would still taste just as delicious.

I don't know what the point of the cornmeal is, but I think it sort of helped hold these guys together. They are very fragile. i don't think it would be lacking much flavor without them.

I am terrible at estimating how/when things are cooked, but they started to smoke a little so I figured they were done...I hope you all have better judgement than me. ;)

THESE ARE DELICIOUS!! I topped mine with sour cream, avocado and more cheese. mmm..
the picture is my dinner. (salad is not shown). I cut up some tomatoes and also some herbed artichokes. (in the dish).

Healthy Black Bean Roll-Ups

It's been awhile since I've post. I'm on a healthy diet and my post would go something like this:

Defrost chicken
Place chicken in oven
Bake chicken
Eat Chicken

Fun huh? Last night though, I did have a fun healthy dinner! It is actually a recipe from Anne's mother-in-law for black bean roll-up’s.

Healthy Black Bean Roll-Up’s
1 pack of flour tortilla’s
1 red bell pepper, chopped
8 oz cream cheese (I used fat free)
6 green onions, chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
juice from half of a lime.

Mix all ingredients together. Spread 2-4 tablespoons of bean mixture on one entire side of tortilla. Roll up and place tooth pick to secure. Refrigerate over night. Cut and enjoy!

Guacamole Salad - ala Ina Garten

So, as I mentioned in the previous post, Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) made a guacamole salad. I wanted to expand upon that because she didn't make guacamole...as is, she made it into a salad, which I thought was genius. She took all the components of guacamole and mixed them together, only without all the mashing and such. Here is the recipe.

Guacamole Salad © Barefoot Contessa
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and 1/2-inch diced
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup small diced red onion
2 tablespoons minced jalapeno peppers, seeded (2 peppers)
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lime zest
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (2 limes)
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 ripe Hass avocados, seeded, peeled, and 1/2-inch diced

Place the tomatoes, yellow pepper, black beans, red onion, jalapeno peppers, and lime zest in a large bowl. Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, salt, black pepper, garlic, and cayenne pepper and pour over the vegetables. Toss well.
Just before you're ready to serve the salad, fold the avocados into the salad. Check the seasoning and serve at room temperature.

I don't like bell peppers, and I would probably skip the salt and pepper, but since not everyone shares my tastes, I decided to just copy/paste the whole recipe. It looks so good, especially with the black beans, which I imagine you can subsitute any kind of bean. I think what I would do is forget most of the measuring and just throw evetything together to taste. It reminded me of another very similiar side salad that my mom makes.

Mix cut up avocado, tomatoes red onions in bowl. Stir in olive oil and balsamic. That's it. It's delicious.

So instead of doing the guacamole salad, I made a single sized portion of the above because we had cherry tomatoes, half an avocado and somoe red onion already cut up. Okay done, sorry I feel like I am hogging this website.

At least dinner was good.

So yesterday was another sad day for those of us that bleed Blue and Gold. But alas, at least I made a yummy dinner during halftime.

Layered Enchilada Bake

1 lb of lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups of salsa
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained, rinsed
1/4 cup of Kraft Zesty Italian dressing
2 Tbsp of Taco seasoning mix
6 flour tortillas
1 cup sour cream
1 pkg (8 oz) Mexican style shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brown meat with onions in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add salsa, beans, dressing, and seasoning mix. Mix well.

Arrange three of the tortillas in single layer on bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; cover with layers of half each of the meat mixture, sour cream, and cheese. Repeat all layers. Cover with foil.

Bake, covered, 30 min. Remove foil. Bake an additional 10 minutes or until casserole is heated through and cheese is melted. Let stand 5 min before cutting to serve.

From Kraft foods.

You can even make this ahead of time and freeze it. You just line your dish with foil before starting the layers, then cover with foil and freeze up to 3 months! Then you can either take it out and bake it for an hour covered and then 15-20 uncovered, OR thaw it in the refrigerator overnight and then bake it uncovered for 45 minutes the next day.

Now we will go through everything I did differently from the recipe. I didn't have enough salsa, so I substituted a can of diced tomatoes with green chiles. I didn't measure my Italian dressing. I made it in a smaller dish. I used more than a lb of ground beef. I used more than 2 T of taco seasoning (what the heck was I going to do with the rest of the packet, anyway?) I didn't measure out my cheese or sour cream when I did my layers, I just dumped a bunch on. I think that's all I did differently... Man, it was yummy. And plenty for leftovers, too, which I had tonight.

A Flight of Soups

So my mom asked if I wanted to make soup for dinner, and I had this brillant idea to make a flight of soups instead of just one. We always freeze our leftover soup in single servings in a round tupperware so we can take them to work. Soup is my favorite food to make. Probably because it's so easy and all goes in one spot, but also because I'm a sucker for anything that starts out "saute chopped onions, garlic and celery in olive oil or butter."

but I digress.

The following soups are from top to bottom, left to right: Pea soup (with chives on it) Black Bean soup (with jalapeno cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream), White Bean soup, and Pureed Chickpea soup. (Do I see a pattern here ? I love beans...) My favorite is definitely a tie between the White Bean and the Black Bean. (ha!!) My dad doesn't like beans, so we made the pea soup for him, but I did not particuarly care for it. The chickpea soup was sort of like eating hummus , but runny...sorry that sounds gross, it's not bad, if you like hummus..a lot. I'll take a poll: which recipe do you want me to post: I don't feel like typing them all up right now, but if requested, I certainly will!

The best thing about these soups, ladies..(and gents..if any read this) is they all took like lesss than 15 m ins each to make and have very few ingredients and similar seasonings. Super convenient for quick meals.

So you may be asking what you would eat with these soups for dinner? Aside from salad, the usual side in our house, INSTEAD, we made sweet potato biscuits (yum with honey!) Also my mom sliced up avocado and drizzled some balsamic vinagrette on them, that was SO good!! Or you could go the traditional route and get all Italian and buy French bread. Whatever you prefer. So let me know which soup recipes you want me to post and I'll do so!