Archive for the 'Beans + Legumes' Category

Green Bean Salad

Published on March 26, 2011 in Beans + Legumes and Salads. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

And here I promised I wasn’t going to share salad recipes, and what’s this…?

But this is seriously so good, I couldn’t resist. The amazing thing is I am not crazy about green beans. In fact, I have some deep-seated childhood issues with a certain greenish vegetable who shall remain nameless, although admittedly, you couldn’t really call those canned chunks of mealiness green beans. Especially after they (and I) sat for a looong time, attempting to choke them down, with everyone gone and the dishwasher running and the light over the stove shedding a weak puddle of light on the dreaded plate of torture…Um, wow. Thank you for letting me get that off my chest. And before you judge my mother too harshly for this, please note that she was very aware that as soon as this situation came to pass, I merely walked over to the garbage can and dumped those nasty things right in (wrapped in a napkin first, you know, to hide the evidence).

I’ve decided that these episodes must’ve taken place during non-bean season because there were definitely times when we had normal, actual green beans, but my scarring canned experience tainted any possible attempt at even sampling any type of green bean for several decades. And even now, I can really only eat the skinny sweet French haricots vert. Anything too thick or chunky just gives me the willies.

So, when I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen, I was shocked that it actually appealed to me (the gorgeous photos certainly helped its cause). And as I need to eat a lot more veggies as part of this little contest I’ve undertaken, I thought I’d give it a shot — with a few adjustments (really not many) to maintain the requirements of the diet.

Maybe it’s the crunchy freshness that’s so enticing. Or maybe it’s the combination of the tangy pickled onions with the fragrant fennel, sweet beans and smoky almonds that’s making me crazy. All I know is I’ve made this salad twice in the last four days and depending on how quickly this last batch is depleted, there may be a third one round the bend. So, get to it. High thee to the grocers and make this delicious concoction post-haste.

Oh and just to even things out, keep your eyes peeled for Monday’s post for something really unhealthy, but divine.

Notes: I tried the almonds two ways. The first time, I roasted them and then sautéed them in a pan with a little olive oil and then sprinkled them with smoked paprika and cayenne pepper. Lovely. The second time, I just roasted them and skipped the sauté part and actually preferred them without the extra oil. The spices don’t stick as well, but it’s healthier and just as good.

Also, I had enough of the pickling liquid left over to pickle the other half of the red onion and use that for the dressing for the second batch, but you may want to add another tablespoon of vinegar to the mixture to make sure it keeps its tanginess intact.

Green Bean Salad

Very slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 pound haricots vert (you can use regular ones too)
1  fennel bulb (about 1/2 pound)
2 celery stalks
1/2 large red onion
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/2  tablespoon sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons maple syrup or honey (or sugar if you’re not avoiding it, as I currently am)
1/3 cup whole almonds
2 tablespoons olive oil
Smoked paprika (optional)
Cayenne pepper (optional)

Put a big pot of water on to boil and preheat the oven to 375ºF/190ºC. While you’re waiting for that, very very thinly slice the onion, celery and fennel. You want the fennel to be paper thin as you’ll be eating it raw, so use a mandolin if you have one. It’s much easier to use a knife on the celery and onion (or maybe my mandolin is just not very sharp).

Pop the almonds in the oven for about 7-8 minutes and keep an eye (and nose) on them to make sure they don’t burn. You can then sautée them as mentioned above and add the spices — or not. Let them cool slightly and chop them in halves or thirds.

Mix the vinegar, water, salt and sweetener in a small bowl and add the onions. Let that sit while you’re doing the rest (or do ahead of time and let it sit for an hour or so; it’ll be even better).

Blanch the beans in boiling water for about 2-3 minutes (longer if you’re using the fatter ones). Drain and dump into an ice bath immediately.

Combine the beans, fennel, celery, onions, almonds and about 3 tablespoons of the pickling liquid in a large serving bowl. Garnish with salt and pepper to taste. Devour.

Quinoa Spinach Casserole

Published on March 14, 2011 in Beans + Legumes. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .


Ryan has been reminding me about the fact that I haven’t been making much quinoa lately, and he’s right. I was all jazzed up about switching over to quinoa for breakfast from our usual oatmeal, just for a change of pace, but then never really got around to doing it. I hate when that happens.

But as part of our “health kick” (see here for the first and last post about that…whoops) and because it’s the beginning of the week and we need to atone for our weekend sins, I thought a nice, clean quinoa recipe would be a great idea. I’ve been buying these giant vats of Earthbound Farm organic baby spinach (which keep surprisingly well, by the way), so I went hunting for ideas out there in Webland and prompting fell hard for a quinoa casserole recipe from the NY Times, which of course, has cheese in it. Not exactly part of the “clean” plan, but I figured that, for Ryan, I’d take half the recipe and do a non-baked version without cheese (and the kiddo and I can hoard all the cheesy goodness of the other half).

You can go in a lot of different directions with this dish too, which is nice. I used feta, but Gruyère, which is what the original recipe calls for, would be really nice and melty. You could also do chickpeas or another bean or cut that out altogether. Yet another flexible dish — this is becoming a habit (a good one though). Now if I can just keep up the healthy theme…

In the interest of my health (and bikini season, which is fast approaching), I’d love to hear about your favorite clean and healthy dishes. Me and my thighs thank you.

Quinoa Spinach Casserole

4 cups/6 ounces baby spinach*
1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups cooked quinoa, (1-1/3 cup uncooked)
3 large eggs
1 cup black beans, rinsed
3/4 cup (3 ounces) feta cheese, crumbled (3/4 cup)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage or thyme (or whatever you have on hand)
3 tablespoons Parmesan, grated or a few slices of fresh mozzarella

Preheat the oven to 400ºF/204ºC. Oil a 2-quart gratin or baking dish.

Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Wash the spinach and without spinning dry, add to the pan and wilt in the liquid left on the leaves after washing (you may need to do two batches). When the spinach is wilted, take off the heat and rinse it in a colander with cold water. Squeeze out as much water as you can and give it a rough chop. * If you use frozen chopped spinach, you can skip this step. Just thaw and squeeze out the liquid.

Wipe the pan out and heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic cook for about a minute. Add the spinach and season with salt and pepper.

Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl. Add the quinoa, beans, cheese, herbs, the onion and spinach mixture, and black pepper and stir to combine. Pour into a gratin dish and sprinkle with Parmesan or mozzarella, which is what I used this time. Bake until browned on top, about 20-25 minutes. Let it sit for a few minutes before serving.

Black Bean Burgers

Published on March 11, 2011 in Beans + Legumes and Main Courses. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

This recipe is an adaptation of the infamous lentil burger recipe, which is, in essence, the basis for just about any “burger” type recipe. That is, protein + egg + bread crumbs = burger. But it’s the details that take a burger from basic to bananas (to quote Rachel Zoe, whose show, the aptly named Rachel Zoe Project, is a guilty pleasure of mine).

Like, in this particular recipe, I think the chipotle peppers are essential. They add that smoky spiciness that you wouldn’t get without them. However, I did do half the batch without them for the hombrecito, who likes spicy foods, but not necessarily hot-spicy, you know? But if your kids like spicy, then go for it. The cilantro is key too, and lemon always adds a lovely freshness that I like.

These burgers are so easy to make and so much better than those frozen hockey pucks masquerading as veggie burgers you find in the grocer’s freezer section (yes, I’m looking at you, Boca Burger). You can make up a big batch and cook however many you plan to eat (cook a few extra, they are that good). The uncooked mixture will keep for another day, but as there’s raw egg in there, best to cook it up fairly quickly — they taste better hot off the grill.

Also, sorry for my radio silence this week. Things seem to be so busy and I honestly haven’t been doing much new cooking — lots of zucchini pie and homemade pizza…let’s call it my late-winter blogging/cooking slump week. I’m over it and will be back on track next week.

Now for a bit of shameless promotion…ignore this part if I’ve already harassed you.

Babble.com did a “Top 100 Mom Food Bloggers” story and while we’re not in the top 100, you can still vote for your favorites and Whisk It Good needs some love! Please click here and find “Whisk It Good” and “like” it — we’re on page 2 right now, but movin’ on up. It only takes a second — thanks and feel free to tell all your friends.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Black Bean Burgers

2 15-oz/425g cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup frozen edamame, defrosted
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce plus a bit of the sauce
1/3 cup fresh cilantro
1 onion, chopped
Zest of one lemon
1 cup bread crumbs or panko
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Combine the beans, edamame, eggs, half the onion, cumin, cilantro, and salt in a food processor. Purée until the mixture resembles thick hummus. Pour into a mixing bowl and stir in the rest of the onion and zest. Add the breadcrumbs, stir, and let sit for a couple of minutes so the crumbs can absorb some of the moisture.

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat and add 3 patties (if you’re making standard burger-sized ones), cover, and cook for about 5 minutes or until the bottoms begin to brown and firm up. Flip the burgers and cook the second side for about 3-4 minutes or until browned.

I often eat these on top of a piece of toast — a bun is too much bread, I think. Or they’re great plain too or even sandwiched between big leaves of romaine. Top with mayo (chipotle mayo would give a nice extra kick of heat, but as you can see from the photos, sriracha sauce works in a pinch) and slices of avocado.

Cravings

Published on February 2, 2011 in Beans + Legumes, Breakfast, Cakes, Cookbooks + Cooks, Cookies, Inspiration, Mexican, pasta and Soups + Stews. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Hello, it’s me. Sick again. Yippee. It sucks really. I don’t know how mouth breathers do it. Breathing through your mouth is very unpleasant.

Anyway, I spent some time clicking away on some of my favorite food sites last night and wanted to share some things I’m craving…even though I can’t taste anything. But you go have fun. Really. It’s okay.

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Soup. More soup. We like soup. This soup. Smitten Kitchen delivers (as usual).

Post Punk Kitchen is cooking up some quinoa goodness here

I’m a sucker for poppy seeds. Tim at Lottie + Doof is too.

Matt (of Matt Bites fame) is an incredible photographer and going to his site always makes me hungry. Like, this. Hello.

Winter makes me want to eat potatoes. I’m particularly obsessed with sweet potatoes right now. Give me a sweet potato roasted in its skin, slathered with butter, and topped with a healthy grind of black pepper and a sprinkle of fleur de sel and I’m in my happy place. Gluten Free Girl has taken it up a notch, and I’m feeling happy in a whole new way.

Never met a chocolate chip cookie I didn’t like. And this one from Orangette is, um, healthy. Sort of. Not really.

More soup. Again with the soup? Yes. Again with the soup. It’s for sick people. Heidi says so. Thank you 101 Cookbooks (my online food bible).

Last and perhaps least, if you’re feeling virtuous and/or enormous, pop on over to Bon Appétit and get yourself on a cleanse for food lovers. Doesn’t sound so bad actually. There is no lemon cayenne water involved. And chocolate is still on the menu.

Zucchini, Tomato, Cannellini Quick-Cook

Published on December 6, 2010 in Beans + Legumes and Side Dishes. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .


Yeah, that’s not the best name…it takes longer to say it than to make it. Frankly, I didn’t really know what else to call it. I didn’t want to leave out any of the three main ingredients as they really do all come together so nicely and one isn’t necessarily the star of the dish more than another (although don’t those cherry tomatoes look absolutely mouthwatering?*) And I refuse to use the word “medley” — that is reserved only for those of the musical variety and then, only those sung by Cher (Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves, Half Breed and Dark Lady being my personal favorite). But I digress.

I came up with this recipe when I was a lazy single gal. Not that all single girls are lazy; I just was. When it came to cooking, that is. Yes, cooking! What did you think I meant? Anyway. I was known, at times, to eat a yogurt for dinner or even cereal (yes, girls do this too, boys). Not always, mind you. Just some nights. Oh you know what I mean. Anyway.

One night I was feeling mildly less lazy and had some zucchini and cherry tomatoes laying around and a can of cannellini beans in the cupboard. So I tossed in a little garlic, a pinch of dried sage, a sprinkle of Parmesan and a nice big grind of black pepper, and I was golden, Pony Boy. It’s a super-easy one-pan meal, but you can also serve it as a side dish (for those really industrious types). And if you want to make it a complete protein, just serve it with rice or pasta. It’s also lovely over quinoa. And it beats cereal any old day.

Zucchini, Tomato, Cannellini Quick-Cook
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium or 2 small zucchini, cut into thin half circles (or quarters if you have a small person)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried sage (or 1 tablespoon fresh, minced)
12-15 cherry tomatoes, halved (about 1 cup)
1 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
Salt
Black pepper
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated (optional)

Heat olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add zucchini, sauté until the pieces start browning. Add garlic and sage and stir everything around a bit. Squeeze the juice out of each cherry tomato half into the pan and then toss the tomato in. Cook for another minute or two. Add the beans and cook until heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with grated Parmesan.

* Courtesy of Dan‘s garden…and all gone by this time of year…so I had to use store-bought (but still local and organic!)