Charred Green Beans

Happy Good Friday!

I've been on a huge roasted vegetables kick lately.  I don't know if it's because it seems like less work to toss a pan of veggies into the oven while I'm working on the main course or if it's because roasting veggies brings out new flavors.  

(Vegan.) (Or Not.) Enchilada Lasagna

(Enchi-lasagna?  Enchil-agna?)

I've been in a weird place with food and cooking lately.  As you know, I gave up sugar for Lent, and I avoid dairy and soy for hormonal reasons.  But as if that weren't enough of a challenge, I'm trying to make vegan dishes a part of our meal rotation (thanks to this documentary), and it feels like teaching myself to cook all over again.  Especially with a meat-and-potatoes eater in the house (read: Bo).  I've been experimenting with scads of new recipes every weekend, learning how to balance the huge piles of veggies I absolutely love with some kind of protein, to keep our meals balanced and nourishing.

I stumbled onto this recipe a few weeks ago, and after making it twice and doing a lot of tweaking, I'm happy to say that it's seriously delicious.  So much so that I portioned out and froze the leftovers for easy and yummy packed lunches.  And, I'm really excited to have found a recipe for homemade enchilada sauce.  Who knew it was so easy to make from scratch?

Food Rule 34 and The Bomb Chili

True Story:  I once made this oh-so-delicious chili recipe for a group of friends, and as we began eating, I was raving about how healthy my recipe is.  Especially when I make it with the ground venison my dad packages just for me, without any fat added to it.  Venison?  You all are ok with venison, right?  I'd forgotten that I was sitting at a table with a group of people raised in an enormous city and who'd probably never even met someone who hunts.  To this day, my best friend teases me about "that time you served us venison and asked if we were ok with it after we'd already started eating."  Ha!  And sorry, guys.

But, really, as a red meat, venison is insanely healthier than the beef you typically find in grocery stores.  And that's because it is wild game.

Plants and animals that are left to raise themselves turn out to be healthier options for eating, because they've grown as nature intended.  Without bulking-up feeds and fertilizers.  They're hearty because they've survived nature.  And therefore, healthier for us to consume. 

Wild game is packed full of Omega 3s, Vitamin E, and antioxidants and is typically very lean.  Yes, it can taste "gamey," but I nearly always use it chili or taco recipes where the spices stand out as the main flavor.  For those who don't have dads who fly clear across the country with a cooler full of venison and dry ice, you can definitely substitute with ground beef.  Try to find some that's labeled "grass fed" and "free range" in order to get the greater health benefits.

Enjoy!


p.s.  It was completely unintended, but that green towel in my photos looks like I'm trying really hard to be Superbowl festive!  I didn't even think about it looking like football turf until I uploaded my photos later.  But, I love it!

        

The Bomb Chili

1 medium onion, diced
1 – 2lb. ground venison or extra lean ground beef
4, 16oz. cans beans, rinsed and drained
2, 28oz. cans diced tomatoes in juice
1/4 c. Dijon mustard
2-4 Tbsp. red chili garlic paste
3 cloves garlic
1/2 bottle beer
6oz. can tomato paste
Johnny’s season salt (or your favorite seasoning salt), to taste

Cook the onion and ground meat in a skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through and onions are translucent.  Drain any grease.  Stir all ingredients into a crock pot or large roasting pan.  Cook in crock pot on High for 4 hours or Low for 8 hours, or bake in large roasting pan at 250 degrees for 5 hours. Stir occasionally. Makes a vat (about 14 cups).

        

Ingredient Lineup:

(MIA:  ground meat, beer, and tomato paste.  Whoops!)

Hoppin' John Soup

Happy New Yearrrrr!!!

Oh wait.  This is March, isn't it.  Whoops.  Well, count me belated in my New Year's wishes and count me belated in posting this recipe.  You'll forgive me, right?  Please?  Can I buy your forgiveness with a toasty warm batch of Best Friend Makers?

So, the tradition behind this soup is that black-eyed peas are considered good luck if you eat them first thing on New Year's Day.  The peas are a symbol of coins; the collards represent the green of money; the pork represents having plenty; and the cornbread's color represents gold.  It's pretty much a lottery ticket in a bowl, am I right?  There are more interesting tidbits about the history here and here.

Hoppin' John soup is very, very new to me.  I grew up in the Pacific Northwest (insert dreamy sigh here), so I'd never seen a collard green in real life until I moved to Georgia last year.  Also, if I'm being completely honest - Southern cooking isn't known for being healthy, so I'm sometimes hesitant to try the ingredients and dishes that are traditional here.  But, I kept seeing recipes for Hoppin John this and Hoppin John that for New Year's, and they actually seemed fairly healthy, so I thought I'd give it a try.

And boy!  Am I ever glad I gave it a try.  We love, love, love this soup.  Seriously, we love it.  It's basically one big pot of cozy, which is perfection on a blustery day.  Bo is over the moon when I start cooking it, and then pretty much dies on the spot when I start baking cornbread to go with it.  (Did I mention that he's from the South?)  If you can get your hands on some kind of green (collards, kale, mustard greens, etc), I highly recommend trying this recipe out.  I've read that you can substitute white beans for the black-eyed peas, but don't come crying to me if you don't get rich, ok?

Enjoy!



Hoppin' John Soup
recipe adapted from Steamy Kitchen

12 oz. quick-cook or canned black-eyed peas
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 c. carrots, diced
1/2 c. celery, diced
1/2 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 c. water
1 ham bone (with meat attached)
3 c. diced ham
14 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
5 handfuls torn collard leaves (tough stems removed)

Prepare black-eyed peas according to package, or drain the can.  In large stockpot, heat olive oil over medium-low heat.  Saute carrots, celery, and onion for 5-7 minutes.  Add the garlic and saute additional 2 minutes.  Add the ham bone, drained peas, and water to the pot.  Bring to a low boil and then simmer for 1 hour.

Add the diced ham and tomatoes and simmer for an additional 30 minutes {Mix up your cornbread now.}  Remove the ham bone and then stir in your collard greens and simmer for an additional 30 minutes {Put your cornbread into the oven now}.  Salt to taste.  But we didn't add a speck of salt because the ham added so much flavor and was salty enough on its own.

Ingredient Lineup.

Carrots, celery, onion, and garlic.

Add in the water and ham bone.

Add in the diced ham and tomatoes.

Remove the ham bone and add in the collards.

Delicious.

I wouldn't lie to ya.

2 Days - 2 Meals - 1 Clean Up

A few weeks ago my friend Le'Cinda gave me this great recipe for making 2 meals for 2 nights in a row in the crock pot. Besides tasting supper yummy - you only have to clean the crock pot once! You read that right. ONCE.




Night One: Brisket with fingerling potatoes, carrots, asparagus and salad.



Buy a preseason-ed brisket and place it in a crock pot with enough water to almost cover it. Cook on low over night and the next day. Serve with veggies and a salad. I made fingerling potatoes, carrots, roasted asparagus and a garden salad. Since the main dish was busy cooking away in the crock pot I was able to bring my kids into the kitchen to help with the veggies. They had a ball breaking the tough ends off of the asparagus and peeling carrots. I had a ball because I wasn't stressing out about making sure that everything got done in time for supper. Win -Win.

Night Two: Brisket Beans with fried potatoes and skillet cornbread.



In the cooking liquid that is left over from night one, dump in a bag of brown beans that you have picked. Make sure that you take the time to pick out the broken ones and any stones. Add any remaining brisket and cover with water. Cover and cook on low over night and the next day. Serve with a side and cornbread. I made fried potatoes and skillet cornbread.

Note to self: It's time to upgrade to a bigger crock pot. You have been able to scoot by with the medium size for a while now...but with 4 growing like weed kids...it's past time that you bought one that matches the size of your family. 

Nacho Mama's Nachos

This nacho recipe combines quite a few veggies like bell peppers and purple cabbage with ground turkey to create some yummy and healthy nachos.

To make:

Combine 1/2 chopped red bell pepper, 1/2 chopped yellow bell pepper, 1/4 red onion chopped, 3 finely minced garlic cloves and 1/4 chopped purple cabbage in a saute pan coated in olive oil. Saute for 3 minutes until crisp tender. Salt and pepper to taste. Add 1 lb of ground turkey and 1/2 cup Saucy Mama Lime and Chipolte Marinade. Break up turkey and cook through.

Top tortilla chips with meat and veggie mixture and top with 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese. Melt cheese under broiler.

This was a quick easy way to use up meat mixture from my recipe submission Tasting the Rainbow Turkey Burgers and Spicy Baked Corn on the Cob!

I love that these nachos pack a punch nutrition wise while still tasting good. This recipe was rated 4 spoons by Hubby and I - kids were at a sleepover and didn't get a chance to try it.

Thanks to Saucy Mama I have a set of mustard, olives and marinades to giveaway at Getting all my Ducks in a Row - Make sure you stop by to enter to win!


I was provided with Saucy Mama samples to review and giveaway but was not compensated in any other way. All opinion expressed is mine and mine alone.

Garlic Lime Shrimp with Black Bean and Corn Salad

I found this recipe in kiwi magazine - it was a feature called Cooking with Kids - and while I had plans to make this with my oldest Jakob on the day that we were to do it - he also wanted to go to the park, splash pad and to have an ice cream.

So I did it myself really quickly.

The kids really loved the shrimp - there was not a single one left - Hubby and I thought that they were a little bland. So next time we are going to make a few changes...

Adding hot pepper sauce to the marinade and making sure to let the marinade set for hour.

Since I was in such a hurry - I didn't make sure to.

Garlic Lime Shrimp with Black Bean and Corn Salad
kiwi magazine June/July 2010
Aviva Goldfarb

Shrimp Marinade Ingredients:
1 lb large shrimp peeled and de-veined (thawed if frozen)
4-6 cloves of garlic (1 Tbsp minced)
1 - 1 1/2 limes
1/4 tsp salt


In a large bowl combine shrimp (I used teeny tiny little ones since my kids love them) with garlic, lime zest, 2 Tbsp lime juice and salt.

Refrigerate until ready to cook.





Ingredients for Black Bean and Corn Salad:

1 15oz can of black beans
1 1/4 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed (or us the kernels off of 2-3 ears of corn)
1 small red bell pepper, finely diced
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp lime juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped

Drain and rinse the beans in a strainer. In a medium bowl combine everything.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.



With tongs or a slotted spoon, transfer shrimp from the marinade to the skittle, spreading them evenly and reserving the marinade. Saute shrimp for 1 to 2 minutes per side, depending on the size of the shrimp, until it turns pink. After shrimp had cooked about halfway through on the second side, add the reserved marinade and continue cooking for about two more minutes until all the shrimp is cooked through.

Transfer the shrimp to a bowl and gently toss with 1/4 cup cilantro.

Serve the shrimp and salad with sour cream and hot pepper sauce if desired.

We ate every single bit of salad (Which my kids were really confused about. What? There's no lettuce in this?) and shrimp - the sour cream and hot sauce was a really good addition and even the kids loved it.

This is going into my dinner rotation - with the changes mentioned above.

We rate it a 4 spoons.

P.S. We did have a ton of summer fun:

Black Bean and Mango Tostadas

This was a fast and fabulous recipe from the May issue of All You - Every last bit of tostada and mango salsa was gone!

This was a great example of a method - once you know how to bake the tostada's in the oven - you can make these with any protein, cheese and topping - the possibilities are seriously endless!


Ingredients:

1 15oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 scallions, white and green parts, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. chili powder
3/4 tsp salt
4 8-inch flour tortillas
6oz grated Monterey Jack - I used pepper jack cheese
1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted and diced
1/4 small red onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp lime juice

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine beans, olive oil, scallions, chili powder and 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl.

2. Mist a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place tortillas on sheet and spoon bean mixture on top. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake until golden and crisp, about 10 minutes.

3. While tostadas are baking combine mango, onion, lime juice and 1/4 tsp salt in a bowl. Remove tostadas from oven, spoon mango mixture on top and serve immediately.




I was really surprised at how crispy this tortilla got! We were still able to fold them over and eat them - but they had a great crunch!

This was an absolute 5 spoon! Not only did we all love this recipe - I am going to work this recipe into my rotation of meals - I think it would be great with ground beef and chicken too!

Free Turkey Bacon?

I recently got a chance to try out Oscar Mayer Turkey Bacon free thanks to being a member of Kraft First Taste - anyone can sign up and every so often there will be a new offer to sign up for...it's a great way to try out Kraft products for free.

While shopping for rice this week - My youngest son wanted to know what beans were...he thought that they only came in a can...so I made it my mission to show him how to make them...only I didn't know either. Gasp.

So I read the package directions - developed my plan of action - and then called my Mom to ask her what she thought...and then proceeded to ignore her. :)

Since I didn't give it enough fore thought to soak my beans over night...I picked through them, put them in a pot of water that I brought to a quick boil and let them sit there for an hour...then rinsed and drained them. (this was against my Mother's wishes) she said that the skins of the beans would come off - she was right - but only a few did.

While the beans were draining...I cut up the entire package of turkey bacon into small pieces and fried it in a little bit of canola oil.

If you have never tried turkey bacon - I would really recommend it! It doesn't taste anything like pork bacon...so you can't really use it to replace bacon - but it does have a good flavor and makes a really mean Turkey BLT.




I reserved most of it for topping beans and Jiffy Muffins.

Then I put the beans back into the bacon grease and left over bacon, added a full box of chicken stock and a little bit of water.

Cook for about an hour and a half at medium heat with the lid slightly offset.





Prepare Jiffy Muffins according to package directions...I just threw in some of the turkey bacon.




To serve...top bowl of beans with a little bit of cheese and crispy turkey bacon.

While this may not seem so TA-DAA - it was a welcome change. It was a recipe that I have never tried...and we loved it.




This is definitely a 5 spooner with everyone at my house - Even Hubby who turned his nose up when he figured out what I was making. In fact - he went back for seconds.

also blogs at

Smokey Black Bean and Rice Stoup

My son Sam gave me Rachel Ray's Book of 10 as a Christmas gift and every week since December 25, 2009 he has asked this same question, "So, have you tried that new cookbook?" I'm embarrassed to say it has taken me 4 months to settle down and "read" this book to pick out a new recipe. I get stuck on the same "go to" recipes! Don't you?

So Sam, my dear boy, I present Smokey Black Bean and Rice Stoup. No that is not a missspelling it is really called Stoup! Rachel says this is a chop, drop, and open recipe. Place your cutting board next to the stove, heat up the pots, chop everything on the board, drop it into the pan, then open up your cans. As soon as the stoup bubbles, dinner is done.

Black Bean and Rice Stoup

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons EVOO
• 3 bacon slices, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• 2 15 oz. cans black beans
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce
• coarse salt and course pepper
• 1 15 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes, such as Muir Glen
• 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1 quart chicken stock (I used 2 knorr chicken bouillon cubes & quart of water)
• 1 cup white rice (I used brown rice)

Heat a medium soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the EVOO, then add the bacon and cook for 3 to 4 minutes to render the fat. Add the bay leaf, celery, onions and garlic and cook for 3 to 4 minutes to soften the veggies. Add the corn and 1 can of black beans and their juice. Drain the other can, then add half the can of beans. Mash the remaining beans in the can with a fork to make a paste out of them, then scrape them into the soup pot - this will make the soup super thick! Season the veggies and beans with the coriander, chili, ground cumin, Worcestershire, and hot sauce. Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, and stock, to boil. Add the rice and cook the stoup over a rolling simmer until the rice is tender but has a little bite left to it, about 15 minutes (double this time if using brown rice). Adjust the seasonings and serve. This recipe provides 4 hearty servings.

I wrote in the margin of this recipe to cut the spices in half. It was way too hot! Our boys couldn't eat it because it was so spicy hot. I also wrote to serve with a dollop of sour cream and fresh chives or scallions. I think the cool of the sour cream would off set the hot spices of the stoup.

If we adjust the spices, our family would give this recipe a 4 spoons. It was yummy, although very spicy, and it certainly was useful on the cold wet day we made it. I'll definately try this recipe again, with the changes I noted, because it was very inexpensive to build and satisfying to eat.

Blessings,