Black Bean Taquitos

Another Pinterest favorite! Recipe adapted from Naturally Ella Baked Black Bean Taquitos

Ingredients

1/2 medium yellow onion

1 clove garlic

1 small jalapeno

1/2 tbls sunflower - i used vegetable oil

1/2 tsp paprike

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp seasalt

1/2 cup black beans

1/4 cup cilantro

6-8 corn tortillas - I used flour tortillas

1/2 cup colby jack cheese

sunflower oil for brushing tortillas - I used vegetable oil

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Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and bring a medium pot of water to simmer.

In a pan, heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion and pepper until onion becomes translucent. Stir in garlic, cumin, paprika, salt, and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes. Add in black beans and cilantro, cooking until beans are heated through, 2-3 minutes.

Turn off water. Taking one tortilla at a time, dip in hot water for 3-4 seconds. Place on a cutting board and scoop a spoonful of black bean filling and a pinch of cheese on top. Roll tight and place seam side down on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Repeat until all the filling is used. Brush each piece with oil.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until the tortilla is a light brown color. Dip in salsa, guacamole, or sour cream.

The best rice dish ever

If there is one recipe you MUST try from this blog, this is it!! I adapted my recipe from  Martha Stewart's, One-pot Curried Cauliflower Rice. Cauliflower is one of my favorite veggies, but I hardly eat it because the hubs despises it. One of his favorite foods is rice. Any type of rice, and he'll be happy. The beauty of this recipe is that I get cauliflower and he gets a yummy rice side - all in the same dish! It's easy, fun, and goes with any dinner.

via MarthaStewart.com

4 teaspoons vegetable oil

As much cauliflower as you want

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1/2 of a yellow onion, diced small

1 cup basmati rice (uncooked)

2 teaspoons cumin powder*

1 tsp garlic pepper

1/2 can of chickpeas (or more if you want), rinsed and drained

About 1 1/2 cups of chicken or vegetable broth

1/4 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a pot** heat 2 teaspoons oil over medium-high. Add cauliflower and cook, stirring frequently, until browned in spots. Transfer to a plate and season with salt and pepper. Add 2 tsp oil and onion back to  pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, 5 min. Add uncooked rice, cumin, garlic pepper, and chickpeas and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until rice is coated, about 2 min. Add broth and cream and bring to a boil. Scatter cauliflower over top (do not stir to combine). Cover and bake until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, 15 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving. 

*The original recipe calls for curry powder, but I didn't have any. If you'd rather use curry seasonings, use instead of the cumin and garlic pepper.

**I used a large oven-safe saute pan, but in the future, I will probably try this recipe in my new Le Creuset dutch oven.

Makes 3-4 servings depending on the amount of cauliflower and chickpeas you use.

Black Bean and Rice Stuffed Peppers

Some of you have asked for my other stuffed pepper recipe and here it is! I prefer this recipe over the last one, but they are both delightful!

• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3/4 cup white rice, cooked
• 4 medium green onions sliced (1/4 cup)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 Tbls vegetable oil
• 2 Tbls lime juice
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 large bell peppers cut lengthwise, seeds removed
• 1 roma tomato diced

Heat grill. Mix beans, rice, onions, cilantro, oil, lime juice, garlic and salt together. Fill peppers with mixture. Wrap each half in a piece of foil (stuffed side up, duh), making sealed packets. Allow a little space in the packet for circulation and expansion. 

Grill for 15-20 minutes or until peppers are tender. 

Mom's Chili

1-1 1/2 lbs. hamburger
1/2 of a yellow onion, diced
1/2 jalapeno diced
1 pkg. chili seasoning (Lawrys is best!)
12oz. tomato juice, you can use spicy if you want
1 cup water
1 can diced green chilis
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1/2 cup el Pato jalapeno salsa
4 cans of beans: pinto, chili, kidney black, or whatever you like for beans. (Some come in a flavored sauce and you don't have to drain them, otherwise drain the others)
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onions and jalapeno. Add meat and brown. Add half of the chili seasoning packet and combine.  Then add the remaining ingredients and continue adding seasong packet to taste. Simmer or cook slow in a crock pot!

Sprinkle with cheese and serve with yummy bread!

Serves 4-6 depending on the size of the bowls!

Mango-Avocado Salad, Dwight Style

I finally got around to making the recipe from the last posting from Fresh365Online. If you know me, or have read this blog, you probably realize by now that I NEVER follow recipes exactly and this was no exception. So, let's call this new recipe, Mango-Spinach Salad. I also added chicken, and white rice, and I didn't have any cilantro (although, I almost went to the store JUST for that but I am glad I didn't because it was fine without it!) and I used some other substitutions. See below!

Ingredients:

A handfull of spinach, chopped

1 mango, sliced into small cubes

1 avocado sliced into small cubes

1 can of black beans drained and washed

1 baked chicken breast (seasoned with salt and pepper) and cut up into bitesize pieces

I used a pepper from our garden rather than a jalapeno pepper. I'm not sure what type it was, but it was a sweet pepper, similiar to a banana pepper. Anyway, I used one of these, remove the seeds and dice.

1 T Lemon juice from a lemon

1 t sugar

2 T olive oil

black pepper to taste

salt to taste

cooked white rice

In a bowl, combine spinach, mango, pepper, black pepper, a dash of salt, half of the lemon juice. Mix together. Gently add avocado.

In another bowl, mix up the sugar, rest of the lemon juice, a little bit of black pepper, and olive oil. Add the beans to this mixture and coat well.

To serve, put white rice in the bottom of dish, add black bean mix on top, add chicken pieces, add spinach-mango mixture on top and garnish with fresh black pepper.

Steve calls this meal a hit!

Mango-Avocado Salad

My friend Heather, posted this recipe on her blog today and it made my mouth water! I am going to try it this week! YUM! See original post from Fresh365 Online.

Mango-Avocado Salad with Black Beans and Lime Vinaigrette

adapted from Whole Foods . serves 4
2 ripe avocados, peeled and cut into 1/2″ cubes
3 T lime juice
1 ripe mango, peeled and cut into 1/2″ cubes
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
1 t grated lime zest
1/2 t salt
1/4 t sugar (or agave nectar)
2 T chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
4 T olive oil
1 15.5-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
black pepper, to taste

In a medium bowl, toss mango and jalapeño with 1 T lime juice and salt. Add avocado and gently toss to combine. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining lime juice, zest, sugar, cilantro and oil. Toss the black beans with the vinaigrette. To assemble, spoon the black beans with vinaigrette into the center of a serving platter. Top with the mango-avocado mixture. Garnish with chopped cilantro and black pepper.