Tropical Black Bean Sliders

Trust me when I say this is a recipe everyone should have. Notice how I didn't say every vegan. Or every vegetarian. Nope, everyone. I made the massive mistake of just making one batch of these suckers for our housewarming party this weekend, and if I wasn't a few drinks in, I would have been seriously concerned about an uprising. They are good, and they go in a flash. And they are MINI! Which means, not only are they tasty, they are CUTE. I love all things mini almost as much as I love all things mango. Speaking of which...

Avocado & Pinto Bean Salad

Nothing fancy or complicated here. Think: open a can 'o beans and have easy yummy dinner/lunch/snack/salad ready in 5. Sound good?! Good!

Lima Bean & Cantaloupe Salad

 This recipe brought to you by: the colors green and orange!

It started with a bag of lima beans, a can of mandarin oranges in my cupboard, a bottle of orange champagne vinegar from Trader Joe's, and some hot weather.

Usually the only recipe I use lima beans in is succotash. So I thought I'd make use of that bag of lima beans in my freezer in a new way...

Vegan Valentine's (Vegan Dinner Party #3)

I'll admit I'm not much of a schmoopy, romantic comedy type-of-gal. Usually, I'm not one for pink sparkly hearts. But.... okay, I got a little caught up in things this year. I made schmoopy cookies. And a lot of them, at that. This weekend, I hosted a full-on Valentine's dinner party. What's with all the schmoopy-ness, anyway? 

It must be a vegan thing ;-) . I made so many desserts, we would have needed an extra 10 people to finish them all (although I did send everyone home with a little bag of cookies). Here's a sampler of my third (successful!) vegan dinner party:

Black Eyed Pea Dip/Salad

With the Superbowl coming up, here's a healthy alternative to chips & dip, and something more exciting than chips & salsa. Plus, you can use the leftovers on salad the next day for lunch.

This mix is quick and easy, and works well with scoops tortilla chips. Yum!

Black Bean Very Veggie Soup

Is it a soup or is it a stew? This dish is thick and hearty like a stew, but is completely vegan and takes only about 20 minutes to make. And did I mention it might be one of the best soups I've ever tasted? I know that's a big statement, but oh man, this is delicious and hearty. I was going to serve it with bread but I don't even think it needs anything else... (although, I do love soaking up yummy soup with a good bread). Filling, healthy, easy, and delicious. Exactly what I look for in a great dinner.

Broccoli, Chickpea, Tomato & Bean Salad

I've posted the recipe for this salad previously here: Broccoli, Chickpea & Tomato Salad

I changed the original just a tad by adding black beans for more protein! Filling, refreshing, delicious, and sooooo easy to make!

Dressing is a Dijon mustard/olive oil/vinegar mix (I use 1 Tbsp of each- slight change from the original). Onion may be omitted (as done in these pics- didn't have one and didn't miss it!).

Mediterranean Succotash

 I love succotash because it is so easy to make, and pretty quick too. Recently I altered my traditional succotash recipe to a more Mediterranean-themed dish. It was great! Here's what I did:

Ingredients:

• 1 package frozen artichoke hearts 
• 1 can of cannelini beans
• 1 package frozen corn
• 2 cups chopped tomatoes 
• 3/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• 3 Tbsp fresh chopped basil
• 1 clove garlic
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

1. Briefly rinse the frozen vegetables and can of beans.
2. Mince the garlic clove. Using about 1 Tbsp of oil from the sun dried tomatoes, heat the olive oil and garlic in a large saute pan. (Using the jarred oil helps add that Mediterranean flavor, but if you are using packaged sun-dried tomatoes not in oil- rather than the jarred in oil kind- you could always use regular olive oil and add extra spices).
3. Add the artichoke hearts and corn, and cover for about 5 min on medium heat to thaw. 
4. Add the beans and tomatoes, and simmer for about 10 additional minutes until well heated.
5. Add salt & pepper to taste, and just prior to serving, sprinkle with fresh basil.

 Great for leftovers too!

Polenta Stacks with Black Bean, Sweet Potato, and Greens

Even though my experimental "vegan month" is over, I'm still testing out great new vegan recipes. This one is a KEEPER for many reasons - It's pretty easy to make, not that time consuming, doesn't require a ton of ingredients I don't have, and it's delicious! I FINALLY found something wonderful to do with polenta. Usually when my husband or I have made it in the past, we pan cook it with olive oil, and it always comes out too oily. We never really had great ideas to serve it with, and end up just slapping pasta sauce on it. Boring polenta no more! Enter Gina from Choosing Raw's EXCELLENT POLENTA STACKS!

(Original recipe here)
Ingredients:

• 1 tube organic, prepared polenta
• 2 large yams or sweet potatoes
• 1/2 Tbsp mellow white miso (optional)
  
• 1 Tbsp Earth Balance
  
• ~2 Tbsp almond milk
  
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
  
• 2 small cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1/4 tsp cumin
  
• 1/4 tsp coriander
  
• 1/2 tsp agave
  
• 1 head of kale or Swiss chard (or a mix of the two), washed and chopped
  
• 1 tbsp olive oil
  
• Salt and pepper to taste
  

Steps:

1. Peel and quarter the yams. Heat a large pot of water to a boil, and boil the yams until they’re fork tender.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. While the yams cook, spray a pan or cookie sheet with cooking spray. Cut the polenta into 1/2 inch rounds, and line them evenly on the tray and place in oven. Cook for ~10-15 minutes on each side, or until polenta is golden brown.
   
3. Remove yams from water, and drain. Using a potato masher or ricer, mash them with the miso (if you have some & want to add it!), cinnamon, Earth Balance, and almond milk. Use only enough milk to achieve a thick consistency (you can actually omit the milk altogether, as I did, and it comes out just fine! I did add just a tiny bit of agave though). Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
4. Place drained beans, 1 minced clove of garlic, cumin, coriander, agave, and salt and pepper to taste in a food processor, and process roughly, so that the beans look a bit like refried beans.
5. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a skillet and add the other small clove of minced garlic. Stir garlic for about 1 minute, then add chopped greens. Cover for two minutes and then sautee until just wilted. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. Assemble the stacks: I placed a bed of the greens on the bottom, then the polenta cake, followed by the beans, and finally the yams on top. (Gena's version has the greens in the middle). However you stack them, you just want to eat all the components together- everything pairs so amazingly!
   

Some notes:
-The original recipe calls for double the yams and beans and ingredients to go in them; since I was making dinner for two, I knew that would be way too much. We had plenty for plentiful stacks, plus extra for leftovers. (Side note: I tend to slip and use 'yams' and 'sweet potatoes' interchangeably- I pretty much always mean the darker more orange version!)
-I DID NOT add the following ingredients: milk (whoops! all out of my non-diary milk!), coriander (haven't ever used it!), and the miso (darn! I actually had this one in my fridge and was planning on making use of it, but then forgot). Despite forgetting a few things, the dish tasted amazing and flavorful- sweet from the yams with cinnamon, savory from the polenta (which was cooked perfectly and not at all oily), spices (and protein!) from the bean spread, and even more flavor from the greens. Speaking of which, I used a combo of red Swiss chard (YUM!) and mixed kales (I LOVE you Berkeley Bowl for having such an array of kales- not to mention other veg). I had to remind myself to take it easy on the kale (flashbacks to eating too much raw kale during my coo-coo for kale episode). I am proud to say I did not have an entire head of kale while making this dish ;-) But seriously, chard and kale really complement the other ingredients here.

This dish feels homey and warm but exciting all at the same time. Make it. Eat it. Love it.

What a yum dinner!

And leftovers like this are the cherry on top ;-)


This WILL be a vegan recipe I show off at a dinner party! Thanks to Gena!

Italian White Bean Soup

From: Spa Cuisine at Home, Chef Nadine, BCAE class

Here's another quick, easy, delicious, healthy dish. I love this soup, and it's totally satisfying. Because of the fresh-tasting veggies, I think it works any time of year.

Ingredients:

• 1 big can of GOYA white kidney beans (cannellini work too; 16oz)
• 1 can water (fill the GOYA can after emptying beans)
• 1 Tbsp vegetable or olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Black pepper to taste
• 1/8 tsp dried thyme
• 3/4 package of french string beans from Trader Joe's (note: I specify T Joe's here because something about these frozen green beans, and no other, keep them tasting fresh and amazing in this soup. You can also substitute 1 bunch of fresh spinach here, which is what the original recipe calls for. I like the green beans better though.)
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice

Steps:

1. In a large saucepan, heat the oil. Cook onion and celery in the oil for about 5-8 minutes or until tender. Add the garlic and cook about 30 seconds, continually stirring.
2. Stir in the can of beans. Without rinsing the can, fill it with water and add to the saucepan.
3. Stir in the pepper, thyme, and additional water if desired for more volume. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat, simmering for 15 minutes.
4. Add the frozen green beans to the saucepan and cook until thawed.
5. Stir in lemon juice and remove from heat to serve.

Notes: By not washing the can of beans, you get a creamy flavor to the soup without any actual cream or milk. You can also use vegetable stock if you prefer, but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how tasty something so simple can be.

Succotash

From Bon Appetit culinary series, Sur La Table "Vegetarian Feast" cooking class

I was surprised to find out Sur La Table offers cooking classes; after taking one, I came home satisfied from a great night of delicious food, new techniques, fun people, and with a number of good recipes in hand. I was also surprised to realize I like succotash! Don't be afraid of lima beans!! They can be yummy, I promise!!! This dish is delish, healthy, filling, and quick & easy to make- the triple threat of cooking- more accurately, the quintuple threat!

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 and 1/2 cups chopped onion
• Coarse kosher salt
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 3 cups of chopped red tomatoes (about 1 and 1/2 lbs- the fresher the better!)
• 2 and 1/4 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 10-11 ounces frozen lima beans and/or baby butter beans, thawed (you can substitute canned navy beans, cannellini beans, or northern beans here too)
  
• 3 Tbsp thinly sliced fresh basil

Steps:

1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sprinkle with salt. Saute until soft and translucent, about 5min.
   
2. Add garlic and stir until fragrant, about 1min.
3. Add chopped tomatoes, corn, and thawed beans. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until corn and lima beans are tender and tomatoes are soft, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Season with salt and pepper.
   
5. Stir in the sliced fresh basil just prior to serving.
   

Notes: If you are using canned beans, these can be added 5-10 minutes later through the cooking process. Also, steps 1-4 can be done ahead- either the day before or a few hours before- just re-heat prior to serving. Finally, I like adding BOTH lima beans and canned white beans- it adds more color, more protein, and more punch to the dish. The fresh basil really pulls everything together and makes it yummy. This is great for leftovers too- I like it cold for lunch!

Looking for a cooking class in your area? I was pleased with the Sur La Table options, and also found some interesting ones at Williams Sonoma. That's a good start, although they aren't cheap. Centers for adult education also often have them; I took a great one through Boston's BCAE when I was living there. Cooking classes are a fun way to get new ideas, meet new people, and enjoy a delicious, hands-on treat while learning something new!