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Posts Tagged ‘beans’

Chipotle Lime Salad Bowl

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , on August 3, 2012| 1 Comment »

Happy Friday, Everyone!

I wish I could say I was looking forward to this weekend but I am working Saturday and Sunday so I’m not going to get too much of a break! I will be getting to try a new vegan restaurant with my book club, though, which I’m super excited for. Our book this month was Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. It is a really well-written fantasy novel. But not like campy fantasy with dragons.  Not that I don’t love a campy fantasy  novel every now and than! This just isn’t one of them. Anyway, now that I have given hands down one of the most vague reviews ever, go check it out.

Know what else you should check out? This music video:

I’ve been meaning to post this video forever because I cannot get enough of this song but it just hasn’t happened. So here! Check them out!

And last but not least, you should not only check out this salad, you should definitely make it! The ingredients and steps sound complicated but you can take short-cuts. For instance, instead of dried beans you could used canned  and in place of corn on the cob, you could used canned or frozen. Or, you can make all the components (rice, black beans, and corn-on-the-cob) a head of time so that when you are ready to make the salad, everything comes together quickly.

Chipotle Lime Salad Bowl
adapted from Tasty Kitchen; measurements based off RFFMBT pyramid
serves 4

1 c. uncooked brown basmati rice
1 c. dried black beans (if you use canned, you want 2 cups)
4 c. romaine lettuce (3-4 hearts of romaine)
4 ears of corn (or 2 cups of frozen)
2 c. cherry tomatoes
2 avocadoes
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder

If you are using dried black beans, cover the beans with hot water, put a cover on the pot and bring to boil. Let boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 1 hour. Do not remove the cover.

Once you have let the beans ‘fast soak’, drain and refill with water and let the beans simmer for about 1  hour and 45 minutes. Drain remaining liquid and set beans aside.

While the beans are cooking, start the basmati rice.  Follow the packages instructions.

While the rice and beans are cooking, start the corn on the cob. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Place the corn on the cob in the water and boil for about 8 minutes. Let cool.

Once your corn is cool, remove the corn from the cob. Place your corn and 2 cups of beans in a hot skillet with your cumin and chili powder. Cook until warm and well mixed.

To assemble your salad, combine lettuce, rice, beans and corn mixture, tomatoes and avocado and drizzle with dressing.

If you are bringing this for lunch or on the go, chop up 1 cup of lettuce, 1/2 c. tomatoes and 1/4 avocado in one container. Place 1/2 cup of rice and 1 cup of the bean/corn mixture into a smaller, separate container so you can warm it before eating.

Dressing
from CDKitchen.com

  • 1/2 c olive oil
  • 1/4 c fresh lime juice
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 TBSP minced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
  • 1/4 c roughlychopped fresh cilantro
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • salt and pepper to taste

Whisk all the ingredients together. Can be used right away but tastes best when allowed to sit over night.

Like I said, it’s a bit of a process. I made the rice, beans, corn and dressing on Sunday afternoon. Then, the night before work, I place all my veggies together and all my warm ingredients together. It comes together pretty quickly! It’s a super yummy and filling salad so definitely give it a try!

I also made this by ditching the dressing, mixing the rice and beans with chipotle salsa (found in the mexican food section of your grocery store, next to the chipotle in adobo sauce) instead of the cumin and chili powder, and using the juice of half a lime for my dressing and it was delicious! Since you already have a healthy fat on the salad (avocado), it gets rid of all the olive oil in the dressing but keeps the chipotle lime flavor. Either way, this salad is delicious!

ok, everyone, I hope you have a great weekend!

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Red Bean, Potato and Kale Soup

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , on May 8, 2012| 2 Comments »

Remember when I was super excited to go to the Cinco de Mayo party my friend, Rachel, was having on Saturday?

Remember when I was just thinking it was an excuse to drink excessive amounts of margaritas and an unhealthy amount of guac, aka mashed up avocado, aka my favorite things ever?

Well…that didn’t happen. I’m starting to feel like if I post something on here that is suppose to happen, it won’t.

Instead, I woke up Saturday with an ear infection, on top of the no-voice situation I’d been rocking since Thursday. So, instead of yummy party food and booze, I made soup. Bor-ing.

It should also be noted that it wasn’t particularly warm this weekend and we are looking at a week of rain so this soup is perfect for New England. I understand it’s warmer elsewhere so don’t think I’m weird for posting soup in May.

Red Bean, Potato and Kale Soup
roughly based off of Red Chard,Potato and White Bean Ragout 

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 to 4 garlic cloves (to taste), sliced
  • 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/2-inch dice (about two or three potatoes)
  • 3 cups vegetable, 3 cups water
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 TBSP nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp thyme leaves
  • 1/2 cup- 1 cup frozen kale (I used 365 frozen blue curly kale. It’s great! or you can use about a pound of fresh)*
  • 1 can red beans
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 1 to 2 TBS chopped parsley (optional)

1. Heat the olive oil in the bottom of a big soup pot over medium heat and add the onion. Cook, stirring often, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the potatoes and stir together. Add 2 cups of vegetable broth and 2 cups of water, a bay leave, nutritional  yeast and thyme leaves. Bring to a simmer, cover and simmer 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Salt to taste.

2. Add the kale, beans and another 1 cup of broth and 1 cup of water to the pot**, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. The kale should be very tender. Stir in freshly ground pepper to taste and the parsley. Taste, adjust seasonings and serve.

* If you are using fresh kale, remove the leaves from the stem. Saute the stems in with the onions in the first step and then wait to add the kale leaves until step 2.

**When I’m sick, I like my soup broth-y. I feel like the healing properties are in the broth, not the actual food. So, I added more broth/water since it had cooked down significantly. If you like less broth, feel free to leave out the additional 2 cups of liquid at the end but keep a close eye on your red beans. You’ll most likely only have to cook them for 5-10 minutes until they are hot. You don’t want to over cook them or they will burst and make your soup sort of gritty. Trust me…I know…

yummm…this soup was just what the vegan doctor ordered. I curled up with it in my oversized North Conway mug and read for a good portion of the weekend. It also gave me enough energy to clean my room between naps! You should see it…it’s so clean!! Clearly, I should get sick more often if it means time to clean. Who knew?

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Quinoa and Black Bean Burritos

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , on April 26, 2012| 2 Comments »

I had several odd jobs during my high school years.

I’ve fought the madness that is my local fair by working the ticket booth at the entry gate. The fair only lasted a few days but the shifts were long and I handled so much money that I would actually dream about counting out change. And dealing with townies was always…interesting.

I worked at a record store, which was unfortunately more Record Town then Empire Records. I was working for The Man, not fighting him. Polo shirts and black slacks were involved. Not my best look.

But,  the icing on the cake was the tiny coffee shop I worked at while I was trying to save money for a Paris trip, junior year of high school . It was run by this mean cat lady who owned the place. Usually, on the weekends, it was just me and her. She would plop herself on this stool and watch everything I did, only getting up to yell at me/fix something I did. And I ALWAYS wrapped the wraps wrong. They were to tight. Too lose. Too much filling. Not enough. On more then one occasion she would trash what I had done and start over.

So needless to say, I have a mental block about making wraps and burritos. Seriously, I can never get them right. My brain refuses. Filling is always spilling out and the ends never stayed tucked in.

This became glaringly obvious this week when I tried to make burritos for lunch. I tried to 3 days in a row before cursing furiously, plopping everything in a bowl and eating it like that.

And guess what, it tasted just as good! Too bad I couldn’t have done that at my job. I’m pretty sure mean cat lady would have had an aneurism if I even attempted it.

Quinoa and Bean Burritos/Bowls
 inspired by Whole Foods and Rachel Robin’s Nest
makes roughly 6 or 7 wraps or bowls full, depending on the size of your wraps, can easily be halved

  • 1 cup uncooked quinoa (any color will work)
  • 1 can of black beans (you can also use dried but I had a can kicking around from way back when), drained and rinsed
  • 1 block of extra firm tofu, pressed
  • 1 TBSP of olive oil
  • 1 bell pepper
  • 1 sweet onion
  • a pack of taco seasoning
  • water (amount based on the taco seasoning you are using. Mine was left over from a taco night I had with friends and it called for 1 cup of water)
  • wheat wraps (optional)
  • optional toppings: taco sauce, salsa, avocado, guacamole, vegan cheese, vegan sour cream, lettuce, additional veggies

Add one cup of quinoa and two cups of water to a medium sauce pan. Bring to boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, when all the water is absorbed, remove from heat and fluff with a fork. Stir in the black beans.

Meanwhile, slice up the pepper, the onion and the tofu to your liking (I cut mine my veggies long strips like fajitas and my tofu in cubes ). Heat the olive oil to the pan and then add the veggies and the tofu. Saute until the tofu is golden brown on the outside. The onions with me soft and the peppers should still be a bit crunchy. Add the taco seasoning and water to the veggie/tofu mix and stir until the seasoning thickens to a sauce. It should only take about 2 minutes or so.

Scoop quinoa/bean mix onto a wrap. Add veggies and tofu and any additional toppings you like.

Alternatively, if you can’t keep your wrap together (like me) and it all falls apart by the time you get it to work the next day, you can mix everything together in a bowl. My favorite combo so far has been: quinoa, beans, veggies and tofu with taco seasoning, half an avocado cut into cubes, and a little BBQ hot sauce (yes…even my hot sauce is BBQ flavored). I keep the wrap on the side, slice it in triangles before work and then toast them at works as sort of a make shift tortilla chips.

aww…look how compact it is. Too bad as soon as I unwrapped it at work, the whole thing fell apart. Grr.

It’s really easy, full of protein and keeps you full for the rest of the afternoon. Win, win and win!

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