Sweet Potato Black Bean Burritos... yet another. :)

I changed up the original recipe a bit.  It makes a lot.  Ben and I ate this for 5 days straight, but it was so good we didn't mind.  :)  

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2-3/4 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 cans black beans, drained 
a little water to thin out the beans if needed
1 tablespoon chili powder (or to taste) 
2 teaspoons ground cumin (or to taste)

4 teaspoons prepared mustard (dijon was good)
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 large sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed (I chopped and boiled mine)
corn tortillas (because I served them as tacos with melted cheese, but you could use flour tortillas and make burritos if you like)
shredded cheddar cheese
taco condiments: cilantro, guac, avocado, salsa, sour cream, tomatoes

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oil in a medium skillet, and saute onion and garlic until soft.  Stir in the chili powder, cumin and cook a minute or two.  Stir in beans, and mash (leaving some whole). Gradually stir in water, if needed, and heat until warm. Remove from heat and add mustard, cayenne pepper and soy sauce.
   
2. Mix the bean mixture with the mashed sweet potato (the original recipe leaves them separate, but this worked great).  
   
3. Melt cheese on tortillas on stove, fill with mixture and serve with your favorite toppings.
   
   

Sausage and Bean Ragout

Finally, I'm posting a recipe that isn't a dessert or bread! Feels nice to cook real food again. :) A coworker gave me some fresh basil which inspired an internet search for a dinner recipe. This was delicious, and super easy. I altered it a bit to use what I had... I put the changes in parentheses. (From Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil (I skipped this)
• 1 pound ground beef (I used ground turkey)
• 1 pound hot Italian pork sausage, casing removed (used Jimmy Dean ground Italian sausage)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 1/2 cups Swanson® Chicken Broth (regular, Natural Goodness™ or Certified Organic)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes seasoned with garlic, oregano and basil (I just had plain... still really good)
• 1 (16 ounce) can white kidney beans (cannellini), rinsed and drained (I used 2 cans)
• 1/2 cup uncooked elbow pasta (I used penne because that's what I had)
• 1 (6 ounce) package fresh baby spinach leaves, washed
• 1/3 cup grated Romano cheese

Directions

1. Heat oil in saucepot over medium-high heat. Add beef, sausage and onion and cook until meats are browned, stirring to separate meat. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds.
2. Add broth, basil, tomatoes and beans. Heat to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add pasta and cook until pasta is done.
3. Add spinach and cook just until spinach is wilted, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Serve with additional cheese.

Charlies Roasted Corn Salsa

I've been making this all summer because I'm WILD about every ingredient. It's one of those dishes that is always a hit at a BBQ and there's millions of compliments! As expected from Charlie Crump... He's a good cook.

1 (16 oz) Bag Frozen Corn
6-8 Roma Tomatoes
1 Small Onion, Diced
1 can (15 oz) Black Beans, rinsed
1 clove of Garlic, minced
3 Avocados, diced
Juice of 3 Limes
1/4 c Fresh Cilantro, chopped
1/4 c Olive Oil
1 tsp. Cumin
1 Tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
Thaw corn on cookie sheet and broil until it begins to brown. Saute onions. Mix all ingredients with corn and let the favors blend for several hours.

Serve with Tortilla Chips.

Quinoa and Black Beans

For those of you who don't know... (courtesy of Wikipedia)

Quinoa originated in the Andean region of South America, where it has been an important food for 6,000 years. Quinoa (pronounced /ˈkiːnoʊ.ə/ or /kwɨˈnoʊ.ə/, Spanish quinua, from Quechua kinwa), a species of goosefoot (Chenopodium), is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal, or grain, as it is not a grass.

Quinoa was of great nutritional importance in pre-Columbian Andean civilizations, being secondary only to the potato, and was followed in importance by maize. In contemporary times, this crop has become highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its protein content is very high (12%–18%), making it a healthy choice for vegetarians and vegans. Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source.^[4] It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest. Because of all these characteristics, quinoa is being considered a possible crop in NASA's Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long-duration manned spaceflights.^[4]


There you go folks... plus, it's delicious. You generally have to look for it near the "specialty" grains in a regular grocery store, but is much easier to come by in a health food store such as Whole Foods or Sunflower Market. It's my new thing. Since this recipe mixes well known foods (beans and corn) with the new food (quinoa), it's a good place to start in giving it a try. Really, it's like any other grain, in that it takes the flavor of whatever you've cooked it in. If you don't like cumin or cilantro... you won't like this recipe.

Ingredients

1 tsp. canola oil
1 onion chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa (rinsed)
I can low-sodium chicken broth
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup frozen corn kernels (optional)
2 cans (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro (or more)

Directions

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and sauté about five minutes.

Rinse quinoa with cold water for a few minutes. (Use a fine sieve).

Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper.

Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.

Stir frozen corn into saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.

Number of Servings: 8

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user BUN3KIN.

White Bean Chicken Chili

(From: Giada At Home - Giada de Laurentiis)

Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 4 garlic cloves, minced
* 2 pounds ground chicken (I used leftover Thanksgiving turkey and it was delicious!)
* 1 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
* 2 tablespoons ground cumin
* 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
* 1 tablespoon dried oregano
* 2 teaspoons chili powder
* 3 tablespoons flour
* 2 (15-ounce cans) cannellini or other white beans, rinsed and drained
* 1 bunch (about 1 pound) Swiss chard, stems removed, leaves chopped into 1-inch pieces (I left this out because certain members of my family wouldn't eat it if I added it, but I'm sure it'd be delicious... I was also thinking of using spinach, but it probably wouldn't hold up as well as the swiss chard)
* 11/2 cups frozen corn, thawed
* 4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
* 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
* Freshly ground black pepper for seasoning
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (I added this to simmer, rather than garnishing with it at the end)

Directions

In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the ground chicken, 1 teaspoon salt, cumin, fennel seeds, oregano, and chili powder. Cook, stirring frequently, until the chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes. Stir the flour into the chicken mixture. Add the beans, Swiss chard, corn, and chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a simmer, scraping up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Simmer for 55-60 minutes until the liquid has reduced by about half and the chili has thickened. (The simmering is super important before you start adding more seasoning... you need to give the fennel seeds time to work their magic.) Add the red pepper flakes and simmer for another 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Ladle the chili into serving bowls. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley.

Delicious!

Black Bean Soup

This is another winner from Two Peas and Their Pod... but this time I made a couple modifications.

1 Tbl olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves (or more) garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 small jalepeno, minced
1 small can diced green chiles
3 cans diced tomatoes
3 cans chicken broth (fat-free, low sodium)
4 cans black beans (drained and rinsed)
2 cans sweet corn (drained)
1/2 Tbl chili powder (or more if you like the added heat, which I don't)
1 1/2 Tbl cumin (or a bit more if you like the flavor, which I do)
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
juice of 1 lime
salt/pepper to taste

1. In 1 Tbl olive oil, saute the onion, garlic, green pepper, jalepeno, and green chiles until soft.
2. Add the diced tomatoes, chicken broth, and two cans of black beans (the other two we'll use later).
3. Before this comes to a boil, pour it in batches into the blender and puree (this will add great thickness to the soup without having to add other thickening ingredients). If you're so lucky to own one, you could use a hand blender right in the pan.
4. Pour back into pan and add the remaining two cans of black beans and the corn.
5. While it's heating add chili powder, cumin, chopped cilantro (seems like a lot, but it's delicious, unless of course, you don't like cilantro... because you're crazy), lime juice, and salt/pepper to taste.
6. Simmer to combine flavors.

I served mine with avocado and cheddar cheese, but it really is delicious on it's own as well. You could also add tortilla chips, more cilantro, more lime, or anything else your heart tells you would be delicious! :) Btw, this probably isn't a side dish... it's pretty filling. Enjoy!