I usually like to blog recipes when I have pictures to go with them...but I've been sitting on this recipe for about two months, and just need to get it off my to-do list. So. Picture little fudgey bites, completely gluten and flour free. Dairy free. Full of trendy coconut oil. Mmmm. I made these for a girls luncheon, and we ate the entire pan. It's the coconut oil that really makes these babies sing! I used a Vitamix to make these, but other blenders would probably work just as well. Just make sure you get everything completely blended and smooth.
Coconut-Scented Black Bean "Brownies"
Makes 1 8x8 pan
Preheat your oven to 350 and grease an 8x8 pan. Set aside.
In your blender, add these ingredients, in this order:
3 eggs
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
2 tsp. vanilla
1 can black beans, washed and drained
Blend until everything is completely smooth - a few errant bean skins won't ruin these brownies, but too many would be distracting.
Pour your batter into your prepared pan and sprinkle the top generously with semi-sweet chocolate chips. (If you need your brownies to be completely dairy-free, skip the chocolate chips.) Bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out batter-free.
Serve warm or cold, but consume judiciously - these are a big ol' pan of magical beans, after all. *grin*
Showing posts with label Beans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beans. Show all posts
Monday, July 29, 2013
Monday, January 9, 2012
How to Cook Beans
A basic method, but I do this a lot in our kitchen, so definitely worth knowing! I'll give the most basic method (quick and slow versions) and you can fancy it up however you please.
I am using dried onions and dried garlic here- in my experience, these work better than fresh. The end result is sweeter and more married.
--Myrnie
Ingredients:
2 cups dried beans (1 pound)
about 1 Tbsp baking soda
Water
Salt
bay leaves
pepper
dried onions
dried garlic
Serves four
Clean:
Pour dried beans into a large pot and cover with cool water- swish them around with your hand to clean any dust or debris off. (I've never found any, but it's not uncommon to find small sticks or stones.) Use your hand to scoop out any beans that float, or anything else that shouldn't be there. Drain off the water, and cover again, so when you stick your pointer finger on top of the beans, the water comes up to your second knuckle. Add a shake or two of baking soda.
Soak:
For a quick soak, put the pot on the stove and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Watch it, because it will foam up quite a bit (because of the baking soda.) Let cook 2 or 3 minutes, remove from heat, and drain and rinse. This will give you a fine pot of beans, but they will not be pretty. The skins might come off, and the beans might lose their shape during cooking.
For a slow soak, leave the pot of beans on the counter overnight. You might need to add more water, if they soak it all up. Drain and rinse.
Cook:
On the stovetop: Fill pot with water again, two finger knuckles above the beans. Add 1 tsp salt per pound of beans. Add flavorings- for pinto beans, since they're served straight from the pot, I like a tablespoon or two of dried onions, some good shakes of granulated garlic, 2 or 3 dried bay leaves, and a teaspoon of black pepper if I want it spicy. If I'm doing black beans or white beans, I often stop with just salt, since the beans are normally made into something else later. Bring to a boil, and lower to a simmer- let cook until tender, 2 to 3 hours depending on how hard they're simmering. They keep just fine on the stove, so you can get these done in the afternoon, and keep them warm till dinner.
In the crockpot, add beans and seasonings as listed above, and cook on low for 6 or 7 hours (for best results) or high for 4 or 5 hours.
I like to serve beans over rice, plain or sauteed with oil, garlic, onions, salt, and pepper before cooking. I set out sour cream, shredded cheese, all the types of hot sauce I can find, and chopped onions.
Cooked beans can be portioned out and frozen for later.
This is my favorite recipe for black beans: Chipotle Black Bean Chili. Amazing with sour cream and a squeeze of lime juice.
I am using dried onions and dried garlic here- in my experience, these work better than fresh. The end result is sweeter and more married.
--Myrnie
Ingredients:
2 cups dried beans (1 pound)
about 1 Tbsp baking soda
Water
Salt
bay leaves
pepper
dried onions
dried garlic
Serves four
Clean:
Pour dried beans into a large pot and cover with cool water- swish them around with your hand to clean any dust or debris off. (I've never found any, but it's not uncommon to find small sticks or stones.) Use your hand to scoop out any beans that float, or anything else that shouldn't be there. Drain off the water, and cover again, so when you stick your pointer finger on top of the beans, the water comes up to your second knuckle. Add a shake or two of baking soda.
Soak:
For a quick soak, put the pot on the stove and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Watch it, because it will foam up quite a bit (because of the baking soda.) Let cook 2 or 3 minutes, remove from heat, and drain and rinse. This will give you a fine pot of beans, but they will not be pretty. The skins might come off, and the beans might lose their shape during cooking.
For a slow soak, leave the pot of beans on the counter overnight. You might need to add more water, if they soak it all up. Drain and rinse.
Cook:
On the stovetop: Fill pot with water again, two finger knuckles above the beans. Add 1 tsp salt per pound of beans. Add flavorings- for pinto beans, since they're served straight from the pot, I like a tablespoon or two of dried onions, some good shakes of granulated garlic, 2 or 3 dried bay leaves, and a teaspoon of black pepper if I want it spicy. If I'm doing black beans or white beans, I often stop with just salt, since the beans are normally made into something else later. Bring to a boil, and lower to a simmer- let cook until tender, 2 to 3 hours depending on how hard they're simmering. They keep just fine on the stove, so you can get these done in the afternoon, and keep them warm till dinner.
In the crockpot, add beans and seasonings as listed above, and cook on low for 6 or 7 hours (for best results) or high for 4 or 5 hours.
I like to serve beans over rice, plain or sauteed with oil, garlic, onions, salt, and pepper before cooking. I set out sour cream, shredded cheese, all the types of hot sauce I can find, and chopped onions.
Cooked beans can be portioned out and frozen for later.
This is my favorite recipe for black beans: Chipotle Black Bean Chili. Amazing with sour cream and a squeeze of lime juice.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Uber Charged Chili
This chili was part planned, part accident and part desperation.
I used two small acorn squash, roasted in the oven until tender. When I turned on the oven to roast some potatoes to go with my chili…the acorn squash were waiting for me. Alone, and forgotten. Oops! There was also a block of tofu in the refrigerator that needed to see the light of day or forever hold its peace.
Served over rice, this makes a really hearty dinner! I recommend eating it with something – anything – fresh. Like salad. Or raw carrots. Or an apple. Or something that isn’t brown and cooked to within an inch of its life. I used the slow cooker to cook the beans, and then finished the chili on the stove. This is something you could leave on in the morning, after soaking the beans overnight, and then finish them up quickly after work.
LoLo’s Uber Charged Chili
(Makes one large pot of chili – about 4 quarts)
Ingredients:
3 cups dry pinto beans
Water
8 oz. salsa
1 block of tofu
3 cups of cooked acorn squash (or whatever you have on hand. Pumpkin or butternut might be nice, too!)
1 can of diced tomatoes, unseasoned
1 tsp. crushed bay leaves
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. paprika
Salt, sugar and pepper to taste
Garnish:
Sour cream
Grated cheddar cheese
Soak the beans overnight. Pick out any that float, are discolored, or are otherwise ugly. Also remove anything from the pot that isn’t a bean, or water.
In the morning, drain the beans. Add the beans to your slow cooker, cover with water by about 1”. Cook on high for 8 hours.
Remove the cooked beans to a large soup pot, taking off some of the water if there is too much covering the beans. You want it to cover by about 1/4” in the new pot.
Add the tomatoes, salsa, bay leaves, cumin and paprika to the beans and stir to combine.
In a food processor, combine the squash, tofu and a few scoops of cooked beans. Puree, then stir into the pot of beans.
Season to taste with salt, pepper and sugar. Hot sauce can also be added at this point, or at the table, if you do that sort of thing.
Served over rice, with something fresh and green on the side, this makes a fabulous, and hearty meal. Enjoy!
I used two small acorn squash, roasted in the oven until tender. When I turned on the oven to roast some potatoes to go with my chili…the acorn squash were waiting for me. Alone, and forgotten. Oops! There was also a block of tofu in the refrigerator that needed to see the light of day or forever hold its peace.
Served over rice, this makes a really hearty dinner! I recommend eating it with something – anything – fresh. Like salad. Or raw carrots. Or an apple. Or something that isn’t brown and cooked to within an inch of its life. I used the slow cooker to cook the beans, and then finished the chili on the stove. This is something you could leave on in the morning, after soaking the beans overnight, and then finish them up quickly after work.
LoLo’s Uber Charged Chili
(Makes one large pot of chili – about 4 quarts)
Ingredients:
3 cups dry pinto beans
Water
8 oz. salsa
1 block of tofu
3 cups of cooked acorn squash (or whatever you have on hand. Pumpkin or butternut might be nice, too!)
1 can of diced tomatoes, unseasoned
1 tsp. crushed bay leaves
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. paprika
Salt, sugar and pepper to taste
Garnish:
Sour cream
Grated cheddar cheese
Soak the beans overnight. Pick out any that float, are discolored, or are otherwise ugly. Also remove anything from the pot that isn’t a bean, or water.
In the morning, drain the beans. Add the beans to your slow cooker, cover with water by about 1”. Cook on high for 8 hours.
Remove the cooked beans to a large soup pot, taking off some of the water if there is too much covering the beans. You want it to cover by about 1/4” in the new pot.
Add the tomatoes, salsa, bay leaves, cumin and paprika to the beans and stir to combine.
In a food processor, combine the squash, tofu and a few scoops of cooked beans. Puree, then stir into the pot of beans.
Season to taste with salt, pepper and sugar. Hot sauce can also be added at this point, or at the table, if you do that sort of thing.
Served over rice, with something fresh and green on the side, this makes a fabulous, and hearty meal. Enjoy!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Aunt LoLo's Sweet Beans
This recipe is dedicated to my friend, Sam. *mwah*
Ok, so I've been trying to phase my house over to more Real Food. This means, in general, that I'm trying to make whatever I can. From scratch.
This is my latest attempt. I wanted to make the classic canned baked beans...without the pork. (Because who keeps three square inches of pork belly around, just to make a serving of beans?! Not me - that's who.)
My method was to look at the back of my can of generic "beans and franks", mentally delete all of the ingredients that weren't....food....and go from there.
I thought they turned out really great! The beans were a little tough-skinned, but I think that's just because it was an older bag of beans. (Any bean gurus out there that can clue me in on a way to get softer skins?)
Aunt LoLo's Sweet Beans
2 cups dry pinto beans
1 tsp. dry onions (My Bean Master sister says dry onions taste better in beans than fresh. If using fresh, chop up about half of an onion, and saute before adding to your beans. Hat tip to Myrnie!)
1/3 cup white sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 oz. canned tomato paste
Prep your dry beans - cover them with water, and swirl them around a bit. Pull out anything that floats, or anything that isn't a good-looking bean. (Anything black, wrinkled, split...those are all trash.) To soften the beans, either soak them overnight in cold water, or cover with water and bring to a boil. Either way, drain the water off afterwards, replace it with fresh water (about 2" over the beans).
Into the water, add all of the remaining ingredients to your pot, except your tomato paste. (Myrnie told me once that tomato products seem to stunt the cooking of the beans...I've never tried to tempt fate!) (And yes, Myrnie taught me how to cook dry beans. I still call her nearly every time I try to mix up a pot!)
Simmer the beans until they are soft, and then add your tomato paste. (BTW, 3 oz. is about half a can. Eyeball it...or add the whole can. Just add to taste!)
After a few minutes more simmering, taste the beans. Add more salt, sugar, vinegar, ground pepper...whatever flavor you're missing, chuck it in there. Just be sure to use a light hand - once it's in there, you can't get it back!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Black Bean and Chipotle Chili
Before running out the door to church, I treasure-hunted in my cupboards to see what I'd serve for dinner that night. This chili came together fast, it's vegetarian, and everyone (including my white-foods-only-diet preschooler) cleaned their plates. And had seconds. Definitely a keeper!
You could definitely go with dried beans, but I didn't have any dried black beans on hand so I wrote this up the way I made it.
Chipotle peppers are smoked jalapenos- I purchase them in small cans, packed in adobo sauce. They're smoky, a little spicy, and delicious. Store the unused portion in the fridge- I hear they're great in eggs!
Black Bean and Chipotle Chili
Ingredients:
5 cans black beans
1 can tomato sauce
2 Tbsp. chili powder
2-5 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
2-3 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
Optional garnishes: sour cream, shredded cheddar, green onions
Drain and rinse 3 cans of beans, and put in crock pot with remaining 2 cans of undrained beans, tomato sauce, chili powder, and chipotle peppers with their sauce. Let cook on low 3-5 hours. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add cilantro half an hour before serving. Serve over rice, and topped with sour cream, cheese, and green onions.
Enjoy!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Curry Pinto Beans with Pork
In a medium sized pot, combine 2 cups of dried pinto beans and water (according to package directions*) and bring to a boil. Boil for three minutes, cover, remove from heat and let sit for 1 hour.
Drain, replace water, and bring back to a simmer. Add 1 lb of pork chops, cut into chunks. (My pork chops were marinated in soy sauce and ginger before being frozen. Otherwise, add a bit of garlic and soy sauce to your beans at this point for the same flavor.) Add 1 can of diced tomatoes, undrained, 2 teaspoons salt, 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon curry powder.
Simmer until the beans are the desired tenderness - I simmered mine about 5 hours. We like our beans very tender around here!
About 15 minutes before serving, add 7 oz. of coconut milk (about half a can). After this, don't let the beans simmer - just warm the beans through.
Serve over rice, or with a side of naan, chapati or paratha.
(This is based very loosely on an African dish, Jaanjare Jo Shaak from Chachi's Kitchen.)
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Curried Lentils with Coconut Milk
I can not get enough curry these days, or beans. Make it a coconut curry, and I'll sing any song you like just so long as THAT is my supper.
Lentils are great for both- unlike their larger cousins, lentils can go from pantry to table in roughly half an hour.
The original recipe can be found here, on Serious Eats. My version is below.
With a stack of warmed tortillas and a big pot of rice, this made a quick and hearty vegetarian meal. (What really IS the difference between tortillas and naan? Besides the yeast...not much! That's my story, at least.)
Curried Lentils with Coconut Milk
Ingredients
1 pound lentils (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 tsp turmeric
5 cups water
2 ounces ghee or butter
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
5 tsp curry powder
4 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 can coconut milk
Procedure
1. Rinse the lentils and pick over for any stones or dirt. Dissolve the turmeric in the stock and combine with the lentils in a heavy pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered, until the lentils are just tender. Stir occasionally.
2. Heat the ghee or butter in a small skillet over medium heat and add the onion. Saute until soft, then add the garlic and curry powder. Cooking, stirring constantly, until the spices are very fragrant and the flavors are married. Stir this mixture into the cooking lentils, and add the chopped tomato with a pinch of salt. Continue simmering until the lentils are done, then season to taste.
3. Add the coconut milk and stir well until heated through. Serve with rice or naan bread.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Crockpot Chili
This is my second chili recipe posting, not the last of my bean dishes! I've eaten this for three days, served over rice and topped with cheddar and sour cream. It is with sadness I can see the bottom of the serving dish.
Also, Ernie has eaten second helpings of this two nights in a row. Major bonus points for this recipe!
My changes are in parentheses
Also, Ernie has eaten second helpings of this two nights in a row. Major bonus points for this recipe!
My changes are in parentheses
Slow-Cooker Hearty Beef Chili
from Fall 2008 Kraft Food and Family
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef (I used about a cup of cooked ground beef, from the freezer)
1 can each dark and light kidney beans, 15 oz. each (I used two cans dark)
1 1/2 cups "Taco Bell Home Originals Thick n' Chunky Mild Salsa" (I used large jar of spicy)
1 can tomato sauce, 16 oz.
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 onion chopped (I used a few good shakes of dried)
1 cup frozen corn (didn't include this)
(I added about a cup and a half of water too, because it looked dry)
from Fall 2008 Kraft Food and Family
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef (I used about a cup of cooked ground beef, from the freezer)
1 can each dark and light kidney beans, 15 oz. each (I used two cans dark)
1 1/2 cups "Taco Bell Home Originals Thick n' Chunky Mild Salsa" (I used large jar of spicy)
1 can tomato sauce, 16 oz.
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 onion chopped (I used a few good shakes of dried)
1 cup frozen corn (didn't include this)
(I added about a cup and a half of water too, because it looked dry)
Brown meat and drain. Add to slow cooker with remaining ingredients. Stir and cover with lid. Cook on low 5-6 hours, or high 3-4 hours. Stir just before serving. Serve topped with cheddar cheese and sour cream.
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