Tuscan White Beans on Toast

My daughter and I were delving into the world of Spanish and Mediterranean tapas while exploring an upcoming birthday trip. A recipe similar to this caught our eye on one of the restaurant menus and we hoped to recreate it at home.

This fits perfectly into our "mostly" plant-forward lifestyle, and was delicious while being both light and completely satisfying at the same time.  Because it was such a simple dish, I really wanted to make sure I got lots of flavors in there! 

#mediterranean #dinner #lunch #vegetarian #plantforward

Ingredients:

• Seasonings:  kosher salt, pepper, oregano, red pepper flakes
• 1 Tbsp avocado oil
• half an onion, chopped fine
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and diced fine
• 1 rib of Tuscan kale, chopped fine
• 1/2 cup roasted tomatoes in oil (soft sundried tomatoes in oil would be fine)
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1 can white beans, drained
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 Tbsp garlic paste or very finely chopped garlic
• 6 pieces sourdough bread
• butter (optional for toast)
• Parmigiano Reggiano (optional)
• Tuscan olive oil (optional)

Servings:  6

Nutrition per serving.

303cal, 7.3g fat, 47g carb (6.1g dietary fiber - 22% daily value, 7.9g sugar), 13g protein (26% daily value), iron 4.6 mg (26% daily value).

Directions:

This recipe is so quick that it works best for you to chop and dice everything before you get started.

Sauté diced onions and carrots in avocado oil (or some other neutral oil).  

Add chopped kale when onions and carrots are about half cooked.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add garlic paste when vegetables are mostly cooked.  Don't allow it to burn. 

Quickly add the drained beans.

While vegetables are cooking, roughly chop roasted tomatoes.  You can leave the oil on them.  It will turn into a sauce.  Add the tomatoes after adding the beans.  Re-season with salt, pepper, oregano, a few shakes of red pepper flakes.

Finish with the juice of half a lemon. 

Toast some good quality sourdough or artisan bread.  (We prefer to toast ours in a pan.)  Top the toast with the white bean mixture.  Shave some Parmigiano Reggiano over the top.  Drizzle a bit of good quality Tuscan olive oil or cold pressed extra virgin olive oil over the top.  Top with chopped green onions if desired. 

Written Method:

Sauté diced onions and carrots in avocado oil (or some other neutral oil).  Add chopped kale when onions and carrots are about half cooked.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add garlic paste when vegetables are mostly cooked.  Don't allow it to burn. Quickly add the drained beans.

While vegetables are cooking, roughly chop roasted tomatoes.  You can leave the oil on them.  It will turn into a sauce.  Add the tomatoes after adding the beans.  Re-season with salt, pepper, oregano, a few shakes of red pepper flakes.  Finish with the juice of half a lemon. 

Toast some good quality sourdough or artisan bread.  (We prefer to toast ours in a pan.)  Top the toast with the white bean mixture.  Shave some Parmigiano Reggiano over the top.  Drizzle a bit of good quality Tuscan olive oil or cold pressed extra virgin olive oil over the top.  Top with chopped green onions if desired.

Holiday Brie Bites

Lovely Lily and I "may" have tried out some #holiday #appetizers a week or so ago before Christmas to make sure they would be passable for our guests. I think the answer is "yes!" #cheeselady

You can whip these up for guests with only a handful of ingredients:

• Crescent roll dough
• Brie
• Dried cranberries
• Pistachios
• Fresh rosemary
• Kosher salt & large grind black pepper
• Honey
• Pomegranate seeds 

Preheat oven to 375F.

Prepare crescent dough.  Roll out without separating at perforations.  Divide into eight pieces with a pizza cutter or knife.  Add a piece of Brie, sprinkle it with dried cranberries and chopped pistachios.  Don't add too much or your dough won't close.

Close dough and form bundles.  Sprinkle the dough with kosher salt and a large grind black pepper.  Chop rosemary and sprinkle over the dough.  

Bake on parchment paper as directed for dough - approximately 14 - 15 minutes.  As soon as Brie bites come out of the oven, drizzle with warm honey and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.  Arrange on a platter and serve warm while the cheese is melty.  :)  Garnish the plate with additional rosemary. 

These are just perfect for a cocktail or dinner party.  Flaky crescent dough, warm oozy cheese, chewy cranberries, crunchy pistachios, the herbal notes of the rosemary, sweetness of the honey and a fresh pop of juiciness from the pomegrante seeds. 

I recipe using a can of crescent dough and a "triangle" of Brie makes 8 Brie Bites.

Pineapple Sangria

It's HOT, y'all! This girl is stuck at home in the South Mississippi 100+ heat looking at vacay photos of everybody else out doing awesome things. So the next best thing was to whip up a little something fun, like this cool, refreshing Pineapple Sangria. This would be a great candidate for a "batch" #cocktail for a #poolparty, summer #bbq or 4th of July celebration for sure! #partyfood Super easy to throw together and store in the fridge until party time. (Scale up as needed and put in a large drink dispenser for party)

Small batch -

1/8 pineapple (I used fresh chunks from the produce department)

1 large spring of basil

1 (6 oz) can pineapple juice

1 cup wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc)

4 oz rum (I used Malibu coconut rum)

1 can ginger beer (about 1 cup)

juice from 1/2 lemon, freshly squeezed

Throw everything in a pitcher. Either serve immediately for a more fizzy drink or let sit for a couple hours or longer for more fruity flavor but less fizz.

Serve over crushed ice, garnished with pineapple chunks and fresh basil.

* This would be Sooo so so good with grilled chicken kabobs or fish tacos!

Cuban Black Bean Burgers

#healthy #blackbeanburgers

My mom makes amazing black bean burgers.  One of the cooks in my old café made amazing black bean burgers.  Until now, however, nobody in my family was particularly interested in eating them, so I never got around to making any.  Fast forward to my daughter asking about eating more vegetarian meals.  Umm... okay.  Let's look into this a bit and ease our way into a diet with more veg but where I'm confident she's still getting the right nutrients for a growing teenager.  Whatever the recipe is, it also has to have tons of flavor... right?

So most of this recipe is from my mother.  I might have tweaked things just a bit, as should every cook.  But that's why cooking is fun!

Ingredients: 

• 1 (14oz) can black beans
  
• 1 bell pepper
• 2/3 onion
• 2/3 of (8oz) container of mushrooms
• 1 cup walnuts
• 2 Tbsp butter (use ghee for vegetarian/vegan)
• kosher salt
• black pepper
• chili powder
• cumin 
• juice of 1 lime
• about 1/2 cup of bread crumbs (I used Panko)
• 1 or 2 eggs (use egg substitute like mashed sweet potatoes for vegan)
• 1 Tbsp cream or half and half (use oat/almond milk for vegan)
• about 1/2 cup of crumbled feta cheese (omit for vegan)
• a few shakes of Worcestershire if desired (omit for vegetarian/vegan) 
• toppings of choice - Eg.  sliced avocado, lettuce, tomato, cheese, purple onions

Method: 

Prep beans - 

Rinse and drain canned black beans.   I read that the beans needed to be dried out to avoid them being mushy, so I went with that. Spread out on sheet pan and dry out in a preheated oven (I just put mine at 250F) for about 10 minutes, shaking halfway through. I also didn't want them to be bland, so I seasoned them with chili powder and cumin during the last 5 minutes.  Allow to cool.

Prep veggies - 

Dice bell pepper, onion and mushrooms.  Sauté in butter until soft.  

While the vegetables are cooking, finely chop walnuts.  

Add the nuts to the mostly cooked vegetables.  This will let the nuts toast up a bit in the butter and incorporate all these flavors.  Yumm.  Season mixture with salt and pepper to taste. 

Combine - 

To a large bowl, add cooled, dried beans and mash them about halfway.  

To the beans, add the cooked vegetables, egg, bread crumbs, cream/milk and additional seasoning to taste (chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper).  

Now for some real pizazz, squeeze the juice of one lime into the mixture.  Add feta and Worcestershire.  Combine this mixture.

Form - 

Form burger patties with about 1/2 cup of mix at a time.  Stack between pieces of parchment or waxed paper and allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.  (Note - the ones in the photo did not have feta.  I did both.)

Bake or Grill - 

Grill on oiled aluminum foil at around 350F for 7 -8 minutes per side until nicely browned.  This will depend on your grill.  To bake, add to a lined baking sheet and bake at 375F for 10 minutes per side.

The burgers were satisfying, substantial and juicy.  I'm super happy I added the feta.  All those little pops of tangy cheese were just perfect! 

Apple Crescent Rollups

 

#easy #quick #kidfriendly #breakfast #semihomemade #beginner

Honestly, I don't consider this to be much of a recipe. This is something I make for breakfast for my daughter probably two to three times a month because it's insanely quick and easy and she enjoys it.  I mean.. isn't breakfast one of those things where you sort of run out of ideas after a while?  This would definitely need to fall under the "semi-homemade" category, but so be it.   

Ingredients: 

• 1 can of crescent rolls
• Cinnamon
• Brown sugar (apricot jelly works well, too)
• 1 apple

Method: 

To avoid the need for baking spray, etc., I always use parchment paper.  Easy cleanup and no sticking.  

This is not a "measure everything" recipe." So just go with it.  Separate your crescent roll dough and sprinkle with cinnamon.  Spread brownsugar (or jelly) over the dough.  

Thinly slice apples and place two to three slices at the wide end of the dough.  

Roll up the crescents and bake.  

I tend to bake at 400F for about 9 - 10 minutes. Baking times will depend on your oven, rack settings, etc. 

Written Method:

• To avoid the need for baking spray, etc., I always use parchment paper.  Easy cleanup and no sticking.  
• This is not a "measure everything" recipe." So just go with it.  Separate your crescent roll dough and sprinkle with cinnamon.  
• Spread brownsugar (or jelly) over the dough.  
• Thinly slice apples and place two to three slices at the wide end of the dough.  
• Roll up the crescents and bake.  
• I tend to bake at 400F for about 9 - 10 minutes. Baking times will depend on your oven, rack settings, etc. 

A few more breakfast selections for you - 

Ham Cups

Funky Monkey Morning Smoothies

Orange Julius Smoothies

Spicy Sausage and Sweet Potato Hash