black bean dip

ok
so i am trying to be better with my snacking
ban the doritos
make some lighter, healthier and more nutrition-rich dips
i've been feeling sluggish, and still have the demands of nursing a toddler wearing on my poor ol' body

so in an effort to clean it up...black bean dip (snacking on it with cucumber slices and rice cakes right now

1 can drained/rinsed black beans (mine said 19oz - 598ml
1/2c salsa (only had mild on hand so had to add some spice
1/2c fat free sour cream
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp cumin
1 - 1.5 tsp mexican chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 cup loose cilantro
1 spring onion chopped
- took the hand blender and blended it down

yum - yes, very descriptive. i love love love cilantro, so i love having it fill up the flavour of this. could use a bit less
love black beans too - so versatile (have "hid" them in brownies and other treats to make them more nutritious

tasty enough to be ok with my ban on doritos and ketchup chips...but addictive in its own way too.

bean veggie burger

now frozen patties!


have continued with my theme of trying to come up with recipes using beans
so veggie burger seemed a natural fit

i made sort of an asian flavoured patty that kind of also worked as a big falafel style patty - don't seem to match but they do

ok
what i used
1 can chickpeas
1 can white kidney beans both rinsed
handful of cilantro
3 spring onions
3 end pieces of 12 grain whole grain bread
about 3 tbsp soy sauce
about 1 tbsp fish sauce
about a tsp of curry powder
tsp of minced garlic
two eggs
- i used the hand blender to chop up the bread/cilantro and spring onions into bread crumbs
- i mashed the beans with my hands...fun with food!
and mixed everything together and made patties - bigger than meatballs, smaller than my palm
- fried them in a bit of olive oil
and delicious!

for the asian style take
- put patty in lettuce leaf with steamed bok choy, spring onion and siracha sauce

for the middle eastern take
- put patty in lettuce leaf with mushrooms (cooked in chicken stock), spring onion and tzatziki

yum! this recipe invention was delicious and lots of good bean fiber!

i should have taken a better pic, but froze half of what i made (made about 15 patties)

even the 7mth old loved it!

chicken and black bean enchiladas

this recipe made tonnes of leftovers that i was able to freeze and use another day.

i used this recipe
http://themealplanner.blogspot.com/2008/10/creamy-chicken-black-bean-enchiladas.html

and made the following modifications...i put about a 1.5lbs of chicken breast in the slow cooker with one cup of chicken stock and then did 2hrs on high, 2hrs on low. chicken was of course beautifully moist and pulled the chicken with 2 forks - that shredded chicken was perfect for enchiladas!

plus, the bonus is the extra chicken i packaged and used for another recipe later that week...chicken and tortellini.

i'm bean inspired

no that is not a typo

i have read a few of the sneaky chef series of books and am feeling bean-inspired

i've been wanting to use more beans in our food with all of the fibre benefits, and the fact that much of the world is sustained on diets of beans and rice. so this year i vowed to become more creative with cooking with beans. and tonight - success with dessert.

i am no baker but i had a box of pc organics chocolate cake mix kicking around. so instead of cow's milk, oil and several eggs, i rinsed and drained a can of black beans, pureed them with a bit of water, and used that with the cake mix. and you know what...you can't tell the difference! so extra fibre and a low fat cake....

sweet indeed!