Black Bean Pico de Gallo

So it's been a little while. I wish I could say I've been off doing something incredibly fabulous, but that would be untrue. I've just been busy with work and school, like always. There's been some exciting cooking in the last month or so, and some not very inspired cooking. Sometimes I photographed the more exciting foods, sometimes I didn't.

But here we are. I had a girls' sleepover with some cousins a few weeks ago. This black bean pico de gallo was one of the finger foods I made. It's so easy and so yummy. And the proportions of ingredients really just depends on how much you want to make, and your tastes. I normally use two cans of beans, so we'll go with that.

You'll need:
- 2 cans 15 oz black beans (or about 6 C dried black beans, soaked and cooked)
- 1/2 red onion, chopped
- 1/2 to 3/4 C corn
- lime juice, to taste
- cilantro, to taste
- sea salt, to taste

Just mix everything together in a bowl.

Your mind is blown, right? So simple. Sometimes if I have leftovers, I eat these in tortilla shells. Equally yummy lunch.

Untoppable Black Bean Soup

The recipe for this amazing black bean soup comes from Peas and Thank You. This was ridiculously easy to make, and so flavorful. I topped mine with sour cream, hot sauce, and cilantro. So perfect for chilly days!

Black Bean Avocado Salad

The first week of school has come to a close, and I made it out alive. This week was not without its fair share of first day tears and temper tantrums, but it went pretty well! We've got an interesting group of pre-kindergarteners, but I'm really looking forward to this year... and I already want to adopt three of our eight kids.

Back to work means lunches need to be quick, easy, and portable. I always pack my lunch, because a) it saves money but b) school lunches are never vegan. This week I made a black bean/avocado salad, and it was perfect! I'm not a huge fan of avocado, especially by itself, but I'm really trying to like it because it boasts loads of health benefits (the vitamins, minerals, and good fats found in avocados promote eye health, lower cholesterol, and reduce the risk of heart disease and a variety of cancers). In this salad, it was pretty good, and it left me feeling full without feeling heavy or too full. Definitely a good choice for lunch at work!

I'm off to Southern MD for the holiday weekend. My priority this weekend is sleeping in. I love summer, and I'd be lying if I said summer wasn't part of the appeal of becoming a teacher. Summers off, however, make you forget to appreciate weekends and sleeping in! After sleeping in and NOT waking up to an alarm, I have a cook-out tomorrow and I'm going to see the Blue Angels on Sunday. What are you doing for Labor Day weekend? However you celebrate, I hope you are surrounded by good people and good food, are safe and have fun!

The face of someone happy to see the weekend.

Beans & Cous-Cous

I'd like to introduce you to an old college favorite: beans and quinoa. Actually, this is beans and couscous, as I was out of quinoa. Either grain works well. It's yummy, nutritious, cheap. The frequency with which I ate this is alarming to consider, but I was the poster child for Broke College Kid.

You can adjust this to make as much or as little as you want. You can also use the leftovers to fill burrito shells. This particular recipe made about three servings.

1 can beans
1 small can corn
1/2 red onion
1/2 green pepper
1/2 jar of salsa (Trader Joe's has the BEST sweet but spicy salsa... Salsa Autentica!)
Couscous prepared according to package

Dice and saute onion and pepper 5 - 7 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients and heat through.
Serve over grain.

Cajun Red Beans and Rice

Lately, I've been feeling a little nostalgic for New Orleans. I miss it. Lots. I came across this recipe in La Dolce Vegan, and decided to try to ease my heartache by blasting Lil Wayne while making red beans and rice.

If I had used the right kind of rice, I think this would have been a yummy way to pay vegan homage to New Orleans. Instead, I was an ass and thought, "Oh, the type of rice won't really matter. I'll use this long-grain brown rice instead of quick cooking rice, and it'll be fine."

Wrong.

When everything was finished, the rice was still slightly undercooked, and gave the dish a slightly crunchy texture. Not cool. The flavor was really tasty, but I just couldn't get over the rice situation. So, had I decided to fork out the two or three bucks for quick-cooking rice, this would have yielded way better results. Lesson learned.

And I don't miss NOLA any less. I guess it's time to start thinking about my next visit.

Black Bean Burgers and Sweet Potato Wedges

I'm on spring break, and I've been a real lazy body. I've basically spent my days thus far sleeping and counting down the days until I leave for New Orleans (tomorrow!). I did, however, get around to making real food over the weekend.

The days are getting warmer and longer, which means one thing: summer is on the way! Even though my summer will be jammed pack with grad classes and attempting to make some money some how (with the "how" part yet undetermined...), I love summer! I love making various vegan burgers, and lately, I've been craving black bean burgers.

I've tried a few different recipes for black bean burgers, and this is by far my favorite. Other recipes throw things like carrots, corn, and green peppers into the patties. And while I don't dislike these things - in fact, I love corn and carrots - they just don't belong in my burger! Instead of lots of veggies, this recipe features wheat gluten to give it a slightly chewy texture (much like these chickpea cutlets) and I love it!

You can top these with whatever you like, but sometimes I like just ketchup and mustard. I paired these with some simple sweet potato wedges and I could almost taste summer...

The recipe can be found here, and you can substitute the paste with ketchup.

That's it for the week, because tomorrow I'm bound for the Big Easy!

Chunky Chili

Hi, I'm not dead. I've just been sick for about forever (I very rarely get sick since going vegan, but wow the last month or so has been bad!), and after recently receiving an acceptance letter to grad school (yay!) I've been absorbed with getting everything set up to start classes in May. My apologies for neglecting you!

I've had chili on the brain for a while lately, so when the obnoxious question "What should I make for dinner?" arose, the answer was obvious. For once.

I didn't really follow a recipe, which is rare for me because I don't really trust my culinary instincts. I can follow a recipe like no one's business, but don't ask me to make up something. This was pretty much exactly what I wanted.

To make something similar, you'll need:

1 sweet onion
2 bell peppers
3 15 oz cans of beans (I used black and kidney)
28 oz diced tomatoes, with juice (I think it's 28 oz; I know it's the big can)
1 tbsp cumin
3 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cocoa powder
dash of sea salt
dash of cayenne pepper
pinch of red pepper flakes

1. Cut fresh veggies. (You can cut these however big or small you like them. I like mine kind of chunky.) Saute in 1 tbsp olive oil. After three or four minutes, add the spices.
2. When the veggies start to soften, add tomatoes and beans. Simmer until heated through.

Yeah. It was that easy. Not super fancy or elaborate, but yummy enough! Feel free to adjust veggies and/or spices and/or beans to your liking! This can easily be served over brown rice, too!

Baked Falafel

So, this baked falafel from Appetite for Reduction was supposed to make lettuce wraps, but the wrapping part was kind of a failure. I think the lettuce leaves were too small, but the romaine looked gross when I went to the store. Oh well, the end result was still delectable.

These came together really quickly; I think the total active time was 15 minutes. When they were fresh out of the oven, they were so perfectly moist and delicious. When I used them today, they were a little dry, so I've made a note to use less flour next time to hopefully rectify this situation.

You can eat these in pita, by themselves, with dips, whatever. I opted for the lettuce wraps as I'm trying to up my raw veggie intake. I spread a little hummus on the leaves (which was kind of chickpea overload but I also discovered that yellow mustard paired with these suits my palate just fine) and chopped red onion. The taste/texture was satisfying and filling and not too heavy, unlike fried falafel. Be warned, however, that because these are on the tiny side, you'll be tempted to pop them like candy. I'm already wishing I had made a double batch...