Beans Beans the Musical Fruit

I love beans!

I love beans because they taste good, have an excellent texture and are versatile.  I have learned to love beans also because they are rich in Protein, Fiber, Essential minerals, B vitamins and Folic acid.  And I love beans because they are low in fat and good for cholesterol ( which happens to be a big issue in my family!). 

Due to my exxesive love of beans I often begin with beans when planning my meals.  This week I bought a bag of dried organic black beans and thought Hmmmmmmmmm wherever will these little tiny flavor pockets take me this week? True to form (and inspired by my very good friend Lilian Galante) They took me to Mexico. 

Last Year I ventured down to Mexico to celebrate in the wedding of my friend Lilian and her lovely partner Pape.  While I was down there I joined 50 of my new Mexican best friends and enjoyed three breathtaking days on the Pacific Ocean.  As usual, I was very excited about the food we were eating.  For the first time in my life I didn't feel a hint of guilt snacking on the Avocados that only ventured a small distance to the beach property we were camping on.  Lilian and Pape hired some lovely local women from the nearest village (a 20 minute walk away) so come and cook the meals for us.  These meals were very much centered on BEANS (i was thrilled!).  So long story short here is a meal that was inspired by this journey and by beans...i suppose you can call it a partnership between Mexico and Beans.  Yes..

My main Dish was Moosh's Mexican Beans and Rice...Vegan style

Black Beans

1. Soak 3 cups of black beans for 2-4 hours
2. Drain and rinse beans taking out anything out of the ordinary (rocks? weird looking bean?)
3. Put in a pot with 6-8 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Once you have reached boil bring the heat down to simmer.
4. Allow to simmer for 1 hr or until tender...you don't want the beans to get too mushy so keep an eye around the 60 minute mark and take a few test bites!

Rice

1. Sautee Onion and garlic for several minutes.
2. Add Rice and coat with the mixture, when heated through add the needed amount of water for your rice variety
3. Follow the directions on your rice package as far as proportions of water to rice and to timing ( I used Brown rice which took about 45 minutes and was 1:2::rice:water
4. While bringing rice to a boil add 1-tbsp of chili powder (depending on how spicy it is and how spicy you like it), 2 tsp of salt, 1 tblsp of Paprika, 1 tbspn of cumin, 1-2 tblspn of cayenne pepper.  Allow the rice to cook regularly with these spices added.
5. Once the rice is cooked add those beans! along with another batch of spices (this varies depending on how spicy you like your food...for me I didn't add too much more cayenne pepper, but I did add several teaspoons each of coriander, paprika, salt and chili powder).
6. Add chopped coriander along with half a can of whole tomatoes. 
7. Turn up the heat and bring to a small boil so that all of these tasty things can mix together.
8. Turn heat off and mix well.
9. WAALLAAH!

When cooking for myself this dish would be plenty for a meal but I was lucky enough to have three hungry guests over so we added several other things to our menu.

Salsa

Ingredients:
- 3 tomatoes
- 1 red pepper
- 1 green chili (for mild spice...add more for spicier foods!)
- 1 onion
- 1/2 lime
- 4-8 tbspn of fresh cilantro
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Chop everything and Put it in a bowl!
2. Mix it together
3. Eat it!

The thing about Salsa...is that it shouldn't be an intimidating thing to make.  You really only need several basic ingredients, some way to flavor it (either with fresh cilantro and chilis or with dried spices..whatever you have available)  Tracy is pictured on the Right Showing us the most important step...how to Eat the Salsa!

Our last component of our Mexican Inspired Fiesta was some crumbled up tofu sauteed with mushrooms onions and garlic (oh my!)

BBQ Tofu Crumble 

 

Ingredients:

- 3 cups of mushrooms
- 1 Block of Tofu (nice and locally produces from Essence of Life Organics!)
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 onion
- 2 tsp Paprika
- 1 tblspn Cumin seeds
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tsp cayenne

Directions:

1. Saute Onions and garlic for 2 minutes.
2. Add Chopped mushrooms and cook for another 2 minutes.
3. Crumble in tofu so that it is a "ground beef like consistency"
4. Season and allow all things to cook through.  The tofu will be done when it has shrunk has dried out a bit.


We made little fajitas with Corn Tortillas like the ones I encountered while eating in Mexico.  Added some chopped avocado, cheese and lemon to turn into one heck of a filling meal. 

Yum!

College Street Cooks take on F.O.S.

The College Street Cooks struck again earlier this month in a cheesy montage of garlic infused foods  stuffed in deep sour dough bread bowls.  The hosts of this little cooking party were Hannah Lewis, Tracy Phillippi and Spud the kitty cat- who hosted myself and Kate Jefferey in their lovely home.  Tracy Represented her Wisconsin Onion Farming roots by whipping up a surprisingly simple and delicious version of the age-old classic French Onion Soup served in a Sourdough Bread bowl. While Hannah contributed one of her favorite mixed veggie recipes!  All I have are some pictures below provided by Tracy and the Promise of the Recipes to come. 


 Kale.Peas.Sweet Potato Medley and F.O.S.

 

-see you next month!

College Street Cooks

Last Friday some lovely food-inspired ladies got together to start a monthly cooking tradition. Tracy Phillippi, Hanna Lewis, Kate Jeffery and Katherine Booth vowed to share at least one wholesome meal together every month. And so it Began...

Our feast for the evening included Beautiful Butternut Squash Risotto (featuring Ontario's best Parmesan and Asiago), Bold Black Bean Burgers and the evening favorite Quality Quinoa and Lentil Salad.





The risotto demanded the most attention and time, so it was started right away! We cooked for 5 hungry ladies and still had plenty left overs, so I would guess that this recipe is best for 6-8 people

2 medium sized butternut squash
375g Arborio rice
6-7 cups of hot and steamy vegan stock
5 cloves of garlic
4 shallots minced
1 Cup white wine
¼ Cup of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese grated
¼ Cup of Asiago cheese in shards
2 tbs of olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Squish Squash:

1. Wash, Skin and Chop the squash into 1/4 inch pieces. Chop 2 cloves of garlic, throw together in a baking pan coated lightly with olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. We cookes the squash for 15-20 and found them to be undercooked, so it may depend on your oven and therefore would be best to keep an eye!

Randy Risotto

1. In a large pot sauté the shallots and rest of the garlic in the oil
2. Add the rice to the pot and make sure to coat the rice with the oil/butter/garlic
3. Pour 1 cup of wine into the pot (pour the rest into your glass!) Allow the alcohol to dissipate. From here on out, you must pay a lot of attention to the risotto, stirring constantly and fulfilling its every needy desire.
4. Add the Squash 1/3 at a time allowing each batch to mix. alternating with the addition of the stock.
5. Begin to add one cup of the Stock at a time, allowing each addition to absorb into the rice resulting in an increasing thickness. You must stir constantly!
6. After 2 cups of stock, add more squash... keep alternating the stock and the squash until everything is all together in the now aromatic pot
7. Now its time to taste the rice...the less amount of time it sits the more aldente it ends up..this is all up to you!~
8. the choice between vegan and non vegan comes here..if you take the milky plunge then add the grated Parmesan and the Asiago, if not...may the force be with you
9. Walah!


Now I hope you haven't forgotten about the other delectable dishes...we sure didn't, while this was going on we were busy boiling the lentils and quinoa for this high fiber dish.

This Recipe I got from my friend Kelsey who makes a specific lizard-like face whenever we talk about it. Anyway the point is, who says you need lettuce for salad??


What you will need for this bad boy is:

Feta & Lentil & Quinoa Salad

1 cup dried green lentils
1 cup quinoa
3/4 cup of raisins or cranberries
3/4 cup of Feta cheese
3/4 cup of walnuts
2 green onion
1/4 cup of fresh parsley (although I think we used cilantr0)

Dress it up!

4 tbs of lemon juice
1. tsp of honey
1 Tbs rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbs olive oil
Pinch of pepper

Cooking the quinoa and the lentils...
1 (a) Add 1 Cup of quinoa with 2 cups of water, 1 tsp of turmeric, 1 tsp coriander, 1 tsp salt. Allow to reach a boil then quickly switch to simmer, cover and let cook for approx 12 minutes...keep an eye though it tends to burn on the bottom soon after the water is absorbed.
1 (b)at the same time, add 1 cup of lentils to 3 cups of water (check the instructions on the package...different lentils call for different proportions). Add a Bay leaf and allow to cook thoroughly. lentils will take quite a bit longer then the quinoa

2. once both grains are cooked, and cooled. mix together.
3. In a separate bowl mix together the dressing.
4. Add crushed walnuts, cranberries and green onion
5. mix thoroughly with dressing. Top with Feta. And enjoy! If you have time, feel free to refrigerate for up to an hour before serving..

Now our source of Protein for the evening...  

Bold Black Bean Burgers. 

The great thing about this recipe. IS that it is a MASH--most of the ingredients (except for the black beans of course) are replaceable, and it can be as simple as you'd like, and either vegan or non vegan (whether you add an egg or not...)


In order to make 6-10 patties Please compile the following:
- 5 cups of black beans..cooked (if you are using canned beans then each can will happily make 3-4 patties each)
- bunch of a fresh herb...basil? cilantro? parsley? chives? you choose!
- 1/3-1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
- 1/3 cup of bread crumbs (if you have it..otherwise more flour)
- 1 egg beaten (if you are making this vegan, substitute for olive oil, or egg replacement)
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 red onion


1. saute garlic and onion together in a splash of oil
2. add hot mixture to black beans, throw in the chopped herb and begin to MUSH!
3. Add the Beaten egg and then slowly add the flour and/or bread crumbs. Until you have reached your desired consistency. (you want the patties to be able to stick together but not too sticky..)
4. Cook in a hot pan, with a splash of oil on each side for 3-5 minutes.
5. Throw onto delicious fresh bred from My market Bakery and Wallah!

If you want an Indian inspired flavor, I recommend adding a tsp of curry powder, coriander and turmeric...depending on what you are serving it with!


All of these recipes are easy and delicious while remaining focused on seasonal cuisine. Wintertime is such a great time to forget about summer lettuce and fresh fruit and remember the flavors of nuts, grains and dried fruit mixed thoughtfully with root vegetables, local cheese and friends!