Southwestern Couscous Salad

I found this delicious recipe on the Whole Foods website. It's such a simple and tasty dish that is perfect for summer. Almost like a different spin on my corn & black bean salsa. You can eat it on a bed of greens, as a side, and it's even great in a wrap with some spinach and hummus.

Southwestern Couscous Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup couscous (*use quinoa to make it gluten free!)

1 1/2 cup black beans (or 1 15-oz can), drained and rinsed 

1 cup fresh corn kernels (2 ears), I cheated & used a can of no salt added corn

1 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves

1-2 tomatoes, finely chopped

1 zucchini, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1/4 cup lime juice (or more to taste)

3/4 tsp chili powder

(note: I thought the pumpkin seeds and raw zucchini would be strange at first, but it was so perfect and fresh! Def don't skip em!)

Directions:

Get to chopping! Chop the cilantro, tomatoes, zucchini, red pepper. 

Place your vegetables in a very large mixing bowl along with the pepitas, corn, and black beans.

Bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan.
Stir in couscous, cover and remove from heat.
Let stand 5 minutes.
It should look like this!

Fluff couscous with a fork and toss into the bowl with all the vegetables.
Add the lime juice and chili powder and mix together.

This makes a HUGE amount of food. I believe it serves 8. The bf and I ate this stuff for days! I'm actually surprised at how long it lasted, we rarely have leftovers because we usually we can't stop eating! What can I say, we are true vegan fat kids. But this recipe is very healthy, low fat, low sodium, and high in fiber! It would be perfect for any summer barbeque that vegans and non vegans will all enjoy.

Corn & Black Bean Salsa

Ok, so this is one of my absolute favorite things to make! I made it for the first time two years ago and it was actually one of the first recipes I developed and continued to make. This dish is perfect to take to family gatherings, cookouts, parties, or any group setting. It's always a hit! Last summer I made two huge batches for my step-sister's wedding and I had so many guests coming up to me asking for the recipe. It's also great to make in the summer time because red bell peppers are a lot cheaper this time of year.


Corn & Black Bean Salsa

Ingredients:
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 red bell pepper
cilantro
diced jalapeno peppers
2-4 garlic cloves
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp lime juice


Directions:

Start chopping!

Dice the red bell pepper into pieces the size of the corn and black beans.

I used about half a bunch of cilantro. Maybe more, maybe less.

I use a ton of garlic. I love it! Haha and I have a handy dandy garlic press from Pampered Chef that saves me some time. It's wonderful, really.

Throw all of your chopped goodness into a large bowl. Here we have the red pepper, cilantro, garlic, and diced jalapeno. You can use fresh or jarred jalapeno. I used the jarred stuff, obvi. Plus I found a jar of diced jalapenos so that saved chop time too. Woo! Oh, and I never measure the jalapenos, but I used at least 5 to 6tablespoons, maybe more? You be the judge.

Next, open the corn and black bean cans, drain and rinse them.

Throw the drained and rinsed corn and beans into the bowl with the chopped stuff and stir together.

Add the oil and lime juice and continue mixing. You want everything to be evenly distributed. At this point you can taste it and see if you want to add more jalapeno or lime juice or something.

Once you've achieved your desired taste, it's ready to chow down with some tortilla chips. Maybe even some guacamole if you have some. Yum, guacamole. I gotta make some of that soon.

This stuff is so good!! Pretty healthy too. I hope you try it and LOVE it!

Cajun Black Beans & Sweet Potatoes

I found this one night when I was needing ideas for what to do with black beans. I had soaked half a pound of beans, so I knew I had to find delicious ways to eat 'em. I found this one on vegweb.com, which is a great website for recipe ideas.

This tasty dish is super easy, healthy, and cheap!

Cajun Black Beans & Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon oil (or water)
• 1/4 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large sweet potato, chopped into bite sized pieces, peel if desired
• 1/2 to 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning (or make your own mix. Ex: cumin, red pepper, chili powder, santa fe seasoning)
• 1 (28 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 lime

Directions:

1. Heat a saute pan over medium heat with oil or water. Saute onions and garlic for 2 minutes. Add sweet potatoes. Season this mix liberally with the Cajun seasoning or other seasonings.

2. Let this mix cook for 15 minutes or so until the potatoes are soft. You may want to add a 1/3-1/2 cup water and cover pan to speed this process along.

3. When potatoes are soft, add the black beans and the zest of 1 lime (optional). You may also want to add more Cajun seasoning to help further flavor the beans. Cook until the beans are heated through and you think the flavors have melded. Right before serving, squeeze some lime juice over the dish.

This is great over a bed of brown rice or even by itself. The next day I put some the leftovers into a quesedilla with Daiya pepperjack cheese. So delish! This dish is so simple and easy to change up. Add peppers and tomatoes and eat it like a fajita with some cilantro and avocado. Use different beans, different veggies, different seasonings. It can be anything!

Who doesn't love hummus?

Hummus is definitely one of my favorite foods. I always keep some in my fridge as one of my staples.

Today I attempted making my own hummus and I must say it was a success! So easy too! I don't have a food processor, so I just used a food chopper (It's pretty much a manual food processor, you turn the crank and the blades go around in a circle). You can use a food processor, food chopper, or a blender works too. And you can nearly put whatever you want into your own hummus. Today I made black bean hummus.

These are very rough measurements, I didn't measure anything except the olive oil (to control added calories). So add more of anything, for your own tastes!

Black Bean Hummus
Ingredients:

• 2 cups black beans (rinsed)
• 1/2 cup chick peas (rinsed)
• 2 T olive oil
• 2+ T lemon or lime juice
• 2 T minced garlic (or however many cloves you want)
• Spices: red pepper, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, curry, sea salt

Directions:
Put all ingredients into food processor (or blender or food chopper) and blend until smooth consistency. Use as much spices as you like to taste, and just a sprinkling of sea salt to control sodium. Add more of the ingredients as you wish to get the right flavor or texture. Dig in!

Easy as that!

Hummus is great as a dip with pita chips, fresh vegetables like carrots, cucumbers, and it is wonderful to spread on sandwiches. Such a great food!

Lunch Time!!

So this was my lunch today! Good thing I ate it alone, because I made such a mess with this giant tasty thing! To assemble this sandwich, I used a black bean burger and I added horseradish mustard, vegenaise, ketchup, pickles, slices of onion and tomato, spinach, and avocado slices. All on whole grain bread.

Last week I decided to make black bean burgers from scratch using a variation of this recipe I found from DailyGarnish.com. I had three left over, so I froze them. Once they were heated back up, they were a little crumbly, but still delicious!!

Here's the recipe if you want to make your own! Sooo good!


Vegan Bean Burgers
Ingredients: (makes 6 burgers)

• 2 cans black beans (rinsed and drained)
• 2 carrots, grated
• 1/2 cup dry rolled oats
• 1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

To Prepare: 
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Next, add the oats and pepitas to your food processor and grind until coarsely chopped (they will still be a little chunky).  Let it run for roughly 10 seconds.  Grate the carrots, and then add to your mixture in the food processor.  Add 3/4 of the beans, all spices, and the olive oil.  Once all of this is in the food processor, give it a whir and mix it all together.

Spoon mixture into a mixing bowl and then fold in the rest of the whole, reserved beans.  Wet your hands and then form into 6 medium sized patties.  Place patties on a non-stick baking sheet or into a baking pan, and bake at 300 degrees for 40 minutes, turning once in the middle.  If you want to grill these, pre-bake them for 30 minutes at 300, and then throw them on the grill to reheat and get a little extra browning.