Black Bean Salad

Hope everyone is having a good week so far!  I'm already ready for our three-day weekend!

I've got to head out to work tonight, but I just wanted to do a quick post first.

This black bean salad is quick, easy, and practically goes with any summer meal!  You could even eat it all by itself (I know, because I did for lunch a couple times!)

Ingredients:

1 15 oz. can seasoned black beans, drained
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
3 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
small handful fresh Basil, chopped
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste

In a medium sized bowl, toss together black beans, cucumber, tomatoes, garlic, parsley, basil, parmesan cheese, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.  Season with salt and pepper.

Let marinate in the fridge for at least 45 minutes for flavors to meld.  Serve as a side dish for practically anything!

Don't you just love easy, throw together dishes like this?  I know I do!  Have a great Tuesday guys!

Chicken Tostadas

It's getting pretty ridiculous in the heat department, isn't it?  It is here in Louisville, anyway.   It's sitting at a nice 97F right now.  And yes, I do still have to play volleyball in this crap tonight.

So when it's hot like this, firing up the stove or the oven is the last thing I want to do.  This is when I have to start getting creative for dinner.  And we all know how fun it is to get creative with leftovers, right?  So if you just roasted a chicken the day before - or possibly made Jonathan Waxman's Chicken Al Forno (which is AMAZING, by the way) the night before for dinner (which, if you haven't gotten the hint - I did) - then you can have dinner the next day ready in no time.  Well, that is if you planned to have leftovers of the al forno!


Ingredients:

Leftover chicken, shredded
Salsa verde, homemade or store-bought
15 oz can seasoned black beans, drained
1 large tomato, chopped
Shredded cheddar cheese (I had a chipotle blend that was THE bomb!)
6 corn tortillas

Now, I know I promised I wouldn't turn on the oven for this one - but it's really only to crisp up your corn tortillas.

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Place corn tortillas directly onto the center oven rack (or if you wanted to dirty up a baking sheet - be my guest).  Bake for about 3-5 minutes, or until tortillas are crisp and golden.

Heat your shredded chicken in the microwave (if you want - I left mine cold because we're trying to cool down remember?).

Place 3 tortillas on a plate.  Top with desired amount of black beans, shredded cheese, chicken, tomatoes, and salsa verde.

Easy as pie right?  And totally hits the spot, too!  You could definitely do this with any leftover protein and veggie combo.  I just used what I had on hand and had dinner ready in no time!

Hope you guys stay cool - I'm off to get ready for my volleyball game (and seriously contemplating letting Andy spray me with the hose before I go - he's out watering the grass right now, hehe)

Black Bean Nachos

 

Happy Monday guys!  Let me tell you how mine started.  Well, if you're friends with me on Facebook, you probably already know.   But I'll tell you again because, frankly, I just need to vent. 

Before I left for work, I went to take the dogs for a walk.  As I'm walking, a biker is coming up towards us, and happens to have a dog along with him.  One of our dogs (Mocha), decides to book-it towards the dog and gets undone from her collar - this is one of those "oh sh*t" moments.  So after some sniffing in some inappropriate spots, I get Mocha away from the other dog (all while still handling our other dog, Zappa).  So I tell Mocha to "sit" and she does, but as soon as I come up to her to put her collar back on, she shoots off in another direction.  So this goes on for a good 10 minutes (maybe it was only 2 or 3, but my patience was getting thin and it seemed like an eternity) until I finally get her collar back on her.  So yeah, not the kind of Monday morning I thought I'd be having.

Anyway, we had our engagement picture session on Saturday and we had so much fun in the park!  I can't wait to see the final results and share them with you all - so stay tuned!

We made these nachos for dinner last week and they're just loaded with good stuff!  They're meatless, so even better for my vegetarian readers!  Although, I think we may try this next time with some chorizo!

Ingredients:

Tortilla chips
15 oz. can seasoned black beans, drained
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 & 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, plus more for topping
1/2 cup chipotle cheddar cheese (or regular cheddar cheese, but a friend of mine brought me this from Wisconsin a few days ago!)
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
Sour cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil under medium high heat.  Add onions and both bell peppers.  Saute until softened, about 6-8 minutes.  Stir in black beans and cook until heated through, about 1-2 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and top with tortilla chips (I used about 3/4 of a bag).  Top with bean and pepper mixture.  Then add mozzarella and cheddar cheeses.

Baking in oven for about 10 minutes, or until cheeses are melted and slightly browned.

Top with additional cheese and sour cream, if desired. 

This was such a filling dinner that we didn't even miss the meat!  I'm loving easy dinners like this nowadays because it seems like our (work) days are getting longer, so it's nice to have a quick meal planned like this!  Feel free to vary on the toppings - jalapenos would be a nice spicy addition to this too!

How do you like your nachos?

See you all tomorrow!

Black Bean Corn Salad

Well, school started this week. My head is going to be buried in Molecular Biology, Developmental Biology, and Spanish for the next 4 months. Let's go through a breakdown on my first impression of each class:


Molecular Biology: That just sounds scary, but it's only a 200-level course. Mostly dealings with DNA and that jazz. We took a little pre-test on the first day and it was strenuous on my brain, but I feel I did pretty good on it... not that it counts for anything. And let me just vent here... I understand some student may have children and that's all well and fine with me... but to bring your newborn child to class? That's what the campus has a day care for. The baby was kind of distracting, but we'll see if it's present next class too, and if it is... expect a rant on Friday.


Developmental Biology: The development of creatures, or embryo development if you want to get all technical. Seems interesting enough and everyone I've talked to that's already had the class has the same response... it's a lot of fun, but a lot of stuff to study. Fun + Lots of stuff to study... does not sound fun at all... does it? No, I didn't think so. But so far, not too shabby.


Spanish: The dreaded foreign language requirement. I find it funny that while I was an Accounting Major, foreign language was not required. However, now that I'm a Biology Major, I have to have 2 semesters worth! I think Spanish would be more beneficial in the business world? Don't you think? Either way, I feel like a 3 year old, having to "Repita! Repita!" every little second. Not to mention we do this online homework that requires us to record how we say certain words/phrases... talk about feeling stupid and recording myself speak... good thing I do this while Andy is not home, because he would just sit and laugh at me the whole time.

Anyway, so there's my fall semester rant. It's really not as bad as I make it out to be, but I like complaining and forcing people to listen. But I guess I'll get to the recipe... that's what you're really here for anyway...


Ingredients:

1 can seasoned black beans
3 ears of corn, steamed & kernels cut off of cob
1 small onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 small cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 jalapeno, minced
juice from 1 lemon
small handful fresh cilantro, chopped
1/8 to 1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Basically, in a large bowl, combine black beans, corn, onion, garlic, cherry tomatoes, jalapeno, and lemon juice. Stir until well combined. Fold in cilantro.

Drizzle with olive oil, to your own preference, and season with salt and pepper.

This was one of those quick summer time dishes that's ready in no time. I put this on practically anything, from topping bratwursts or hotdogs, to serving as a filling for empanadas. You can even eat it all by itself as a side dish to any meal! And it definitely saves you from turning on an oven or stove because there's not cooking required! Just fresh summer ingredients that go well together! Enjoy!


Oh and check out our CSA goodies...


1 lb. of heirloom tomatoes
1 lb. of green beans
1 cantaloupe
2 lbs. pears
2 hot peppers
2 sweet peppers
1 loaf of french bread

Grilled Salmon w/ Black Beans

Oh mother nature. I've been a really big mother nature rant lately, but it's just been such bizarre weather. Take for instance today. It rained bloody murder all morning. For once, I was glad to be inside and at work. (Raining cats and dogs = less customers wanting to come in = less stress for me) But now, as I'm about to head out to my volleyball game, it's sunshine and roses. Which is a good thing because our volleyball league plays, regardless of the weather, unless it's a threat to our lives. Meaning it was must be the Great Flood, or Zeus striking us dead with lightning, for our games to stop. So I guess in this case, I'm grateful for the sunshine... but c'mon already, make up your mind mother nature!


Ingredients:
Adapted from Bon Appetit's May 2010 Issue: Grilled Salmon w/ Black Beans & Piment D'Espelette Mayonnaise

1/3 cup olive oil
5 garlic cloves, 2 pressed, 3 minced
freshly grated lime peel
1 tablespoon dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
2 7 oz. salmon fillets, skin on
1 onion, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
1 roma tomato, chopped
1 jalapeno chile, chopped
2 15 oz. cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon cumin
small handful cilantro, chopped

Whisk the olive oil, pressed garlic, lime peel, thyme, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small baking dish. Place the salmon, skin-side down, in the dish. Brush the marinade over the top and sides of fish. Let chill in fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion, celery, tomatoes, jalapenos, and minced garlic. Cook until vegetables are starting to soften, about 5 minutes.

Stir in black beans and cumin. Reduce heat and cook for about 5 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in cilantro and set aside.

Spray grill with nonstick spray and heat to medium high. Arrange the salmon on the grill, skin side up and spray skin with nonstick spray. Grill salmon for about 4-5 minutes. Carefully flip over and grill for about 3 more minutes, or until opaque all the way through.

Serve fish with black beans and dig on in!

This was pretty delicious. Aside from the small mishap of my charcoal grill going crazy. You wanna watch the salmon closely. Since you marinated it in olive oil, it's kinda really flammable if you're grill is sensitive... like mine was. It pretty much charred my skin (and that's my favorite part!), but the salmon itself was nice and smokey and delicious. Enjoy!

Vaca Fritas - Cuban "Fried Cow"

This past weekend, to give us a last hoorah before the fall semester of school starts, Andy and I went out to West Virginia with a group of friends and went white water rafting. I was the only one who had ever been before, and just like before, it was an AMAZING time. With car break downs, over 150 beers, and pretzel pong, we made it through the weekend. The feeling of being back home from the wilderness was a great joy. So to celebrate coming home, I made Vaca Fritas, a traditional Cuban dish of crispy beef.


Ingredients:

1 & 1/2 lb flank steak, cut into 4 pieces
1 green bell pepper, roughly chopped
2 large onion, 1 cut in half, and the other thinly sliced
1 bay leaf
2 garlic cloves, smashed
salt
juice from 1 lime
3 tablespoons olive oil
freshly ground black pepper

Adapted from Food & Wine May 2009 issue

In a large pot or saucepan, combine steak, green pepper, halved onion, and bay leaf. Cover with water and simmer under medium to high heat for about 20 minutes. Take steak out and let rest on cutting board. Strain the broth and you can either pitch it or save it for another dish. I always take the opportunity to save fresh stock as opposed to buying bouillon cubes or stock/broth. It keeps for a fairly long time if you freeze it or keep it in the fridge.


When steak is well rested, shred it up and place in a large bowl. I used a fork and just starting going at it. At some point I think I was using my bare hands and pulling it apart, but it's some work.

Take smashed garlic and mix with salt. Mix garlic in with beef and add lime juice, olive oil, and sliced onion. Mix until well combined. Let marinate for about 30 minutes.


Next heat pan to very hot. In batches, line pan with thin layer of beef mixture and season with salt and pepper. Cook over high heat until crispy in spots, about 6 minutes or so.

I served this with some spicy black beans and basmati rice. It was a humble and simple meal, but packed full of flavor. Enjoy!