Monday, May 28, 2012

Black bean chickpea mango salad


The original recipe calls for basil instead of cilantro, but I think the cilantro works perfectly in this (and is less expensive : D). 

Bean Corn and Mango Salad
adapted from Stylish Cuisine

Ingredients:
1 ripe mango, chopped small
1 red bell pepper, chopped small
1 - 15 oz. can black beans
1 - 15 oz. can garbanzo beans
1 - 15 oz. can corn, drained
2 limes, zested and juiced
1/3 cup olive oil
2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro (or 1/2 cup basil)
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. In a colander, place together black beans and garbanzo beans and rinse until foam doesn't form, then sit to the side to dry.
2. Whisk together lime juice and zest, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, cilantro, cumin, and salt and pepper.
3. Once beans have dried, combine corn, bell pepper, beans, and mango in a bowl with a lid. Combine with vinaigrette, cover, and refrigerate for an hour. Toss again before serving.

Cookie Bars

Cookie Bars
from food.com


Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/5 cup sugar
3/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 - 12 oz. package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 375 F, and grease a 15"x10" jelly roll pan.
2. In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, cream butter, sugars, and vanilla with an electric mixer. Then add eggs one at a time, beating after each egg.
4. Gradually combine flour mixture with butter mixture. Then stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
5. Spread evenly into pan, and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Scotch Eggs


Scotch Eggs
from Food Network UK
makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
4 large eggs
1 - 15 oz.can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 - 15 oz.can red kidney beans
1 - 15 oz.can white beans (cannellini)
15 g. fresh cilantro
salt, pepper
125 g. flour (seasoned with additional salt and pepper)
1 egg, beaten
125 g. bread crumbs
1 tsp. ginger powder
1 tsp. chilli powder (or paprika)
oil for deep frying

Instructions:
1. Get a pot of water boiling, place in eggs, and boil for 6.5 minutes (do more if you prefer harder-boiled). Peel after done cooking.
2. Drain all beans and chick peas, and rinse well in cold water. In a bowl, mash them all together to get a coarse mix. Add ginger and chilli powder and salt and pepper to taste.
3. In a small pan, heat about 3 inches of oil until you can drop a bread crumb in, and it becomes golden brown.
4.  In a bowl, place the flour and season with salt and pepper. Put the beaten egg next to the flour in another bowl,  and the bread crumbs in 3 third bowl next to the egg, creating an assembly line.
5. Split the bean mixture into 4 equal parts. Using a 1 ft. by 1 ft. square (about) of cling wrap, flatten one portion of the mixture until a large oval so that it can completely encircle an egg. Take one of the peeled boiled eggs, put it in the middle of your bean-mixture oval, and pull the cling wrap over so the egg gets encircled by the mixture. Push it around with your fingers (outside of the cling wrap) to try and seal cracks)
6. Peel off the cling wrap, roll the egg around in the flour until it's completely covered, then the egg, then the bread crumbs. Pop into the oil, and cook until all sides are golden brown (turning once the bottom is golden brown, unless you used enough oil to completely cover the egg. Take out with a slotted spoon to drain the oil, and place on a plate with folded paper towel to take off some of the oil. Repeat with the remaining eggs.
Serving suggestion: Serve with sour cream or creme fraiche.