Two Tasty Treats to Try

These are the last two recipes featuring black beans. They are the last recipes for two equally important reasons: 1) I ran out of ideas and, 2) Eric is responding to the week of bean recipes in a very odoriferous way, if you know what I mean. He keeps blaming the gas on our dog, Berkley, but I'm on to his little ruse.


Black Bean Salsa Chili
Inspired by Cooking Light, made even healthier by Mel



Ingredients:
2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed & drained
2/3 cup water
1 teaspoon Agave nectar
8 ounce Tempeh
1 cup chopped sweet onion
½ cup chopped yellow bell pepper
½ cup chopped red bell pepper
1 ½ TBLS chili powder
1 TBLS ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 (14-ounce) can vegetable broth
1 ½ cups fresh salsa—medium
3 TBLS tomato paste
¼ cup fresh chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

Directions:
Combine 1 ½ cup beans, 2/3 cup water & agave nectar in food processor & blend until smooth. Add remaining black beans & set aside. (Do not blend remaining beans).

Heat a large sauce pan over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Crumble tempeh and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Add onions and bell peppers & cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add spices, tomato paste, bean mixture, vegetable broth & salsa. Bring to a boil & then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat. Add lime juice & stir. Garnish with cilantro.

Taster notes
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this chili and think it is particularly divine served over a baked sweet potato, as does Mel. My meat-loving husband, Eric, was completely fooled by the tempeh and thought it was ground turkey (please do not inform him otherwise or it may put a screeching hault to my healthy recipe testing); he prefered his chili plain with some blue corn chips or served over a regular baked potato. All of the Simons gave this recipe their Super Simon stamp of approval.

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World's Easiest Black Bean Burgers



Ingredients:
1/2 onion, diced
1 can black beans, well drained
1/2 cup flour
2 slices whole wheat bread, crumbled
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Sautee the onions in a little bit of olive oil until soft, about 3-5 minutes.
In a large bowl, mash the beans until almost smooth; you can also use a food processor but I would "pulse" the mixture so it doesn't completely puree. Add sauteed onions and the rest of the ingredients to combine, adding the flour a few tablespoons at a time. Mixture will be thick.

Form bean mixture into patties, approximately ½ inch thick and cook patties in a small amount of oil until slightly firm. Please note that you can use a "grill pan" but they are not sturdy enough to stand up to an actual grill. Serve and enjoy.

Taster notes
We dressed these burgers up in the traditional way with lettuce, tomato and katsup and served them on a whole wheat bun. Eric had a small issue with the consistency (they are not as firm as a meat burger) but he really enjoyed the flavor. He gave me the thumbs up to make them again. I think chilling the patties in the refrigerator for 30 minutes prior to cooking might help with the consistency.

Jackson, age 6, was so smitten with these burgers that he just ate his plain, with his bare hands before Mel could even get them to the table. Harrison, 3, dipped his "burger" into some hummus and Harper, 4, declined to try this recipe.

I toasted the leftovers until warm (use a toaster oven or broil them as the microwave will make them too soggy), and served them with a mound of fresh salsa and slices of avacado for lunch the next day. Yum.

Remember, not only are beans healthy, but they are also extra easy on the budget. Have fun experimenting with these nutritious recipes and go ahead and pat yourself on the back for trying some healthy new meals this weekend.

Let me know what you think!

Bon appetite!