Crockpot Black Beans

Black beans are a staple item in our house. I make a batch, sometimes two a week. I love Black Beans and so does my family.

Micah, the baby is a fan of black beans too!

I have a jar full of beans and maybe even a bag or two on hand. Never can have too many black beans!!!

The Ingredients:

Black beans, soaked, see below

onion, diced (amount depending on amount of black beans)

water

chicken or turkey neck or turkey bacon (I do not eat anything pig) or even a broth (vegetable would do)

The Directions:

Soaking - 

Beans should be rinsed then soaked with 1 Tbsp whey or lemon juice per cup of beans. After soaking, drain, rinse and start with fresh water. 

Cooking -

Add soaked beans, onion, seasoning and water into crockpot. 

Cook you beans either high for 2 -3 hours or on low for 6 - 8 hours, even longer. 

I do not have measurements **BUT** you can never have too much water. You can always drain the water when you are done cooking. If you have too little water your beans WILL burn and your house will reek... 

Trust me - I have been there!!!! The house smelled for a week (exaggeration, a little!)

If I have to guess with measurements --- cooking on high - 1 cup beans 3 - 5 cups water. cooking on low 1 cup beans 3 cups water. You can always add more and you can always drain the liquid at the end!

Black Bean recipes :

Southwestern Chicken Soup with Black Beans

Southwestern Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burritos with Cashew Cheese

Quinoa and Black Beans

Black Bean Lentil Salad

and many more to come!!!!

Southwestern Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burritos with Cashew Cheese

Wow - the weather yesterday was crazy. We woke up to really warm weather (not a good thing in October) and by 10, the dark clouds arrived. 10:30 - 11 the wind began to blow hard and the rain soon followed. 

I heard that several sirens went off all over the state and many people spent some time in the basement or in hallways. Thankfully -- the weather did not get that bad here. I am a real weather scare-d-cat. Scare-d-cat Lindsey has gotten worse since having little ones to care for and protect. 

By 4 pm the weather was cooling off again and there was not a cloud in the sky. 

I like to make a more hearty meal on rainy (blah) days! I have been playing around with this idea in my head, mix sweet potato and black beans. It was a success!!! I came up with this hearty comfort-like dish! Which would be a fabulous Meatless Monday meal!

 The Ingredients:

Cashew Cheese

1/2c unsalted cashews

1/4c nutritional yeast

1T coconut oil

Burritos

3 sweet potatoes 

1 1/2c cooked black beans (I used homemade - I will post my recipe soon!)

1/2 red onion, diced (I did not have this on hand and it was good without!)

1 large tomato, diced 

8 - 10 tortillas ( I used 6 Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Tortillas)

1 1/2c salsa (I used homemade)

1/2c corn, fresh or frozen

1/4c chopped scallion

The Directions:

Preheat oven to 400* and bake sweet potatoes until soft, about 45 min.  I cut the potatoes into 1/4’s to help with the cooking.  Remove and let cool.

While potatoes are cooking, grind cashews into a fine powder, in a food processor.  Then, process with the nutritional yeast until just combined.  Add oil and process until just moistened.  If processed too long it will become dough-like.

If using frozen corn, thaw by boiling 1c. of water and pouring over frozen corn in a strainer.

Peel potatoes and mash with lime juice.  I used a fork which worked perfectly. 

Fold in beans, onion, and tomato. I decided to add a little corn in mine. 

Spoon about 1/3cup filling into each burrito, depending on size, roll and place seem side down in a baking dish. 

Cover with salsa and Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes then broil for about 3 min.

Add corn + cashew cheese and broil for about 2 more minutes.  Watch closely so the “cheese” does not burn.

Top with scallions + serve.

I had a little extra filling so I saved it for the baby. That way he could enjoy without eating any nuts. He enjoyed it! 


Sweet Potato

Southwestern Chicken Soup with Black Beans

Once again, the fall weather has left. It has been in the 80's the past few days and it is October. I cannot believe it... This is Crazy!!!! :)

Hoping to inspire FALL to return, I made a delicious Southwestern Chicken Soup! This was so delicious --- I forgot to take a picture! Whooops! I will take a picture today when I make lunch!

The Ingredients:

1 tsp Olive Oil

1/2 sweet Yellow Onion

4 cloves Garlic

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning

7-8 cups chicken broth (I used homemade!)

1 15 oz can of Black Beans (I used 2 cups homemade Black Beans - cooked with Onions)

1 15 oz can of diced Tomatoes

1 chicken fryer

Sea Salt and Pepper

Corn Tortilla strips

The Directions:

In a crockpot add the chicken fryer, chicken broth, can of diced tomatoes, onion and seasonings. Cook on low for 8 hours. At hour 8 take out chicken and let cook then debone. Put chicken back to the crockpot and add black beans. (Corn would add a little sweet! I didn't have any on hand). Cook in crockpot until everything is hot again. Season with Sea Salt and Pepper.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take a few corn tortillas and spray them with olive oil cooking spray on both side. Cut into small strips and place on a baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper if you like. Bake until golden brown on both sides, about 5-7 minutes.

Top with Cilantro and cheese. I didn't add either to ours but would be delicious!!!!

Quinoa Chili with Almond Butter

I am not sure how the weather has been where you have been but it has been very tricky here. One day we have a GORGEOUS fall like day and then the next day we have a SUMMER like day.

My appetite has been tricky lately too! Trying to match the weather is tough. On warm days I am craving chili and colder days I want to grill! We will work it out!

I made a really delicious chili a couple weeks ago. Ever since I have been craving some more! I browsing another recipe blog, Heather Eats Almond Butter and saw that she had made a Chili with Almond Butter. It sounded interested/wonderful and thought why can't I make my chili with some Almond Butter! Give it a try!!! Thanks HEAB for the great idea!

I did not make as big of a batch of chili this time and I did not use as many vegetables... Okay this is not exactly the same chili! :) WHOOPS! That is just one reason I love chili!!!! MILLIONS of different creations!

The Ingredients:

3 TBSP Raw Butter

4 carrots, chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

1/2 onion, diced

1/2 lb ground beef

28 oz diced tomatoes

2 TBSP chili powder

Garlic Powder, Salt and Pepper

*** 2 TBSP Almond Butter

The Directions:

In large pot over high heat, sauté chopped veggies in butter and garlic powder until done. Add beef, stirring constantly until beef is cooked through. Add in canned tomatoes, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and almond butter. Turn heat to low, allowing chili to simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. The chili will thicken the longer it cools. Enjoy!

Serve with homemade cornbread.

Quinoa and Black beans

I am extremely thankful for my meat guy! I feel I need to give him a shout out... His sole mission is to provide clean meat that EVERYONE can afford. He is so dedicated and affordable he has to work 2 jobs just to do so!

KUDDOS J&J KUDDOS!!!!

Do not worry I did not eat all that meat. My darling husband made my plate and ended up eating off it!

This meal is almost completely local. Quinoa and Blackbeans - NOT LOCAL but SOAKED!

Quinoa and Black beans.

The Ingredients:

1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa (Mine was already prepared in my fridge!)
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained (I made a homemade batch in the crockpot)

Zucchini and yellow squash, chopped into small pieces

The Directions:

Soaking Step Rinse quinoa thoroughly in a strainer. Allow to sit in strainer over a large bowl and add warm filtered water to cover sufficiently. Add 1 Tbsp of an acid medium (whey, kefir, yogurt, or cultured buttermilk). Cover with plate or towel. Soak 12-24 hours. Rinse once again and add 1 cup broth, and proceed. I use less than the recipe calls for if soaking, because it absorbed water in the soaking stage, and will not need as much to cook. 1 cup was perfect.

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned.

I cook my quinoa in my rice cooker! This time I cooked it in vegetable broth and added cumin, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper right into the water.

(Thoroughly rinse quinoa. Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.)

Saute zucchini and yellow squash in RAW butter and season with salt and pepper and Italian seasoning. Add into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans.

Black Bean Lentil Salad

Today, I had some leftover in the fridge and wanted to get rid of them. I had some black beans left over from our 3 year olds birthday party. Lentils that I had made earlier for baby food and peppers from last weeks CSA. I decided to make a throw in a bowl dish and it worked!!!! It tasted really good!!!!

The Ingredients:

1 cup (about 1/2 pound) lentils
1 can black beans
1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup finely chopped green onion (scallions) green part only
1 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

Dressing:
2 T olive oil
2 T chicken stock
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 T fresh lime juice (can use apple cider vinegar)
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. finely minced garlic (I used garlic puree from a jar)
1/2 tsp. dried Oregano (preferably Mexican oregano)
1 tsp. cumin seed (can use ground cumin)
1/2 tsp. Ancho chile powder (or use any mild chile powder)
fresh ground pepper to taste
hot sauce to taste (I used green Tabasco sauce)

Put lentils into a small sauce pan with plenty of water to cover, bring to a slow simmer and cook until lentils are tender, about 40-60 minutes for green lentils or 30-40 minutes for brown ones. Drain lentils and let cool slightly.

While lentils cook, put beans in a colander and rinse with cold water until no more foam appears. Let drain well, then blot dry with paper towels.

Put olive oil, chicken stock, Dijon mustard, lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic in a small bowl. In mortar and pestle, grind together oregano, cumin seed, chile powder, Spike seasoning, and pepper. Whisk into liquid in bowl, then add hot sauce to taste and whisk again.

When lentils are slightly cooled, combine with half of dressing and let marinate while you prep the rest of the ingredients. Wash, spin dry, and finely chop cilantro and set aside. Chop red bell pepper, red onion, and green part of green onions finely and add to lentils. Add drained beans to lentil and vegetable mixture, and stir in rest of dressing, then gently mix in chopped cilantro. This will taste best if refrigerated for an hour or so before serving, but it can be served sooner if you're short on time.