Black Bean Hummus…

I was hunting around the other day waiting to pick the girls up and I stumbled across a recipe for Black Bean Hummus.  Turns out a friend of mine has also been requesting a recipe from me for hummus.  I gave her my original one that is here, but this black bean one sounded really good to me and i couldn’t get it out of my head.  I love black beans and who doesn’t love a nice garlicky hummus???

This came together in a matter of minutes in my food processor.  I think stirring up the tahini took more time the the recipe!

Black Bean Hummus (from All Recipes)

Ingredients:

1 clove garlic
1 (15 ounce) can black beans; drain and reserve liquid
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
10 Greek olives

Instructions:

• Mince garlic in the bowl of a food processor.
• Add black beans, 2 tablespoons reserved liquid, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, tahini, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper; process until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
• Add additional seasoning and liquid to taste.
• Garnish with paprika and Greek olives.

***I calculated this for WW as 2 points for a 1/4 cup serving…that’s not including the yummy pita that you HAVE to have with it!

Read more »

Black Bean and Goat Cheese Quesadillas

My goal each and every day is to feed my family a healthy lunch and dinner.  Oh how I have been lax at meeting that daily goal!  Turning a new page and starting off on the right foot and all here is my attempt to get it all back together.  The meals that I cook have to either be crock pot, slow cooked or else pre cooked that we can heat up after, between or before whatever extra curricular event we have happening on that night.  I don’t use packaged or prepared foods at all so everything that I do is from scratch, just to make it more challenging huh?

Between karate 2 days, skating 2 or 3 days and BMX 2 or 3 days you can just imagine that it is a little hectic around here.  One thing though that we ALWAYS make sure that we do it to eat together.  There is none of this grabbing and eating on your own here.  We sit down to a family meal each and every single night.  Is it easy?  No way, but we do it.

One of my big problems though is that we get pretty bored with all of the fast things that I can make and it has been way too hot for a slow cooked or crock pot meal.  So this is what I came up with yesterday and it is going to be added into the rotation.

Black Bean and Goat Cheese Quesadillas

I was able to make the black bean mixture, cut up all of the cilantro, jalapenos and crumble the goat cheese ahead of time.  When we got home I heated the bean mixture and got the griddle going.  These were assembled, cooked and on the table in 10 minutes.  I served sautéed zucchini along side and it was really the perfect meal!

Black Bean and Goat Cheese Quesadilla (inspired by Fine Cooking)

2 Tbs. olive oil
1 lg yellow onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
24-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp oregano
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno, chopped
4 oz. fresh goat cheese, crumbled
6 flour tortillas, Burrito size (we used 2 whole ones for T and I and 1 each for the girls)

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat until hot. Add the onion and garlic and sauté, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the beans, cumin, chili powder, oregano and 1/2 cup water and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost all the water has evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Take the pan off the heat. With the back of a fork, break up the beans to make a chunky mash. Stir in half of the cilantro and season with salt and pepper.

Spread the black bean mixture over the tortilla and crumble the goat cheese, sprinkle with jalapeno and some cilantro top with another tortilla.  Cook on a heated and oiled griddle until nice and golden brown.  Repeat with the remaining ingredients and slice up and serve.

**We served these with chopped up avocado, salsa and sour cream.  This was a delicious and quick week night meal!

This would also be a great idea for an appetizer for your next party or pot luck.  Cut into smaller wedges these would be perfect!

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Read more »

Baba Ganoush

A couple of weeks ago when Jenn (The Leftover Queen) and her family came to visit, they arrived and I immediately left to pick up my girls. Being a true foodie Jenn dove right into my fridge and started cooking things up. Just an FYI-this is truly an accepted practice in most people who love foods’ kitchens! I love people to feel at home and what better way for them to do that then to get into my fridge, stove and oven!!! By the time I got home she had cooked up some eggplant and she was all ready to make Baba Ganoush!
I had never made Baba Ganoush before because T. didn’t like it at all. Or so he said. Turns out he really, really likes the stuff. To the point that I made it again yesterday for a a pot luck we were going to. The hostess was asking for exotic appetizers and while Baba Ganoush may not be too exotic but I was sure that it would be something everyone would love! I also made a huge sheet pan of spanakopita to go with it!
Great Recipe Jenn! Thanks once again!

Baba Ganoush (Jenn, The Leftover Queen)
2 eggplants
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup tahini
¼ cup Greek style plain yogurt (I used plain, non fat yogurt, strained)
1 clove garlic, crushed
salt
extra virgin olive oil
fresh parley
pistachios and pomegranate syrup for garnish (I skipped this part, but it would have looked lovely)
METHOD:
To make the Baba Ganoush: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover cookie sheet with foil and pierce the eggplants with a fork to avoid explosion. Bake for 40-45 minutes. When eggplants are finished cooking take out of oven and cool until they can be handled.
Peel eggplants, cut in half and remove seeds.
Place in food processor and sprinkle with lemon juice. Add tahini, yogurt, garlic and salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Process until smooth. Drizzle with olive oil and garnish with parsley, pistachios and pomegranate syrup.
As Always…
Happy Entertaining!!!
Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Read more »

Homemade Fig Preserves over Brie

This was a delicious appetizer served with some crispy whole wheat Carr's crackers!!!

A couple of months ago I was in Whole Food's and they were sampling Thanksgiving food. Loved the chestnuts dressing and a couple of other things but the one that really stood out was the brie that they were serving with fig preserves!

There was no way I was going to spend whatever it was they wanted on something that I thought I could really easily make. So I tasted it and tried really hard to remember what the flavor was like.

I thought I would go to the grocery store and get some figs and make it myself. They had no figs so I had to come up with another plan.

I had some dried figs so after scouting around and checking a bunch of different recipes here is what I came up with!

Dried Fig Preserves

• 2 cups dried figs (chopped)
  
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1-1/4 water
• Juice of one lemon
  
• 1/4 cup walnuts (chopped)

Directions:

• Bring the water to a boil and dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved add the lemon juice and simmer for about 1 minute.
• Add the figs and simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring often.
• Once it has thickened and will coat the back of a spoon remove from heat and stir in the chopped walnuts.
• At this point you can put it in a jar for canning but I knew I was going to be using it soon so I put it in a plastic container for storage in my fridge.

To serve all I did was bring the brie to rooms temperature as well as the fig preserve and then poured the figs over top and served with some crispy whole wheat crackers. This made for an elegant and simple appetizer for Thanksgiving and will be served again for Christmas!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Read more »

Arugula Pesto and Wild Mushroom Pizza

Arugula Pesto and Wild Mushroom Pizza just waiting it's turn in the oven!

So for our pot luck this month I made cornbread to go with the chili that Kathy was making. I will be making the chili this week so check back for that recipe. It was incredibly delicious chili and better than any I have made!

I also wanted to take an appetizer so I was going to take the spinach dip that I had taken to the Halloween party. All was good the night before and I had everything ready to go the next day. Then T. decided to tell me that he thought the spinach dip wasn't very good and I should make some of that really good pizza dough from last week and make an Augula Pesto and Wild Mushroom Pizza...Yep, I'll get right on that!

The pizza dough he was talking about was the Daring Baker Pizza Dough Challenge from last month. It's a freakin' 2 day pizza dough. I had just enough time that night to get the dough done and let it rest overnight in the fridge. Unbelievable! Why would he not tell me he didn't like something until the very last minute!!!! Anyway the pizza turned out incredible and everyone really liked it and it was gone in no time at all. I guess I'll have to wait until the next time I go to make before I find out if T. really likes it or not!

Arugula Pesto

Ingredients:

2 cups of fresh arugula
1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan
1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup of toasted pine nuts (i just lightly toasted them in a dry pan)
6 garlic cloves (you can use less but I love garlic)
2 pinches of sea salt

Directions:

Add arugula, Parmesan, toasted pine nuts, garlic, sea salt to the bowl of your food processor. Chop until well chopped and mixed. Add the Olive Oil slowly to the mixture.

Arugula Pesto spread onto the pizza sheet (at home I would have done smaller, round pizzas but for this many people a sheet pan worked better!)

For the pizza just follow the directions for the Daring Baker Challenge. Rehydrate some dried wild mushrooms, use your arugula pesto for the sauce, add mozzarella and some Parmesan and there you have an incredible pizza that everyone will like!

Hot out of the oven!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Read more »