Tag Archives: beans

Food

Purple, Green & Gold

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10 years ago around this time, in my Marketing days, I went to New Orleans for the NADA {National Automobile Dealers Association} trade show. It was right before the Superbowl and Mardi Gras, but the beads were already flying, the zydecos were playing and the Hurricanes were certainly flowing. If it was {that} crazy a week or so before Fat Tuesday, I can’t imagine what the actual day would be like.

Good times.

GOOD times.

Last night for dinner I wanted to channel NOLA’s cuisine so I threw together some muffuletta sandwiches and red beans & rice.

These were so easy to put together and are great for summer picnics since they have no mayo and should be made an hour or so before enjoying.

I just picked up a fresh loaf of Italian bread, cut it in half and then in half again horizontally. Scoop out a little of the bread to make room for the fillings.

I threw a whole jar of Mezzetta California HOT Mix into my mini processor and reserved the liquid. Add 3-4 tbsp liquid to processed veggies before spooning onto the 2 halves of hollowed out bread. You want the extra juice to soak into the bread just a bit, but don’t want to oversaturate it ~ this will give it great flavor. {Muffuletta is made with lots of chopped olives, too, however I am not a huge fan of them so that’s why I used this mix ~ thanks for recommending, Lisa!}

Then just layer your meats and cheeses ~ I used ham {or capicola}, genoa salami and provolone.

Cut into triangles and eat up!

I cheated with the red beans & rice and just used a packaged mix.

And since I will be saying bye-bye to desserts during Lent, I had to go out with purple, green & gold sugar cookie bars!

My new addiction. Recipe here!

{This time I used almond extract and coconut/almond milk in the frosting ~ a definite tweak to the recipe for batches to come. After Lent, of course}

*****

Happy Ash Wednesday!

XO

Food

Ga-Ga For Garbanzos

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Summer’s almost here and I am always looking for new salad ideas…particularly ones that don’t involve mayo which are not only healthier, but more warm weather picnic friendly.

When I saw this chickpea and raisin salad in June’s {Real Simple}, I immediately dog-earred it.

I’ve already confessed my love for garbanzo beans. I love raisins. And cilantro. And smokey cumin. No brainer, right?

{via}

For a change, I used flat leaf parsley instead of cilantro. Every time I chop flat leaf for a recipe I wonder why I don’t use it more often. It adds so much fresh flavor to the dish ~ not to mention gorgeous color!

This salad is delish. I’m certain it will be more flavorful the longer it sits.

I made it to take to Elliott’s last day of school picnic lunch on Friday.

Hope it lasts that long…….

Five-finger Discount {Free Stuff}, Food

Shot of Espresso

This Monday called for all the caffeine possible!

It was Espresso Rubbed Flank Steak and Asian Green Beans for dinner this evening…

Notice the absence of carbs on the plate…

I’m trying REALLY hard.

Turning over a new leaf.

Next time I will for sure make the green chile pesto to go along with the flank steak. I must say I loved the espresso rub ~ not over-powering in the least bit ~ very subtle coffee flavor and an unexpected kick from the chili powder.

The green beans are a WW recipe from a million years ago…

1.5 pounds green beans, trimmed

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

6 cloves garlic, minced

1. In a large pot of rapidly boiling water, cook green beans until just tender, 4-5 minutes.

2. While beans are cooking, in small bowl combine soy sauce, oil and sugar; set aside.

3. Drain beans; set aside.

4. Spray wok or 10″ skillet with nonstick cooking spray, place over med-high heat. Add garlic, cook, stirring constantly, until softened, 20-30 seconds. Add green beans; cook, stirring and turning constantly, until well coated, about 2 minutes.

5. Add soy sauce mixture; continue to stir and turn until most of the liquid is absorbed, 1-2 minutes.

Makes 6 servings.

1 point per serving.

68 calories, 2.4g fat, 4g fiber

*****

Just a friendly reminder to Tiffany, the winner of the Havaianas…

please, please send me your address by tomorrow evening or I will have to find a new home for the silver flops.

Thanks a million!

Have a great week!

Food

Oops!

It was 2:50 this afternoon and it dawned on me that I had NO idea what I was serving for dinner tonight! I’ve been trying to cut back and eat early so I can go running and do my evening workouts, but, ahem, I still need to feed my husband and children, right? Oops!

Hmmm, what do I have on-hand that I can whip up? I’ve been overloading Jay with ground turkey for the past several nights so I pulled out the frozen chicken tenders, found a small can of corn, some black beans and a jar of Trader Joe’s pineapple salsa in the pantry! Throw all this in a crock pot, put on low for about 3 hours and you have a yummy filling for some soft flour tortillas!

I don’t even know what to call this recipe other than GOOD & EASY….maybe I’ll just call it “Good & Easy Southwestern Crock Pot Chicken”. Jay jokingly says that anything with black beans and corn is “southwestern”, so there you have it!

I do need to run to the store and get the tortillas and shredded cheese. I like to use the small fajita size flour tortillas for these tacos, but of course you could make burritos out of the filling or use crispy corn shells. I prefer mine topped with a little shredded cheese, light sour cream, an avocado slice, cilantro and a squeeze of lime!

So…..if you’re ever in a bind, keep this stuff in your cupboards and you can whip up dinner in a jiffy:

I used about 6 little tenderloins…after about 3 hours on low, you’ll be able to shred the chicken with 2 forks, mix it up and let it warm through for a bit. Then you’re ready to load up your tortillas and GRUB!

This is what the mixture looks like after you shred the chicken:

This is what your taco/burrito looks like all assembled:

And this is what it looks like after you’ve taken a couple bites and are in love:

One more thing…I suggest draining the corn and draining and rinsing the beans. It turns out too runny otherwise.