Archive for the ‘Appetizers’ Category

We all know beans are a great source of protein, fiber, iron, magnesium and many other nutrients. But did you know that, according to the Mayo Clinic, beans are packed with phytonutrients that may help prevent chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer? That’s pretty remarkable.

My recent trip to Napa was full of cooking and exploring an array of ways to use beans. We discussed how cooking with beans is more than just opening a can, heating them up and serving them as a side. Beans are an ingredient to be used creatively in sauces, salads, dips and as thickeners to name a few.

Soon after starting this blog I started a series called “The Bodacious Bean” highlighting a variety of bean recipes. And with inspiration from all the great people I cooked with in Napa (and a little creativity of my own), I can’t wait to continue to add to “The Bodacious Bean” recipe file. I’d love to hear any ideas you have utilizing the bean too.

The first recipe I want to share is for a salad dressing. We cooked many recipes and shared endless ideas but this caesar salad dressing, using bean puree instead of eggs, really surprised me. The flavor and texture offer a pretty good match for the original. Plus it’s healthier.

By no means am I saying it’s better than the original but it is a good option for those with egg allergies, or others who can’t eat raw eggs for one reason or another.

The ingredients are basic: white beans, olive oil, lemon juice, parmesan cheese, pepper, anchovy paste, garlic, and water to thin if needed.

Begin by pureeing a whole can of white beans and their liquid in a food processor.

You’ll only need one cup of the puree – 1 15 0z. can of beans makes about 1 3/4 cup of puree. You can use the remaining puree in a soup or as a thickener for a sauce.

In a blender add all ingredients, except the water and blend until smooth.

Yum…parmesan.

If needed, add water to desired consistency but I didn’t add any to mine. Also, feel free to adjust the amount of anchovy paste if you’re not an anchovy fan. You can also use whole anchovies minced.

Toss with some chopped romaine hearts and serve. Yum. Yum. Yum.

That’s it. So simple.

Not-So-Caesar Caesar Salad Dressing

adapted from Joyce Goldstein; 2010 Worlds of Healthy Flavor Conference
(makes about 2 cups)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of white bean puree (canned beans & bean liquid pureed in food processor or blender)
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (juice of about 1 lemon)
• 1/4 cup parmesan, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons anchovy paste
• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced (about 2 large cloves)

1/4 cup water

Directions:

- In a blender combine bean puree, olive oil, lemon juice, parmesan cheese, pepper, anchovy paste, and garlic until blended and smooth.

- If needed, add water to thin to desired consistency.

- Refrigerate until used.

Enjoy!

I’d love to hear about any favorite bean recipes you may have. Are you a classic chili bean lover? Is there a tasty bean dip you can’t pass up? Please share – can’t wait to see hear from you!

Me and black-eyed peas, we go way back – truly one of my comfort foods. And since a recent trip to Grits and Groceries, I’ve had black-eyed pea cakes on the brain. They were a yummy appetizer we enjoyed there.

I purchased the Grits and Groceries cookbook, as well as a calendar packed with more recipes, but no black-eyed pea cake recipes to be found. After a quick search online, tons popped up but I didn’t have all the ingredients for any of the ones that looked good to me. So I improvised, using what I had on hand, and was quite happy with the results. And when served with “comeback sauce” they are out of this world.

Let me say, with every ounce of  my being, this is good stuff. And that ain’t no lie.

Ain’t no lie.

For the cakes you’ll need some of these…

…onion, garlic, cilantro, basil, cumin, cayenne, and salt…

…and one fried slice of bacon (but why not go ahead and cook a few more pieces while you’re at it)…

…as well as olive oil, heavy cream, flour, an egg, half and half, and bread crumbs.

The comeback sauce was also improvised. Besides, you should make your own comeback sauce ’cause everyone likes to come back for different things. Below is a rough recipe for what we did. It’s easy enough to adjust to your tastes as you mix it up.

Begin by warming the black-eyed peas (drain first), while you prep the other ingredients. I sauteed the onion and garlic together in a little olive oil until softened. In a food processor, pulse about half of the black-eyed peas, bacon, onion, garlic, cilantro, basil, cumin, cayenne, and salt a few times until blended. Not too much. It doesn’t need to be totally smooth.

Transfer mixture to a bowl and stir in the reamaining black-eyed peas and heavy cream. Chill mixture until cool – about an hour or so. This is an essential step. When it cools, the mixture stiffens so cakes can be formed, otherwise you’ll have floppy cakes that will fall apart when be battered. And you don’t want floppy cakes. Not that I would know anything about that…just sayin’.

That’s another thing I love about this recipe, you can make the mixture a couple of days ahead and refrigerate.

After the mixture has cooled, gently form the cakes and set aside. It helps if you have slightly damp hands when forming the cakes. We made ours about 2 1/2-3″ round and 3/4″ thick, but you can make them smaller if you’d like. Just be sure to adjust cooking time. I don’t know if I’d go much bigger than 3″ round.

Prepare 3 separate bowls for battering. Flour goes in the first one. Then beat an egg and the half and half together in the second one. And the bread crumbs go in the third one.

Batter the cakes by coating first with flour, then the egg mixture and finish with the bread crumbs. Okay, I have freaky man hands, but this is actually a man’s hand.

My husband is a fabulous batterererer. (No, he doesn’t beat me people.) Be careful to keep the shape of the cake intact while battering.

Set aside after coated.

Line a plate or cooling rack with paper towels ready for cakes when cooked. Prepare the skillet by heating 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Fry cakes in small batches, cooking approximately 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown.

Be sure to watch the oil for overheating, and, if needed, add additional oil or start with new oil if it gets too dark.

Serve with a heaping serving of comeback sauce and be ready to hollah!

Black-Eyed Pea Cakes
(makes 8-12 depending on size)

Ingredients:

• 2  15.8 oz. cans of black-eyed peas; drained
• 1 slice of bacon; fried
• 4-8 tablespoons olive oil; divided
• 1/2 cup onion; chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic; minced
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup half and half
• 2 cups panko or fresh bread crumbs

Directions:

- Begin by warming the black-eyed peas, while you prep the other ingredients.

- Sautee the onion and garlic together in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil until softened.

- Add half of the black-eyed peas (about 1 1/2 cups), bacon, onion, garlic, cilantro, basil, cumin, cayenne, salt to a food processor and pulse a few times until blended. Not too much. It doesn’t need to be totally smooth.

- Transfer mixture to a bowl and stir in the remaining black-eyed peas and heavy cream.

- Chill the mixture until cool – about an hour or so.

- After the mixture has cooled, gently form the cakes and set aside.

- Prepare 3 separate bowls for battering. Flour goes in the first one. Then beat an egg and the half and half together in the second one. And the bread crumbs go in the third one.

- Batter the cakes by coating first with flour, then the egg mixture and finish with the bread crumbs. Set aside after coated.

- Have a plate or cooling rack lined with paper towels ready for cakes when cooked.

- Prepare the skillet by heating 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.

- Fry cakes in small batches, cooking approximately 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Be sure to watch the oil for overheating, and, if needed, add additional oil or start with new oil if it gets too dark.

- Remove cakes, let cool on paper towel lined plate.

Serve with comeback sauce (basics for recipe below).

Comeback Sauce
(Other than the mayonnaise and the oil, we didn’t measure any of the ingredients, so combine to your taste preference.)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/8 cup salad oil (I used walnut oil)
• black pepper
• celery salt
• hot sauce
• ketchup
• mustard
• paprika
• Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

- Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate until served.

Enjoy!

Dieting stinks. That’s why I don’t do it. However, I do need to lose weight that would amount to a small child.

Little changes over time are what I can stick to. The weight may come off slower, but slow is better than not at all. And healthy recipes, that are easy and quick to prepare without compromising taste are what will make the changes become life long habits. For me it’s gotta be simple, combined with fantastic flavor, or it’s highly unlikely that I’ll prepare it again.

So in the hunt for healthy snacks that are satisfying, I’ve once again returned to the handy dandy bean with a White Bean Spread with roasted garlic. Beans are a favorite around our home. Black Bean Dip, Black Bean Hummus and White Bean Chili frequent our table often. I’m sure this white bean spread will now be added to the repertoire.

As I said it’s easy. Super easy. Super duper easy. For real.

And it’s not only easy but flavorful. Plus it’s packed with fiber and protein. Roasted garlic and fresh cilantro really pair well with the nuttiness of the beans. And you could always spice it up with some cayenne pepper and/or add more cilantro if you’d like.

The ingredient list is small. All you’ll need is northern beans (or cannellini), a head of garlic, olive oil, cilantro, salt and pepper. So simple.

Start by preparing the garlic to roast. Remove a good amount of the papery skin on the garlic head. The individual cloves should still be wrapped, like this…

Next cut off the top of the head of garlic. Just a little – enough to reveal the individual cloves.

After that drizzle the head of garlic with a little olive oil and wrap in aluminum foil to roast.

I was out of foil. So I improvised by making a mini roaster by using 2 oven proof ramekins. It worked just fine. Basically the garlic needs to be covered so it doesn’t dry out.

Bake the garlic in a 400° F oven for about 45 minutes.

While the garlic is roasting warm the beans over low heat.

See the garlic – my little roaster worked!

Roasted garlic smells wonderful. The garlic needs to cool to the touch.

When garlic is good to go, pour the warmed beans in a food processor.

Add the cilantro.

Then Salt. (Check out my salt box thingy. I found it at Sur La Table. It’s so handy.)

The pepper goes in next.

And here comes the fun part…squeeze the garlic out. (please ignore the ugly man hand)

Works like a charm.

Pulse a few times and run processor until smooth. You may need to add a little olive oil to loosen it up a bit. I added another 1/4 teaspoon (hardly any at all) but it could’ve taken more.

Now you’re ready to serve it along side crackers or my favorite, celery. It’s best served warm. If you want to make ahead and refrigerate it can easily be reheated. You may need to drizzle a little more olive oil while reheating to bring it back to life.

So good. And so good for you too. Hope you enjoy!

White Bean Spread
(makes about 1 1/2 cups)

Ingredients:

• 1 head of garlic
• 1 1/4 teaspoon olive oil; divided
• 1  15.8 oz. can of northern beans (or cannellini)
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves; packed loosely
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 400°F.

- Peel most of the papery skin off of the head of garlic. Cut top off of garlic head to reveal individual cloves.

- Drizzle about 1 teaspoon of olive oil over garlic, lightly coating garlic all over.

- Wrap garlic in aluminum foil, or use a garlic roaster (or make your own), and bake in oven for 45 minutes.

- While garlic is roasting, warm beans in small pan on low.

- When garlic is finished roasting let cool to the touch.

- In a food processor combine the warm beans, cilantro, salt, pepper and roasted garlic cloves until smooth.

- If needed add a little olive oil at a time until you reach preferred consistency.

Enjoy!