Ever since I tried making hummus from scratch (a culinary disaster), I have avoided the chickpea (commonly referred to as the garbanzo bean). That is, until now. This variant of hummus uses sun-dried tomatoes as its flavoring agent instead of ground sesame seeds. The recipe makes roughly two cups of hummus. It is almost enough for a standalone appetizer for a potluck. The ingredient ratio can be halved or doubled.
Use with: fresh pita bread or crackers
Ingredients
2 cans (15 oz each) garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2-3 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
4 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
juice from 2 small lemons (about 1/3 cup)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
1. In a food prep: blend together garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, salt, and pepper.
2. Add garbanzo beans and run the food prep until no bean chunks are visible.
3. Empty puréed mixture into a bowl suitable for dipping chips, crackers, or pita wedges. Can garnish (optional) with finely chopped fresh parsley, paprika, and/or a drizzle of olive oil.
Sun-dried tomato spread
Made this one up as I was adding ingredients to a mini food prep. Some days I just want to eat chicken cold cuts with a sauce other than the one that soy sauce-based one I normally use. I used a lightly seasoned rice wine vinegar because it's not as sharp-tasting as balsamic vinegar. Anyhow, this came out tasting really good and now I'm finishing it off with those multi-seed flatbread crackers from Trader Joe's.
Ingredients
4 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
1 tbsp seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
fresh thyme leaves (1 sprig)
fresh rosemary leaves (about 1 tsp)
Directions
In a mini foodprep, pulse together all ingredients until tomatoes are finely chopped and blended.
Ingredients
4 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
1 tbsp seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
fresh thyme leaves (1 sprig)
fresh rosemary leaves (about 1 tsp)
Directions
In a mini foodprep, pulse together all ingredients until tomatoes are finely chopped and blended.
Rosemary Vinaigrette
Ingredients
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
2 oz olive oil (6 tbsp)
Directions
Combine lemon juice, red wine vinegar, garlic, mustard, and rosemary in a bowl. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
2 oz olive oil (6 tbsp)
Directions
Combine lemon juice, red wine vinegar, garlic, mustard, and rosemary in a bowl. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Haute spicy chocolate chip cookies
For the most part, this takes the simple dough ratio for chocolate chip cookies and adds more spices to it. By itself, cinnamon and chocolate chips don't taste that great together. But with a hint of cayenne pepper, the subtle element of heat is added to an otherwise benign sweet snack.
Ingredients
2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
1 c. brown sugar, packed
1/2 c. organic granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp sea salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
1. In a food prep, blend together flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking soda, salt and spices. Add eggs and pulse until combined. Add butter and pulse until dough comes together.
2. Empty food prep into a large mixing bowl and fold in chocolate chips.
3. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
4. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool on wire racks.
Ingredients
2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
1 c. brown sugar, packed
1/2 c. organic granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp sea salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
1. In a food prep, blend together flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking soda, salt and spices. Add eggs and pulse until combined. Add butter and pulse until dough comes together.
2. Empty food prep into a large mixing bowl and fold in chocolate chips.
3. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
4. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool on wire racks.
Curry Butternut Squash Soup
Autumn is when a lot of squash varieties are in season. Butternut squash is one of my favorites because it can be roasted pretty easily with brown sugar and olive oil, it can be deep fried as a vegetable (if it is sliced thinly enough), and it can be made into a nice and hearty soup.
Ingredients
One butternut squash (approx 3 lbs), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1" pieces
1 qt organic chicken broth
1 organic medium carrot, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 tbsp curry powder
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
1. In a stockpot, melt butter and olive oil together over medium heat. Add carrot, garlic, squash and curry powder. Let vegetables sweat for a few minutes, then add the broth. Bring soup to a boil and simmer over medium heat until squash is tender, 20-25 minutes.
2. Using an immersion blender or regular blender, pureé the mixture until smooth. Season with sea salt and black pepper, to taste. Serve while hot.
Note: If you like onions, a medium chopped onion can be added when the garlic and carrots are added. Let the onions caramelize in the oil before adding the squash and curry powder.
Ingredients
One butternut squash (approx 3 lbs), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1" pieces
1 qt organic chicken broth
1 organic medium carrot, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 tbsp curry powder
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
1. In a stockpot, melt butter and olive oil together over medium heat. Add carrot, garlic, squash and curry powder. Let vegetables sweat for a few minutes, then add the broth. Bring soup to a boil and simmer over medium heat until squash is tender, 20-25 minutes.
2. Using an immersion blender or regular blender, pureé the mixture until smooth. Season with sea salt and black pepper, to taste. Serve while hot.
Note: If you like onions, a medium chopped onion can be added when the garlic and carrots are added. Let the onions caramelize in the oil before adding the squash and curry powder.
Simple Lemon Syrup
Makes about 1.5 cups
Ingredients
1 c. sugar
1 c. water
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
In a small saucepan, combine sugar, water, lemon juice, and lemon zest over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about five minutes until sugar has dissolved.
Remove from heat and allow syrup to cool before using or storing.
Ingredients
1 c. sugar
1 c. water
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
In a small saucepan, combine sugar, water, lemon juice, and lemon zest over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about five minutes until sugar has dissolved.
Remove from heat and allow syrup to cool before using or storing.
Sweetened Cream Scones
Once you have a decent base recipe, making additions to it is easy enough. This particular recipe calls for a lot of sugar. While it isn't as ludicrously sweet as the scones you can get at a Starbucks, it has a noticeable amount of sugar that is more than what you'd get out of a standard cream-based scone at an English tea shop. It can easily be turned into a savory scone (aka a biscuit) with the omission of the sugar. It's the combination of cold butter and cold heavy cream that make these scones light and crumbly. Moisture is a big deal in a scone like this. Depending on your climate (here it is very humid during the winter), you may not need an entire cup of cream.
Basic Cream Scone Ingredients
2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 c. organic granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, diced
up to 1 c. organic heavy cream
This batch's additions:
2 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
strawberry jam
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
1. In a food prep, pulse together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, butter and any additional fresh herbs until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
2. With the food prep running, slowly add heavy cream until the dough comes together.
3. On a lightly floured surface, turn dough out and knead into a ball. Lightly dust a rolling pin with flour then roll out the dough to 1/2" thickness. Using a biscuit or cookie cutter, cut the dough into shapes and place them at least an inch apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
4. If using a fruit jam, make an indent in the center of the scone and put up to a half teaspoon of jam in the middle. I used a wine cork for this step; but you could easily use a thumb or index finger too.
5. Bake scones for 18 minutes. Let cool before storing. If you're using jam in this recipe, you should store the scones in a sealable container in single layers separated by wax paper. That way the jam doesn't bleed onto other scones.
 |
| Sweet Cream Scones with Rosemary and Strawberry Jam |
2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 c. organic granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, diced
up to 1 c. organic heavy cream
This batch's additions:
2 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
strawberry jam
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
1. In a food prep, pulse together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, butter and any additional fresh herbs until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
2. With the food prep running, slowly add heavy cream until the dough comes together.
3. On a lightly floured surface, turn dough out and knead into a ball. Lightly dust a rolling pin with flour then roll out the dough to 1/2" thickness. Using a biscuit or cookie cutter, cut the dough into shapes and place them at least an inch apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
4. If using a fruit jam, make an indent in the center of the scone and put up to a half teaspoon of jam in the middle. I used a wine cork for this step; but you could easily use a thumb or index finger too.
5. Bake scones for 18 minutes. Let cool before storing. If you're using jam in this recipe, you should store the scones in a sealable container in single layers separated by wax paper. That way the jam doesn't bleed onto other scones.
Honey-Balsamic Chops
The ingredient ratio for this recipe is more like a finishing sauce than a how-to make the aforementioned title of this post. It combines the sweet, tart taste of balsamic vinegar with the smooth, silky sweetness of honey. It could be used on grilled pork or lamb chops, as well as some types of white-fleshed fish like cod or tilapia.
Makes 1 serving.
Ingredients
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp raw honey
2 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
1 garlic clove
fresh black pepper, to taste
Himalayan pink salt (or sea salt), to taste
Directions
In a small food prep (1.5 c or 3 c), combine balsamic vinegar, olive oil, rosemary, garlic, honey, and freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. Spoon over cooked meat.
If you're concerned about the honey lingering on the bottom of the food prep container and having to spatula it out, you could also whisk these ingredients together in a small bowl. You'll have to mince the garlic first though.
Giadia's original recipe calls for eight grilled lamb chops (serves 6-8 people) and has the following ingredient ratio:
1/3 c. balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, peeled
2 tbsp honey
3/4 c vegetable or canola oil
The chops are drizzled with 2 tbsp olive oil and sprinkled with 1/2 tbsp fresh rosemary, then grilled for 2-3 minutes on each side.
This recipe ratio is adapted from the book Giadia at Home by Giada De Laurentiis.
Makes 1 serving.
Ingredients
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp raw honey
2 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
1 garlic clove
fresh black pepper, to taste
Himalayan pink salt (or sea salt), to taste
Directions
In a small food prep (1.5 c or 3 c), combine balsamic vinegar, olive oil, rosemary, garlic, honey, and freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. Spoon over cooked meat.
If you're concerned about the honey lingering on the bottom of the food prep container and having to spatula it out, you could also whisk these ingredients together in a small bowl. You'll have to mince the garlic first though.
Giadia's original recipe calls for eight grilled lamb chops (serves 6-8 people) and has the following ingredient ratio:
1/3 c. balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, peeled
2 tbsp honey
3/4 c vegetable or canola oil
The chops are drizzled with 2 tbsp olive oil and sprinkled with 1/2 tbsp fresh rosemary, then grilled for 2-3 minutes on each side.
This recipe ratio is adapted from the book Giadia at Home by Giada De Laurentiis.
Chicken Soup
Autumn is in full force in the northwest with its overcast days and lots of rain. It's the perfect time to set the slow cooker (Crockpot) for a one-pot meal in the morning and come home to a piping hot bowl of soup full of hearty stock, meat, and vegetables. The flavor of this soup is more Italian by the herbs (thyme, parsley, garlic, bay leaf, and oregano) used, and the inclusion of traditional Italian vegetables in a soup such as carrots, potatoes, and tomatoes. This batch used chicken thighs. This recipe has no added sugar or salt. The sweetness comes from the tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and marsala wine; the salt comes from the canned tomatoes and beans.
Ingredients
1 lb chicken
1 qt chicken stock
One 14.5 oz can organic diced tomatoes
One 15 oz can organic black beans
1/4 c dry marsala wine
3 carrots, sliced
2 roasted sweet potatoes, diced
1 tbsp organic tomato paste
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp basil, minced
Directions
1. In a skillet, brown sides of the chicken and let cook (covered) on medium heat for 10 minutes, or until most of the pink is gone. Transfer all in the skillet to slow cooker.
2. Deglaze skillet with wine to remove the crispy bits from the pan. Pour this liquid into the crockpot as well.
3. Except for the beans, add remaining ingredients and spices to crockpot and set on "high" for 6 hours. After three hours, the chicken will be cooked enough to fall off the bone (if using bone-in chicken parts). Remove chicken and shred or cut into bite sized pieces. Put chicken back into crockpot.
4. A half hour before you're ready to serve the soup, rinse and drain the beans and add those to the crockpot. If using canned beans, these are already cooked and this will just warm them up.
Ingredients
1 lb chicken
1 qt chicken stock
One 14.5 oz can organic diced tomatoes
One 15 oz can organic black beans
1/4 c dry marsala wine
3 carrots, sliced
2 roasted sweet potatoes, diced
1 tbsp organic tomato paste
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp basil, minced
Directions
1. In a skillet, brown sides of the chicken and let cook (covered) on medium heat for 10 minutes, or until most of the pink is gone. Transfer all in the skillet to slow cooker.
2. Deglaze skillet with wine to remove the crispy bits from the pan. Pour this liquid into the crockpot as well.
3. Except for the beans, add remaining ingredients and spices to crockpot and set on "high" for 6 hours. After three hours, the chicken will be cooked enough to fall off the bone (if using bone-in chicken parts). Remove chicken and shred or cut into bite sized pieces. Put chicken back into crockpot.
4. A half hour before you're ready to serve the soup, rinse and drain the beans and add those to the crockpot. If using canned beans, these are already cooked and this will just warm them up.
Almost Thai Coconut Chicken
What makes this dish "Thai" and not just a coconut chicken dish is its flavorings. And while I had a poorly planned meal ahead of me with quite a few unique flavors missing from the pantry, I still managed to hack together a recipe that works. I suppose that if I ate out more at authentic Thai restaurants I'd know what I was missing. Since I hardly eat out these days, a basic understanding of how flavors work together to become palatable will just have to do.
I don't see what the big deal is with people's aversion to animal fats. If you already chow down on bacon or whole eggs, you should have no problem adding the chicken skin or its accompanying fat to this recipe.
Ingredients
1 lb raw chicken (with skin), cut into small pieces
One 14 oz can of coconut milk
2 carrots, chopped
2 small white potatoes, diced
1/3 c. green onions, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Shaoxing red rice wine
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 tsp minced basil leaves
Directions
1. Cut the chicken into small bite-sized pieces and marinate with red rice wine until ready to cook.
2. Pour coconut milk into a 2-cup measuring cup and stir in curry powder.
3. Heat a stainless steel skillet on medium heat before adding oil for frying. When the oil is hot, add carrots, half the green onions, and the potatoes. Fry until carrots start to sweat and potatoes start to brown. Add the marinated chicken and cook until nearly all the pink is gone from the chicken meat.
4. Add curry-coconut milk to the chicken. Stir until combined. Wait until mixture comes back up to a boil and add fish sauce, basil, garlic, and the remaining green onions. After five minutes or so the flavors should have cooked together enough so that one aroma doesn't overpower the others, as in, the pungent fish sauce is less pronounced.
5. Turn off heat and serve over hot steamed rice, noodles, or eat as is.
I don't see what the big deal is with people's aversion to animal fats. If you already chow down on bacon or whole eggs, you should have no problem adding the chicken skin or its accompanying fat to this recipe.
| Missing | Substitution |
| Jasmine rice | Fried short grain brown rice |
| Galangal root | Gingerroot |
| Lemongrass | Juice from half a lemon |
| Purple basil leaves | Two Dorot minced basil cubes |
Ingredients
1 lb raw chicken (with skin), cut into small pieces
One 14 oz can of coconut milk
2 carrots, chopped
2 small white potatoes, diced
1/3 c. green onions, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Shaoxing red rice wine
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 tsp minced basil leaves
Directions
1. Cut the chicken into small bite-sized pieces and marinate with red rice wine until ready to cook.
2. Pour coconut milk into a 2-cup measuring cup and stir in curry powder.
3. Heat a stainless steel skillet on medium heat before adding oil for frying. When the oil is hot, add carrots, half the green onions, and the potatoes. Fry until carrots start to sweat and potatoes start to brown. Add the marinated chicken and cook until nearly all the pink is gone from the chicken meat.
4. Add curry-coconut milk to the chicken. Stir until combined. Wait until mixture comes back up to a boil and add fish sauce, basil, garlic, and the remaining green onions. After five minutes or so the flavors should have cooked together enough so that one aroma doesn't overpower the others, as in, the pungent fish sauce is less pronounced.
5. Turn off heat and serve over hot steamed rice, noodles, or eat as is.
Sun-dried tomato pesto
Rather than buy the $2.99 container of this stuff from Trader Joe's. I thought I'd try to make it since I already had all the ingredients listed on TJ's container label. After making this batch with grated Parmesan cheese, I think that the cheese is unnecessary. A large clove a garlic is too much of a garlic taste for one cup of pesto. This batch of the pesto came out pretty strong tasting. I wanted to eat it with lavash bread. If you like more basil in spreads like this, then use more basil. I used some basil leaves from a house plant I grew from seed this summer.
Optionals:
If you omit the cheese, the recipe is vegan-friendly.
If you enjoy nut flavors, pine nuts or walnuts are often combined with a tomato-based pesto.
Ingredients
1/4 c. sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
1 medium garlic clove
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp EVOO
basil leaves, up to 1/2 cup packed (to taste)
2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (optional, to taste)
Directions
1. In a food prep, blend together sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and fresh basil leaves.
2. Mix in grated cheese and serve. Makes 1 cup.
Usage: Combine with cooked pasta, as a cracker or flatbread spread, with cooked eggs, or in place of mustard/mayo on a sandwich.
Optionals:
If you omit the cheese, the recipe is vegan-friendly.
If you enjoy nut flavors, pine nuts or walnuts are often combined with a tomato-based pesto.
Ingredients
1/4 c. sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
1 medium garlic clove
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp EVOO
basil leaves, up to 1/2 cup packed (to taste)
2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (optional, to taste)
Directions
1. In a food prep, blend together sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and fresh basil leaves.
2. Mix in grated cheese and serve. Makes 1 cup.
Usage: Combine with cooked pasta, as a cracker or flatbread spread, with cooked eggs, or in place of mustard/mayo on a sandwich.
Kitchen Notes: Black Bean Preparation
I tried making black bean brownies again. This time from scratch. And golly, compared to precooked canned beans, preparing black beans was time consuming. Like zucchini and most summer squash, I really don't like the taste of beans (or zucchini) by themselves unless it is an ingredient of something else.
The prep cycle seemed longer than it should and went like this:
Soak beans for 8 hours (or overnight) in the refrigerator. Discard bean liquid. Cook using 1 cup dry beans per 3 cups of water or broth. Bring to a boil then simmer until tender. (so what's that? maybe 2 hours cook time?? Their site does not elaborate on the specifics.) A pressure cooker can shorten cook time to 1.5 hours.
What I have discovered using my method of cooking these beans for the flourless brownie recipe is that while the consistency is significantly more dry than using canned beans and you can almost taste the "bean" taste in the brownies, it is the perfect consistency for a steamed bun filling... such red bean buns. These could be black bean buns, which you really don't see at Asian bakeries. The mixture could use a touch more melted butter for a more moist texture.
The prep cycle seemed longer than it should and went like this:
- Wash/rinse 2/3 c. dry black beans
- Soak beans in enough water to cover them by an inch of water for 4 hours
- Drain beans (discard soaking liquid)
- Refill pot of beans with at least three cups of fresh water
- Boil for 30 minutes. Turn off heat. Let sit for 1 hour.
Soak beans for 8 hours (or overnight) in the refrigerator. Discard bean liquid. Cook using 1 cup dry beans per 3 cups of water or broth. Bring to a boil then simmer until tender. (so what's that? maybe 2 hours cook time?? Their site does not elaborate on the specifics.) A pressure cooker can shorten cook time to 1.5 hours.
What I have discovered using my method of cooking these beans for the flourless brownie recipe is that while the consistency is significantly more dry than using canned beans and you can almost taste the "bean" taste in the brownies, it is the perfect consistency for a steamed bun filling... such red bean buns. These could be black bean buns, which you really don't see at Asian bakeries. The mixture could use a touch more melted butter for a more moist texture.
Flourless Chocolate Brownies
These brownies were surprisingly moist and very tasty, despite lacking wheat flour. This recipe is adapted from the Whole Foods recipe archive. I have never known chocolate chips to contain grain-based gluten (seeing how it is a dairy product) which makes me a bit puzzled about how Whole Foods lists its ingredients. It's a lot like seeing "gluten free" prominently displayed on a can of tomatoes, for example. Ridiculous. This type of buzz word packaging does little to promote the health benefits of the actual food item. Anyhow, on to the recipe.
These are also called black bean brownies. I suspect that a variant could also be made using red lentils. There are two methods. One is to use canned black beans; and the other method is to prepare dry black beans for this recipe. Neither method uses additional salt, but if you use the latter method, you could add a pinch of salt to balance out the sweetness. Before you consider looking at ratio tables for dry beans to cooked beans, keep in mind that beans have different sizes and weighs, and thus different cooking times.
For black beans, use 2/3 cup dry black beans to make an equivalent of one 15 oz can of cooked beans. While I have both dry and canned black beans, I am using the can method for this recipe. My particular can o' beans came with salt so I didn't add any salt to the recipe.
Ingredients
One (15 oz) can organic black beans, drained and rinsed
3 large eggs
1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 c. Ghirardelli sweet ground chocolate (cocoa powder)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c. organic granulated sugar
1/3 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. Butter an 8" x 8" baking dish and set aside.
2. Pureé together in a food processor: black beans, eggs, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, sugar, and butter.
3. As the mixture is poured into the prepared baking dish, sprinkle in the chocolate chips.
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until the center has set. Let cool before cutting into squares.
Kitchen tip: If your honey has crystallized in its jar, you can put the honey jar in the oven (when turned off and cooling). When the oven has cooled down, the honey will be liquefied again. Pretty neat, huh?
Related info:
Black beans, nutritional info
Whole Foods - About Black Beans
These are also called black bean brownies. I suspect that a variant could also be made using red lentils. There are two methods. One is to use canned black beans; and the other method is to prepare dry black beans for this recipe. Neither method uses additional salt, but if you use the latter method, you could add a pinch of salt to balance out the sweetness. Before you consider looking at ratio tables for dry beans to cooked beans, keep in mind that beans have different sizes and weighs, and thus different cooking times.
For black beans, use 2/3 cup dry black beans to make an equivalent of one 15 oz can of cooked beans. While I have both dry and canned black beans, I am using the can method for this recipe. My particular can o' beans came with salt so I didn't add any salt to the recipe.
Ingredients
One (15 oz) can organic black beans, drained and rinsed
3 large eggs
1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 c. Ghirardelli sweet ground chocolate (cocoa powder)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c. organic granulated sugar
1/3 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. Butter an 8" x 8" baking dish and set aside.
2. Pureé together in a food processor: black beans, eggs, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, sugar, and butter.
3. As the mixture is poured into the prepared baking dish, sprinkle in the chocolate chips.
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until the center has set. Let cool before cutting into squares.
Kitchen tip: If your honey has crystallized in its jar, you can put the honey jar in the oven (when turned off and cooling). When the oven has cooled down, the honey will be liquefied again. Pretty neat, huh?
Related info:
Black beans, nutritional info
Whole Foods - About Black Beans
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