Oat Bran Muffins, with fresh & dried fruits

Our first prolonged snow flurries decorated the fallen apple leaves when I got up this morning, calling out for morning muffins. I had one ripe banana and decided to try oat bran muffins, with flecks of carrot for color, crunch of walnuts, sweetness of raisins and freshly grated apple. With a little help from maple syrup and apple jelly syrup (a failed jelly experiment that has been great for baking), these were even sweet enough for my husband to eat them without the usual dab of honey. If you use no oil, like I do, you will need silicone non-stick muffin cups. The combination of chick pea, brown rice, oat bran, flax and all makes for a nutritious vegan muffin without trading away anything at all in the way of texture or flavor or satisfaction.


OAT BRAN MUFFINS WITH FRESH & DRIED FRUITS

1/4 cup chick pea flour
1/4 cup brown rice four
1/4 cup potato starch
1/3 cup oat bran
1/2 cup sorghum flour
2 TBSP ground flax seed
1 TBSP nutritional yeast
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 TBSP maple syrup
1 TBSP apple jelly syrup (or use more maple syrup)
1/2 cup almond milk
1 mashed ripe banana
1 grated carrot
1 grated (peeled/seeded) apple
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 400F.  (You will turn this down after a few minutes of baking.)

Mix all the dry ingredients (first 9 on the list).
Mix all the wet ingredients (the next 6), leaving the raisins and walnuts out for now.
Stir the wet into the dry, making sure you moisten all the dry into a thick spongy texture.
Now stir in the raisins and walnuts, saving out 7-8 walnut pieces to stick one in the top of each muffin.

Using a big spoon (serving spoon or tablespoon) put large blobs of batter into each non-stick silicone muffin cup, sticking a walnut piece into the top for crisping and decoration. Place these on a baking sheet and put into oven for 5-10 minutes SET THE TIMER!!  TURN DOWN THE OVEN TO 350F and BAKE for another 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool a few minutes before popping out of the silicone cups -- cool a few more before eating. ENJOY THEM WARM. They can be quite moist inside from the banana... but ought to taste fully baked, not undercooked. That crisped walnut adds an important element!

New Pasta! Black Bean "Spaghetti Shape"

I recently discovered a new way to eat black beans, and a new way to enjoy pasta all in the same bite. It's a little out of the ordinary for me to talk up a particular product, but I'm loving this one and hope it sticks around a while.  This is a "spaghetti shape" that is made entirely of black beans, yes, organic and yes, gluten free.

What could be nicer than sauteed broccoli rabe and garlic on black bean spaghetti shapes? We ate them with grilled red peppers, yellow summer squash and oyster mushrooms, and a cucumber salad, but you could really put anything on these and be thrilled. The texture is wonderful! Flavor great! Protein content terrific! Calories from carbohydrates low! WOW!

I'm loving these new possibilities with "black bean spaghetti shape!"

We roasted some onion slices, button mushrooms, poblano peppers, grape tomatoes and yellow summer squash; tore up some fresh basil, and it was an instant delicious dinner with these noodles.

Since originally posting this, we made black beans and rice in noodle form! Rice sticks and black bean spaghetti shapes cook similarly in boiling water a few minutes, then rinse. You can do anything you want with this -- salsa and guacamole or fresh tomato, basil and fried onions -- but we had an amazing success by stirring in kimchee! What a marvelous dish!

Where to find them?  Well, I bought my first one at the Park Slope Food Coop in Brooklyn, New York but I bought a case of them from this link:  Plum Market!

Black Bean Spaghetti Shape (Noodle) Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 Serving (56g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 180 9% Total Fat 2g 3% Saturated Fat 1g 5% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 4mg 0% Total Carbohydrate 17g 6% Dietary Fiber 12g 48% Sugars 5g 0% Protein 25g 50% Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 1% Calcium 13% • Iron 36% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs.courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

Red Papaya Salad with Black Eyed Peas

My husband couldn't resist a large "green" papaya for $1.25 at the grocery store. This was directly influenced by our recent viewing of the movie The Scent of the Green Papaya (see Roger Ebert's review of this 1994 Vietnamese/French film). As it turned out it was not a green papaya but a Red Caribbean! Right away I felt liberated to make a papaya salad that did not have to try to emulate the amazing green papaya salads of Vietnam... Since I had been craving black eyed peas, and had a few limes on hand, a framework quickly turned into a new summer favorite. Here's what happened.

RED PAPAYA SALAD WITH BLACK EYED PEAS

Half a red papaya - peeled, de-seeded, sliced and "cubed"
1-1.5 cup dry black eyed peas
3 cups water for peas
1/2 pint grape tomatoes
3 cloves fresh garlic - crushed and chopped finely
3 slices Vidalia onion, chopped finely
good handful of fresh green beans (15-20 beans)
2-3 cups fresh baby arugula (if you like it), baby spinach or fresh watercress
1 lime
1/2-1 tsp sea salt
(a few red pepper flakes if spice is desired)

1. Prepare the papaya by cutting in half, peeling, slicing lengthwise, scooping out seeds, slice and then chop. Don't worry about everything being the same size, just think abouta  nice bite size.
2. Steam the green beans, rinse in cold water and chop into 1/2 inch pieces. Set aside.
3. Cook the black eyed peas in a good amount of water, about 25 minutes, with just a little salt. While these are cooking, you can crush and chop the garlic and chop the onion. Drain and add the chopped onion and garlic to this, and cutting the grape tomatoes in half and stirring them into the warm beans.  Let this cool to room temp or put it in the fridge.

4. Construct: Add papaya chunks and green beans to the black eyed peas mixture. Add salt, a dash of red pepper flakes if you want heat, and the juice of at least half the lime or possibly the WHOLE lime! Set in the fridge for a bit if you want it cool or eat at room temperature. SERVE on a bed of baby arugula. Great for picnics. Can be eaten as leftovers the next day.

Green Split Pea Soup

Cold days of February and the imminent arrival of house guests prompted me to consider cooking ahead so that there would be easy lunch or ways to extend dinners. What better than pea soup? Using staple kitchen veggies and organic green split peas from the bulk section of my food coop, this soup is a 15 minute prep, about an hour and quarter or less to cook, a quick puree.  It stores in the fridge for several days, and freezes well too. Makes about 5 pints.

Green Split Pea Soup
1.5 cups green dry split peas
7 cups water
1 onion chopped (medium-large)
3 carrots (chopped)
1 parsnip (chopped)
1 stalk celery (chopped)
5 sprigs chopped fresh parsley  (3 Tbsp)
1 medium potato (chopped)
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp basil
1 tsp garlic (fresh or use garlic powder)
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt


1. Wash and chop all the veggies. If you like a pureed thick soup, you can cut them in smaller bits and add an extra potato.  If you want to eat it country style chunky, keep the pieces larger.

2. Start with about 1/2 cup of water in the pan and put the onions, garlic, celery into that and soften slightly. Then add all the rest of the ingredients, including all the water, and bring to a boil UNCOVERED. Turn the fire down to a serious simmer, cock a lid on the pot so it is partially covered but there's good air circulation. Cook until everything is soft. Could be 45 minutes, or 1.5 hours depending upon how thick you want it, and how large the pieces are.  Add another cup of water if it cooks down too much too fast.
3. Puree and eat! Very nice with a little fresh pepper, or croutons if you are eating such things.

Split Pea Soup

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 Serving (342g)

Amount Per Serving		% Daily Value*
Calories	187	9%
Total Fat	1g	1%
Saturated Fat	0g	1%
Trans Fat
Cholesterol		0%
Sodium	37mg	2%
Total Carbohydrate	36g	12%
Dietary Fiber	12g	48%
Sugars	5g	0%
Protein	11g	21%

Vitamin A	9%	•	Vitamin C	27%
Calcium	6%	•	Iron	15%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

Black Bean Enchiladas - No Oil, Vegan

Black bean enchiladas was one of the first experiments I tried to do without oil or cheese. We already loved refried black beans and had just discovered tomatillos as a beautiful combination of tart and juicy elements.  Stone ground whole grain corn meal tortillas are a wonderful vehicle for all kinds of toppings, but we craved the taste of the Southwest. So here's what we do. You can substitute something else for the sweet potato, but we like the thickness, sweetness and depth it gives to the soft interior. You can also add a little chopped jalapeno pepper, which we have done when we have it around. Experiment with what you like! Of course you can use pinto beans and absolutely make your own refried beans of any kind, spiced the way you want. We've even used leftover shiitake mushrooms and olives in these to great effect.

Black Bean Enchiladas - no oil, Vegan
1 medium sweet potato
1 can Amy's organic vegetarian refried black beans (or 1.5 cups of any beans you like)
5-8 Tomatillos, about 2.5 cups rough chopped
1 large onion, chopped medium fine
1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
1 cup sweet yellow corn
6 stone ground cornmeal tortillas
handful grape tomatoes (or sliced tomatoes)
1/4-1/2  cup water (to cook the sweet potatoes)
(you can add chopped tomatoes, salsa etc.)

1. Cook the sweet potato sliced with skin on in a small sauce pot. Pull out the soft sweet potato and mash it in a bowl, set aside.  Save  the remaining liquid in the pot (maybe 1/2 cup?).
2. Chop onion medium fine, add to roughly chopped tomatillos in the cooking juice in the small pot, adding the chopped parsley and cilantro. Cover and cook on medium low, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft and less defined.

3. Pour about 2/3 cup of the tomatillo sauce into the bottom of a 9X12 oven pan.
4. Heat each tortilla on the burner, flipping once, for less than a minute. Do one at a time. Put a 4" blob of the canned refried black beans, plus a tablespoon or so of sweet potato, and roll the tortilla into a roll, placing it overlap side down in the pan. We have also used home made black beans spiced with cumin and a little salt and pepper. In this case save out 1/4 cup of beans to scatter on top for effect.  Continue until you use everything (amazingly it has come out evenly for 6 enchiladas having made this 4 times!).

5. Pour the rest of the tomatillo sauce over the whole thing, spreading it and then spread the corn on top, chopping the grape tomatoes and decorating the whole pan with them.
6. Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes. Peel the enchiladas off the bottom of the pan with a spatula and serve. About 2 enchiladas per person.


Makes a good leftover lunch!

Black Bean Enchiladas - no oil vegan Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 Serving (472g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 356 18% Total Fat 4g 6% Saturated Fat 1g 4% Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol 0% Sodium 701mg 29% Total Carbohydrate 69g 23% Dietary Fiber 15g 59% Sugars 11g 0% Protein 14g 29% Vitamin A 28% • Vitamin C 59% Calcium 14% • Iron 27% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data