Easy Black Bean Burritos

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Fervent Foodie

A funny thing happened the other day.

I went to a sausage making class and emerged three hours later a fleeting vegetarian.

Bring on the beans and cheese.

Of course, I expected a slightly different outcome when I signed up for the class. Visions of grinding my own meat and hand-stuffing thick chicken, turkey, and pork sausages filled my thoughts while mounds of frozen links filled my fantasized freezer. I was one excited sausageer – that is until I spent 3 hours huddled around fifteen pounds of raw pork. There was just so much meat and so many people and so much talk about the step-by-step process involved in getting the poor free range piggies from the farm to that fork you’re holding in your hand there. And the smell…. oh dear god the smell.

I didn’t know it was possible to get the meat sweats without actually consuming meat.

This isn’t the first time I’ve had a run in with meat-nausea. It took me years to be able to handle raw meat. In fact, during college and my first post-college years I lived on pasta, rotisserie chicken, lunch meat, canned tuna, and EGGS. Lots of eggs. As I grew older, I slowly started cooking my own meat. Sure, at first I had to use two tongs to handle the meat, taking special care that my skin did not come into the slightest contact with anything slimy and especially taking care not to get a whiff of anything. Anything. I had no problem eating meat–in fact I loved meat–I just didn’t want to be near anything that wasn’t fully and completely (is that pink I see?!) cooked.

After time, I got past it. I stopped thinking about meat as animal remains and instead chose to shroud myself in a cloud of blissful unawareness. I completely broke the link between the meat case at the grocery store and the cows grazing the farm next to my highschool. Heck, I even started making my own hamburgers and meatloaf—without using gloves, no less.

And then I went to this sausage making class….

And, whelp, I haven’t eaten meat since Sunday, which by my calculation is the longest I have gone without meat since the day my mom switched me to solids.

At first I was confused. If I don’t eat meat… well, what do I eat???

Thus far, I’ve managed to nourish myself with potatoes, beans, hummus, Trader Joe’s Veggie Masala Burgers (love!), and lots of veggies and fruit. Honestly, I don’t intend to remain a vegetarian nor am I devoted to it for the short term. I think the human body needs meat. It is designed to eat meat. I WANT to eat meat… as soon as I quit getting queasy every time I see or hear the word “meat” that is.

Easy Cheesy Black Bean Burritos

Print recipe

Serves	2
Prep time	15 minutes
Cook time	10 minutes
Total time	25 minutes
Dietary	Vegetarian
Meal type	Lunch, Main Dish
Misc	Serve Hot

Ingredients

1 clove garlic (minced)
1/4 cup white onion (chopped)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon Mexican chili powder (or substitute regular chili powder)
1/3 cup water
1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1/4 cup prepared salsa
hot sauce (to taste)
2 low carb tortillas (I used Trader Joe's brand)

Optional toppings

shredded mexican cheese blend
tomatoes (chopped)
white onion (chopped)
plain nonfat greek yogurt

Note

Adapted from Cooking Light's Chipotle Bean Burritos

Stats on 1 burrito (includes half of bean mixture using Trader Joe's organic black beans, 1 Trader Joe's low-carb tortilla, salsa of choice, 1/4 cup plain nonfat Greek Yogurt, tomato, onion, 2 tbsp cheddar cheese): 344 Calories, 57g carbs, 6g fat, 26g protein, 14g fiber

Directions

Step 1	Heat a small skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Once hot, add the garlic, 1/4 cup onion, cayenne, chili powder, and salt. Saute for a minute, then add water and beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Step 2	Remove beans from heat, stir in salsa and hot sauce, and use a wooden spoon to partially smash the beans (chunky texture is good). Spoon half of the mixture onto a tortilla and add toppings of choice, such as additional salsa, hot sauce, plain Greek yogurt, tomato, onion, or cheese.

Brown Dump Chili

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Fervent Foodie

I love to cook, but sometimes all I want is to dump a bunch of ingredients in a pot and come back an hour later to a piping hot bowl of flavorful comfort. I need my unproductive internet perusing and phantom shopping time, which means I can’t spend every ounce of my free time in the kitchen. That’s what I love about this chili. You simply brown the turkey then dump everything in the pot.

Perhaps, at first glance, the name Brown Dump Chili is unappealing to some. Given the two-step process behind the chili, I’m sure you wholeheartedly agree the name is appropriate (or, at the very least, foretelling).
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Spicy black bean burgers two ways

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Fervent Foodie

ONE:

TWO:

Boom.

Homemade black bean burgers. FINALLY. After all these years I can check you off the Things I’ma Make List. Thank you to this recipe for showing me that homemade black bean burgers are actually super simple to make. Also thank you to Google for always helping me find delicious recipes to try out. I may not be a recipe creator, but I’m one heck of a recipe tryer-outer-and-tweaker if I do say so myself.

Here’s how to make your own black bean burgers in four easy parts.

ONE: Give the following a quick pulse in the blender, then strain out the excess liquids:

1/2 green pepper cut into chunks
1/2 onion cut into chunks
4 large cloves garlic, minced

TWO: Rinse and drain 1 can of black beans and pat those little bean babies dry with a paper towel. Once dry, pour them into a bowl and give them a good mash with a fork. The beans will have a thick and pasty yet slightly chunky (in a good way) consistency.

THREE: Whisk together the following in a small bowl:

1 egg
1 tbsp cayenne pepper (or less if you are a wimp)
1 tbsp cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp Franks Red Hot

FOUR: Combine parts 1, 2, and 3, then sprinkle in 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs and mix until combined. Use a 1/2 cup measuring cup to evenly portion out four burgers. If you’re anal like me, your burgers will have precisely the same circumference. This is optional (though highly recommended).

Cook those burgers up in a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes on each side.

*Ding ding ding* Burgers are done!!!

Now it’s time to get creative.

Last night, I had one of the burgers in a big burger salad (just like we had at Pike’s over the weekend)!

I’m fairly certain ketchup and mustard have never looked so good:

Once the leftover burgers were cooled off, I wrapped them in parchment paper and then in a Ziploc baggie, and tossed them in the freezer. Tonight, I heated one of the burgers up in the oven (again, 375 degrees 10 minutes on each side).

I plopped the burger on a Trader Joe’s low carb tortilla along with some tomato, onion, avocado, and dijon mustard:

Coming in for your close up:

I really enjoyed these spicy black bean burgers. The patties held together well even though the middle of the burger had a soft refried bean consistency (which I actually liked). Next time I think I’ll cook them longer in the oven and see if the burger firms up at all. Regardless, I’ll definitely be making these guys again! I think I’ll try swapping out the bread crumbs for oats and egg whites for the egg.

I’m pumped I still have 2 more of these in the freezer Smile

Stats on 1 black bean burger: 182 calories, 30g carbs, 3g fat, 4g protein, 7g fiber

Veggies–It’s what’s for dinner.

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Fervent Foodie

Earlier in the week, I came across a recipe for Grilled Black Bean and Rice Stuffed Peppers and decided to try them out for dinner tonight. I omitted the oil and used brown rice, but otherwise followed the recipe and seasoned to taste.

My pepper:

Pepper with all the stuffings

I went with a yellow pepper instead of green. I’ve always thought that green peppers get this weird toxic taste about them when they are cooked. I love raw green peppers but can’t stand em cooked. Odd huh?

All the veggies into the oven

Final Product!

You would think the best part of these peppers would be the pepper itself — but you’d be wrong! It’s the cilantro and lime combo! I forgot how much I L-O-V-E that combination (could be because it SCREAMS chipotle). All I needed was a big dollop of gauc on top. Mmmm.

Overall – two thumbs up on the peppers. Next time I think I’ll make some sort of salsa or guac to go along side it.

Stats on my pepper: 296 Calories, 62 Carbs, 3 Fat, 11 Protein, 11 Fiber (that’s a lot of carbs… wonder if they make low-carb beans and rice?)

First attempt at roasting veggies went ok (emphasis on ok). I think I actually overroasted them, but despite that fact they were still super tasty. I’ll have to play around with my roasting methods!