Beans | onedadskitchen

A Quick Summer Meal That is Meat Free – Black Bean and Corn Tacos

When you are looking for something quick to make on these hot summer days and may even want to stay away from the meat for a dinner or for lunch, beans can be a great alternative for you. They can provide you with plenty of protein, vitamins and fiber and taste great in salads or as a taco or wrap. I decided to do this myself for lunch a few weeks ago and then brought it back as a dinner meal when we were looking for something quick and easy one night. All the ingredients can be things that you might normally have on hand in your pantry or refrigerator so you can have this ready to go in just minutes.

Black Bean and Corn Tacos

1 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed (or 1 cup of cooked black beans)

5 teaspoons olive oil, divided

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 cup onion, sliced thin

2 green onions, sliced thin

Corn or flour tortillas

Spinach leaves, for topping

Thinly sliced radishes, for topping

Sliced avocado or guacamole, for topping

Grated cheese (your choice) for topping

Sour cream, for topping

Diced tomatoes or salsa, for topping

Place the black beans and the cumin together in a small bowl and lightly mash the beans. Add 2 teaspoons of the olive oil along with the lime juice and mix together until well blended. In a saucepan set over medium heat, heat 1 teaspoon of the olive oil until it is shimmering. Add the sliced onion and saute the onion until it is tender, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the corn kernels and the bean mixture to the onions and heat until the corn and beans are completely warmed through and fragrant, about 3 to 4 minutes. In a separate skillet, warm the remaining olive oil over medium heat. Warm the tortillas individually for about 1 minute per side. Remove the tortillas to a separate plate and place the bean and corn mixture in a separate bowl, sprinkling the beans mixture with the sliced green onions. Place any toppings you like on the table as well so people can assemble their own tacos to their specific liking.

You can really add anything you like to this dish to truly make it your own. Personally, I had tomato, avocado and radishes on mine while Sean put cheese on his and Michelle put sour cream and cheese on hers. The spinach was a nice touch as well. I actually have had this for lunch a number of times and they pack pretty well just as wraps if you didn’t want to cook the tortillas and just wanted to pack them up for a lunch on the go. you could certainly used dried beans that you have soaked and cooked beforehand in place of the canned, but the canned were convenient to use for my purposes and you can really make these with any type of beans you like, maybe throw in some chili peppers or hot sauce if you want some heat or any other type of vegetable you might like.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

Too Hot to Cook? Try These Easy Chicken Tostadas

03 Jul

It has been very hot, humid and sticky here the last few days, making it so that the last thing you feel like doing is standing in front of the stove or oven and cooking a detailed meal. It is days just like this that are perfect for a nice rotisserie chicken and doing something different and inventive with it, like this recipe from Marcella Valladolid of the Food Network for easy chicken tostadas. Tostadas are simply deep fried tortillas, so you can make these yourself if you like but I have also seen them available in some stores. You can use tostadas, a rotisserie chicken, a can of refried beans and your favorite store-bought salsa or make your own tomato salsa or try the recipe for a tomatillo avocado salsa included with this recipe.

Chicken Tostadas

8 tostadas

1 cup refried beans, warmed

4 cups cooked chicken, shredded

2 cups finely shredded lettuce

1 red onion, thinly sliced into rings

8 radishes, thinly sliced

1 cup crumbled queso fresco or other mild cheese

Sour cream or Mexican sour cream (crema) for drizzling

Tomatillo-Avocado Salsa:

8 ounces tomatillos, husked, rinsed and coarsely chopped

1 avocado, halved, pitted and peeled

1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves

1 Serrano chile

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the tostadas, spread the tostadas with the refried beans. Top the tostadas with the shredded chicken, shredded lettuce, red onion rings, sliced radishes and the cheese. Drizzle the top of each tostada with some of the sour cream, top each with a dollop of salsa, and serve.

For the tomatillo-avocado salsa, combine the tomatillos, avocado, cilantro leaves, Serrano chile, and the lemon juice together in a blender and puree the mixture until it is smooth. Season the salsa with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the salsa to a serving bowl, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 hours or until you are ready to use it.

This is a very easy meal that you can put together with mainly leftovers and have it ready in just a few minutes. Use leftover chicken or a rotisserie chicken and you can even just use leftover beans instead of making refried beans if you want to. you canalways include other fresh vegetables on the tostadas if you like as well and the salsa has great flavor of its own and is great for chips or as a side dish to this meal or others. We’ll be making this one again during the summer for sure.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

Another Great Summer Side Dish – Roasted Corn and Black Bean Salad

02 Jun

We are just about getting into summer in the area after a really long winter and that means the opportunity to get some of the really great summer vegetables that are around. For my family, that means eating a lot of corn and in all different ways. Yes,corn on the cob is great and it is certainly a family favorite for us, but one of the things that is even better is to roast some corn on the cob, strip it off the cob and use it in some wonderful side dishes. One of my favorites is a black bean and corn salad, which gives you the opportunity to combine some great flavors to get really good freshness for a side dish that is perfect for the summer. I found this particular recipe at TidyMom and decided to give it a try myself with some modifications of my own.

Roasted Corn and Black Bean Salad

3 ears corn, cut off the cob
1 orange bell pepper, diced

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 avocado sliced
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Juice of 1 1/2 limes
1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 cup olive oil
3 ounces blue cheese, crumbled (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, chopped

Cook the corn, bell pepper and the red onion in 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet set over medium-high heat until the vegetables are beginning to brown nicely all over, about 5 to 7 minutes. Toss in the black beans and cook until the beans are warmed through, about 2 minutes. Turn the heat down to low while you make the dressing.

For the dressing, smash the garlic clove and sprinkle the smashed clove with some kosher salt. With the flat side of your knife, mash and smear the garlic clove and salt until it forms a paste. Whisk the garlic paste, lime juice, salt and chili powder together in a bowl. Slowly and gradually whisk in the olive oil, starting with just a few drops and then adding the rest in a steady stream until the oil is incorporated into the dressing.

Add the dressing to the bean and corn mixture and toss the vegetables to coat them evenly. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Remove the skillet from the heat and transfer the corn and beans to a large bowl. Gently fold in the avocado, grape tomatoes, the basil and the blue cheese, if using, and serve warm or at room temperature.

That;s all there is to it and you get a really tasty side dish within minutes. You can certainly grill the corn first if you prefer instead of pan roasting it and then cut it off the cob, but since I don’t have access to a grill to do it this was my best option. I love the dressing with the nice bite of the lemon juice mixing so nicely with the corn, beans, avocado and tomatoes. This side dish can go with anything, from chicken, ribs, burgers and steak to all kinds of other meals. You could even use this as filling for tacos or quesadillas if you wanted something that is more of a vegetarian meal. It is certainly one we will use throughout the summer.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

1 Comment

Posted by MikeG on June 2, 2014 in Beans, Cooking, Dinner, Salad, Side Dishes, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Tags: black bean and corn salad, black bean salad, black beans, roasted corn and black bean salad, roasted corn salad, side dish, summer vegetables, TidyMom

A Basic Barbecue Side Dish – America’s Test Kitchen Boston Baked Beans

26 May

There are a lot of great side dishes you can make when you are cooking for outdoor meals, barbecues, pool parties, summer graduations, buffet meals, picnics and general outdoor get-togethers. There are always options for potato salad, coleslaw, fruit salads, green salads and more, but one of my personal favorites is baked beans. Baked beans can pretty much go with any type of meal, and seem to go really well with all kinds of barbecue, whether it is ribs, chicken, burgers and hot dogs or just about anything else. I have tried a variety of baked bean recipes and posted a few of them right here on this blog, but one that I always seem to go back to is this one from America’s Test Kitchen for Boston baked beans. It’s simple and delicious and gives you that deep flavor you want.

Boston Baked Beans

4 ounces salt pork, trimmed of the rind and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 ounces bacon (2 slices), cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1/2 cup molasses
1 tablespoon molasses
1 1/2 tablespoons brown mustard
1 pound dried small white beans (about 2 cups), rinsed and picked over
Table salt
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Ground black pepper

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position; heat the oven to 300 degrees. Add the salt pork and the bacon to an 8-quart Dutch oven; cook the pork and the bacon over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until they are lightly browned and most of the fat is rendered, about 7 minutes. Add the onion and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened, about 8 minutes. Add the 1/2 cup of molasses, the brown mustard, the beans, 1 1/4 teaspoons of salt, and 9 cups of water; increase the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover the pot and set the pot in the oven. Bake until the beans are tender, about 4 hours, stirring once after about 2 hours of cooking time. Remove the lid from the pot and continue to bake the beans until the liquid has thickened to a syrupy consistency, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours longer. Remove the beans from oven; stir in the remaining tablespoon of molasses, the apple cider vinegar, and the additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

You really want to use dried beans for this recipe. Canned beans cooking this long will just get very mushy on you and lose all of their texture and consistency (besides, dried beans are pretty cheap, usually about 75 cents for a 1-pound bag). This recipe makes a lot of beans, as most beans recipes seem to do, so it is great if you are cooking them for a crowd at a barbecue. if you want to just make them for a smaller, home crowd or family, you can do what I did this time and cut the recipe in half. you’ll get a good portion of beans for your meal and still have leftovers to use for other days. You get great flavor from the bacon and salt pork with just a hint of the brown mustard and the molasses and vinegar both really help to build the overall flavor of the dish. This one is a family favorite for us and we make it a lot, especially in the summer or to bring over to a party.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. I hope you enjoy your Memorial Day weekend and remember to take the time to thank a veteran today and remember those who have given so much to help the world through their sacrifice and commitment. Enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!