The advantage of cooking a big batch of beans on Sunday is that even after making the Baked Beans, I still have some extra. There a probably a thousand ways to use extra beans.
One of my favorites is to make a quick soup to heat and eat for lunches or to add to dinner when you want a little something more. Lots of nutrition and great low calorie treat. (more…)
Beans are one of those wonderfully healthy foods. High in fiber, protein and minerals and very low in calories. So when it comes to baked beans, I always been ambivalent about eating them. I like fact that they burst with flavor but all the brown sugar and molasses give me great pause.
Beans, especially white beans, are pretty much flavorless. So we decided to try something different. Over the winter (when having the oven on felt great) we did a bunch of baked navy bean experiments and came up with our favorite. It is flavorful, filling and tastes as good with honey in it as without. (more…)
Since we are constantly asked what we eat, I have decided to post our dinner menu plan for this coming week. Over the next few days I will add the cooking tips and the recipes we use.
There are several things to note – we almost always have certain basics in our fridge. These include cooked brown rice and prepared beans of some type; this week it is navy beans. In our cupboards we keep a supply of things like olive oil, nuts, herbs, spices, canned and frozen veggies and salsa. As a practical matter we buy bulk and stock items like rice, beans, nuts, flours, oils, herbs and spices once a month on a “big shop” day.
Every weekend David and I spend part of a day procuring and preparing the food for the week. We have a lot of fun and use it as quality time together spent shopping, cooking, talking and singing to the tunes on Pandora.
Yesterday was the day. (more…)
David loves granola, but most of it either contains lots of sugar and/or is filled with gluten containing grains like oats.
We started on the quest for easy to make, sugar free, gluten free granola. The first thing we found was gluten-free oats. They are expensive, but worth it (maybe). Oats worked well, but I felt like they added a lot of carbs and for some reason seemed to have less fiber than the regular oats. The granola tasted good, but after a couple of hours I was ravenous. (more…)
Every cook has their basic ingredients. You know, the 10 essential things you NEED if you are going to cook! Let’s assume that salt and pepper are already in the vicinity.
What else do you need? What I need are:
Many of my entrees and soup start with the first five – onions, garlic celery, carrots and olive oil. Sautéing them up every time I want to cook is a time waster and a nuisance! So I use the traditional French approach and keep mirepoix in my fridge. For those of you who have a little trouble with weird French pronunciation — it is pronounced meer-pwah.
About once a week I pull out the food processor and make a good size batch. There are as many ways to make mirepoix as there are French and Cajun cooks. Remember, making it is an very inexact science. It is a matter of taste and what you have available. Honestly, it is a trial and error process.
To help you I have written down my recipe as a guideline. There is really only one rule — HAVE FUN!!
MIREPOIX – Flavor Magic
1. Lightly Cover frying pan bottom with olive oil and heat
2. While oil is heating chop the following in the food processor
3. When oil is very hot add:
4. Stir well and cook on high for about 5-10 minutes stirring occasionally.
*A note about garlic: I would not even attempt to give you a measurement on the garlic! Especially since it would be hard for me to define “too much”. We love the stuff and buy it at Costco or Sams Club in 48oz jars. It makes no sense to me to spend time peeling, crushing, dicing etc! I won’t even tell you how long (actually short) 48 oz lasts us; you’d be appalled!
© 2012-2024 Down To Earth Fare All Rights Reserved -- Copyright notice by Blog Copyright
