String Beans Bretonne

"Cook diced onions in butter until golden. Add a little flour. Stir and moisten with stock. Bring to a boil, season with salt and pepper. Add cooked beans with a clove of crushed garlic to the sauce. Sprinkle over chopped parsley. "

Ramen Salad with Tofu adapted from Gimme Some Oven

 Thanks to "The Mind of a Chef" we are obsessed with noodles so when I stumbled upon this late summer recipe on my blog feed I was hooked. Talk about a cheap and easy and likely home grown meal on an early September school night. It was heavenly and I can't wait to have left overs in my lunch box.

Adapted from THIS recipe on Gimme some Oven , I made use of garden carrots, beans, peppers, and zucchini in this easy yummy meal. I also served it with none other than my Rosemary Lemon Tofu for a spectacular kid friendly meal.

Ingredients:

• 1 (16-ounce) bag coleslaw mix
• 2 (3-ounce) packages of Ramen noodles, crumbled (discard the seasoning packet)
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
• 1 large pepper julienned (or diced)
• 1/2 cup thinly-sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup thinly-sliced green onions (scallions)
• shredded carrott
• shredded zucchini
• Asian honey vinaigrette (see ingredients below)

Asian Honey Vinaigrette ( Whisk all ingredients together until combined.)

• 2/3 cup vegetable oil (or any cooking oil)
• 1/3 cup honey (or agave, to make this vegan)
• 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
• pinch of salt and black pepper

Directions:

To Make The Salad:

1.  Heat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Spread the crumbled ramen noodles and sliced almonds out on a baking sheet, and stir a bit to combine.
3. Bake for about 5 minutes, or until the almonds and noodles are slightly toasted and golden.
4. Remove baking sheet, and give the mixture a good stir to toss. Then return it to the oven and toast for an additional 3 minutes. Keep a very close eye on the mixture so that it does not burn. Remove and set aside.)

5. Add ingredients (including the vinaigrette) together in a large bowl, and toss until combined.
6.   Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

* This salad is much better eaten the first day, as the noodles lose their "crunch" the longer it sits, and the avocado may brown. *

Green Bean Salad with Goat Cheese Dressing

I found this recipe on the bulletin board at Whole Foods. We had it for supper last night and it was delicious. We used fresh local beans (and corn) from Gillespie Farms. We had a nice personal connection to our food last night as one of our house guests for this my birthday weekend has Gillespie as a maiden name! It was her husband Andy who had the idea of serving this dish with a nice piece of fish over it. Maybe we can try it with some local Striper, if we ever catch one! :D

This isn't a very good photo, but I just realized we had some leftovers and wanted to include a visual of this yummyness!

Curried Chickpeas

 

This recipe will serve 10 or otherwise makes great leftovers. I modified it from the prior post to suit my tastes, and I am proud to call this recipe my own. Feel free to cut in half for your family, our double again for a larger group. It is SO yummy! Goes well on it's own, stuffed in pita pockets or as a side with My Indian Chicken Strips.

Ingredients
6 T oil - or enough to cover the surface of the skillet
2 onions, chopped
3 large cloves garlic, minced
3 Tablespoons (or more!) curry powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
3 cans chick peas, rinsed and drained
2 Tablespoons or more tomato paste
A squirt or two of all natural/organic ketchup (helps thin and add flavor)
a couple pinches of salt and pepper
1/2 cup water (plus more for the end if needed)
1 cup (or more) plain yogurt
Cilantro, chopped
lemon Wedges
Whole Wheat pita pockets if desired

Process

1. In a large skillet over medium-high flame, heat oil.
   
2. When oil is hot, add onion, and cook stirring occasionally, until it starts to soften and become translucent.
   
3. Add the garlic, stir, and continue to cook for about 5 minutes.
   
4. Add curry, cinnamon, and cloves, and stir allowing to cook until mixed and fragrant.
   
5. Add the chickpeas and stir.
6. Add tomato paste and ketchup, stir and allow to heat a bit.
   
7. Add the water and stir to even out sauce on beans.
8. Season with salt and pepper.
9. Add the yogurt and stir and allow to come to temp. Add more yogurt or water, or even ketchup or spices, to adjust sauce to your liking.
   
10. Add chopped cilantro and stir, continuing to heat for 5 minutes.
    
11. Remove from heat and serve with lemon slices and pita pockets, or as a side with my Indian Chicken Strip recipe.
    

Stay at home Ham and Bean Soup

This is what we had the ingredients for and SP just started the timer on the crock pot. Will post pics soon. We had all the ingredients in house, and used canned beans, so we skipped step one since the beans are already cooked. Today we are taking the Christmas tree down and I look forward to smelling this cook all afternoon. . From Old Fashioned Living, a Hearty Ham bone soup:

Bean Soup with Ham
Ingredients:
1 ham bone with some meat left on
2 cups Navy, Northern beans or mixed beans
8 cups water
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf1 large onion, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste

Wash beans the beans and add to a medium to large pan on the stove. Cover with water, boil, and turn off the heat. Let these sit about a 1/2 hour.
Drain the beans, and place all the ingredients in the crock pot. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or so, then switch to low and continue to cook. You want the beans to be done, but not mushy. Add more water if needed to make it a soup consistency as it cooks.
Cut the meat off the bone and put in with the beans and remove the bay leaf before serving.

Bean Salad

With all the hot weather we have been having, this is a good recipe to get up today. This salad is wonderfully refreshing and very easy to double to serve a large number for a summer party.

Ingredients
14 ounces green beans with juice
14 oz yellow wax beans, drained
14 oz garbanzo beans, drained
14 oz. kidney beans drained
1 cup onions, sliced into rings
1 cup celery sliced
1 cup red bell pepper sliced
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup vinegar
2 Tablespoons oil

Process
1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Chill thoroughly until ready to serve.

Greek Cucumber Salad

Ingredients
2 large cucumbers
several handfuls of string beans, trimmed and then cut into 1 inch pieces.
1/4 to 1/2 pound of pitted Kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
1 cup crumbled Feta cheese
EVOO
a touch of Balsamic Vinegar or Red Wine Vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Process

1. Peel the cucumber, cut in half length wise, and then cut 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices.
2. Put cucumber in bowl and add prepared beans and olives and mix completely.
3. Add Feta and toss gently with EVOO and Vinegar of choice.
4. Season to taste.

Vegetable Succotash

My father-in-law Junior LOVED Succotash while I on the other hand have issues with Lima beans. So, before we were married, I was invited to Junior's house for a Thanksgiving. I wanted to make something to share that would make a good impression on Junior. I made him a very special and unique succotash. Let me tell you, I was nervous - just ask SP. I thought for sure he would hear me say succotash and then look at my dish and tell me to go fly a kite! If you knew Junior, you would know that he could say all of that in one quick look. Well, my culinary mind did a great job because, after a pause and a grumble, he ate it, smiled, had seconds and then even asked for the recipe! We miss you Junior!

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter (or more if you dare)
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 red bell peppers, diced
1 green bell pepper diced
1 small zucchini diced
1 small summer squash, diced
1 cup Lima beans
1 cup+ fresh cooked corn kernels
2 Tbs fresh sage finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Process

1. In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter.
   
2. Add onions and cook until translucent.
   
3. Add garlic, peppers, zucchini, squash, Lima beans and corn.
   
4. Season with S&P and cook until all the vegetables are tender.
   
5. Stir in the sage.
   
6. Taste and adjust as desired.
   

Kidney Beans and Red Wine

Ingredients

1 large (No. 2) cans baked Kidney beans

3 small spring onions/scallions - tops and bulbs chopped

I small can tomato paste1/4 cup chopped cooked ham

8 bacon strips

1 cup red wine

1/2 green pepper, seeded and chopped

salt

pepper

Process

1. Preheat oven 350.
2. Saute onions, pepper and ham in butter.
3. Add tomato paste and wine and cook 5 minutes.
4. Add kidney beans and heat.
5. Turn into low buttered casserole dish.
6. Cover with bacon strips.
7. Bake 30 minutes or until bacon is cooked. Serves 4.