Rice and Black Bean casserole

Here is my recipe for a recipe so delicious you will swear it is full of fat and very bad for you. In fact it’s got lots of protein and fiber, and is pretty healthy. Not only that, but it’s very cheap and super easy! Get out your slow cooker for this one.

Rice and Black Bean Casserole

1 1/2 cups of rice

1 can, or 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans

1 cup salsa

1 cup sauteed mushrooms (optional)

3 cups broth or water

cheddar cheese, shredded

fresh cilantro

sour cream

Slow cooker directions: Combine rice, beans, salsa, mushrooms and broth in slow cooker and cook on high for about 3 hours, or until the water has been absorbed, stirring occasionally so everything mixes together evenly. Remove crock pot insert from casing. Top the casserole with shredded cheese and place in oven under a hot broiler until cheese is bubbly.

Conventional directions: Cook rice in broth or water. Combine cooked rice, beans, salsa and mushrooms, and top with cheddar cheese. Bake at 375 or until the cheese has melted and is bubbling.

Top with chopped cilantro and sour cream if desired.

This amount made two dinners for us (2 adults plus 1 preschooler), plus one lunch for my partner to take to work. It goes really nicely with avocado so I made a salad with that in it. You could probably eat it in a pita or a tortilla too. For a vegan option, omit the cheese and sour cream.

I’m planning on making more dinners with black beans since I bought a 3 kilo bag from Food Basics (about 17 cents per 100 grams). Any recommendations?

A pita-riffic dinner idea

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been buying cheap whole wheat pita bread from the Food Basics that my friend has taken me to a couple of times–$1.69 for 6 huge pitas. Turns out they’re a great replacement for tortillas. I think they’re tastier too, and more filling.

So tonight we had sort of a Tex-Mex burrito/fajita/wrap kind of dinner, which could have been very inexpensive if it hadn’t been for the red and yellow peppers that each cost $3.99 a pound. It was around five dollars for just two peppers! But if you can get your peppers cheap, this would be a very tasty, filling and inexpensive meal. I should also mention that this turned out to be another accidentally vegan meal!

One thing with using pitas rather than tortillas is that they do tend to get soggy faster. I suppose one could use a lettuce leaf to hold the fillings to protect the bread from the moisture, or possibly skip the salsa, or at least squeeze the juice out of it. I just went with it, and then gobbled my wrap quickly before it fell apart.

I’ve never had much luck eating tacos neatly either

Pita Fajitas

four large whole wheat pita breads, split into rounds

one onion, sliced lengthwise

two red, yellow, orange or green peppers, or a combination, sliced

chili powder

salt

refried beans

salsa

2 avocados, sliced lengthwise

other optional additions: sour cream, shredded cheese, cilantro, guacamole, shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, chopped green onions, etc.

Saute the onions in olive oil until dark brown in places. Remove from pan and set aside. Add peppers to the pan and season with chili pepper and salt. Saute the peppers until blackened in places.

Build your pita fajita with generous spoonfuls of refried beans, avocado slices, onions, peppers, salsa, and any optional condiments you choose. Wrap and enjoy.

Serves four.

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One of my next projects will be to make my own refried beans. I’ve got the pinto beans–now I just need a good recipe. Any recommendations?

A Cheaper Way with Beans

Cans of beans were on for 99 cents for the last few weeks, and I stocked up on some of our favourites: black beans for soup, mixed beans for tabouli, kidney beans and white kidney beans for chili and other stuff, and our favourite: chick peas, for hummus, tabouli, and many other things. But darn, they take up a lot of room! And is 99 cents really a bargain?

Well, we ran out of chick peas, and I really want to make both hummus and tabouli this week, but the sale is over. So I finally pulled out the giant 2 kilo bag of dried chick peas from the back of the cupboard. I measured a cup of dried peas and almost 2 litres of water into a large bowl, and left them out to soak last night. This afternoon I’ll give them a good boil for about an hour, and I’ll be good to go with the equivalent of 2 cans of chick peas.

And is it cheaper? Well, if memory serves, my 2 kilo bag of chick peas cost about $3.99, or $2 per kilo. 1/2 cup dried peas (equivalent to one can) weighs about 110 grams–about 22 cents. Yes, it takes some energy to boil them afterwards, but it’s still about 1/4 the price.

The other benefit is how little space dried beans take up to store compared to cans. A great benefit in our teeny tiny kitchen.

Once I’m done this 2 kilo bag, I’ll head to the Sandy Hill People Food Co-op and pick up some organic beans for $3.85 per kilo–still around half the price of conventional canned! I’m all about bringing down the price of organics.

So, for beans, as with many other things, I can either spend money or time, and in the words of Erik Knutzen, “my time is cheap”! (And BPA free.)

Another Recipe: Granola

As you can imagine, I’ve been pretty busy lately. I hardly have time to check my email let alone post a blog entry. But this recipe has been screaming out for posting lately. Which is because I’ve been making it alot. Which is because we’ve been eating it alot. In fact, the only problem with this recipe is how quickly it gets eaten around here! I’ve actually been known to take spoonfuls out of my husband’s bowl because he has taken “too much”! He didn’t like that.

I love this granola: it’s easy, fairly low-cost, and absolutely delicious. It’s based on the recipe in the Moosewood Restaurant’s New Classics cookbook, but with a few modifications. Here you go:

Moosewood Granola

4 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

1/2 cup each sliced almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, coarsely chopped walnut pieces, sesame seeds, wheat germ, large flake coconut (sweetened or unsweetened–it’s up to you) or combination of any of those

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup liquid sweetener (maple syrup, fake maple syrup, honey, corn syrup, golden syrup, etc.) with 1-2 tbsp molasses added to total 1/2 cup.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all dry ingredients including cinnamon and stir until everything is well distributed. Add oil first and then liquid sweetener, and stir until well combined.

Pour out onto a large rimmed cookie sheet and place in oven. Bake for a total of about 20 minutes, stirring several times during the cooking to prevent burning and promote even browning. I used to stir every 5 minutes but found I can bake it in 3 bursts of 7 minutes instead. Try it on the cautious side to see how your oven behaves. You don’t want to burn it!

Some notes: I never worry about the “ratio” of dry ingredients to oil and sweetener. No matter how much or little I add, it always turns out. Also, see how I’ve cleverly changed the recipe to use only one dry measuring cup. If you measure the oil first, and put the liquid sweetener into the same un-rinsed cup, it just slides right out! Oh, and my favourite version has been with the cheap fake 15% maple syrup pancake syrup! I’ve never done a cost analysis of this, but it seems to me that it is cheaper than the store-bought variety. In any case it is better and healthier, and pretty easy to whip up if you need a quick treat. I eat mine with raisins and milk, but dried cranberries are also delicious! Vegan if made with anything but honey.

Super Economical Black Bean Soup

I kinda regret making this today, with the humidity at 80%, but it is super cheap, super easy, and pretty delicious. And with its wholesome list of beans, tomatoes, corn, lime juice and cilantro, it fits the nutrition bill too! It can also be vegetarian or vegan depending on the broth and additives you choose.

This comes in under $3 for the pot, and will feed our family of three for at least 2 meals. Whoever said eating beans was cheap, was right on!

Black Bean Soup

1 onion, diced

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp chili powder

1 green pepper, diced

1 tbsp garlic, crushed (1 large or 2 medium cloves)

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can black beans, rinsed

1 cup fresh, frozen or canned corn niblets

2 cups chicken or veggie broth

juice of 1 lime

Toppings (optional, depending on what you have on hand)

chopped cilantro

sour cream

shredded cheddar cheese

crushed corn chips

Heat vegetable oil over medium heat. Add diced onion and chili powder and cook until onion is soft. Add green pepper and cook until onion is somewhat browned. Add minced garlic and stir until fragrant (30 seconds). Add tomatoes, beans, corn and broth. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 20 minutes until tomatoes start to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice. Serve with toppings on the side so everyone can add what they want. This would be delightful with quesadillas or toast, depending on what kind of day you’re having.

My Favourite Summer Soup

It’s green–the colour–and also very eco-friendly if you choose local organic veggies. I made this soup on Sunday after finding zucchini, cilantro and garlic at my favourite stall at the farmer’s market, Waratah Downs. Not that I came up with the idea this Sunday–I’ve been making this fabulous soup for years–but it has never been so good as it was using fresh local veg.  We had it for dinner with some grilled cheese sandwiches, and I froze enough for another dinner some time in the fall.  (Have I mentioned I LOVE my new freezer??)

So here is the recipe:

Zucchini-Cilantro Soup

1 tsp veg oil

1 onion, diced

approximately 1 lb or more of zucchini, sliced

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced (fresh if you can get it)

4 cups broth, or enough to cover the zucchini

large handful of cilantro, minced fine

Brown the onion in the vegetable oil over medium-low heat. Add the zucchini and let it get nice and brown in spots. Add the minced garlic and stir so it gets fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the broth. Let the soup bubble gently until zucchini is soft, about 15 minutes. Mash with a potato masher and then add cilantro.

Blend in a blender or with a hand blender–in a regular blender the zucchini will become very fine and the soup will take on a beautiful bright green colour. With a hand blender, it won’t mix in quite so well, but the soup will be just as flavourful.

Stir in some plain yoghurt if you like. Also if you are a lover of tofu, you can blend in some silken tofu, though don’t add too much or the flavour will dominate.

Enjoy with some grilled cheese sandwiches for a light and easy weekday supper.

Frugal Vegan Soup

I love soup.  To me it’s just about the best food: simple, cheap, nutritious, low-fat, high-fibre, a great way to cram in some veggies, and it can be pretty eco-friendly too if you source your ingredients locally and from low on the food chain.

Yesterday I made a surprisingly good and super cheap soup that also turned out to be vegan!  I found a head of cauliflower marked down 50% at the Rideau Loblaws, so the total cost came in around $3 for a huge pot that served us for dinner, lunch, and I froze 2 servings for a simple supper down the road.

Curried Cauliflower-Bean Soup

2 tbsp oil

1 onion, minced

1 tbsp curry paste (I used Patak’s Madras paste)

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 head cauliflower, separated into florets

1 can cannellini (white kidney) beans

6 cups broth (I used McCormick’s Chicken flavoured vegetarian soup cubes)

Heat oil over medium heat.  Add onion and saute until lightly browned.  Stir in curry paste and garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Add cauliflower and brown it a little.  Rinse beans and add to the pot, then add 6 cups broth (or enough to cover).  Bring to a boil and then simmer until the cauliflower is very soft (15-20 minutes).  Puree and serve with toast or croutons.

You could probably add some yogurt to this for some extra creaminess but the beans make it very creamy and substantial.

Couscous

I mentioned yesterday that I recently bought a giant bag of Couscous from Grace Ottawa–ten pounds for ten dollars!  An amazing deal compared to the huge prices for tiny packages at the grocery store.  And now I have approximately 9.2 pounds of couscous left to eat.  Luckily I’ve got 1 year to do it.

The reason I’ve got 9.2 and not 10 pounds of it left is that we’ve eaten couscous twice so far this week.  It’s my new summer side-starch!  Like my search for a bread I can make that won’t raise the thermometer, I’ve also been looking for a starch I can prepare with a minimum of boiling/cooking (you may have noticed by now I’m a hopeless carb-o-holic!).  Unfortunately brown rice, though flavourful and filling, takes 45 minutes of humidity-inducing simmering.  Other starches like white rice, potatoes and pasta don’t need quite so long, but when I saw the couscous, I knew I had a winner.

Couscous is made of durum semolina, which is basically pasta, but instant couscous (the kind I bought–lucking out, it turns out, since I didn’t know there was a non-instant kind!) has been previously steamed and then dried, and this is why it can be prepared by simply pouring a cup of boiling water poured over it and letting it sit for 5 minutes.  While not terribly nutritious by itself, couscous extends and complements bean salads and other dishes remarkably well.  I like to add a dressing, and then any number of chopped up veggies and herbs; whatever I’ve got left over really!

Last night I threw together a can of mixed beans with some chopped red pepper, scallion, cucumber, cilantro, soy sauce marinated tofu, and the leftover sesame-peanut sauce I had from Thursday’s rice bowls.  I added a bit more lemon juice for a flavour punch, and stuck it in the fridge to blend.  It was a delicious and substantial salad that my girl and I ate out of the lid at the park for our supper.

Another couscous recipe I love is tabouli: a background of couscous highlighted with diced peppers, tomato and chick peas, flavoured with lemon juice, olive oil and garlic, with a ton of chopped parsley to blend it all together.  It keeps remarkably well, and is good as a dinner side, or by itself for lunch.

I’ll be looking for other couscous recipes to try this summer, so if you have one you love, please share it.  Hooray for no-cook summer dinners!

Tabouli (adapted from The New Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen)

1 cup couscous

1 cup boiling water

1 to 1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

1 med clove garlic, crushed

black pepper to taste

4 scallions, minced finely

1 cup packed minced parsley

1 to 2 tbsp dried mint (or 10 to 15 fresh mint leaves, minced)

2 med tomatoes, diced

1/2 to 1 med cucumber, diced

1/2 each green and red peppers, diced

1 can chick peas

Pour boiling water over couscous and let sit for 5 minutes then fluff with a fork. Meanwhile, blend together the dressing ingredients: salt, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and pepper, and mix into couscous.

Add the rest of the veggies and stir.  Chill well before serving.

The “other” kind of tortillas

I didn’t mention yesterday but on Tuesday I actually went crazy and at the same time as making flour tortillas, I also made corn tortillas!  Bloggers, especially those living in New York City, really love their tortillas!  Here is a post about making corn tortillas on 30 Bucks a Week (thanks Tina!) and another on Homesick Texan.

I checked out Grace Ottawa after seeing it recommended on Ottawa Foodies as a place to buy Masa Harina–a specific type of corn flour that is recommended for making tortillas.  Sure enough, they had it (and many other wonders and goodies, which I will report on tomorrow) so I grabbed a bag of “Masa Mix by Mr. Goudas (2 kilos for $4) and made my way home.

Now these tortillas are also very delicious, and totally easy!  Even easier than the flour variety.  And the taste?  Well, I imagine the Mr. Goudas brand is probably not the height of flavour, but even so, they were completely delicious.  They smelled amazing and the texture was lovely and soft.  I can’t wait to try frying these babies to make hard tacos and home-made corn chips.

So, is it worth it to make your own tortillas?  Absolutely!  The flavour is incomparable, the ingredients are pronouncable and safe, they are fast and easy, and so CHEAP!  While I don’t see the corn tortillas replacing bread for me for summer wrap sandwiches (not like flour tortillas), I also don’t see myself spending another penny on Old El Paso any time in the near future.

I should add that I made them without the aid of a tortilla press, which Grace Ottawa also sells for $20.  I’m guessing a tortilla press would make them even thinner, and thus do even more for the texture and flavour.  I’m putting this gadget on my list of things to look out for at garage sales this summer.

Corn Tortillas

2 cups Masa Harina

1 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups warm water

Mix the masa harina with salt, then add water and stir until it comes together as a soft dough. Knead for a few minutes until smooth. Let it sit, covered, for 15 minutes. Divide into 12 round balls and then cover so they don’t dry out as you press and cook.

Next, flatten them into thin rounds using either a tortilla press with two circles cut from thick plastic wrap (like a freezer bag), or cover two heavy cutting boards with plastic wrap and use those to press the rounds.  Heat a heavy bottomed cast iron skillet on medium.  Cook tortillas 30 to 40 seconds on each side, or long enough to produce some browned spots on the surface.

Enjoy with your favourite tex-mex or Mexican food, or fresh from the pan with some butter and salsa.  Let me know if you try it!

Accidentally Vegan #2

Once again, I only realized this was vegan when I was about half-way through enjoying this bowl of total yumminess.  It’s a tofu rice bowl with sesame-peanut sauce, over brown rice mixed with shredded carrot. It’s like a little piece of Juice For Life imported from Toronto.

The great thing about this recipe was that it is CHEAP!  I threw it together from what was in my cupboards because I didn’t want to go to the grocery store at 4:30 pm last night.  I wasn’t really that sure about it . . . and neither was my partner.  But even he (tofu and brown-rice hater though he is) said “It was better than I thought it would be.”  Hm, thanks.  ”No, I mean, it was good.”  High praise for a rice bowl coming from him!

Total cost?  I’d say maybe 4 or 5 dollars for the whole thing, which fed the two of us heartily, our toddler, and there’s a generous portion left over for tomorrow, as well as about 1/2 cup of sauce I can use for something else.  The nice thing about marinating tofu is that you don’t have to throw it out afterwards!

Oh, and though this recipe looks long, it is very very simple to prepare.  Don’t let the length deter you!

Sesame-Peanut Tofu Rice Bowl

Sesame-Peanut Sauce

5 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

5 tbsp soy sauce

1/4 cup natural peanut butter

2 tbsp fresh lemon or lime juice

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp grated ginger

2 tsp garlic teriyaki sauce or 2 cloves crushed garlic

1 tsp hot sauce

1/2 cup hot water

Put everything but the hot water into the blender and blend until smooth, gradually increasing the speed.  Then, with motor running, slowly pour in the hot water.  You could also substitute coconut milk for the water. I often use the whole can, which makes a very rich but yummy sauce for noodles or stir fry.

Tofu

Slice 1 package of regular tofu into 1/2 inch thick slices. Put tofu slices in 1 layer in a rectangle pan and pour sauce over.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, more if there is time.

Rice

1 cup brown rice

2 cups water

1 cup shredded carrot

Rinse the rice, then add the 2 cups water.  Bring to boil then simmer for 45 minutes.  Fluff, then let sit for 5-10 minutes (I used this time to grate the carrot). Shred or grate the carrot.  Add to rice & mix well.

To Serve

5-6 inches of cucumber, peeled if not organic

2 scallions, sliced very thin

toasted sesame seeds

Slice the cucumber into 2 1/2 to 3 inch long pieces, then cut in half lengthwise.  Place the half-rounds on the cutting board and slice lengthwise into several thin flat pieces.  Place one half-round piece worth of cucumber slices in each bowl, then fill with rice.  Spoon about 1/3 cup sauce over rice (I didn’t actually measure this), then place 2 slices of tofu on top of rice.  Sprinkle with scallions then sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Enjoy!