Black bean brownies

The man & I had leftover beans & rice from a Texican restaurant. Normally, I'd throw it in a chili or something. (& the man would grumble that "this isn't chili - there are beans in it.") I had to do something less obvious with our leftovers. No leftovers left behind!!

This time, I decided to make black bean brownies. We've had them before, & they were okay. However, I found a recipe in a new South Beach diet book that I thought would work.

They are excellent! Here's what happened:

Leftover black beans - about a can's worth.
4 eggs
2 tbsp oil (they recommend olive - heart healthy!)
1 tsp vanilla
1 c. sugar substitute (I used 1/2 brown sugar splenda & <1/2 sugar)
3-5 tbsp. cocoa (I used more as - yo, it's chocolate)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
chocolate chips or pecans/walnuts

Blend all ingredients in a food processor (except the chips or nuts if using) until smooth. Put into an 8x8 baking dish lined with parchment or sprayed with cooking spray. Place in 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Voila! You have springy, moist, chocolatey brownies. Gluten-free to boot!

So far, I really like this cookbook - many recipes are gluten-free & look delicious. Plus, it's nice to see a cookbook with some nutritional indications.

Crispy skin salmon

I've been sitting on this recipe for a while now, & I can't imagine why. It's easy, it has only 5 ingredients, & it sounds good. I kept on punting & punting the recipe forward in our calendar. Until last week.

The recipe comes from Claire Robinson's 5 Ingredient Fix. For those of you who don't know the show, she takes 5 ingredients & makes a dish out of it. She considers salt & pepper to be "free" ingredients. Sometimes she has two ingredients combined together (like garlic oil or simple syrup), which is kind of like cheating. (Forgivable cheating.)

In her Crispy Skin Salmon recipe, she broils salmon skin side up until the salmon is cooked thoroughly. Jeffrey & I were super impressed by the crispiness of the salmon skin. It was a big hit! Plus, we can use that behemoth tarragon that's growing in our front yard garden.

We plan on using this recipe for our Christmas dinner party with trout. Since trout is so thin, we may have to put it higher in the oven. We'll see!