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.

Berry Crisp

Note: This week from the CSA, I got a 12 oz jar of wing sauce, a quart of strawberries, MANY ramps, a big bag of strange lettuces (e.g. spicy, flowering, purple, green, etc), & a spice container. The following recipe uses the strawberries, but we found that ramps do very well with pan-fried potatoes.

I read EatingWell's Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp, but I haven't seen any rhubarb at the Farmer's Market yet. Instead, I made a strawberry cherry crisp & modified the recipe a bit.

Keri's Strawberry Cherry Crisp

Filling:
1 lemon
1 pint of strawberries, cored & sliced
10 oz. bag frozen cherries
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour or corn starch (I used Jules' Gluten-free flour)

Crisp:
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I used Jules' Gluten-free flour)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoon canola oil
1-3 tablespoon juice

Preheat oven to 375°F. Toss together fruit, sugar, and 2 tablespoons of flour/corn starch in a large bowl. Juice lemon over fruit mixture. Then, zest 1/2 of the lemon over fruit mixture. Transfer the mixture to a shallow 1 1/2-quart baking dish or deep-dish 9-inch pie plate, pressing down on the fruit to form an even layer.

To make crumble topping: Combine oats, 1/2 cup flour, brown sugar, butter and oil in a bowl; work the ingredients together with a fork or your fingers until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in the juice until the mixture is evenly moistened.

Distribute the topping mixture evenly over the fruit. Bake until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden, 35 to 40 minutes.

DELICIOUS! 5/5 stars!!

Homemade Almond Joys.

While I haven't tried this recipe, it's potentially too good to pass up.

Homemade Almond Joys without the milk. Nice. Link sponsored by Grist, the environment news website.

Dessert.

Since the man & I have been together, I've gained 7 pounds of "happy" fat. While I'm still happy, I had decided to make smarter choices for our meals & portion things more realistically.

However, this doesn't mean that we've stopped having dessert. Oh, no. That wouldn't do. There are definitely fewer desserts in a week, though.

Last night, the man & I had a little date night. We opened a bottle of wine (courtesy of Food & Wine's wine club), I made strip steak with garlicky olivada, & then we had poached pears for dessert.

It was a caloric splurge night for sure.

The pears? They were magnificent. We couldn't find star anise, & I didn't want to use my vanilla beans for this. So, we used extracts without any real hit to taste. Also, I used about 1/2 cup agave nectar in lieu of the 1 & 1/4 cup sugar. (That's a LOT of sugar!!)


I ate my half pear plain with a little of the syrup on top. The man had his with a little vanilla bean ice cream. Divine!!!

We gave this 5/5 stars. Make it!!

P.S. We used the small bottles of Robert Mondavi cab sav for this. The bottles come in a 4-pack & are super convenient for cooking.

Update: Apple & Pear Crisp

In yesterday's post, I wrote that we were going to have Apple & Pear Crisp for dessert. It called for so much sugar - that I reduced it by 1/4 cup at least.

Still - It was TOO sweet! Ugh!! The man liked it - what a sweet tooth he's got. But I thought it was overwhelmingly sweet. In hindsight, I should have added only 1/4 cup of sugar into the apples & pears. The crumble on top was really good as is.

That's the update! Tonight, I plan on making something special too in anticipation of Thanksgiving. Wait & see!

Apple Galette.

On Friday, we had some people over to play Winerd, which if you don't know is a wine-related board game. We asked the players to bring a dish or two for sharing. The man made two quiches - one with ham, spinach, cheese, milk & bacon - the other had spinach, cheese, and smoked sun-dried tomatoes. Both had gluten-free crusts, which I made from scratch adapting this recipe with gluten-free flour. Both quiches were excellent & from his family recipe.

I made an apple galette, which was delicious even cold. I followed the recipe from Epicurious (originally from Bon Appetit) to the T. We had an embarrassing moment with it. Everyone had arrived, & I put the galette in the oven at 450 degrees to start.

Then there was smoking. Lots & lots of smoking.

Apparently, the apricot jam partially trickled out of the galette, went down the flat baking sheet, & fell onto the burners. I lowered the temperature to 350 & left it in the oven. Thankfully, the crust hole seemed to be filled, & jam only ran a little.

The guests loved it, & they even raved about it the next day when we saw them again. They even liked the crust! (Which I used sorghum flour & brown rice flour as a substitute for all purpose flour.)

I'd give the recipe 4/5. The man said the same. Sadly, it was all gobbled up before I could remember to take a picture. But do make it!!