Black Bean Burgers

I found a better black bean burger than this. 
Go to this link.  It takes longer because it calls for brown rice, but it's worth it.
I made up a recipe for black bean burgers today. Pretty tasty!
1 can black beans rinsed, drained
1/4 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs (mine were Italian)
1 egg

Pour rinsed, drained beans in a bowl and chop them with your Pampered Chef chopper or mash with a fork. Add the rest of the ingredients. Form into 4 patties. Grill in greased foil pouches. I did mine 6 minutes on each side.
I've also made them in the oven, still using greased foil packets. 350 degrees, 10 minutes on each side.

Fruit and Veggie Kabobs

Since I have all of these fruits and vegetables from the food co-op:

I have been trying to plan my dinners around what I have.

I saw this recipe and got the idea to do some kabobs.

I used these veggies and fruits:

Green pepper, mushrooms, orange pepper, mango, purple onion and pineapple.

Marinade:
1/2 c. olive oil
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar

1/4 c. pineapple juice
2 Tbl. Brown Sugar (a little more if you want it sweeter)

2 cloves of garlic

salt and pepper

If you have wood skewers soak them in water first.

Mix this all together and pour over vegetables. Let them marinate for a couple hours.

Put them on skewers and then you can grill them or I broiled them.

I put some foil over a cookie sheet and broiled them for about 10 minutes, turning them every couple minutes.

Serve with rice.

Veggie Lasagna

9 Whole wheat lasagne *

1-2 TB oil (to stir fry the veggies)

2 garlic cloves chopped or pressed

1 crown of broccoli chopped

14 baby carrots chopped

4 medium mushrooms chopped

1/2 onion chopped

1 26.5 oz can spaghetti sauce. We like Hunt's

16 oz cottage cheese

4 oz cheese (mozarella, monterey jack or cheddar)

grated parmesan cheese

1 egg (or 2 egg whites) beaten

salt and pepper to taste

Chop the veggies pretty fine while you're cooking the lasagne. I've noticed the Ronzoni whole wheat noodles taste better. I usually use 9 of them.

Heat oil in large skillet. Add garlic and stir fry for a minute. Add all veggies and stir fry until they're cooked. Add spaghetti sauce and heat through.

Mix cottage cheese with egg, salt and pepper.

Spray 13x9 with cooking spray. Spread a little sauce around in the bottom of the pan. Layer noodles, 1/3 of sauce, 1/3 of cottage cheese, parmesan and 1/3 of grated cheese. Repeat layers 2 more times. Cover with foil. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes. (take off foil for last 5 minutes)

If you assemble this ahead of time and refrigerate, you'll need to bake it at least 45 minutes.

*FYI: Lasagne is the plural of lasagna- as in, the noodle is called a lasagna. More than one is lasagne. But the dish itself is Lasagna.

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers (Mexican Style)

SERVES: 4
2 whole large peppers
2 cups cooked rice
2 TB olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
2-3 garlic cloves, diced or pressed
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can sweet corn, drained (or used frozen)
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Chili powder
1 heaping TBS freeze dried cilantro
5 oz Monterey Jack cheese, grated
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 375.
Wash and cut peppers in half. Set aside in greased baking dish.
Mix cooked rice w/ cilantro and most of the cheese.

Heat olive oil and saute onions for 6 minutes, add garlic and stir for 1 more minute. Add beans, corn, cumin, chili powder and tomato sauce. Heat to combine flavors. Stir in rice. Taste and add salt if desired. Fill peppers really full with the mixture. Sprinkle grated cheese on top.

Bake for 25-30 minutes uncovered. (I added a little water in the bottom of the pan.)

I double this recipe for my family. They also like to scoop the filling onto tortilla chips.

Original recipe came from Tasty Kitchen website. I changed some of the seasonings and added tomato sauce. They recommend serving with sour cream, hot sauce and pico de gallo, but I thought it was tastier this way.

Cowboy Caviar

1 can corn, drained

1 can black beans, drained

1 can black-eyed peas, drained

3/4 of an onion, chopped

3-4 medium tomatoes, diced

2 avocados, cubed

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

handful of freeze dried cilantro (or 1/2 - 1 bunch chopped fresh)

1/2 - 3/4 cup Zesty Italian dressing or **

Mix together. Marinate at least 2 hours, better overnight.

Eat with tortilla chips.

**alternative dressing:  2TB lime juice, 1 TB Red Wine Vinegar

Mom's Fruit Salad

This is my version of Mom's fruit salad.

2 cans Fruit Cocktail, don't drain (I use the kind in juice, not heavy syrup)

1 can mandarin oranges, drained

1 box Banana Cream Pudding (3.4 oz.)

1 cup grapes

2 bananas, sliced

Mix Fruit Cocktail, mandarin oranges and the box of pudding together in bowl. Add grapes and refrigerate. Add the bananas right before serving(so they don't go brown).

Easy. Serves 4-6

Nutrition Facts :
1 Serving

Calories 157
Total Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 255mg
Total Carbohydrate 39g
Dietary Fiber 1g
Sugars 34g
Protein 0g

White Bean Chicken Soup

Into the crock pot:
3 chicken breasts, fat trimmed off
3 cups chicken broth
2 tsp Oregano
2 tsp Cumin
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Cook on low for 6 hours.  Shred chicken and return to crock pot with juices

Add:
2T lime juice
2 tsp finely chopped fresh cilantro
2 cans great northwestern beans, drained and rinsed
2 C frozen corn
cook on low for 1 more hour

Serve with:
crushed tortilla chips
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream.

Serves 6-8
Sorry, no picture this time. We ate it all before I thought to get the camera out.
**Dad even ate this!! Two bowls of it actually!!

Black Bean Brownies

I found this recipe on another recipe blog.

I was scared to try it but the reviews were good. It was easy, and actually really good. It makes a cake like brownie, the whole family liked them. It is a good alternative when you want something sweet, easy to make and low fat too.

1 can (15 oz.) black beans
1 box brownie mix (I used Western Family Fudge Brownie Mix)

Drain and rinse black beans. Put beans back in the can and fill can with water. Put beans and water in blender until smooth. Mix pureed beans with brownie package mix. Spread into greased pan and cook brownies according to package directions. Let cool and eat. (I sprinkled powdered sugar on top just for fun.) Cut into 20 squares.

Nutrition Info for one brownie:

Calories: 139 Fat: 2.5g Fiber 2.5g Sugar 16g Protein 2g