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Ingredients
- tablespoon olive oil
- 2 slices of onion (minced)
- [optional] small garlic clove (minced)
- 1 15oz can of beans
- liberal use of crushed peppercorn
- salt if necessary, often beans have salt included
Instructions
- Heat saucepan on medium high, when warm sauté onion (and optionally garlic) for about one minute.
- Add beans with liquid and pepper, bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium, using a potato masher mash the beans until smooth or only slightly lumpy. Continue cooking until thickens, stirring frequently (otherwise it will burn on the bottom).
- Serve!
Closing
This is a super easy, “refried beans,” that are quite tasty. Whenever I buy a can of refried beans, they always add a whole bunch of stuff that I do not feel needs to be necessary.
Also, I’ve made this with both pinto and great northern beans, and they’re fabulous. Black beans does not turn out quite as well, not sure why.
Add this as a side or a condiment to a taco/burrito meal!
Quick-n-Easy Salsa
Ingredients
- 1 tomato (diced)
- 2 slices of onion (thinly chopped)
- shake or two of cayenne pepper powder
- few shakes dried crushed parsley
- liberal use of crushed peppercorn
- salt to taste
- splash of lemon juice
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients together and stir.
- tada!
Closing
Another one of those quick and nifty additions when you’re looking for some zip to a meal. I do not usually have hot peppers on hand so adding a cayenne pepper makes up for it. Occasionally, I will add some bell pepper.
Feel free to use this for chips or a condiment with tacos or a burrito!
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Ingredients
- tablespoon olive oil
- 2 slices of onion
- 2 carrots (cut into thin wedges)
- liberal use of crushed pepper-corn
- 1-2 teaspoons honey
Instructions
- Heat frypan on medium high, when warm sauté onion for about one minute.
- Add carrots and pepper. Continue sautéing for an additional two minutes.
- Add honey, continue sautéing and shake/stir until carrots are tender, not soft (roughly 15 minutes).
- Serve!
Closing
I was cooking an assortment of sides today, and this one turned out while the other one was less aesthetically pleasing (but it still tasted good).
I like this recipe, it is short and it was well received during dinner!
Enjoy this side!
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Ingredients
- 4 Red potatoes (thickly sliced and quartered)
- 1 carrot (thickly chopped)
- 1/2 onion (thickly chopped)
- 1 bell pepper (thickly chopped)
- 6 kabob sticks
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- few shakes of garlic powder
- few shakes of dry parsley
- liberal use of ground peppercorn
Instructions
- Interchange the vegetables on each kabob.
- In a small bowl mix the olive oil, garlic powder, parsley, and pepper.
- Prepare the grill, I used charcoal.
- When coals are ready, spread the kabobs and cover.
- Return after 5 minutes and rotate and flip with tongs. Drizzle the olive oil across all kabobs, and cover again.
- Continue returning 5-7 minutes to rotate and flip. Do this for about 30-40 minutes in total, until vegetables are tender.
Closing
I had a grill, and being that I generally cook vegetables I had to think of something to do with it! Man-o-man, am I glad I did this. It was a hit, I never cooked kabobs before, nor have I looked up any recipes for it, so I just winged this one. I will be coming back to it, it was just fantastic.
I will likely add more potatoes, those were a hit, and I will try to add some fruit in the mix and try different vegetable as well.
Give this a go, I am sure you will want more!
Pearl Couscous, Quinoa and Bean Salad
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup pearl couscous (uncooked)
- 1/2 cup quinoa (uncooked)
- 1 15oz can of kidney beans (rinsed)
- 10 leaves fresh basil
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 1/4 onion (finely chopped)
- 4 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
- 2 tomatoes (diced)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- liberal use of ground pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the couscous and quinoa to your packages’ specifications.
- While couscous and quinoa are cooking, boil another pot of water for the blanching of the basil leaves. When water is boiling add the leaves for about 10 seconds, pour into a colander. Rinse with cold water (while in the colander). Finely chop the basil leaves.
-
- a. In a small pot, on medium, cook pine nuts for about 2 minutes, stir occasionally. Let cool.
- b. -Optional- If you do not wish to eat raw onion and garlic (they leave a bit of a bite), sauté in olive oil for about 2 minutes on medium high. Let cool.
- In a large bowl, combine and stir the cooled couscous and quinoa, kidney beans, olive oil, cooled pine nuts, onion, garlic, tomatoes, salt, and pepper.
- Serve or place in fridge till needed!
Inspiration
I loosely followed this recipe. I was just looking for a good summer or Memorial Day Weekend meals, and came across it. Needless to say, I did not use all of the same ingredients, and I did use a food processor.
Closing
I really, really, like this one. It tastes even better if you let it sit in the fridge over night! If you are looking for a good summer meal or side this is a good goto that you would like to bring with you to a picnic!
The original recipe did not use quinoa or beans (funny enough, I did not realize I pulled out kidney until I opened the can, I was intending black beans instead!!), but by doing so you get some really good textures (the couscous already had that amazing texture!) and once again, you called it, you get yourself some good protein!
When I made this recipe, I did not cook the onion or garlic and so it had a rather bit of a bite to it. I think the next time I will sauté them before adding them to the salad and see how it goes.
Have a cooled off meal!
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