Healthy and Frugal Dinner: Black Bean Salsa

We had a taco bar at my house last night and some friends brought this amazing black bean salsa to share. It was fabulous on our tacos, but would be great on its own as well. I absolutely love the fresh flavors of lime and cilantro that permeate this dish! The recipe comes from Passionate Homemaking (Lindsey has yet to post a recipe that I did not like! You should really subscribe to her blog!) Enjoy!

1 cup cooked black beans (or 1 can, drained)

1 fresh tomato, diced
1 cup fresh corn
1/2 cucumber, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1/4 cup or more chopped cilantro
2 Tbls. lime juice (or lemon!)
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
Sprinkle of red pepper flakes, salt & pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, to taste
4 tortillas (If using homemade, make sure they are thin enough to roll up!)
Salsa, sour cream and guacamole, if desired

Stir fry the onions and garlic until translucent. Add the beans and remaining ingredients. Heat through before laying on tortillas with other toppings, as desired.

Falafel and Tahini sauce

This is the only vegetarian dish my husband approves of! He and my toddler both liked these fried, crunchy bites. Only make the tahini sauce if you know you like tahini, because the yogurt is equally good. I got this recipe from the healthiest cookbook ever, Nourishing Traditions.

Note: If you want more nutritional value, use dried chick peas and soak them as instructed. But if you are in a hurry, the canned ones work just fine :)

Falafel Ingredients:
2 cups dried chickpeas or 2 16oz cans
filtered water and 4 tbsp whey or lemon juice (if doing the healthy soaking step)
4 cups parsley leaves, loosely packed
4 medium onions, coarsely chopped
4 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 t cumin
1 t coriander
1 t pepper
1 t sea salt
1 t cayenne pepper
1 t baking powder
about 1 c EVOO or lard or palm oil or coconut oil

If soaking the beans: Bring a pot of water to boil and pour over chickpeas. Stir in 2 T whey and leave in warm place for 12 hours. Pour off excess water and add 2 T whey again. Leave for another 12 hours.

Directions: Place 1 c parsley in food processor and pulse until chopped. Add 1/4 chickpeas, 1 onion, 1 garlic, and 1/4 of the spice mixture. Pulse until it is a coarse paste. Repeat 3 more times and add the batches together. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Form into patties and saute in oil. Serve with plain yogurt or home-made tahini sauce.

Tahini sauce:
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup tahini
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

Directions: process in the food processor until the consitency of heavy cream.

Easy Broccoli Soup

We love broccoli soup and this one is sure easy! I added carrots to it just to add some more nutrients in the mix and a couple of handfuls of cheddar cheese because we just love cheesy soup :) And I didn't puree it too much because we like our soups chunky :)

Ingredients:

• 2 TBSP butter
• 1 medium onion - sliced
• 1 medium potato - diced
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 3 cups broccoli (florets and stems) - chopped
• 1 cup half and half
• salt and pepper to taste
• pinch of nutmeg (optional)
  

Directions: Melt the butter over medium high heat in a pot (at least 3qt in size). Add the sliced onion and cook until soft.

Add the diced potato. In a microwave safe bowl heat the broth. I use my 4 cup glass measuring cup and heat half at a time. While it’s heating don’t forget to stir your potatoes and onions.

Pour the broth into the pot and add the broccoli. Cook until the broccoli is soft, stirring occasionally.

Using a standard or immersion blender puree the soup until smooth. If you use a standard blender just return it to the pot when you are through.

Add the half and half, salt and pepper to taste, and stir until heated through

Beans and Rice Tortillas

For some time, I've been hearing that the best way to save money on groceries is to: 1) not have a meat every dinner and 2) eat more beans and rice. Neither option comes easily for our family -- Mark is a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy and I have never done much with beans other than in chili. But I really do want to save money, and beans and rice are really incredibly good for ya, so here is my first no-meat, beans and rice recipe! We decided to smother them with salsa, sour cream, and cheddar cheese and fry them into quesadillas. Yeah, the no-meat idea is pretty hard on my hubby and I won't do it too often for dinner. But Karis loved them, so its a great lunch for the two of us! And its 100% healthy if you use home-made salsa and sprouted wheat tortillas!

Ingredients:
1 cup brown Rice
1 cup beans of your choice -- I'll be using black beans or kidney beans
1 - 1 1/2 Tbs. Taco seasoning
Tortillas
fixings of choice (sour cream, shredded cheese, salsa, etc)

Directions:
For the rice: either just follow the directions on the box or, to be the healthiest, soak overnight in 2 cups warm water and 2 Tbs. yogurt or buttermilk. Bring to a boil, skim, reduce heat to low, stir in some salt and butter, and cover tightly, cooking on low for 45 minutes.

For beans: either follow directions on the bag or to be healthiest, cover beans with warm water (if using black beans, also stir in 1 Tbs. whey or lemon juice) for 12-24 hours. Drain, rinse, place in a large pot and add water to cover the beans. Bring to a boil and skim off foam. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, for 4-8 hours. Check occasionally and add more water as necessary. Season to taste once beans are soft and ready to eat.

Put it all together in a tortilla wrap with the fixings of your choice

Volmer Farm Pumpkin Chowder

We visited Volmer Farm and I tried their pumpkin chowder...YUMMY! I asked the girl at the counter if they had a recipe and she started writing it out for me :) We like our chowder chunky, so I added some diced carrots, potatoes, and apples to the mix. This post is part of the Whole Food for the Holidays Progressive Dinner!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 Tsp. butter
1 Tsp. flour
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups packed pumpkin
1 Tsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup half & half

Directions: She didn't give me any directions, only the ingredients. So this is what I did and I thought it turned out well. I melted my butter in the microwave and mixed in the flour. I poured it into the crockpot with the half and half and broth, stirring til well mixed. Then I added all my chopped veggies, pumpkin puree, sugar, and spices. I cooked it in the crockpot all day long and it was ready for dinner :)

Cheesy Corn Chowder

Believe it or not, this recipe came from Mark's high school librarian :) I use cheddar cheese instead of velveeta because its better for you. I also only use 1/2 onion.

Ingredients:
1 qt. Of potatoes, peeled and diced
1 chopped onion
½ cup celery chopped
2 cups water
2 cups evaporated milk
1 can cream corn
1 can whole corn
salt and pepper to taste
bacon bits
1/3 cup velveeta cheese
1/3 cup flour mixed with half of the evaporated milk

Directions: Cook potatoes, onions, and celery in the two cups water for about 10 minutes. Then add the corn. After these ingredients are cooked well, add the milk and cheese. Cook until mixed thoroughly and hot.