Recipes

Veggie Annie’s Texas Black Bean Hummus

5 cloves garlic, peeled
1 fresh jalapeno, halved and carefully seeded
2 15-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 tablespoon live oil
6 tablespoons cider vinegar

Put the garlic and pepper in a food processor with the steel blade attachment and process the heck out of them. When they are well minced, add the black beans, cumin, olive oil, and vinegar and process it until smooth. You can add more vinegar or cumin to taste.

(If you find yourself without a fresh jalapeno, substitute some green bell pepper and about 1/4 teaspoon of cumin,)

Serve Texas Black Bean Hummus with a thin layer of sour cream covering the top and sprigs of fresh cilantro for decoration.use as a dip for tortilla chips and veggies or as a spread for bagels or in a wrap with fresh spinach leaves, tomatoes and avocado slices. Or you can toss a few spoonfuls with hot steamed veggies and serve them with rice. (My change, I would only spread the sour cream over the dip if using it as a dip or serve it on the side.)

recipe from Veggie Annie

Green Goddess Dressing

2 big handfuls of fresh parsley
3 tablespoons fresh tarragon, basil, dill or rosemary
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon capers, drained
1/2 cup olive olive oil
1 cup heavy cream (or silken tofu or unsweetened soy milk)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon black pepper

Puree everything in a blender, a bit more oil to get the consistency you like.

This dressing gets more intense and goddess-like the longer you keep it in the fridge. It’s a wonderful punch of flavor for all sorts of Winter dishes. I like it as a salad dressing over a simple salad of leaf lettuce, toasted pecan halves and thin slices of red onion. You can also use it as a sauce over cold poached salmon; spread it on a cheese sandwich, or top a hot baked potato with warm black beans and corn, cashews, and a spoonful of dressing.

If you eat fish, you can add a few anchovy fillets to the blender to give it a different dimension to the Goddess. And the whole thing takes on a new characteristic depending on which of the four fresh herbs you use. I like all the versions!

recipe from Veggie Annie

Pissaladiere

Thanks to the incomparable Julia Child for this elegant and scrumptious onion tart!

Tart Filling:
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups sliced yellow onions
salt and black pepper
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, without pits, halved
5 or 6 roasted red pepper halves, cut into strips
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup freshly grated or shaved Parmesan cheese

Tart crust:
Your favorite pie crust recipe, or 1 and 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons chilled butter
5 to 8 tablespoons ice water

For filling: Put oil, onions, and a couple of pinches each of salt and pepper in a cold skillet. Saute on low heat, stirring often, for something like 20 minutes, or until family members start showing up in the kitchen asking when dinner will be ready. You want these onions to be very soft, almost melting, but not browned. Meanwhile, you can get everything else ready – halve the olives, cut up the peppers and grate the Parmesan. When the onions are done, set them aside.

For crust: Put flour and salt in the food processor, with the steel blade attachment, and pulse once or twice. Then cut the butter into pieces and drop them into the flour. Run the processor until you have the texture of coarse meal, then with the machine running, add tablespoons of ice water, one at a time, until you have a workable dough. Roll out the dough between sheets of waxed paper, and transfer to an 11″ by 17″ jelly roll pan. Prick all over with a fork.

Assemble the Tart: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Sprinkle a tablespoon or two of the grated Parmesan over the crust, and then cover it with the spectacularly melty, wonderful onions. Make diagonal criss-crosses with your roasted red pepper strips, and center an olive half in each resulting diamond. Cover with the remaining Parmesan. Bake in the lower third of your oven for around 30 minutes, or until crust is crisp . and golden at the edges. Wonderful hot or cold!

from Veggie Annie

Bruschetta aka Tomato Salad

There really is no recipe for this since I don’t measure anything when making it. It is about how it looks and tastes. But so long as you understand the concept of cooking by feel and eye this recipe will be a breeze to make. And the main ingredients are listed in the order I use them except for the salt and pepper. And even tomatoes that are not that great end up tasting good with this recipe.

about 3 or 4 ripe tomatoes (cherry tomatoes also work)
1 cucumber, peeled and seeded
half of a sweet onion
a large handful of fresh basil
1 or 2 garlic cloves
balsamic vinegar
good olive oil

Cut your tomatoes in half and dice them into small pieces. I do not seed my tomatoes since I use the juice from the tomatoes as part of the liquid. Place your diced tomatoes in the bottom of a glass bowl. Throw several pinches of sea salt on top of the tomatoes and some freshly ground pepper.

Take your seeded cucumbers and dice them into pieces about the same size as the tomatoes. Toss into the bowl and stir with a wood spoon. Dice your onion into similar sizes. The amount of onion depends on how much onion you like. Stir again and look at the bowl. Does it look balanced? If something is out of whack, add what ever needs to be added to balance it. Tomatoes are your main ingredient so you should have more tomatoes.

Take your basil and chiffonade it. Since I grow several varieties of basil, I use a mix. Plus I also throw in some fresh oregano. I roll the smaller leaves of the basil and oregano into the larger leaves before I chiffonade the basil. Add your crushed garlic at the same time.

Toss this into the bowl and stir. Add a little bit of balsamic vinegar and a really good olive oil. I use more vinegar than oil. I probably use less than 2 teaspoons of olive oil for a large bowl. Stir all of the ingredients. There should be more solids than liquid. Taste if to see if the flavor is balanced. Adjust the seasonings as necessary.

This salad does get better as it sits and the flavors blend. I like to eat the salad as it is but it makes a wonderful topping for toasted or grill bread. If you refrigerate the salad, please let it come to room temperature.

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Lemon Basil Potato Salad

I do not make this recipe the way it is written. I cut down the olive oil to maybe 1/3 of a cup. I also never use the cheese or the bacon. I also use way more basil. The last time I made it, I zested my lemon and minced it finely and added it to the salad.

2 1/2 pounds small Yukon gold or red potatoes, cut into eighths
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/3 – 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2/3 cup olive oil
1/2 medium-size purple onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan (optional)
3-4 thick bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

Coat potatoes with olive oil and place on a foil-lined jellyroll pan. Roast at 450 degrees stirring occasionally, 20 to 25 minutes or until tender and golden.

Whisk together lemon juice and next 5 ingredients; whisk in 2/3 cup olive oil in a slow, steady stream. Gently toss potatoes, onions, and Parmesan (if using) with vinaigrette.

Sprinkle with bacon. Serve at room temperature.