Bean Balls

My son asked me to make meatballs with marinara the other day this is the recipe I came up with tonight for "meat"balls. I used butter beans and squash in my recipe but really any bean would work as well as most any veggie you have on hand. By using different spices these can take on any flavor you would like. I used equal parts sage, oregano, parsley, and thyme tonight. I also added about 1/2 tsp dried minced onion.

Bean Balls

2 cups cooked beans

½ -1 cup veggies

1 clove garlic

1 cup oats

¼ tsp salt

2-3 tsp spices

Preheat oven to 400º. Place beans, veggies, and garlic in food processor and chop till everything is in very small pieces but not pureed. Add the spices and enough oats so the mixture holds together well. If it gets too dry add a small amount of bean liquid or water. My beans were quite soft and ended up being pretty much pureed by the time I scooped them out but they would be just as good if they were not completely pureed. Scoop out small balls about 1 inch round and place on a stone or baking sheet. Freeze or bake.

Bake for 20 minutes until they are firm and lightly brown.You can flip them half way through the baking time if you want a more even brown on the top and bottom. 

They are ready to eat or you can cook them in marinara sauce. Heat a skillet of marinara sauce to a light simmer. Add the cooked bean balls to the sauce. Stir to coat and then let simmer for 5 min. Serve with spaghetti or in meatball sandwiches.  

Simple Baked Beans

I love baked beans with cornbread! This version takes quite a bit of cook time but only a few minutes of prep time. The slow bake allows time for the flavors to really sink into the beans.

Baked Beans

4 cups cooked Navy Beans

1 onion

1-2 cups veggies 

2 cups vegetable broth

½ cup molasses

¼ cup maple syrup

1 tsp dry mustard

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

Chop the onion and the veggies into bit size pieces. In a casserole dish with a lid combine all of the ingredients and mix together. Bake covered at 300º for 2 ½ hours.

Refried Beans

My kids love refried beans and Spanish "orange" rice. Well I have not perfected the orange rice but after much trial and error they like my beans.

Refried Beans   

4 cups cooked Pinto Beans

2 cups veggie broth

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

⅛ tsp chili powder

¼ tsp cumin

¼ tsp salt

2 cups water -as needed

Chop the onion and garlic to desired size. Place all the ingredients, except the water in a large pot with a lid. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Cook for 20-30 min checking to be sure it does not get overly dry adding water as needed. Mash the beans or puree, I like to use my hand blender, to the desired consistency if they seem dry add more water. 

These beans can also be cooked in a crock pot. Just place the beans and all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on low for 3-4 hours. Then mash or puree to desired consistency.

Some of our favorite bean toppings

Cheddar Cheese

Feta Cheese

Olives

Salsa

Bean Soup

I love recipes that I can make over and over again a million different ways. This is one of those recipes I can make every week and make it different every time. Choosing different beans or combinations of beans makes a big difference in this soup. I use any veggies I have on hand and decide on spices as I am mixing things together.

Bean Soup

3 cups veggie broth

2 cups water

1 cup dried beans

4 cups chopped veggies

2 bay leafs

2-4 tsp spices

Rinse and sort through the beans. Soak beans in water for 12-24 hours. Rinse beans and place in water. Wash and cut up the veggies. In a crock pot place the veggies, veggie broth, spices, and beans. Cook in crock pot on high for 4-5 hours till the beans are soft but not falling apart. Cook for another hour and puree all or part of the soup for a thicker soup. French Bread or biscuits are a wonderful side with this soup.

Leftovers can be frozen and reheated in the oven or on the stove top.

Toppings

Cheese

Sour Cream

Avocado

Salsa

Veggies We like

Corn

Carrot

Bell Pepper 

Squash

Zucchini

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Ground Lentils

I am not a fan of the fake meats. They are overly processed and completely unnatural plus I do not like meat or anything that is suppose to taste like meat. I do want to add more protein to our diet and my husband is a meat eater so I am working on some more meat like vegetarian substitutes. So this is my ground beef substitute it passes our families picky taste buds and has become a regular addition in our recipes.

Ground Lentils

½ cup Barley

1 ½ cups water

1 cup lentils

2 ½ cups water

1 cup walnuts

1 tbs soy sauce*

Place lentils and barley in 2 separate pots with water. Bring both pots to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to med/low. Simmer lentils for 45 min and barley for 35 min or until most to all of the water is gone. Grind the walnuts in a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor. Pulse the mixture until well mixed, do not over mix you want it chunky not pureed. Spread the lentil/barley mixture into a large shallow pan and bake at 350º for 1 hour, stirring occasionally to evenly dehydrate mixture. Remove from oven when the mixture is very dry. Depending on how you want to use the mixture you may want it to be slightly moist.

I make it very dry when I am adding it to sauces but more moist if I want to make tacos with it.

 
Store the ground lentils in the fridge for a week or freeze in portion sized containers for 3-4 months. 

 *Try adding other spices, onion, or garlic to the mixture.

Red Lentils and Veggies

I am working more lentils and beans into our diet. I made this the other day with our Grilled Veggie Sandwiches. I worked great and will be added to our rotation.

Red Lentils and Veggies
1 1/4 cups red lentils
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
2 cups chopped veggies (eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, carrots)
2 tbs butter
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp dried thyme
pepper
salt

 Boil the lentils in enough water to cover them for 10 min. Drain and set aside.
Chop the onion, garlic, and other veggies. Heat butter in a pot. Gently saute the onions, garlic, and veggies.  Add the lentils, thyme, pepper, and vegetable stock. Bring to a boil. Cover reduce heat and simmer for 20 min. Salt to taste.

Lentil Burgers

I made these the other day and they were delicious! Better then any other veggie burger we have ever had! I love that because I made my own buns and burgers I could make them any size I wanted. Not to big not to small just perfect for our family plus I now have 2 more dinners in the freezer.

Lentil Burgers
½ cup barley
1 ½ cups water
1 cup lentils
2 ½ cups water

½ cup walnuts
2tbs olive oil
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
2 carrots
2 tbs all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp spices
½ tsp salt

Boil water in two medium size pans. Add barley and lentils to the pans, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 45 min or until most to all of the water is gone. Mix the lentils and the barley together.

While the lentils and barley are cooking finely grind the walnuts using and food processor. Place the walnuts in a large bowl and set aside. Finely chop and sauté vegetables in the olive oil. Add the veggies to the bowl along with the flour, spices, barley and lentils. Mix and mash together until it forms a moist mixture that holds together but is not runny. If needed add more flour or veggie broth/water. Form mixture into patties. Freeze and store or Bake at 400° for 20-30 min.

Serve on Hamburger Buns with
Cheese slices, lettuce, spinach, tomato slices, onion, avocado, mayo, ketchup, relish. Whatever you like on your burger!

Bean Loaf Cupcakes

We have been enjoying this recipe for many months but just recently I decided to try baking it in the silicone cupcake holders I have. It worked perfectly to create little individual servings. I then cooked and pureed sweet potatoes to add as the "frosting" on the cakes.

Bean Loaf
1/2 cup seeds/nuts
2 tbs olive oil
One onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1 bell pepper cut into small pieces2 cups cooked beans (we use black beans)
1 cup grated cheese
1 cup dry whole wheat bread crumbs
3 tbs ap flour
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp. salt1/4 to 1/2 cup veggie broth, as needed

Preheat the oven to 350º. Set out 12 cupcake holders or spray a loaf pan or 8x8 square baking pan with cooking oil and set aside. Grind seeds in a food processor and put in a large bowl. Sauté the onion, garlic, and vegetables in the olive oil until soft. Add to the large mixing bowl along with all the remaining ingredients except the veggie broth. Mix and mash together well, adding only as much veggie broth as needed to create a soft, moist loaf that holds together and is not runny. Add more bread crumbs as needed if the loaf seems too wet. Press mixture into the prepared pan, or cups and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until cooked through and the top is crispy. Let cool in the pan for 10 to 15. Top with pureed sweet potatoes. Serve warm with a small amount of ketchup if desired.
The bean loaf can also be frozen after cooking and reheated in a 350º.

Pureed Sweet Potatoes
Wash, peel, and chop sweet potatoes. I usually do 2-3 at a time. Place in a large sauce pan along filled with just enough water to cover the potatoes and 1 tsp lemon juice. Place on stove and bring to a boil. Reduce heat cover and continue to cook for about 20-30 min until the potatoes can easily be punctured with a fork. Puree in a blender or with a hand blender in the pot.

Sloppy Bobs

I recently made delicious meatless Sloppy Joes the original recipe can be seen here. Of course like all other recipes I tweaked it a little for our family preferences. So here is my version.

Sloppy Bobs
1 cup uncooked lentils
4 cups water
1 tbs olive oil
1 onion
1 bell pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 tbs chili powder
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
1 ¼ cup tomato puree1 tbs maple syrup
4-6 Hamburger Buns

Put lentils in small sauce pot and pour in 4 cups water; cover and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer about 20 minutes, until lentils are soft; drain and set aside.
Preheat a medium pot over medium heat; saute onion and pepper in oil for about 7 minutes, until softened. Add garlic and saute a minute more. Add cooked lentils and spices and mix.
Add tomato puree. Cook about 10 minutes. Add maple syrup heat through; turn heat off and let sit for about 10 minutes.

Serve on Hamburger Buns.

Barley Baked Beans

I found this recipe in the Clean Eating magazine and made a few changes for our tastes. It turned out to be delicious!

Barley Baked Beans
2 tbs olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 cups cooked navy beans
1 pear, chopped
1/2 tsp dried ginger
1 tbs honey
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup vegetable broth
2 cups cooked barley

Saute the onion in olive oil over med heat for about 3 min. Add the carrots, celery, and garlic and saute for 2-3 more min. In a casserole dish combine the veggie mixture, navy beans, pear, spices, honey, and balsamic vinegar, and veggie broth. Mix well. Cover with glass lid and cook for 45 min at 325 F. When done mix the barley with the baked beans and serve warm.
We enjoyed a loaf of french bread with our meal.

Falafels

Falafels

2 cups Garbanzo Beans

1 clove Garlic

½ tsp Parsley

¼ tsp Coriander

¼ tsp Cumin

½ tsp Mint

2 Carrots finely shredded

½cup Bread Crumbs

4 Pita Bread shells

oil for frying

Lettuce

Mayonnaise

Puree Garbanzo beans and add garlic, finely shredded carrot, spices, and breadcrumbs mix well. This can be done by hand or in a food processor. Scoop out ping pong sized balls from the mixture and fry in hot oil for 8 minutes turning once.

Warm pita bread and fill with mayonnaise, lettuce, and falafels.

Falafels can be frozen after cooking. Reheat by baking at 350° for 10-15 minutes.

Serve with potato chips and fruit.

Quesadilla, Black Bean Dip, and Tomato Salsa

My kids love quesadillas especially when they get to dip in the different sauces. I like to keep our quesadillas pretty plain by just using a variety of our favorite cheese in them and then add flavor by providing different dips and toppings.

Quesadilla

Cooking Oil

8 Tortillas

3 cups shredded Cheese

1 Avocado

Sour Cream

Heat oil in large pan. Place cheese on one tortilla and fold in half. Fry in oil until golden brown then flip and fry the other side about 1-2 min on each side. Place on a dish towel or on paper towels to drain some oil off before serving. Serve with avocado, sour cream, Bean Dip, and Tomato Salsa.

Black Bean Dip

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 onion

1/2 pepper

2 cups black beans

1 cup water

1 tbs Cilantro

1 tsp Salt

Finely chop onion and pepper. Cook onion and pepper in oil till soft. Add beans and water to veggies bring to a boil. Cook till soft and mash to desired constancy. Add more water or let cook to reduce water depending on your preference. Add salt and cilantro mix well. Serve warm.

Tomato Salsa

1 Tomato

½ tsp salt

¼ cup frozen or fresh corn

½ tbs lime juice

1 clove garlic

1 tbs cilantro

1 tsp olive oil

Chop tomato, add salt and drain for 10 min. If using frozen corn, rinse the corn and let drain. Mix all ingredients and let sit for 10 min.