The Tromp Queen’s Three Bean and Artichoke Summer Salad

In the last few years I have grown to enjoy three-bean salad.  You know, the kind my Mom likes — with kidney beans, green beans and wax beans, etc. in a sweet vinegary dressing?

I definitely did NOT like this type of salad when I was younger, but I must have acquired the taste for it somewhere along the line because I often make it now.

Image by Mary Lee Hahn via Flickr CC license http://tinyurl.com/qesj7bl

Well, the recipe I keep coming back to is Mollie Katzen’s in her “get cooking” book.

Recently, we were getting ready to grill brats (which is practically a required summer activity in Wisconsin), and I suddenly realized I didn’t have anything for a side dish.  I thought of making three bean salad, and went to my pantry cupboard to see if I had all the ingredients.  Well, I had most everything but not all the “usual” ingredients — so I’ll share what I came up with because I think it turned out to be very tasty.

Ingredients:

1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas
1 (15 oz.) can green beans
1 (15 oz.) can wax beans (yellowish, light green beans)
12 oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts (quartered or chopped is fine)
1 cucumber (peeled, seeded, diced)
1 small onion (diced)  Red onion is pretty if you have it.
(if I had had celery or green pepper I would have diced them and added that, too)

Drain all the canned ingredients. Rinse the beans.  You could decide not to drain the artichokes (and just add the marinade to the dressing) but I didn’t do that this time.  Combine all the above ingredients in a large bowl and mix gently.

In a small to medium-sized bowl combine these ingredients for the dressing:

1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon yellow mustard (any kind is fine)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

That is it.

If you have time to make this ahead and chill it, the flavor would be even better.  I sometimes use fresh green beans or a bag of frozen green beans (cooked and chilled); they taste better than canned.

Suggested tweaks:  Next time I might add some kalamata or green pimento stuffed olives.  Maybe dill or a little garlic?  A squirt of lemon juice?

The original recipe calls for 1 can (15 oz.) dark red kidney beans in place of the artichokes and doesn’t have the cucumber. But now that I’ve had three bean salad with cucumber and artichokes, I really like them in there.  I would add them AND the kidney beans next time.  In the past, I’ve also added other kind of beans I’ve had on had such as butter beans (which my Mom loves), baby limas, black beans, pinto beans, etc.  If you add several more kinds of beans, you will need to double the dressing recipe and scale up the other ingredients as well (onion, celery, etc.)

I hope you enjoy this Tromp Queen tweak to traditional Three Bean Salad.
Please let me know if you try it and how you like it!

Yet another simple addition: Pasta!  (and maybe shredded carrots, too?)

Image by Penny via Flickr CC license. http://tinyurl.com/o6kwf8l

Spicy Black Beans and Rice

I had no idea what to make for dinner this evening.

Every piece of meat I have is in the freezer.  I am too weary to go to the grocery store.

I’ve eaten out too many times in the last couple of weeks and am craving something home-made, with lots of flavor and healthy ingredients.

I came up with something pretty delicious with stuff I have in my pantry, and am very pleased with how it came out!  I hope you’ll try this recipe sometime soon when you are tired and hungry.

 

remolata.net photo credit, via Flickr CC

Ingredients:

1 large chicken breast
Olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cans black beans, drained
1 can regular original Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chilies
A large squirt of lime juice
Spices — I used Arizona Dreaming and Forward from Penzeys, several dashes of each.
Cooked rice (white or brown)
Shredded sharp Cheddar cheese to sprinkle on top

1. Cook rice:  I usually use 3 c. of water to 1 1/2 cups of rice and add about 1/2 t. salt (or maybe a little more).  Heat the salted water to boiling then add the rice.  Stir, cover, lower the heat to simmer and set the timer for about 14 minutes.  You can also use 4 c. water to 2 c. rice if you want more rice.  When the timer goes off, give it a stir and you are ready to go!
2. Heat olive oil in a pan.  Brown the chicken.  Slice and dice it on a nearby cutting board when it is nearly cooked through.  I had a frozen chicken breast so I cooked it whole until it was soft enough to dice, removed it from the pan, chopped it up, then returned it to the pan to finish cooking.  If your chicken is thawed, you can dice it raw if you prefer.
3. When the chicken is nearly done, add the chopped onion to the pan.  Sprinkle the spices on.  If you don’t have the Penzeys spice mixes try using cumin, oregano and a little chili powder.  I was going for Mexican-ish flavors.  Squirt a liberal dose of lime juice all over the pan. (I used lime in a bottle, such as Real-lime)
4. To the chicken and onion, add the Ro-Tel (drained) and the black beans (drained).  Heat through.
5. When the rice is finished, combine it with the chicken mixture in whichever pan will hold it all.
6. Salt and pepper to taste.  Add more spice if needed, too.  (Crushed red chilies, chili powder, cayenne — whatever you please).
7. Sprinkle with the shredded sharp cheddar.  Cover and let sit til the cheese melts.

SERVE!  Makes 5 or 6 large servings

This would taste good with sliced avocados, cilantro, and/or sour cream.  You could serve it with tortilla chips and guacamole, too.

This could be a vegetarian recipe quite easily if you leave out the chicken.

(Please note that the photo above is not of the dish I created.  We ate it all!  This is the closest thing that I could find on Flickr.  It is similar, and I included it to give you an idea of what the finished dish could look like.)

 

Cilantro Lime Chicken with Corn and Black Beans

Cilantro Lime Chicken with Corn and Black Beans photo by TTQ creative commons 4.0

Cilantro Lime Chicken w/ Corn and Black Beans

Ingredients:

olive oil

1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs or any boneless, skinless chicken pieces

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp. Arizona Dreaming (from Penzey’s)

2 minced garlic cloves

1 small onion, diced (can use red if you have it)

1 (16 oz) bag frozen corn

Juice from 2 limes

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

Heat the olive oil in a good skillet.  Chop the chicken into bite sized chunks.  Add to the hot pan, season it with salt and pepper but don’t go crazy at this point.  Brown the chicken til nearly done.  Meanwhile you have chopped the onion and garlic (or opened the jar of chopped garlic you have in your fridge).  Throw the onion and garlic in the pan. Add the cumin and Arizona Dremaing now.  Smells good!  As the onion softens, throw the bag of corn in the microwave to steam (that is the kind I buy).  Or you can just zap it halfway and let it finish cooking in the skillet.  Open your can of beans, drain and rinse.  Add that to the skillet as well.  Chop the cilantro and juice the limes.  Throw those items in at the very end.

I chose to use this chicken mixture to fill corn tortillas which I warmed with a little olive oil in a skillet til they were hot, pliable and just beginning to brown.  I added sour cream and some sliced jalapenos from a jar.

This was a great tasting, healthy, quick to fix meal!

FIVE FORKS!

You could also serve the chicken/corn/bean mixture with tortilla chips and other toppings such as guacamole, salsa, and cheese.  I don’t think it needed any of that, though.

Arizona Dreaming contains ancho chili pepper, black pepper, onion, garlic, paprika, spices, cumin, citric acid, Mexican oregano, cilantro, lemon peel, chipotle pepper, red pepper, jalapeño, cocoa, natural smoke flavoring.

Recipe inspired by:  Over the Big Moon, SixSistersStuff.com; then also further revised and re-adapted by The Tromp Queen! (me).

 

Black Bean Soup

This quick and easy soup tastes like you spent all day cooking.  I love it because it starts with cans of black beans so you can be eating soup in just about 1/2 an hour.

Ingredients:

2 T. of olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 1/2 t. cumin

2 medium carrots, peeled and diced

1 or 2 chopped canned chipotles in adobo sauce (freeze the rest for another day)

3 cloves of garlic (more or less to taste)

1 to 1 1/2 t. salt

3 cans (15 oz. each) black beans, drained and rinsed

3 to 4 cups broth (vegetarians use veggie broth or water; others can use chicken or beef broth)

1 T. lime juice (can use lemon)

cilantro

crushed red pepper flakes

black pepper

sour cream

How to:

1.  Turn the heat on!  🙂  In a dutch oven or other large pan, heat the olive oil.  Add the onion and cumin.  Stir.  Cook til onion gets soft (a few minutes).

2.  Add the chopped carrot, garlic and salt.  Cook about 5 or so more min. until vegs are well on the way to being done.

3.  While that stuff is cooking in the pot, open the cans of beans and drain them.  I use a colander over the sick and then rinse them well with cold water.

4.  Add the beans and the broth to the pot.  Add the chipotle chilies if you are using them.  Add just a couple, and be sure to remove the seeds or you will get a LOT of heat!  (unless that is what you like, then go for it of course!)  Simmer all this for about 10 or even 15 minutes (if you are hungry then go for the lower time).

5.  When things are smelling so good you can’t wait much longer, get out your potato masher or immersion blender and squish up some of the beans to thicken the soup up a bit.  I don’t like my black bean soup completely smooth, but you can suit yourself on the squish factor.

6. Now for the magic!  Add the lime juice (fresh squeezed is fabulous, but I live in WI so I often use the bottle stuff).  Sprinkle in some crushed red pepper, freshly ground black pepper to taste (about 15 grinds for me), and chop up a pretty large handful of cilantro and throw it in the pot.  Let that simmer just a few more minutes while you get out bowls, spoons and such.

7.  You can taste it to check for seasonings, but I’m sure it’ll be fine!  You are an excellent cook!  Serve it up with your lovely stainless steel soup ladle and sprinkle a bit more cilantro on top.  I like it with a small spoonful of really good sour cream (which I stir into the soup so it gets creamy looking).  OH MY GOSH it is GOOOD!

If you want to fill out a meal add a salad and maybe some crispy cheese quesadillas.
Or blue corn chips with guacamole.
Or cornbread muffins.

Margaritas would be excellent.

Enjoy!

Please let me know how you like this recipe.  Really.  I want to know.

This soup freezes well.  Not that there will be any left over.

Note:  This is inspired by a recipe of Mollie Katzen’s in her book “get cooking” but I’ve changed so many things it isn’t the same as that recipe anymore.