Summer Bean Salad with Chicken Sausage

Sigh.  We're at that time of the year when I forget the horrid winter and start looking forward to fall.  Oh DC, why must I live here and why must your summers be so brutal and disgusting?

With a generous seasoning of salt and pepper, a crazy amount of Tabasco sauce splashed on it, and a nice ice cold drink, this is one of my regular standby summer dishes that I make repeatedly throughout summer.  While you do need to use the stove for this, it's just to heat up some sausage.  The rest is so simple and easy, you can throw this together at the end of a workday as you try to ignore the sweat dripping down your back from the lovely commute in an un-air conditioned packed metro car and walk home in an atmosphere that can best be described as hot jello.  Better yet, make this the day before and refrigerate it so that you can dig into a nice and cool dish as soon as you get home.

Servings:  Original recipe says 10 servings and I laugh and laugh at that.  No, this is more like 3-5.  But it can be more servings if you use this as a filling for a sandwich or wrap.

Ingredients:
1 15-oz can corn, drained and rinsed
1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15-oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 orange bell pepper, diced
4 scallions, chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
12 oz chicken/turkey sausage, quartered lengthwise and chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Cooking spray or extra olive oil
Tabasco or hot sauce (optional)

Instructions:

• In a large bowl combine a can of corn, a can of black beans, a can of kidney beans, a chopped orange bell pepper, and 4 chopped scallions.
• In a small bowl, whisk together 3 tbsps olive oil, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp Dijon mustard, and the juice from one lemon (if you want this extra flavorful, be very generous with the balsamic vinegar and Dijon mustard (adding maybe up to an extra 1/2 tbsp)).
• Heat a large pan or skillet over medium heat and coat with cooking spray or a tbsp of oil.  
• In the pan/skillet, cook 12 oz chopped chicken/turkey sausage for 5-9 minutes, or according to package instructions (choose a spicy sausage for some extra heat and flavor - I like Trader Joe's jalapeno chicken sausage).
• Add the sausage and the oil/vinegar dressing to the corn and bean mixture and combine all ingredients until everything is well coated with the dressing. 
• Season with salt and pepper to taste and add some splashes of Tabasco sauce or other hot sauce if you'd like more spice, which I always do!  Adds an extra vinegary punch too!

Now time for the pictures featuring my sad begging pugs!  Look at those sad twinkling lil eyes. 

Sorry girls, but this is not dog-safe.  Please don't cry Sunny!

A good sprinkling of fresh cracked pepper makes such a difference on so many dishes!  I also add Tabasco sauce to so so many of my dishes.  I am seriously addicted.

Put away those lil tongues girls!

You may sniff, but don't touch.  Or lick.  Or eat.

Ok ok I'll get a dog treat for you girls before I dig into this deliciousness!

Adapted from SOS! The Six O'Clock Scramble to the Rescue.

Pancakes/Waffles with Dark Chocolate and Coconut Pudding Filling (Taiyaki/Bungeoppang)

Snow day, snow day!  Woohoo!  Sunny and Rosy are thrilled to have me home for the day but they're not so thrilled with the snow.  Unfortunately I still have some conference calls to dial into, but at least I can make something fun at home like these taiyaki/bungeoppang!  Taiyaki is the Japanese version and Bungeoppang is the Korean version, and it's essentially a crisp pancake-y/waffle-y dough with some sort of fun filling inside.  Sweet red bean paste is the common and traditional filling, but there are all sorts of different fillings nowadays including different kinds of puddings, nutella, mashed sweet potatoes, custards, and even savory fillings like cheese or breakfast sandwichy kind of things.  In Japan and Korean it's common to find street vendors cooking these up fresh and serving them piping hot on cold wintry days.  While they now come in different molds, the fish one is the one that I remember growing up and it's the traditional shape oddly enough.

To make these fun little fish, first you need this bad boy

I got mine from Amazon but I bet you could find it way cheaper at an Asian market/store.

I almost didn't post this because there's no real recipe here and it involves a special type of pan, but something about these lil fish-shaped pancakes just make me happy and me and my family love these!  And snow days are just begging for something fun to make and eat!  While I like sweet red bean paste ok, it's not necessarily my favorite and I didn't have any red beans handy so instead I made something I'd like better - dark chocolate and coconut pudding!  Oh yeah.

These are best eaten fresh and hot, but I've frozen them and reheated them ok in the toaster oven.  Sometimes the filling doesn't heat up all the way, but in a way I actually like that even better!  You get the hot and crisp waffle-y texture on the outside and then an ice cream-y pudding inside!

[Update 2/15/14: I think next time I make these I'll add a tablespoon of sugar to the batter to sweeten it up.  If you use a pre-made pancake/waffle mix and you may want to add something to sweeten it up a bit.]

Servings: Depends on how much batter and filling you make.  You need a lot more batter than filling and you can cook two fish at a time.

Ingredients:
Favorite pancake/waffle mix/recipe
14 oz can of coconut milk, divided
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt (coarse or sea salt, otherwise you might want to use a little less)
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
5 ounces (a little more than 1/2 cup) of dark chocolate, chips or coarse chunks

Instructions:

First we have to make the pudding so that it has time to chill.

• Shake the can of coconut milk well and then in a medium saucepan or pot heat over low heat half the can of the coconut milk, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp salt.  Heat slowly and don't let the mixture boil.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining coconut milk, 3 tbsps cornstarch, and 3 tbsps of cocoa powder.
• Slowly add the cornstarch mixture to the saucepan/pot while stirring everything together well. Continue to whisk over low heat for a few minutes until the mixture starts to thicken and resemble a pudding texture.
• Remove the saucepan/pot from heat and stir in 5 oz (approximately 1/2 cup) of dark chocolate and 1 tsp vanilla.  Continue stirring until all of the chocolate is melted and mixed in and the mixture is smooth and pudding-like.  

• Pour pudding into a bowl, cover, and put in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours.  If you want to avoid a skin forming at the top, you can press a plastic wrap against the top of the pudding.

Now it's time to make the taiyaki/bungeoppang!

• There are more traditional recipes for the batter that use cake flour, but if you're lazy like me, just use your favorite pancake/waffle mix.  I used Bob's Red Mill 10-grain pancake/waffle mix in an effort to try to make these a little healthier (ha!) and followed the waffle instructions.
• Oil the pan and heat it over low heat to warm it up.
• Pour some batter into the fish molds so that they're about halfway filled.  You don't have to worry about getting the fin so much because as the batter heats up it'll spread, but the tail is a bit trickier so you may need to add a few dribbles there. 
• Take your pudding (or favorite filling) and spoon it into the middle of the batter.  This will also spread when heated up so be careful to not overfill.  I found that about 1 tbsp was the right amount for me.
• Then pour some more batter on top to cover the filling.  It's ok if you don't cover it completely but try to do as best as you can without overfilling the molds.  See my crappy attempt below (notice how I had to go back and fill in the bald spots in the tail, and I still had more to fill in the left one).

• Shut the lid of the pan and then vigorously flip over the pan and heat the other side.  Flipping the pan with some force helps to dislodge the batter from the other side of the pan.
• Continue cooking for a few minutes, flipping every minute or so until the fish are golden brown.  You can lift up the lid a bit to peek and make sure they're cooked all the way. 

• If you overfilled then there will be some crunchy extras along the fish that you can remove with kitchen scissors, knife, or fingers.
• Eat them quickly while they're still hot!  They'll start to get soggy if you let them sit out so if you don't plan on eating them soon consider freezing them so that you can reheat them later.

And now some pictures featuring my kitchen "helpers"!

 

Sniff the fish!

Rosy's moving to a better begging spot.

Sorry none for you girls, but if you pose nicely I'll give you a special dog treat!

Ok now time to test one of these out...

It's so hard to resist Sunny's begging when she puts on her saddest face and dances around on her back paws!  But no, this is most definitely not a dog-friendly treat!

Pudding-licious!

And lest you think that all my fish were well shaped and browned on my first attempt, here's a plate of my rejects.

Sunny and Rosy offered to help me get rid of these rejects.  But I put them in the trash instead.  And by trash, I mean my stomach.

Chocolate pudding recipe adapted from The Kitchn.

Minestrone Soup with Bacon

I don't know why it's taken me so long to try a minestrone soup, because I made one today and it was awesome! Since this month has been so cold, I've been loving my soups. And while I have the tried and true, I am always searching for new recipes because I get bored easily. My taste buds demand new and yummy flavors and my tummy demands a hearty and satisfying meal. Well this soup meets all those requirements!

Lots of minestrone soups are made with pasta, but I omitted that to keep it lighter...and then I added in bacon! I am a bacon addict. This can easily be made vegetarian by omitting the bacon, and can be personalized with various vegetables. I've seen other recipes with celery, carrots, green beans, etc., but keep in mind that since this is a relatively quick cooking soup things don't break down as much as in longer cooking recipes (which is why I didn't add any celery or carrots).

This is definitely going into my permanent soup rotation! Sigh, why can't I just stay at home with my pugs during these cold winter days, making yummy soup and bread, instead of going to work? At least this is quick and easy enough that I can make it on any weekday once I get home.

Servings: 5-6 (though for me this is a 2-3 mealer)

Ingredients:
Cooking spray or olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2-4 slices bacon, chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons tomato paste
12-16 ounces kale, swiss chard, or collard greens, stalks removed and leaves chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 (15 ounce) cans of white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5 ounce) can of diced tomatoes
4 cups vegetable broth
1-2 cups water
Grated Parmesan and chopped parsley for topping (optional)

Instructions:

• Heat Dutch oven over medium heat and either spray with cooking spray or heat 1 tsp of olive oil.
• Add 1 chopped onion, 2-4 chopped slices of bacon, 2 tsp garlic, and a light sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cook for 6-7 minutes until onion softens and bacon browns.
• Add 2 tbsp tomato paste and stir into onion mixture until everything is well coated. 
• Add 12-16 oz of hearty greens, 1/2 tsp thyme, and 1 tsp of red pepper flakes.
• Stir everything together for 4-5 minutes as the greens should start to wilt.
• Add 2 cans of white kidney beans. If you like a thicker soup, either mash some of the beans before adding, or once in the Dutch oven use a spoon to mash some of the beans.
• Add 1 can of diced tomatoes, with juice, 4 cups of vegetable broth, and 1-2 cups of water (depending on how many greens you added and how hearty or brothy you like your soup).
• Bring the soup to a boil and then lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the greens are tender.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• For serving, sprinkle a little bit of chopped parsley and grated Parmesan on each bowl. This goes great with some nice crusty bread!

Now for the pics!  

Look at Rosy. She looks like she's thinking, "Mmmm that smells so good! I can smell the bacon!"

Rosy tries different begging tactics but Sunny always does the pathetic sit by the fridge.

Love the sprinkling of Parmesan and parsley! I hate chopping herbs but I find that chopped parsley is a fantastic topping on most soups and pastas.

Begging eyes and tails down!

I like negating any healthy benefits of my soups by adding bacon and cheese. Bacon and cheese on everything!!!

Now mix it all together. One of my favorite things about cheese in soup is how it gets stuck on the spoon and so when you scrape it with your teeth you get a nice saucy, hot concentrated jolt of cheese!

And there goes Rosy's tongue.

Ack and there goes Sunny's tongue! She was too quick for me this time! Luckily she didn't get any soup, just bowl. She was super disappointed afterwards that the smell of the soup didn't match with the taste of bowl.

Ok time for me to eat!

Hey leave it alone! This is for me!

I had dropped a little bit of the Parmesan on the floor and Rosy quickly licked it all up. Then as I ate, she would periodically return to the kitchen and lick the same spot over and over again, trying to get every last crumb and hoping that some more cheese would magically appear. She's a cheese monster!

Can't blame her. Cheese is gooooood.

Adapted from Martha Stewart.

Tomatoey Chicken Sausage, Bacon, Beans, and Bread Crumbs

Sometimes I get into a cooking rut because I get busy, lazy, and/or I'm tired of my seasonal dishes and waiting for the change of a season. I was loving my spring/summer dishes before, but as the months tick by and the heat and humidity persist, I get tired of them and want a change.  For the last two weeks I was going through that phase and ate mostly hot dogs and frozen food. By last weekend, I felt gross and was eager to start up my cooking again and this week the weather is finally starting to cool down enough that I can get excited for fall dishes!  

Anytime I see a recipe that involves sausage and beans I flag it as a possible future dish because those are usually easy and you can't go too wrong with that flavor combination. I liked that this one also had tomatoes (how much do I heart Trader Joe's canned diced tomatoes with no salt?) and the novelty of homemade bread crumbs (a first for me). And then I saw that this recipe had bacon and there was no question about it - I had to make this!  I tell you, bacon searches me out! Since I had some chard leftover from my other dish this week, Orzo with Caramelized Fall Vegetables, Bacon, and Ginger, I added some in as well. I love a nice colorful dish! I went a little too long in the broiler so my bread crumbs were almost burned. I panicked but luckily they still taste amazing and I managed to not set off my smoke detectors.  Ah fall, it's so good to have you back! Now just keep winter at bay for a while.

Servings: Original recipe says 6 but this is a 3-mealer for me (I basically need at least 2 normal person sized servings).

Ingredients:

4 slices of thick cut bacon, chopped (I used Trader Joe's peppered uncured turkey bacon)

1 large onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon thyme

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 14.5-ounce can of diced tomatoes

1 1/4 cup chicken broth

2 14.5-ounce cans of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

12 ounces sausage, cut in half lengthwise and in 1/2 inch pieces (I used Trader Joe's garlic chicken sausage)

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

1-2 cups kale or chard, chopped

3-5 cups bread, cut into 1-2 inch pieces (I used about 1/3 of a Trader Joe's sourdough baguette)

Pat of butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add 4 chopped slices of bacon and cook for a few minutes until browned and slightly crisp.
• Add 1 chopped onion to the bacon and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender.
• Add 3 minced garlic cloves and 1 tbsp thyme and cook for an additional minute.
• Add 1/2 cup white wine and cook for 2 minutes.
• Add a can of diced tomatoes and cook for 2-4 minutes until sauce is thickened.
• Add 1 1/4 cup chicken broth and 2 cans of cannellini beans and bring the mixture to a simmer.

• Add 12 ounces chopped sausage to the mixture and stir everything together.

• Move skillet to the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
• While the skillet is in the oven, prepare breadcrumbs by either toasting them in a toaster oven or melt a pat of butter in a skillet over medium-high heat and then add 3-5 cups chopped bread. Stir the bread frequently until it browns, approximately 8-10 minutes.  I used my cast iron skillet and had to lower the heat halfway through as the bread was browning too fast.

• Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup chopped parsley into the bread crumbs and season with some salt.
• Remove skillet from oven and stir in 1-2 cups of chopped kale or chard.
• Heat broiler.
• Spoon the breadcrumbs evenly on top of the skillet mixture.
• Place the skillet back in the oven and broil about 6 inches from the heat source for 1 minute. I did 2 and ended up with my breadcrumbs almost burnt (still tasted good though!).
• Remove skillet from oven and add salt and pepper to taste. 

Mmm smells so good and tastes so yummy!

I may have almost burnt the breadcrumbs during the final broil stage, but I actually really liked them like this! They were more flavorful and crunchy. But oh man was my oven smoky when I first opened the door so watch it carefully if you want to broil more than 1 minute!

The bacon and sausage in this dish are just too much for Sunny and Rosy to resist.

No licks! This has onions and other things that wouldn't be good for you! But of course I did set aside itty bits of the bacon for them in the beginning as a treat afterwards. They've gotten really good at posing with my food because they know they'll get at least a tiny bite of something yummy!

Another recipe to add to my regular fall/winter rotation!

Adapted from Martha Stewart.

Couscous Salad with Mushrooms, Corn, Black Beans, Scallions and Avocado

I usually don't like avocados in my salad and sandwiches, although I love guacamole.  I think it's because the flavor is so strong and the texture is so unique so that's all I end up tasting and I feel like it overwhelms whatever I'm eating.  But this recipe seemed so intriguing I had to give it a shot.  Plus I'm a big fan of Israeli couscous ever since I had my first taste at my eldest sister's wedding over a decade ago. I'd never cut and peeled my own avocado and man those suckers are super easy to peel!

The couscous salad goes so well with the avocados - a perfect marriage of flavors and textures!  This is a great dish to eat warm or cold for the summer months when avocados are plentiful!

Servings: 2-4 (this is two dinners for me)

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups of Israeli/pearl couscous (Trader Joe's has a great box of these)
2 tablespoons (approximately) of extra virgin olive oil, divided (or cooking spray)
10 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 cups chopped scallions
1 1/4 cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
2-3 limes, juiced
1 avocado, pitted and sliced or chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 sliced jalapeno (optional)
Hot sauce (optional)

Instructions:

• Cook 1 1/3 cup of couscous according to instructions and set aside.
• While couscous is cooking, heat a large pan over medium-high heat.  Add a couple teaspoons of oil or coat with a cooking spray and then cook 10 oz of sliced mushrooms, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until golden grown.  Season mushrooms lightly with salt and pepper and transfer to a bowl and set aside.
• Add another teaspoon of oil to the pan or another coating of cooking spray and cook 1 1/4 cup of corn and 1 1/2 cup chopped scallions, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes until scallions are soft and the corn is browned.  If you want, you can divide the scallions into white parts and green parts and cook the white parts now and set aside the green parts to add in later, but I'm lazy so I just throw them all in the pan.
• Remove pan from heat and add to the pan the cooked mushrooms, 1 can of black beans, and the juice from 2-3 limes.  If you separated the scallion greens earlier, add them back in now.
• Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste.
• Top each dish with the chopped avocado and cilantro.  Avocado slices look all pretty and fancy but practically it's easier to eat if you just chop up the avocado in small pieces.  
• Optional:  Add a sliced jalapeno or a couple splashes of your favorite hot sauce for some heat!

Sunny looks all tired as though she was the one doing all the cooking!

Yum!

Adapted from Martha Stewart.