bean salad

my friend, rebecca, made this salad for us over the summer and i loved it.  i forgot to ask her for the recipe but i improvised my version from a recipe i found at allrecipes.com and i am super happy with the result.  this salad is packed with protein and makes a great side dish, main course, or snack...

ingredients/supplies:
-5 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
-3 tablespoons of grapeseed oil
-1/3 cup fresh cilantro
-2 limes
-1 teaspoon agave (or sugar)
-1 small red onion
-4 green onions
-1 or 2 jalapenos
-1 pound shelled edamame (i used frozen and it was 1 package)
-3 cups frozen corn (again, i used frozen for ease- 2 packages)
-2 handfuls of cherry or grape tomatoes
-salt to taste
-15 ounces of black beans (1 can if you are using canned)
-measuring cups and spoons, a strainer, a large mixing bowl, a large spoon, a knife and a cutting board

prepping/chopping/mixing:
prep:
-thaw the edamame and corn (i just left it out for 2 hours and it thawed but if you want to speed up the process, just throw them in a pot of barely salted boiling water for about 3 minutes and strain...be sure to cool them after)
-drain, rinse, and strain the beans
-wash and dry the jalapeno and green onion

chopping:
-chop the onions (green and red), jalapenos (i diced mine without the seeds or veins), and half or quarter the tomatoes

-chop the cilantro at the last minute, right before adding to the dressing mixture explained below

mix:
-in a small bowl mix the 5 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 3 tablespoons of grapeseed oil, the juice of 2 limes, 1 teaspoon of agave, and a pinch of salt
-add the red onions, green onions, jalapenos, and cilantro to the dressing

-in a large bowl mix the corn and the edamame and pour the dressing over and mix

-add the black beans and the tomatoes give a careful, final mix so that tomatoes and beans do not fall apart

-salt to taste

it is good right when you make it but it is excellent after chillin in the frig overnight...

enjoy!

wheat-free weekend pancakes

i was reading one of the many blogs that i follow, lovely morning, and found a recipe that i tired out.  i loved it but wanted to play with it to see if i could make them as delicious and wheat free...they made my saturday when i made them...

ingredients/supplies
-1 cup brown rice flower
-1 cup quinoa flower
-1/2 cup ground flaxseed meal
-2 teaspoons baking powder
-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-4 tablespoons melted butter
-2 eggs
-2/3 cup of organic plain yogurt (i used goat yogurt and i loved the flavor)
-1/4 teaspoon of vanilla
-1 and 1/3 cup of water
-2 mixing bowels (1 for wet ingredients and 1 for dry), a bowel or small pan to melt the butter in, a whisk, a hot skillet or griddle, and a your favorite pancake spatula

prepping/mixing/cooking:

prepping/mixing:
-measure all dry ingredients (brown rice flower, quinoa flower, flaxseed meal, baking powder, baking soda, salt) and place in a bowl for dry ingredients
-crack eggs and whisk then and place in a separate bowl for wet ingredients
-measure yogurt, water, vanilla and place in the bowl with the whisked eggs
-melt butter
-slowly add melted butter to the wet ingredients
-fold in dry ingredients to wet ingredients until just combined
-heat skillet with butter or oil

cooking:
-pour batter into hot skillet and flip once small bubbles form in the wet batter

you can add bananas or berries to the pancakes when you place them in the skillet...or...you can make a berry compote by placing 1 cup of berries of your choice with 1/4 cup of water and 2 tablespoons of agave in a small pot over medium heat and cook down to your desired thickness...or...simply heat some maple syrup....

this recipe made more than my family of 2 could devour so i froze the extras by placing pieces of parchment paper between each pancake and stacking them in a freezer bag.  they were so great during the week re-heated in the oven or in a skillet.

enjoy!

foodily

our friend peyton came over for dinner and told me about a new website that is amazing to find recipes on. it is called foodily (food i love you).  through this website, you can search for any recipe and foodily searches other sites and complies the findings quickly in a really user friendly way.

love it!