Beans...Glorious Beans!

Creamy Polenta with Spicy Red Beans & Greens and Chipotle Cashew Cream

 INGREDIENTS

Chipotle Cashew Cream

½ cup raw cashews, soaked in water 4-8 hours
¼ cup water
½ tbsp. lemon juice
1- 1 1/2 chipotle from can or chipolte powder to taste
dash salt

Spicy Red Beans

1 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1¾ cups or 1 can of red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 medium tomato, seeded and diced
1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. ground coriander
3-4  canned chipoltes, chopped  or Chipolte powder to taste
½ cup vegetable broth
1 Bay leaf
1-2 tsp agave or to taste- Optional
4-5 collard greens, rinsed and chopped
1/4 - 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk

Creamy Polenta

3 cups water
1 tsp. salt
1 cup polenta
2 tbsp. fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 tbsp. nutritional yeast flakes
up to 1 cup unflavored, unsweetened coconut milk or your choice of vegan milk

INSTRUCTIONS
Make the Cashew Cream
Place cashews and water in high power blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Add in lemon juice, salt and chipotle , and blend again until completely mixed and smooth.

Make the Beans
Heat pan over med-high heat.  Add onion and saute until soft, about five minutes. ( add water as needed to prevent sticking )
Add garlic and saute another minute.
Add beans, greens, tomato, spices and vegetable broth and bay leaf.
Bring to a simmer and cook until tomatoes and greens are tender and most of broth has evaporated, about ten minutes.
If you want it a little creamier, add some coconut milk and cook another 5 minutes or so

Make the Polenta

Place water and salt in medium saucepan.
Bring to a boil and add polenta.
Lower heat and simmer, stirring frequently, for about five minutes.
Stir in cilantro, nutritional yeast, and as much milk as needed to get a creamy consistency.
Allow to sit for about two minutes before serving.


Divide polenta into bowls.
Top with bean mixture, then with chipotle cashew cream and fresh cilantro.

Avocado Love

Creamy Avocado Noodles

This is amazingly simple but soo incredibly delicious!

2 ripe Avocados

1/4 small onion diced

1 garlic clove minced

2 Tbsp Lemon juice

 1 small jalapeno diced (or less to taste)

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 small box of brown rice noodles, cooked according to directions on box.

Add first 6 ingredients in a Magic bullet or small blender. Blend to smooth, adjusting consistency with lemon juice , this should be smooth and creamy. Let sit in fridge for 3 or more hours if you can, if not just use it now.

Add mixture to hot brown rice noodles and blend. Sprinkly with a little black pepper. That's it! It's amazing

White bean Heaven

Garlicky White Beans and Greens 









Soak 4 cups of white beans overnight in plenty of water (I used great northern beans)
10-12 cups of water
2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
3 bay leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil  *** OR USE Three CANS OF CANNED WHITE BEANS


4 cups of baby spinach or dark green of your choice
2 cups of sliced mushrooms
1 Tbsp of olive oil
1 small onions, diced
6 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
3 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 cup of tomato paste
Sea Salt and Pepper
2 Cups of veggie stock ( if your using canned beans)


Rinse and drain your beans, then add to a large pot. Add 10-12 cups of water, the smashed garlic cloves, bay leaves and olive oil.
Bring to a boil and turn down heat to a low simmer. Simmer until beans are soft and tender. How long this takes will depend on how old your beans are, and what type you are using, but it should generally take about 1 1/2 hours.


Saute onion and mushrooms in a little bit of oive oil for about 5 minutes, add garlic and cook another minute or so. 
Add tomato paste and oregano while continually stirring. Add beans to this mixture or if your using canned 
beans, then add the veggie stock, and cook for 10 minutes. Using a immersion blender,blend a small
portion of the beans to thicken soup. Add spinach, salt and pepper and cook another 5-10 minutes or so.

Amazing Pasta

Brown Rice Noodles with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

1 pound of brown rice noodles
1 cup reserved pasta cooking water

1 Tbsp olive oil, divided
4 cups chopped cremini or mixed mushrooms
1 Tbsp minced fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
pinch of red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons shoyu
salt and pepper to taste

2 Tbsp vegan butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 small onion, minced 

3 Tablespoons all purpose flour

1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
4 Tablespoons white wine
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

2. Heat 1/2 Tbdsp of olive oil over medium heat in a large saute pan. Saute the mushroom until they are nice and brown with a bit of a crisp (10 minutes).  Add the rosemary, thyme, red pepper flakes and saute 1 minute. Then mix in the shoyu and salt and pepper to taste. Cook 3 minutes. Remove from pan.

3. Place pan back over the flame and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil along with the margarine. When the margarine is melted add the garlic and onions and saute until the onions are fully cooked (5-7 minutes). Add the nutritional yeast and all purpose flour and mix to create a roux. Stir continuously for 2 minutes. If it’s too dry feel free to add another teaspoon or two of olive oil. Deglaze the pan with white wine while constantly stirring. Pour the almond milk into the pan. Stir until thick. Add the sauteed mushrooms back into the pan and thin out with the reserved pasta water. (You probably won’t use all the water). Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

4. Combine the mushroom sauce and pasta and serve!