Tag Archives: beans

Black Bean Balls

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The best things I ate this week…

TWO new-to-me Jeni’s flavors. Frosted sugar cookie was great, miso butterscotch brownie was possibly the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted.

Kelang’s side dishes remained delicious as leftovers. Taro gnocchi and roasted cabbage plus roasted baby broccoli that I made.

We’ve made several iterations of these baked black bean tacos and we like them more each time! Our filling was food-processed walnuts, black beans, evoo, and sauteed mushrooms, green onions, and poblano peppers with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder. Baked in tortillas with sharp cheddar. Plus roasted cauliflower on the side and a dipping sauce (Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing, gochujang, honey, and mayo).

I used the leftover taco filling to make excellent baked meatballs; with ground turkey, panko, egg, and sharp cheddar. <– We will be making this set of dinners again for sure! Plus leftover veggies and ranch for dipping (plain Greek yogurt, Kewpie, Trader Joe’s ranch seasoning, and pickle brine).

Kimchi Migas

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Things from a yummy week…

Yogurt bowl – plain Greek with honey, blueberries, and two types of kiwi. I started scooping kiwis out of their skin with a grapefruit spoon (rather than trying to clumsily peel them) and now I eat them all the time.

“Mountain city spicy flavor” rice snacks.

We had leftover pandan white chocolate blondie from Chim Chim in our freezer and I blended it into a great milkshake with vanilla ice cream, milk, pandan syrup, and malted milk powder.

Passionfruit smore’s! Effie’s pecan biscuit crackers, oven-roasted Malvi passionfruit marshmallows, and Chocxo dark chocolate passionfruit cups.

Dinners listed in order of how much we liked them. Satay-inspired tofu (just ok-good). Tofu – sauteed extra-firm tofu that was marinated in Jamaican curry powder, red curry paste, fish sauce, lime juice, and coconut milk / lackluster peanut sauce – peanut butter, Sriracha, lime juice, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and coconut milk / marinated cucumbers – with rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, Milu everything crisp, and sesame seeds / on a packet of Ben’s Original coconut jasmine rice.

Tuna joomukbap (very good). We’ve made this Cafe Maddy recipe before and will definitely make it again. I used leftover brown rice, two cans of tuna, and a poblano pepper instead of a bell pepper. Plus chopped baby broccoli roasted with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

Red curry beans (excellent). Great Northern beans sauteed with garlic and ginger and cooked in a curry sauce (coconut milk, red curry paste, fish sauce, lime juice, dark soy sauce, and Sriracha). Served on a mix of roasted cauliflower rice and brown rice.

Kimchi migas (best meal of the week!). Sauteed kimchi, green onion, and tomatoes with gochugaru, gochujang, honey, sesame oil, and sesame seeds, plus kimchi flavored kettle chips, eggs, and sharp cheddar.

Salted Egg – Egg Cream

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Some things from last week…

Barebells peanut butter and jelly bar. This was better than the white chocolate flavors but not as good as the originals.

Smoothie – frozen peaches and banana, soursop nectar, vanilla protein powder, and nutmeg.

Surrup mint and rosemary syrup. I liked it in an iced coffee and loved it in an iced diet coke.

Tochi salted egg popcorn – 100/10.

Arizona chocolate egg cream soda – 10/10. I made my coworkers taste-test with me and we all agreed it was spot on.

We bought an egregious amount of baked goods from Little Cupcake Bakeshop last weekend and I heartily enjoyed the leftovers all week. Note to self – buy the caramel peanut butter shortbread bar every time!

Vegetarian “meatball” rice bowls. Brown rice mixed with Le Grand pesto / roasted zucchini / balls = navy beans, firm tofu, and an egg went into the blender; got mixed with panko, salt, grains of paradise, smoked paprika, urfa, onion powder, garlic powder, and dried basil; then baked. I would make the balls again but sized much smaller.

Magnificent salads! Romaine / homemade dressing – yuzu ponzu, rice vinegar, miso, ginger, honey, Dijon, and evoo / crispy rice – leftover brown rice baked with soy sauce, sesame oil, and chili crisp / roasted baby broccoli / canned yellowfin tuna belly / Wooly Wooly aged sheep’s milk cheese/ crispy fava beans / caramelized plums – cooked in a skillet with butter, brown sugar, salt, and vanilla bean powder.

P.S. I saved the “juice” from the cooked plums and served it over plain Greek yogurt and that was the best thing I ate all week.

Magical Fruit

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Things from the week…

A very floral yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with rose simple syrup, blueberries, edible flowers, and flower-shaped Swedish candies.

I love a good dinner theme and this week was beans! Bean burgers (food-processed black beans, dark red kidney beans, and garbanzo beans with egg, panko, salt, urfa chile, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder; cooked in a skillet) with extra-sharp cheddar on top, on a bun with mayo and yellow mustard. Plus green beans (steamed then sauteed with dill pickle mustard and rice vinegar) and sweet potatoes (roasted then sauteed with maple syrup, chili crisp, and soy sauce). We loved how smoky the burgers were.

Bean dip (kidney beans and garbanzos food-processed with evoo, water, lemon juice, cilantro, salt, ranch seasoning, and minced garlic), scooped with two types of crackers (Mary’s Gone Crackers original and Everybody Eat chive and garlic thins) plus eggplant on the side (roasted then sauteed with peanut butter, miso paste, Sriracha, honey, and water).

Cuban-ish veggie bowls. Cauliflower rice (sauteed with salt, lime juice, and cilantro) topped with black beans (sauteed with white onion, green bell pepper, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder), Cholula’s chipotle creamosa sauce, and Trader Joe’s frozen maduros.

Miso Mango

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Weekend things…

This mango gel snack was quite nice in the bottom of an iced matcha spritzer.

Birthday cake iced latte from Small Batch Coffee.

Lunch at Honey’s Bistro. Honey mustard chicken tenders and beef fat fries.

Plus a salted caramel Spanish iced latte.

Guac Shop loaded rice bowl – brown and white rice, tofu, sweet potato, cabbage, mango salsa, cheese, and cilantro aioli. Their bowls are huge; this made two giant servings. Plus tortilla chips and guacamole.

Not good in execution but would be good to try again in theory – eggs scrambled with parmesan cheese and roasted zucchini. Plus dill pickle kettle chips.

Miso chicken salad. Shredded chicken with roasted seaweed, furikake, green onion, edamame, mayo, Greek yogurt, Dijon, and white miso. Plus roasted broccoli and cauliflower.

Soup To Nuts (Bananas)

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Highlights from the week…

This chocolate banana protein drink made my iced coffees extra fun.

See also – banana milk with Blue Bottle’s instant Nola (my favorite at-home coffee) was quite tasty.

A mostly blueberry bowl, plus plain skyr and Cascadian Farm chocolate chip cookie granola.

See also – a blueberry smoothie with dark cherries, chocolate protein powder, vanilla bean powder, and water.

An eggcellent snack – hard boiled egg with Milu everything spice alongside Peelerz caramel pudding gummy eggs (<– the fruit flavors are better but this was obviously fun).

See also – an easy egg salad. Hard boiled eggs smashed with mayo, plain skyr, yellow mustard, and leftover marinated cucumbers.

One of the best soups I’ve ever made – leeks sauteed with salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika / extra-garlicy chicken meatballs / roasted sweet potato and zucchini / chicken broth. I topped my bowl with chili crisp. Plus a side of sourdough with blueberry jam.

Homemade tomato soup. In the blender – white onion sauteed with butter / cannellini beans / canned whole peeled tomatoes and tomato paste / veggie broth, white pepper, and dark soy sauce. Paired with a grilled cheese, of course; sourdough, mayo, extra-sharp cheddar, honey, and chili crisp.

I’m usually committed to the bit but a final night of soup felt like too much so we had twice-baked potatoes and roasted brussels sprouts instead. Turkey Reuben twice baked potatoes – with sauteed ground turkey, homemade Russian dressing, sourkraut, and white cheddar.

Marsh Madness

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Highlights from the week…

Easter candy, obviously. My favorites were the Trader Joe’s marshmallow eggs, which were, in fact, the best marshmallows I’ve ever eaten.

Adam and I are both head over heels for these dried kiwis from Target.

My parents sent me these *guava* Oreos. I don’t love golden Oreos but the guava flavor was spot on.

A tasty take on eggs in purgatory. Eggs cooked in a mix of sauteed roasted cherry tomatoes, canned diced tomatoes, scallion, garlic, gochugaru, and gochujang. We topped our bowls with pimento cheese. Eaten alongside roasted cauliflower.

Baked tacos. The filling was a food processed mix of sauteed mushrooms, poblano peppers, scallions, black beans, sesame seeds, and taco seasoning. Plus tons of cheese.

I used the leftovers to bulk up turkey meatballs. <– We will be doing this again. Plus roasted zucchini and Trader Joe’s cheddar and jalapeño biscuit bites. We burned the bites but they would have been a hit otherwise.

Our favorite meal of the week was these tofu wraps. Tortilla / Kewpie / baked super-firm tofu marinated in gochujang, pickle juice, soy sauce, sugar, garlic powder, and onion powder / thinly sliced cucumbers tossed with sugar, salt, Milu everything spice, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and rice vinegar. Plus baked brussels sprouts sauteed with soy sauce, brown sugar, and chili crisp.

Pie-less Crust

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Five things from this week…

New-to-me bars. Beni Bite black sesame protein cookie (7.5/10, the flavor had layers and I actually loved that it wasn’t sweet but the moniker cookie made the lack of sweetness jarring) and Barebells lemon cheesecake (7/10, I prefer the non-white chocolate flavors but this was way better than key lime pie).

Trader Joe’s hot honey popcorn is excellent. I am a picky about pre-popped popcorn but this had a perfect, crispy texture!

My baking project did not come to fruition but I did enjoy graham cracker crust on several skyr bowls this week. This one had sumo mandarin.

Crab rangoon bake. A take on the sushi bake – crab meat and flake-style imitation crab meat with Kewpie, cream cheese, sweet chili sauce, scallion, garlic powder, white pepper, sugar, and soy sauce on top of brown rice with furikake, crunchy chili flakes, and rice vinegar. Plus Cruciferous Crunch veggie mix sauteed with scallions, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, and Sriracha, plus edamame, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds.

Take-out salad from Bango Bowl. I tried the Honey Mo – shredded kale, chopped romaine, roasted chicken, roasted broccoli, roasted sweet potatoes, grilled peppers and onions, corn, crispy onions, and honey mustard vinaigrette. It was good (but I added cheese when I got home!)