White Bean Hummus

Up until a few weeks ago, I had always bought hummus pre-made from the store. No longer! The first recipe I tried was for Sweet Potato Hummus; it was delicious. I'll post about it soon, but after all these trips home I'm pretty behind on recipes I want to keep. Hummus is so easy, relatively cheap, and full of fiber and good fats. Since I'm apparently the only one in my family who will eat it, I've realized that it lasts quite a long time, and I don't get tired of eating it! This hummus recipe uses white beans instead of the normal garbanzos, which was a convenient pick since I had white beans already cooked and thawed from the freezer ready in my refrigerator. Feel free to use canned beans, just make sure you rinse them off well. You can pick up the taste of the cumin (one of my favorites) and the tahini, however, it was a little on the bland side so I'm adjusting the recipe below to how I will make it the next time.

One of the things I love about Hummus is that as long as you eye-ball it you can't mess it up too much. For example, I totally misread this recipe and used less beans than I was supposed to. By the time I figured that out, I had already poured 1/2 C of tahini in the food processor and it was too late to turn back. So I didn't add very much extra-virgin olive oil, and it still turned out fine. Would I follow the recipe next time? Probably. But here's the recipe I believe I would follow, which is slightly different than what I found on both foodnetwork.com and the faux Martha.  

White Bean Hummus


About 1.5 C white cannellini beans (or 15 oz can)
1 lemon, juiced
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 garlic cloves
1/4 C tahini paste (you can find it in the international food section)
1/4 C extra-virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
red pepper flakes

1. Rinse and drain the beans. If you're using dried, you want to have them soaked, cooked, and at least chilled to room temperature.
2. Add all ingredients other than the olive oil to a food processor. Turn the processor on and slowly add olive oil until it reaches your  desired consistency.
3. Cover and refrigerate. When serving, sprinkle with additional olive oil and spices. Serve with pita chips, naan, or veggies!  

Peanut Butter Cookies with a Nutella Swirl

I have a confession to make. Until making these cookies, I've never baked with Nutella. 

I've had the intention, but it usually just went down by the spoonful before I managed to turn the oven on. Learning from this, I never keep it in the kitchen. Mom does though :) And when I went home last weekend I decided to make peanut butter cookies with a Nutella Swirl that kept popping up on the blogosphere. 

I made half a recipe, and they were gone by the end of the day! Nothing can get better than the combination of chocolate and peanut butter, but add some hazelnut and there are no words! This is dangerous, because since I've collected at least 10 Nutella recipes....

Peanut Butter Cookies with a Nutella Swirl

adapted by delightful bitefuls

Ingredients: 

1/2 C unsalted butter, softened

3/4 C smooth peanut butter

1/2 C white sugar

1/2 C packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 3/4 C all-purpose flour

~ 1/4 C Nutella 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Combine butter, peanut butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla. Mix until blended. 

Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Drizzle Nutella on top of the dough and then swirl it through the dough with a butter knife. 

Chill dough 15 minutes in the refrigerator. Roll into balls. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Using a form, press down the balls  to flatten slightly. Bake until edges are very lightly brown (about 7-10 minutes). 

Allow to rest 2 minutes on cookie sheet and then transfer to a cooling rack. (good luck with that)

Mexican Chicken Stew

Boy, does this soup pack some heat! All because of a tiny $0.04 habenero pepper. From now on, I will wear gloves when preparing anything with habeneros, which are usually the hottest peppers you can find in the grocery store... I found this out the hard way... 


This soup was a satisfying and warming meal for the start of fall. Shredded chicken, black beans, corn, and brown rice make this meal full of protein and fiber, while the cumin, cayenne, paprika, and habenero pack some pretty intense flavor. 


And, of course, my favorite thing about soups and stews is that there were plenty of leftovers for the rest of the week! 


Mexican Chicken Stew 
adapted from Generation Y Foodie

Ingredients:
1lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup (dry) brown rice
1 can black beans, rinsed
2 ears of corn, kernels cut off
1 medium onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, washed and diced
1 habenero pepper, washed and diced
juice of 2 limes
4 cups low sodium chicken broth, divided (an also use veggie broth)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt


1. Cook rice according to package, set aside. (This can be done ahead of time)
2. Saute onion, celery, and habanero in olive oil on medium until soft. (about 4-5 minutes)
3. Add chicken breast and brown each side for about 2 minutes. 
4. Add 2 cups of stock, paste, lime juice, and spices. 
5. Reduce heat to med-low and braise chicken until cooked through, 8-10 minutes. 
6. Remove chicken and shred. Set aside. 
7. Add remaining broth, fresh corn and rice, cover and simmer on med-low for another 10 minutes. 
8. Add beans and shredded chicken, cook an additional 8-10 minutes. 
9. Serve and enjoy! 

Fried Banana Bread

This always happens. I buy bananas. They go brown. I make something and gobble it up and then realize I could have just eaten the banana a week ago like a normal person and skipped out on hundreds of calories.

But, hey, this one was worth it. One recipe this morning for granola bars were okay but nothing to repeat. Then, tonight, I stumbled on something purely amazing. I still haven't been to the store so I was working with no butter, eggs, or milk. Who needs those things when you have oil. (okay, I'm gagging at myself)

I channeled my inner Paula Deen and fried something. I know. I don't eat fried food very often, and I've never fried anything in my kitchen.

Can I call these donuts holes? I don't know. I wish I had some powdered sugar, though. It was kind of like a warm pocket of banana bread....fried. I can kind of feel my arteries clogging. All I can tell you is that it's worth it.  And the pictures don't do it justice. 

Screw banana bread, I'm making these from now on. 

Fried Banana Bread 

1 3/4 C flour ( I used whole wheat, one foot forward a million back? )
2/3 C sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 mashed overripe banana
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup water
canola oil

Mix dry ingredients thoroughly in mixing bowl. Stir in banana, vanilla, and water. The dough should be smooth, and a little sticky. Heat a generous amount of oil in frying pan until hot. Drop batter by spoonfuls into oil. Cook until brown on underside, and flip to cook other side. Remove and drain on paper towels.

*I made about half of this. I used approximate measurements, and it was easier to write down a double recipe. I also didn't make them all. We'll see if I make the rest of the batch tomorrow... 

Empty-Cupboard Cornbread

So I disappeared for quite a bit. It's not that I stopped cooking, or eating, (my lack of clothing that fits is proof enough.)... just stopped blogging. It's always been for my benefit, anyway, to keep track of the things I made. And lately, I've been coming back and searching for favorite recipes from the past. So I figured I might start again, mainly out of laziness for finding a more efficient way to organize my accumulating pile of recipes.

I might go back and highlight on some of the fantastic things I've eaten in the past few months (and there have been plenty), but today I'm just jotting down the recipe for these cornmuffins that I threw together when I really wanted cornbread but had no eggs, milk, or butter, and didn't really feel like using a bunch of oil. Didn't expect them to turn out, and they're definitely not the best I've ever had, but considering they were lacking in some of the essential ingredients for cornbread, they were pretty freakin' fantastic.

Empty-Cupboard Cornbread
makes 6 | 30 minutes

1/2 C Flour
1/2 C Cornmeal
2 T Sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup yogurt
1 1/2 T water
1/2 T Oil
1 T Applesauce (unsweetened)

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl, and then add the wet ingredients. Stir until combined. Fill sprayed or paper-lined muffin pans, and bake at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or golden.

*They were delish warm and with honey.
*About 100 calories per muffin.