Oof. It was a rough week for reading! I got through one book:
It was frustrating, because I really liked this book. It’s a mystery with a compelling plat and interesting characters- I could have read through the whole thing in a day. But noooooooo… I kept having to interrupt my reading to take CEU classes (needed to renew my massage therapy license.) I’m happy to say, I’m finished with those and don’t have to think about it again for two whole years! OR, I could slowly chip away at them so I don’t have to have a panic attack in the last week next time. Ha- who am I kidding.
I’m looking forward to getting back to a more regular reading schedule. Up next:
Meanwhile, there was plenty of food! After all the tofu we ate this summer, I’ve declared this the “season of beans.” Yes, I want to get back to eating lots and lots of beans- chickpeas, lentils, black beans, pinto beans… beans are so nutritious, cheap, and easy. First up, we made “The Best Vegan Lasagna” from Nora Cooks. There are red lentils in the sauce! And we used the Miyoko’s pourable plant milk mozzarella for the top. It was our first time trying it and we loved it.
Then, I cooked a huge pot of Cuban black beans. I’ve been trying all different recipes for these- I just google it and pick one that looks good. Here we served them with rice, broccoli, and plantains (the plantains were in the frozen section of our grocery store- we just heated them up in the oven.)
This recipe made enough for a second dinner, and a lunch portion as well. My goal is to cook a huge pot of beans every week (this week it’s pinto beans) and eat them for a couple dinners.
One more photo that unfortunately has no beans. It’s the magical peanut noodles that Birchwood Pie shared. This time they weren’t quite as amazing, because I made roasted cauliflower instead of roasted broccoli to go with them (broccoli is much better- everyone knows that!). But they were still delicious, and I garnished them with roasted peanuts, which kicked the whole meal up a notch.
This Friday is The Ultimate Coffee Date! Join me as I answer the burning questions: “Whatever happened with the kitchen backsplash?” and “When does pumpkin palooza start?” See you Friday!
What are you reading right now?
Do you have a favorite recipe for beans?
32 Responses
That lasagna looks amazing! What is the pourable vegan mozzarella made of?
Can’t wait to hear about the backsplash saga!
Ha, actually I had to look at the bottle to see the ingredients. The base of it is cashew milk!
I love beans too; they are so cheap and easy, but also delicious. One of my favorite things to make is a chickpea and lentil curry over rice. Usually I just throw in whatever veggies I have but the base is something like this: cook garbanzos with curry powder, salt and pepper, add lentils (I use all colors but usually green or brown so depending on the lentil, my cook time varies), carrots and cook until done, add any other softer veggies and a can of coconut milk at last minute, stir and serve over rice. It is easy, tasty and keeps well for lunches etc.!
Looking forward to the big backsplash reveal!
That does sound really good! I love curry. And that one does sound really easy- I’ll try it.
I love beans and make them often, all different kinds. One fun thing to do is to roast lentils to use as a crunchy topping for quinoa bowls. I am rereading some Sedaris right now, but I have a couple of romances for later this week, which I’m looking forward to.
I’m definitely try to make all different kids of beans, but I easily get stuck in a rut (hence the tofu and broccoli overload from the summer.) Roasted lentils sound really good! I’ll try it.
Can’t wait for the answers to those questions!!
All I’m reading is ATGIB. Our neighbourhood crisis has escalated and I just have ZERO bandwidth. But it’s okay. I read a lot, I’ll read a lot again…it just isn’t right now.
That lasagna looks delish and I have so many red lentils I need to use up. I made those peanut noodles after seeing them on Beckett and your blogs. They were DELISH!
Oh good! I’m glad you like the noodles.
Your neighborhood crisis has escalated??? I’m emailing you.
I’ve seen that Miyokos pourable mozzarella before but haven’t tried it yet! Even though I’ve been vegan for over 10 years, I’m still not always the hugest fan of vegan cheese, though it’s definitely improved over the years and there are some I like.
I do really love beans though! They’re so versatile and easy to cook. The Cuban beans with the plantains look amazing!
The thing I like about the Miyokos is it’s so smooth. I have some more dinners with it coming up (pizza and nachos) so I’ll let you know what I think at that point.
Here is our favorite lentil recipe: https://pinchndash.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/green-and-red-lentil-enchiladas-3/
You can leave out the jalapeno if you don’t want it spicy but even when we include it, it’s not too spicy as our kids will eat it and they are not into spicy food! I’ll be curious if you have a favorite pot o’ beans recipe – report back in a couple of months. We love beans in our house, too!
I just finished “Decent People” which was pretty good. It’s kind of a mystery but I would say “mystery plus” as it involves themes of racism and homophobia. Now I am reading “The Stand In” which NGS recommended awhile back. I needed a light, fun romance to cleanse my pallet!
That recipe sounds DELICIOUS, and pretty easy. I’m making it next week!
I’m a fan of a pumpkin black bean soup that also uses a can of chickpeas. That’s probably my favorite bean-based recipe right now.
I’m going to give you a slight preview of The Mimicking of Known Successes. The word hat does not appear in the book even though one of the characters is wearing a hat on the cover. How deceptive!
Ha ha… I’ll brace myself for that omission.
I like the sound of that soup! Beans and pumpkin, two of my favorites.
I just finished Call me Beautiful.. it’s about eugenics in Germany and US at the same time. At least it ended happily. Now I’m reading the Orphan Train. Not sure if this will have a happy ending.
I make chili often… that’s it for beans.
Can’t wait for Friday!!
Oh, I forgot about chili! I like chili- I should make some soon.
I love to cook with beans as well and I go through phases of them as well. Not so sure about that pourable vegan mozzarella! After all the delicious creamy mozzarella I had in Italy, it seems wrong 🙂 LOL But, if you like it by all means pour away!
Yes, you might not be the best person to talk to about vegan mozzarella! Not sure how it compares to the cheese in Italy : )
I’ve read a few Lisa Jewell novels that were absolute “put everything else in your life on hold until you finish this book”. I don’t think I’ve read The Night She Disappeared though, so maybe this needs to go on the TBR.
I feel like every single peanut noddle recipe is OMG the first time that I make it and more on the OK side the second time. That must be why I’m always trying new recipes every time I make peanut noodles!
Ha! I think this one really was my fault, that I didn’t use broccoli.
This was the first Lisa Jewell book I’ve read, but I’ll check out the others.
I love beans – they are so practical and versatile and tasty. And they are easy to make ahead of time in the so that dinner is ready when everyone gets home. The family likes beans but not usually two nights in a row, so I do freeze them often. We often do a big pot of black beans – my favorite recipe is from the Milk Street InstantPot cookbook. Basically dried black beans, a pint of tomatoes, dried oregano, and a whole onion. Plus water. And salt.
And mujadara (Lentils and rice w/ carmelized onions) I used this recipe lately and loved it: https://www.feastingathome.com/instant-pot-mujadara/
I’m realizing now that all my favorite bean recipes involve the InstantPot. Do you have one?
Lately I’ve been reading The Number One Chinese Restaurant, which is set here in the DC area, so that’s fun.
I don’t have an InstantPot! Maybe I need to get one.
I could eat the same dinner every night of the week, but my family feels differently. We had the pinto beans two nights in a row, then a couple nights off and we’re finishing them tomorrow. I think I’ve made mujadara before! It sounds familiar- I’m going to look at the recipe you linked.
We eat a lot of beans, too, as my Mexican husband LOVES LOVES LOVES beans with basically everything. I do feel like they sometimes cause me to be bloated, which I don’t like, although I never have any other GI symptoms like actually feeling gassy, etc from beans. It’s like bloat only. Hmm. I still eat them pretty often because they are delicious, but I’ve been a little more aware of it and maybe don’t eat as many as I used to. One of my favorite ways to eat beans as a “meal” is to make pico de gallo (tomato, onion, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice) and then a pot of pinto beans, and then scoop beans into a tortilla, top with the pico and sprinkle cheese on top. Bean tacos, I guess. SO good! But again, I’m trying to not eat huge portions of beans lately, like as a main course, because I feel like they make me bloated.
It’s so interesting to see your meals. Sigh, I just don’t have veganism in me, not at all. I LOVE regular cheese, so, so much. From Wisconsin, the dairy state, so….. What can I say. And we all love meat in our house…. I do find it so fascinating to see what veg/vegans eat though because it’s pretty different. I know I would struggle so much with protein if I didn’t eat meat. BUT, I do love most vegetables, and I love things like vegetable soups, etc. So I guess I’m kind of split on both sides.
My grandparents lived in Wisconsin, and I have many happy memories of going to visit them and getting a big bag of cheese curds. My cheese palate wasn’t very sophisticated back then, but I did love it. Now I like the vegan cheeses, but I know a lot of people shudder at the notion!
I would love to know how your husband likes his beans prepared- but I’m pretty sure the answer would be “any way at all.” We had bean tacos twice this week, and I’m using up the rest of the pinto beans to make refried beans for nachos tomorrow.
I love beans and we eat a lot of beans. I am currently loving a arugula-tuna salad with white beans.
I love white beans! Maybe that’s what I’ll cook next week. A salad sounds good.
I need to check out that lasagna recipe.
The husband and I just talked about eating more legumes last night. So I am looking for good recipes.
Also congrats on. renewing your license.
Thank you Tobia! I got a lot of good suggestions in this comment section for bean recipes, so I’ll continue to share them.
I haven’t made lasagna for ages! this one sounds so good. will make it soon. pasta is for runners, right? although my go to carb is sweet potato lately. I’d carry a few with me everywhere I go. hahah….
Sweet potato is more nutritious than pasta- I should eat more of them. Meanwhile, the lasagna was really good. Yes, pasta is for runners!
So I have a bag of red lentils but also need to watch my carbs. Any suggestions? I have a recipe for a red lentil dal that I may try.
And yes, I love, love, love beans and seeds. Quinoa. Beans of all kinds except for chickpeas, thanks. (They only work for me when they are roasted or in hummus, which I do NOT get…) I’ve never tried pintos, though – care to share a recipe???
Yes, dal is the first thing that comes to mind with red lentils- I love dal! And it’s easy. For pinto beans… I’ve made a couple “Chipotle copycat” recipes for pinto beans. You could make it into a bowl if you don’t want to eat a tortilla (with quinoa instead of rice if you wanted.)
i LOVE chickpeas!!! It’s funny that you only like them in hummus. But I’ll agree- hummus is delicious.