Beans and Greens - Dairy And Egg Free, Gluten Free, Vegan

Cook your own beans from scratch. So simple!! Put it on the stove and simmer and in one and half hours you’ll have delicious, creamy, healthy beans. Definitely worth the effort. 

In this recipe I use dried white kidney beans along with rapini. You can substitute the rapini for a green of your choice such as Swiss Chard, Kale or Escarole.You can also substitute for the bean of your choice. Cooking time may vary.

You will need:

6 cups water

2 cups dried white kidney beans - rinsed

2 Bay Leaves

3 medium whole garlic cloves, peeled

Extra Virgin olive oil for drizzling

One bundle of rapini, washed and chopped.....and pre- boiled for a couple of minutes

Bring water to boil in a large pot.  Add the beans, garlic, bay leaves, drizzle of oil oil ( approximately 3 Tbsps) and let simmer for 1.5 hours. Leave lid slightly open for steam to escape. Check beans for doneness after 1.5 hours. They may need 15 to 20 minutes more. The liquid will thicken when they are done. You don’t want to over cook them as they will fall apart.

Once beans are cooked add your greens. I am using a bunch of rapini but you can also use Swiss chard, escarole or kale. Because I am using rapini which can be tough and very bitter, I am going to cook them in boiling water. You may also want to precook your kale as well.

Add salt and pepper to taste and drizzle with your best olive oil. As beans are not salted in the boiling stage, you will need to salt them at this point. Continue to cook beans and greens for a few more minutes altogether until the greens are fully cooked. 

Plate and top with a final drizzle of olive oil.

Chili Con Carne - Dairy and Egg Free

 Chili Con Carne - for game night or any night of the week!

A little spicy and very lean..... and can easily be adjusted to make it your own. This recipe makes a small pot for 3-4 portions.

This is a dairy and egg free recipe. Vegan options include leaving out the meat and frying up carrots, celery, mushrooms and peppers. Use a variety of canned beans such as Pinto,Romano along with kidney beans.

Chili Con Carne
https://youtu.be/C99yxnLXuMo

Gotta have chili on super bowl night!! The great thing about making your own chili is that you can control the salt content, the fat content....I use lean ground beef....but you can also use chicken or turkey meat and you can control the “ heat”.

You will need:

1 small onion, chopped

2 medium garlic cloves, minced

Half a medium sweet green pepper, chopped- you can use red if you prefer or leave it out altogether. If you want extra heat, add Serrano or Poblano peppers.You can also add mushrooms for more texture.

1.5 lbs of lean ground beef

1 can Italian plum tomatoes 

2 cups Passata ( if you don’t have the jarred Passata you can add one more can of plum tomatoes)

1.5 tsps salt...or to taste

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper...or to taste

1 tsp dried oregano 

1tsp dried basil

1 tsp Paprika

1/2 to 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper....or to taste

1 tsp red chili peppers...or to taste

3- 4 tbsps chili powder - ( very important!do not leave out) may seem like a lot, but it’s not. Chili powder is not spicy hot.

1 can Red Kidney Beans, drained

Pickled jalapeño peppers for garnish - you can also chop and throw about 2 tbsps into the chili itself if you like. Do whatever makes your tastebuds happy.

Begin by drizzling 3 to 4 Tbsps of olive oil into a large pot.

Over medium heat, fry your onions and garlic for a few minutes then add the green pepper. Fry for a few minutes and throw in your beef.

Stir and break up meat. Continue cooking until water evaporates, and it begins to fry and brown. Add salt, pepper and spices. Stir.

Once meat is nicely browned, add your canned and jarred tomatoes.

This will need to simmer for about an hour. Break down your tomatoes with a wooden spoon. After10 minutes of simmering on medium- low, it’s important to do a taste test.This is where you want to adjust the salt and spices.

As it it simmers, the liquid will evaporate and chili will thicken.

Add your can of drained red kidney beans the last 15 minutes of simmering. Throw in your pickled jalapeños if you like or lay on top of your chili.

Different ways to enjoy chili:

In a bowl with crusty, toasted bread topped with pickled jalapeño peppers, chopped green onions

On nachos topped with jalapeño peppers, grated cheddar cheese, guacamole, salsa, sour cream

On a baked potato with grated cheese, chopped tomatoes, green onions

Endless possibilities..............

Focaccia with Rosemary & Anchovies - Dairy and Egg Free

Focaccia with Rosemary and Anchovies 

It’s the middle of winter and I am still picking fresh Rosemary and Sage from my vegetable garden. I never pulled them out this past fall and they are still standing!!

This Focaccia highlights the fresh Rosemary along with anchovies and Italian dried black olives.

You can buy pizza dough for this recipe or follow link below to my YouTube tutorial on how to make your own pizza dough- dairy and egg free.

How to Make the Best Pizza Dough
https://youtu.be/mC3SmzgyfO0

This focaccia is really quite simple and requires a few ingredients. Begin by spreading or rolling out your dough. Let it rise in pan for about half an hour. If store bought, bring to room temperature before rolling it out.

Using your fingers, make indentations into dough and then sprinkle extra virgin olive oil and spread over top of dough using a pastry brush or your fingers.

Top with pieces of dried black olives, chopped fresh Rosemary (or dried) and chopped anchovies, about 3 or 4 whole anchovies.

Lightly salt the top. Go easy on the salt as both anchovies and dried black olives are salty.

Bake in a 400 oven for about 20 minutes until dough is golden on the bottom.

That’s it! Simple and very tasty....Enjoy!

Cinnamon Buns - Dairy and Egg Free, Vegan

Cinnamon Buns - Dairy and Egg Free, Vegan 

Cinnamon Rolls Dairy and Egg Free, Vegan
https://youtu.be/0wKA-XDctio

My kitchen smells heavenly and these cinnamon rolls are amazingly delicious!!

You will need:

Step 1-

1/2 cup milk beverage ( I used almond milk)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsps salt

1/4 cup shortening ( I used Crisco - all vegetable shortening) 

Scald the milk and then stir in the sugar, salt and shortening.  Set aside and let cool to lukewarm.

Step 2-

In a bowl measure:

1/2 cup lukewarm water

Stir in 2 tsps sugar

Sprinkle with 2 envelopes active dry yeast and stir

Let stand 10 minutes or until foamy then stir well.

Step 3:

In your stand mixer with dough hook, (you don’t need a stand mixer....you can do this by hand)

Add your lukewarm milk mixture to the yeast mixture

Add 2 cups sifted flour. Stir until smooth, then add 1 1/4 cups more sifted flour and stir until well incorporated and dough has formed a ball.

Place well kneaded dough into a greased bowl. Brush top of dough with melted vegan margarine, shortening or vegetable oil

Cover and let rise in warm oven for 2 hours until dough has risen. 

Punch down and turn onto floured board.

Step 4:

Cut the dough in half and roll out each half into 9 x 12 rectangles

Brush generously with melted margarine and sprinkle each rectangle with half of brown sugar mixture:

1 cup lightly packed brown sugar

2 tsps ground cinnamon 

I also added about 3/4 chopped walnuts and pecans. You can add plumped up raisins as well. Just soak them in warm water for half an hour first.

Roll up starting from short end. Seal edges and cut into 8 equal pieces, about 1 inch wide.

Place cut side up into lightly greased glass baking dish - 9 x 12 or any rectangular baking dish.

Brush  tops with melted margarine

Cover and let rise for about an hour

Bake in 350 F oven for about 30 to 35 minutes

Step 5: Almost done............

If desired, once cooled you can frost with:

1 cup sifted icing sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

Stir in enough milk beverage to make it a drizzling consistency.

Start by adding a tsp of milk at a time. Stir and add more until it’s just how you like it!!

Enjoy!!