Wednesday, November 17, 2010

It's November...already!

A few excuse and then the truth.

~ I had a baby and I'm an attachment parenting mom, it means I get on the computer in 5 minute spurts...not much time for actual writing.

~ Our computer broke and I can't upload pictures which I am trying to overcome tonight by hooking up my laptop to the monitor etc. etc. etc.

~ My husband went on an anti-fungal diet which had me deeply immersed in research and recipes for him involving that, nothing I would dream of subjecting you to!

but the truth is, I'm a perfectionist. And with gorgeous witty and delicious blogs out there like, Smitten Kitchen, Pioneer Woman, The Vegan Dad, Go Dairy Free and many many more.
I feel unmotivated to write. If I can't be the best, which is obvious than I won't do it at all. That's the truth! But I am desperately trying to overcome that and a few of you have encouraged me and for that I am immensely grateful and I will try to post...more...often.

Let me share with you though an amazing recipe. It's from Vegetarian Times and you can do just the filling in tortillas or do the empanadas or whatever! I usually use my whole wheat pie crust (from back in that pot pie recipe) but I did make this crust as a sort of indulgence (lots of oil and fat in it) and it was superb! The filling is black beans and bananas which is just so very good!
I'm going to copy and paste but change what I changed or you can
Find the original recipe here

Black Bean and Banana Empanadas
Crust
  • 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour (I've been experimenting with lots of flours lately so I will spare you the actual flours I used)
  • 1 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. chili powder
  • 4 Tbs. cold butter
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil (I think I actually split half coconut oil half canola, I can't remember sorry!)
  • 1 Tbs. white wine vinegar

Filling

  • 1 Tbs. olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 cup cooked black beans, as always this does not need to be exact, none of it does really
  • Red (orange or yellow) bell pepper, chopped
  • several cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 bananas, peeled and diced
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 tsp. ground coriander
  • 2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 tsp. red pepper sauce
  • grated cheese
1. To make Crust: Mix flour, salt, and chili powder in bowl. Mix in butter with fingers until mixture resembles coarse meal. Whisk together oil, vinegar, and 1/3 cup cold water in separate bowl. Stir wetmixture into flour mixture until textured dough forms, adding up to 1/4 cup more water, if necessary. Knead on lightly floured surface until dough comes together. Form into ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for a while

2. To make Filling, heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté veggies. Add beans and garlic, reduce heat to medium, and cook 3 minutes. Stir in bananas, cumin, cayenne, and coriander, and cook 2 minutes, or until bananas begin to break down and spices are fragrant. Remove from heat, and stir in cilantro and red pepper sauce.

3. Preheat oven to 400°F. Divide dough into 12 balls. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Roll out each ball to whatever size the roll to without getting to thin to lift off the counter. Use more flour if you need to. Fill with some filling. Fold dough circle in half, press to close. I dip my fingers in a bit of water and sort of glue it shut my pressing on it.

Transfer to prepared baking sheet, and repeat with remaining dough balls and Filling. Bake empanadas 20 minutes, or until golden brown and crusty.

No picture...sorry I told you the computer...