Good Friends Good Food – BEANS

Not just any bean. Ellen’s choice. Shell beans: Red beans, lima beans, cranberry beans, pinto, great northern. Just to name a few. These are beans that must be removed from their pod to be eaten. My Dad was a big fan of Ham Hock and beans made with great northern beans. And Hubs is a great fan of Red Beans and Rice. So that is what I made for this GFGF post.

• 3 tablespoons bacon drippings
• 1 lb andouille sausage, sliced ¼ inch thick (if not available use a good smoked sausage)
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery diced
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 (16-ounce) package dried red kidney beans, soaked overnight, drained, and rinsed
• 10 cups chicken broth
• 1 Tbl salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
• 2 Tbl vegetable oil.
• 1 bay leaf
• Cooked rice

In a large bowl place dried beans and enough water to cover by 2 inches. Let stand at room temperature for 8 hours or overnight.

In a large Dutch oven, heat bacon drippings over medium-high heat. Add onion, and celery. Cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add drained beans, garlic, bay leaf, salt, and peppers.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer until beans are tender and liquid has thickened, about 1.5 hours. Remove bay leaves from pot; discard.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat saute sausage until browned. About 6 minutes. Add to the bean pot.

Serve over hot cooked rice. Garnish with sliced green onions and/or hot sauce if desired.

Usually served on Monday it is the traditional Laundry Day Meal.

This recipe is adapted from the Delta Queen Cookbook and was in the February 2013 Louisiana Cookin’ magazine

Did anyone use a different bean for this week’s choice? Visit and see.

Kayte

Donna

Peggy

Ulrike

Nancy

Ellen

 

{CC#15} Green beans with Onions…

…and mushrooms, and peppers.  All cooked together where the flavors of each blended yet didn’t.  It was quite tasty.  {And more tasty than it looks!}  No fancy hard to find spices just salt and pepper to bring out the flavor.

The recipe says to precook and ‘shock’ the beans but I didn’t do that because I had some beans that we canned last year and they were already cooked. The sliced onions, and mushrooms and strips of bell pepper are cooked in a skillet until tender.  Add the beans back in.  Easy to cook {and easy to over-brown} while you watch over them and shake them  often.  The beans should be crisp and bright green.  Mine – not so much.  But still a great side that would go with anything.

This recipe is from  The Whole30: The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom the book I have been using for March’s Cookbook Countdown.  You can find it on page 280.

If you want more info about The Whole 30 program just visit Whole30.  The program outline is there along with recipes, tips, and other great info.

I’m linking this post with Cookbook Countdown 15 hosted by Kitchen Flavours and Emily’s Cooking (Makan2).

 

{CC#15} stir-fry chicken

For the last few days I have been reading It Starts with Food which has been very helpful in understanding the Whole 30 program.  It’s one thing to follow a program.  It’s another thing to understand how and why it works.  I wish I had found this program many years ago for many reasons.

But, anyhoo… I am still cooking from The Whole 30 guide etc. and still eating really well on really good food.  This is Day 18 and for dinner I fixed a good healthy Whole30 meal.

This chicken stir-fry included broccoli, mushrooms, green beans, carrots, and green onions.  For the cooking fat I used a mix of coconut oil and sesame oil which gave it  great flavor. On the plate I added a little Coconut Aminos (since I cannot have soy sauce) and that added more to the flavor.

The dish was clean, light, and filling.   The chicken is browned and right before it is finished you throw some garlic and ginger into the saucepan.  Remove the chicken and wipe out the pan.  I think this would have been better if the garlic and ginger would have been left and just added more oil and then the veggies.  But I always follow the recipe the first time.  No matter how you fix it – it’s good.

The recipe is from  The Whole30: The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom  page 340.

I’m linking this post with Cookbook Countdown 15 hosted by Kitchen Flavours and Emily’s Cooking (Makan2).

 

{CC#13} Brunswick Stew

Brunswick Stew supposedly originated in either Virginia or Georgia.  And according to one food historian – Germany.  Wherever it came from really doesn’t matter.  What matter is how it tastes.

It is basically a thick tomato based veggie stew.  It is full of different veggies – lima or butter beans, corn, okra, and anything else you can find.  Sometimes potatoes, sometimes not.  Possum, squirrel, or rabbit.  But these days it is usually chicken.  Which is what I used in this one from the Low-Fat, low-Cholesterol Cookbook.

Since this is basically a VEGGIE stew it is already low fat, low cholesterol.  What makes it even more healthy is NOT using butter, brisket, pork, BBQ sauce (in some), and salt free tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce.

veggie oil spray
1 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts with all visible fat removed
1 1/2 cups frozen or fresh lima beans
2 cups fresh or frozen corn
5 cups fat free, low sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
6-oz can not salt added tomato paste
3 Tble lemon juice
1 Tbl low sodium Worcestershire sauce.

Heat a large pot over medium-high heat.  Remove from heat and spray the pot with veggie oil.  Then swirl the oil in the bottom of the pot.  Add the chicken and brown slightly.  Add the onions and brown along with browning the chicken more.  Add in the remainder of the ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and  simmer for about 1 hour.

{The original recipe called for just throwing the raw chicken chunks into the pot and then adding the other ingredients.  This just didn’t seem right to me so I browned it some first.}

Since it it was a stew I served it over some Rice Flour Pasta.

We liked the taste of this.  The Worcestershire sauce added a little kick.  The next time I would add in the okra.  It would NOT add to the cholesterol or fat count.  And maybe a little garlic.  Ditto.

Original Recipe from Low-Fat, Low-Cholesterol Cooking from the American Heart Association.  Page 131.

I’m linking this post with Cookbook Countdown 13 hosted by Kitchen Flavours and Emily’s Cooking (Makan2).

 

 

{IHCC} Pepin’s Mystery Box

It’s MYSTERY BOX CHALLENGE week again with I Heart Cooking Clubs. I love a good challenge. Especially when I can meet the challenge.

This weeks mystery box contents:

Salmon (fresh, smoked, canned),
Green Peas (dried, fresh or frozen),
Hazelnuts,
Eggplant,
Parmesan Cheese,
Kale,
Apples (Any color/kind),
Blue Cheese,
Bread Rolls/Buns, and
Rosemary.

I managed to complete the challenge with three of the ingredients, weak, yes, but still…

Gratin of Ziti and Vegetables

I love making dishes with the fruits of our garden and this one had it all – squash, tomatoes, eggplant, corn. I cannot think of a better way to use these all up.

2 quarts water
4 ounces ziti or penne
3 tablespoons virgin olive oil
1 onion (about 8 ounces), peeled and coarsely chopped
4 ounces string beans, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (1 cup)
1 small eggplant (about 8 ounces), cut into 1/2-inch pieces (2 1/22 cups)
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
1 pattypan (or other type) squash (8 ounces), cut into 1/2-inch pieces (2 cups){ I used zucchini.}
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 ripe tomatoes (about 10 ounces),cut into 12-inch pieces (2 cups)
2 ears sweet corn (about 1 pound), husked and kernels cut off (1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup black olive shavings, preferably from Nyons olives { I used kalamata.} (about 2 dozen olives)

CRUMB TOPPING

l slice fine-textured white bread, processed into crumbs in a food processor (2/3 cup)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon virgin olive oil
1/2 cup minced chives

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Cook the sizi in boiling water with salt until al dente. Drain and briefly run ziti under cold water. Cover, and set aside.
Heat the oil in a large skillet then add the onion and beans.
Cover and cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes.
Add the eggplant and herbes de Provence. Cover and cook, over medium heat for another 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Then add the squash, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook 2 more minutes.
Remove the skillet from the heat. Mix in the tomatoes, corn, and olive.
Mix in the cooked pasta and pour the mixture into an 8-cup casserole dish.
In a small bowl mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan, OO and chives. Pour the mix over the pasta and veggies.
(Note: The dish can be prepared to this point, covered, and
refrigerated for up to 8 hours.)
Bake the gratin at 400 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes {mine took about 22 minutes} until nice and brown. Serve immediately

This was very very good. But it was also very very very dry. I went back to the recipe to see if I had left something out, but I followed it correctly. The crumbs on top did not stay well on the dish, but were good mixed in. I will make this again, but it really needs some ‘juice’ of some kind. {Original recipe is on page 102 of Jacques Pepin’s Table.

The other Mystery Box dishes are probably delish. Check them out at I Heart Cooking Clubs.

 

{EwE} Tomato Braised Green Beans

I love fresh green beans. I mean, the canned ones are okay, but the fresh are just too good to pass up when they are available. When I used the cans they are usually cooked with onions, bacon, and small potatoes. Sometimes I throw in some tomatoes. But, while good, they just aren’t the best. When I saw some fresh at the store I remembered we had Gaye’s pick coming up this week and picked up a big bag. Good thing, as we have had them more than once over the last couple of weeks.

Fresh beans simmered with fresh garlic, onions, basil, oregano, and tomatoes. How can you beat that? Lots of flavor here.

This was Gaye’s pick this week. Nice choice!

The recipe is on page 245 of Ellie Krieger’s Weeknight Wonders (the book we are all cooking from for now) but you can also find it HERE.

How did the other’s like it. Check our Website and see.

Want to join us? The recipes for several weeks are listed on the right. Just cook, blog, and leave a comment. We’d love to have you. Lots of good healthy recipes.