Black Bean Wraps – An Easy Tex-Mex Treat...

Every so often I get a craving for a Tex-Mex style wrap. Anything with beans, cheese and sour cream is an immediate hit with me. This is a very quick and easy meal to make and it tastes fantastic! It is also quite healthy – o.k. adding copious amounts of cheese and sour cream may not be too healthy but the beans, tomatoes and fresh veggies balance everything out (well that’s what I’m telling myself anyway). The spices, lime juice and fresh coriander really bring this dish together and give it that amazing Tex-Mex flavour.

Luna Raye’s Black Bean Wraps (this will make approx 5 wraps)

Ingredients

Black Bean Filling

• 2 Tbsp olive oil

• 1 red onion finely chopped

• 1tsp dark brown sugar

• 1 short green chilli chopped (add the seeds as well for extra heat)

• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped

• ½ tsp cayenne pepper

• ½ tsp cumin

• ½ tsp paprika

• 1 tin of black beans (I love using Biona organic black beans)

• ¼ tin of chopped tinned tomatoes (the rest safely stored for another recipe)

• ½ cup of sweet corn

• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)

• Squeeze of fresh lime juice (just before dishing up)

Wrap Extras

• 1 medium avocado (Peeling and chopping them can get messy so I halve them and just use a spoon to scoop out what I want for each wrap)

• 1 Romano pepper sliced finely

• 1 cup grated mature cheddar cheese

• 150g sour cream

• Handful of fresh coriander (cilantro) chopped

• Handful of cherry tomatoes quartered

• 4 wraps (I love Mission Deli multigrain wraps)

• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Put oven on a low temperature (this is so you can gently warm the wraps)

• Prepare the ‘wrap assembly’ ingredients. Grate, slice and chop so everything is ready to go

• Heat oil in a frying pan and add the chopped onions and brown sugar

• Once onions have softened add the chilli, garlic and ¼ tin of chopped tomatoes.

• Give everything a good stir

• Rinse the black beans and add to the pan along with the cayenne pepper, paprika and cumin

• Cook mixture on medium heat for about 5 minutes stirring regularly. The mixture will start to get nice and mushy

• Add the sweet corn and chopped coriander and mix well

• Add a squeeze of fresh lime juice and turn off the heat

• Place the number of wraps you plan to use right away in the oven so they can gently warm. This takes approx 1-2 minutes(if they are in the oven for too long they will go hard and crunchy. They will still be delicious but not so good for wrapping!)

• Once warmed remove wraps and begin assembling your wrap

• I tend to put some cheese on first and then 3-4 Tbsp of the bean mixture followed by some peppers, tomatoes, a spoonful of avocado and the fresh coriander

• It is then topped off with a big spoonful of lovely sour cream and some salt and pepper

• Wrap it all up and enjoy!

We had mixture for 2 wraps each that night plus there was enough left over so my husband was able to have a wrap for lunch the next day. I didn’t heat that wrap and didn’t add any sour cream but added everything else. He told me that it tasted even better then the night before and when he opened his lunch everyone commented on how wonderful it smelled.

A successful dinner and lunch – what more could you ask for?

Black Bean Filling

Wrap Extras

Black Bean Wrap A Tex-Mex Treat

My Grandmother’s Spinach Soup Served with Hard B...

My Grandmother is an excellent cook and I absolutely adore her food! Every meal she prepares is done so with love and care and is always full of the most beautiful flavours. A few years back when my husband and I were visiting Canada, she made this spinach soup and it has been on our minds ever since. I finally got a hold of the recipe and thought this Canadian Thanksgiving weekend was the perfect opportunity to give it a try. It was just as good as I remembered although I did go a tad heavy on the salt. Never mind, next time I will be much more careful!

This soup makes a great lunch or light supper and it can even be used as an elegant starter – although I haven’t quite mastered the art of making a pretty flower out of hard boiled eggs yet (but I will keep working it!)

So here it is Raija’s Spinach Soup.

Ingredients

1 large Spanish onion finely chopped.

350 – 400 grams of fresh spinach well washed.

1 ½ – 2 tsp butter or a drizzle of olive oil (for sweating the onion).

2 Tbsp butter for making a roux.

2 Tbsp flour.

Chicken stock (approx 2 ½ – 3 cups) – I used Vegetable stock for mine.

Double cream.

Pinch of nutmeg.

1 clove minced garlic (optional).

Pinch of white sugar which helps give the soup some smoothness.

4 hard boiled eggs.

Directions

Melt the 1 ½ – 2 tsp or drizzle of olive oil in a pan. Be careful not to let the pan get too hot if you’re using butter as it may burn.

Add the finely chopped onion and mix well. Put a lid on the pot and allow the onion to sweat for a few minutes. Don’t let the onion get any colour. (I read somewhere that adding salt will prevent the onion from colouring and this is where I went wrong with my seasoning – I added too much salt at this stage! – so be careful).

In a second pot heat the spinach carefully – don’t add any water, butter or oil to the pot. The moisture in the spinach will be enough. The spinach should just go very slightly limp.

Once the spinach is just limp remove it from the pot and squeeze out as much excess liquid as you can.

Chop the spinach into small pieces and set aside.

Now it’s time to begin the roux. In another pot melt the 2 Tbsp of butter and then add the flour.

Do not let this mixture turn brown. Keep it on a moderate heat and gradually add the stock.

Mix it well and allow it to cook for approximately 3-5 minutes as you stir continuously.

Add the chopped spinach and onion to this mixture. Allow it to cook gently for another 5 minutes or so.

You can grate some nutmeg into it, or add some minced garlic at this stage. Also a pinch of white sugar will help give the soup some smoothness.

While the soup is cooking you can prepare the hard boiled eggs. Peel them and cut into halves or quarters.

When you just about ready to serve the soup stir in a good drizzle of double cream and mix well.

Serve with some freshly ground black pepper and the hard boiled eggs pieces arranged in the form of a flower.

Enjoy!

Or as my Grandmother would say in Finnish

Nautiskella!

Spinach ready – now it’s time to make the roux!

A Perfect Summer Meal: Luna Raye’s Light and Ea...

Summer has well and truly arrived. For the past few weeks the sun has been shining everyday and it has been hot, hot, hot! This lovely weather has worked wonders on my garden and everything seems to be thriving (which makes a change from last years disappointing efforts.)

There is an abundance of herbs and I have been incorporating them into as many of my meals as I can. Last night I had a craving for pasta. Sometimes you just can’t beat a bowl of spaghetti served with a nice chilled white wine.

Although I am growing tomatoes, they haven’t started to bear fruit yet so I bought some plum tomatoes from a greengrocer that specializes in local Kent produce. I also bought a few chestnut mushrooms. Once I had assembled those ingredients I went out into the garden to collect some herbs. I decided on Parsley, Coriander, Sage and Lemon Thyme.

It was a very light and refreshing meal and the flavour of the herbs came through beautifully. I really love being able to use ingredients from the garden and I can’t wait until we can use our own tomatoes!

So here is my recipe for a perfect summer meal:

Luna Raye’s Recipe For Light and Easy Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes, Mushrooms and Herbs from the Garden.

Ingredients

Spaghetti (I used enough for 2 people approx 160 – 200 grams).

9 Plum Tomatoes cut roughly into chunks (Cherry Tomatoes also work well. What’s important is that they are fresh).

9 Chestnut Mushrooms sliced ( I like mine a bit chunky but they can be sliced thinner if you prefer).

A selection of Fresh Herbs preferably from your garden! I used Curly Parsley, Coriander, Sage and Lemon Thyme. I used approximately about 4 Tablespoons of the chopped mixed herbs.

Drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese.

Directions

Cook the pasta in lightly salted water according to the package directions.

While the pasta is cooking roughly chop the tomatoes and slice the mushrooms. Set them aside.
Roughly chop the herbs and also set aside.

When the spaghetti is al dente drain it and do not rinse. The idea is to keep a small amount of the cooking water in the pot.

Put the spaghetti back in the pot and add the tomatoes, mushrooms, herbs and a drizzle of olive oil.
Mix well and transfer to serving bowls.

Add some freshly ground pepper and parmesan cheese to taste.

Enjoy it out in the garden with some chilled white wine!

NOTES:

For ages whenever I cooked pasta I would add a wee bit of olive oil to the water which I thought would prevent the pasta from sticking together. This was not only rather costly it can actually impair the flavour of the dish. The pasta becomes oily and is unable to absorb any sauce.

I also remember being told that it was important to rinse cooked pasta after it’s been drained. This isn’t a good idea either. Rinsing pasta cools it down which means it stops the pasta from absorbing sauces. This can also impair the over all flavour of the dish.

Rinsing also washes away any starch that is left on the pasta. This starch is important for thickening sauces, so it’s beneficial to always reserve some of the cooking water from your pasta.

I first tried this technique when I made Nigella Lawson’s Linguine with Lemon, Garlic and Thyme Mushrooms and it was wonderful.

Here is a great article by Shirley Corriher on How To Cook Pasta Properly.

Light And Easy Pasta With Fresh Tomatoes, Mushrooms and Herbs

The Abundant Garden.