nav-left cat-right
cat-right

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

Sweet Potato And Black Bean Soup: Magic In A Bowl...

“Soup is the song of the hearth… and the home.”
Louis P. De Gouy, ‘The Soup Book’ (1949)

There is nothing quite like a bowl of home made soup on a cold rainy Autumnal day. Usually when making soup I take my time; allowing things to gently simmer for hours, enjoying the process of flavours developing and coming together and breathing in the rich aroma of herbs and spices as they fill my kitchen. For me making soup is very much like brewing up a magic potion. It is a sacred ritual and something to be savoured – I enjoy the process as much as I enjoy eating the soup!

However I do understand that sometimes you just want to curl yourself round a big comforting bowl of soup as quickly as you can. That was certainly the case for me when I went out for a weekend walk and got caught in a sudden downpour. With no where to hide and no umbrella, I got soaked. By the time I got home I was chilled to the bone and to be honest, was also slightly cranky. What I needed was the powerful healing magic of soup!

Fortunately earlier on in the week I bought ingredients to make Sweet Potato and Black Bean Soup. While browsing the Spark People website, this recipe shared by member SOUSRATURE, caught my eye. It is extremely healthy, uses an ingredient (black beans or turtle beans) which I have never used before and takes all of 20 minutes to prepare and cook. It did take me a little longer as I don’t have a hand held blender so had to transfer some of the soup into my glass blender. Still the soup was on the table within 30 minutes!

I had always been under the assumption that soup needed to bubble away for ages in order for deep flavours to develop and emerge but this soup was one of the most delicious I have ever tasted. The only changes I made was to use a Spanish Onion, add a pinch of nutmeg (of course) and an extra clove of garlic.
This is definitely a dish I will make again and again. If you love good wholesome tasty soup then do yourself a favour and get in your kitchen and brew up this magical recipe. I promise you’ll love it!

Here is Sousrature’s recipe as seen on Spark People:

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Soup

Ingredients

2 med. sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 cup of rinsed black beans

1 cup sweet vidalia onion, finely chopped

1 tsp chopped garlic

3 cups veggie broth

1-2 bay leaves

.5 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Lightly spray bottom of sauce pan with olive oil and sweat the onion and garlic over low heat.

Add chopped sweet potatoes and beans and cook briefly.

Add water, 3 vegetable bouillon cubes, cinnamon and bay leaf. Turn up heat slightly and cook, covered, for 15 minutes or until sweet potatoes soften.

Remove bay leaf and blend just a bit with hand blender–be sure to leave some nice big chunks of sweet potato for contrast. Pop it back over the heat for a minute, then serve with an optional sprinkling of brown sugar and/or dollop of light sour cream on top.


NOTE:
Full of fiber, protein, and vitamins, this soup is filling enough to be a stand-alone meal! The black beans and orange sweet potatoes also look great together. (Tip: Use low-sodium broth to cut the salt content.)

Number of Servings: 2

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Soup

Courgette Carbonara: Magical Meal In Minutes...

Usually I am not in a rush to escape the kitchen. For me it’s a peaceful and comforting place to be. There is something so deliciously wonderful about losing yourself in cooking. Whether you’re baking bread, tending to soups or stews, chopping, sautéing or creating an indulgent pudding, it’s a magical state of mind!

Now I have recently become quite a fan of Jamie Oliver’s 30 minute meals. This may seem strange considering I enjoy spending large amounts of time pottering around the kitchen – but his recipes are good and inspiring. Jamie has a great way of creating recipes that are simple but really pack a punch. I have started writing a list of all his recipes that I am eager to try.

As my fridge is still happily stocked with a ton of zucchini (courgette) I decided to try Jamie’s Beautiful Courgette Carbonara. This is a really lovely twist on a traditional spaghetti alla carbonara – one of my favourite pasta dishes of all time. For this I used beautiful smoked streaky bacon from our local butchers which made it a real treat. I also opted for Rigatoni instead of Penne or Spaghetti.

It was sooooo good. I went back for seconds (ok I confess, thirds!) While it didn’t take long to prepare OR cook, I am ok with not having spent ages in the kitchen today. It has given me more time to cuddle up with Nutmeg!

Go on and give this recipe a try. It is delicious!

Click here to see Jamie Oliver’s Beautiful Courgette Carbonara recipe.

Courgette Carbonara

Courgette Carbonara

Waiting for a cuddle

Waiting for a cuddle