Grandma's Cuban Black Beans

Today, I made my favorite food, a dish that stems from my Cuban heritage. From the title, I bet you can guess what my favorite food is. That's right, Cuban Black Beans. These beans with their unique mix of flavors are right up there with homemade whole wheat bread as one of my ultimate comfort foods. And even if you haven't been raised eating Cuban Black Beans on a weekly basis, you're bound to enjoy this delicious recipe that puts other black beans and refried beans to shame.

The recipe for Cuban Black Beans was given to my mom by her mother-in-law: my dear grandma Gloria Maria, who has since passed on. You see, I think my grandma knew that if the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach, the quickest way to a Cuban's heart is through homemade black beans, so knowing how to make black beans when married to a Cuban would be pretty essential.

Over the years, my mom has adapted this recipe somewhat, and you may wish to adapt it to. As my grandma once said, some people like "cumin beans" and some people like "cilantro beans." I tend to enjoy them most when they're a little heavy on the cilantro.

When preparing these, you can use my family's recipe below, or you can adjust the seasonings to suit your personal tastes. That's one of the best things about these beans, they seem to always come out tasting delicious, no matter how you adjust the proportions of the various ingredients.

Cuban Black Beans

Ingredients:

1 pound dry black beans

1 medium white or yellow onion

1 medium green bell pepper

1 fist-sized bunch of cilantro

2-3 large garlic cloves
2 bay leaves

1 Tbs. honey, agave nectar or sugar

2 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. oregano

First, soak your black beans overnight. If soaking them that long isn't a possibility, at least soak them for a few hours. This step is important not only because it makes the beans easier to cook, but because during the soaking process, the beans will lose some oligosaccharides, which will make the beans easier to digest. So, essentially, if you don't want your dinner guests to experience gas after eating your delicious Cuban Black Beans, please, by all means, take the time to soak them. Trust me, it's worth it. 

When you have finished soaking your beans, discard the dirty oligosaccharide-ridden water you just soaked them in and give them a good rinse. Then, place them in a pressure cooker or slow cooker, depending on whether you want to eat them soon, or have them cook all day while you're away. (I used my Instant Pot on the pressure cooker setting). Cover the beans in water, bringing the water level to about an inch above the beans. 

Next, chop your onion, bell pepper and garlic and throw them in on top of the beans. Then, grab about a fistful of cilantro, chop it loosely, and add it to the top. Finally, toss in your bay leaves. 

When your beans have finished cooking, (mine took a total of 20 minutes to cook in my pressure cooker, including the time it took to heat up), they should resemble bean soup. At this point, you'll want to find the bay leaves and remove them, as they don't dissolve. If you have picky eaters, you may want to put the beans in a food processor or blender to get rid of any vegetable lumps and make them more the consistency of refried beans. Some people like to leave them soupy. My favorite is kind of a mixture. You can achieve this by mashing the beans with a potato masher a few times, or by processing or blending part of the beans and mixing them back in with the rest of the batch. Making the beans this way helps them hold together better if you decide to put them in a burrito or a taco, while also keeping some of the whole beans intact. At this point, you'll add the sweetener and seasonings. Feel free to adjust the seasonings to suit your taste buds.

Cuban Black Beans are typically served with rice. In fact, a common nickname for this dish in Spanish is "Moros y Cristianos," which means, "Moors and Christians" (the "Moors" referring to the beans and the "Christians" to the rice). As you can guess from this name, the rice typically served with black beans is white, though for today, I made a Mexican-style rice because I like the flavor.

I also made guacamole to go with the beans and rice, because, really, what could be better?

You can eat the finished product out of a bowl, or you can use your beans and rice as the primary ingredients in a standout burrito or taco. Enjoy!

Coconut Cookie Dough Ice Cream!

I had a great Fourth of July last weekend! We got to see a fantastic local firework show and launched some small fireworks off at our place. And we ate our own veg versions of the traditional Independence Day fare: hotdogs and ice cream. We had Yves veggie dogs with chili and pasta salad, and followed it up with some delicious homemade coconut cookie dough ice cream.

This stuff is good. And I mean never-buy-an-overpriced-dairy-free-ice-cream-again good. The coconut ice cream is rich and creamy on its own and with cookie dough chunks, it tastes just like one of the exciting flavors you would buy at the store. When Drew and I got married in May, we received an ice cream maker as a wedding gift. Let me tell you, that thing is worth its weight in gold. In case you're interested, I have the Cuisinart 2-quart ice cream maker and it's worked fabulously for me. I love the fact that I can make ice cream with an ingredients list exactly as long as I want it to be -- no unpronounceable ingredients allowed. Not to mention how fun it is to get creative with different ice cream flavors!

Coconut Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Coconut Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2 13-oz. cans full-fat coconut milk

1/2 cup raw sugar and stevia blend (You can use the Purevia brand or add your own sugar and stevia to taste)

1/4 cup agave nectar or honey

1 Tbs. coconut oil

Dash of salt

Combine all of the ingredients in a medium saucepan. Whisk over a low to medium heat until the mixture is cooked--the sugar and oil are melted and well combined-- but do not bring to a boil. Be sure to taste it to make sure it is as sweet as you would like it to be. Next, take it off of the heat, transfer to a blender and blend thoroughly. This step may seem unnecessary, since you just whisked it and it seemed so well combined, but trust me, you need to blend it. If you don't, then little lumps of coconut fat will harden in the fridge and you'll end up with lumpy ice cream. Which is just not ideal. After blending your creamy coconut liquid, you'll need to chill it in the fridge for a few hours.

When it is chilled, just follow the instructions on your ice cream maker and add in your cookie dough chunks when your ice cream is still somewhat creamy and soft!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. coconut oil (melted)
4 Tbs. maple syrup
3 Tbs. agave nectar or honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 Tbs. cinnamon
1 cup white whole wheat flour
Semisweet chocolate chips to taste

Whisk together the wet ingredients. Then, add in the flour, cinnamon and salt and mix well. After that, just add in as many chocolate chips as you want. And if you don't have maple syrup, don't sweat it. I really like the flavor maple syrup adds, but the cookie dough will still taste great with a different sweetener as well. Next, just roll the cookie dough into little balls and place in the fridge. As I mentioned above, when the ice cream is out of the ice cream maker and about the consistency of soft serve, stir in the cookie dough chunks and then either serve right away, or place in the freezer to make a firmer ice cream. Enjoy!

Sweet 'N Easy Vegan Crepes

Vegan crepes. The combination of these two words translates to me as just "Mmm." I've always loved pancakes and waffles, covered in real maples syrup or my mom's homemade strawberry syrup, but only recently have I decided that I love crepes even more. The light, delicate texture of these crepes makes the subtle flavors of coconut, cinnamon and vanilla even more noticeable. I enjoy eating these plain, filled with fruit, topped with vegan yogurt, or—my personal favorite combination—filled with chopped bananas and pecans with a drizzle of maple syrup on top.

Without further ado, here's the recipe!

Vegan Crepes

Ingredients:

3 Tbs. coconut oil (melted)

3 Tbs. honey, agave nectar, or other liquid sweetener

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup soy or almond milk

1/2 cup water

1 cup white whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Whisk together the coconut oil and honey, then add in the other wet ingredients one at a time. You can combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then add them to the liquid ingredients, or you can simply whisk them in, being sure to mix well enough to eliminate any salt lumps.

Preheat a nonstick or seasoned skillet to a medium-low heat. For each crepe, pour about three tablespoons of the batter on the skillet and cook for several minutes on each side. This recipe makes 9 to 10 crepes.

When the crepes are done, roll them up with chopped fruit on the inside or cover with your favorite syrup or vegan yogurt. Enjoy!

The Vegan Omelette: Chickpea-Tofu Style

Since my last post in February, life has been crazy! I got engaged to my then-boyfriend of 2.5 years in March and married in May! Now that I'm no longer planning a wedding, I promise to be a lot more regular with the posts. Especially since I received so many wonderful gifts of cookware, bakeware and appliances that have motivated me to spend even more time on my experiments in the kitchen.

Well, to start this one off, I'll just tell you that if there's one thing I enjoy, it's a good breakfast. Though, I don't always eat breakfast in the morning. I often find myself eating the delicious breakfast foods I crave for lunch or dinner. So it was today. After deciding to make a standard tofu scramble (which I can't believe I haven't posted on this blog yet, oh well), I saw some leftover chickpeas in my fridge and I thought to myself, "I wonder what I could do with those." As my mind became busy trying to find a way to add chickpeas to my breakfast-lunch, I was struck with the idea of adding chickpeas to a standard vegan tofu omelette (which I've experimented with before).

The result was thoroughly pleasing. Though, I wish that I'd had some nutritional yeast on hand to add to the mix. Despite that, I felt that the flavor of the tofu and chickpeas, combined with the seasonings, made for a very delicious, though time consuming, breakfast item.

To start off, I seasoned my stainless steel skillet, thinking that cooking omelettes would be the ultimate test to see if seasoning a skillet would really make it "non-stick." Thankfully, it worked! There was no sticking and I only used paltry amounts of oil with a few spritzes of my Misto sprayer (which I highly recommend).

Vegan Chickpea-Tofu Omelette

Ingredients:

14 oz. silken tofu
1 cup chickpeas
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 Tbs. cornstarch
1/2 to 1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. mustard
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. paprika
(Note: I imagine that this would also work great with a tablespoon or two of nutritional yeast!)
Sliced mushrooms, bell peppers and onions, or vegetables of choice, for filling.

I began by slicing up a few veggies—mushrooms, mini bell peppers and part of an onion—and throwing them in a skillet. You can also throw some vegan sausage in if that's your thing. I added a little because the hubs really likes the stuff.

Next, while preheating your pan on a medium-low heat (though, how high of a heat you need can vary greatly depending on what kind of pan you're using), add the rest of the ingredients to a boss food processor or blender. If your appliance isn't super heavy duty, you can add a little plain soymilk or water to help it blend. But don't put too much extra liquid or it might not be thick enough to solidify into a beautiful omelette. And that would be a real shame.

Then, scoop some of this mixture onto your heated skillet (I put about 3/8 cup per omelette).

Now comes the waiting game. While your omelette is cooking, cover it for a few minutes to help cook the omelette all the way through. If it starts to seem like it's steaming it too much and making it soggy, though, remove the cover. Cook until it is pretty solid, about 10 minutes.

Then, place your filling of veggies and/or veg sausage on the omelette.

Use your spatula to fold the omelette over the filling.

Cook for a minute or two more and voila! A delicious omelette! Repeat these steps for more delicious omelettes! This recipe makes 5-6 omelettes. Enjoy!

Chocolate Coconut Pie

When I was a kid, my mom would always make us a frozen chocolate pie for the holidays. This is my own remake of a childhood favorite. I have tried this pie with several different types of crust. If I'm feeling lazy, I'll just pour some granola and chopped nuts on the bottom of a pie pan. I've also tried lining the bottom of the pie pan with a layer or two of banana slices, which works great. If I'm particularly ambitious, I'll make a flaky pie crust (I use the recipe from the cookbook "Vegan Vittles"). One that works particularly well with this pie is a homemade granola crumble crust that I make, which I will post the recipe for below. But know that pretty much anything will taste amazing with this chocolate coconut pie filling. So, without further ado, here is the recipe!

Chocolate Coconut Pie Filling

Ingredients:

2/3 cup Silk French Vanilla Creamer (or coconut milk or soymilk)
1 Tbs. cornstarch
2 1/2 Tbs. coconut oil

1 12-ounce package of silken tofu

1/2 cup honey or agave nectar
1/4 cup + 1 1/2 Tbs. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Stevia to taste (optional)

Whisk together the non-dairy creamer and cornstarch and boil until thick. Add the coconut oil and stir together, with the heat turned down to low. Blend the mixture on the stove with the rest of the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Pour the chocolate filling into a prepared pie pan on top of a crust and freeze. For more of a mousse consistency, take it out after a couple of hours and transfer to the refrigerator. I prefer to eat the pie when it is frozen all the way, which will generally take 8 hours or more.

Granola Crumble Crust

Ingredients:

1 cup oats
1 1/2 Tbs. white whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
Dash of salt
1 Tbs. coconut oil
1/4 cup honey or agave nectar

Stir together the dry ingredients. Melt the coconut oil and pour it along with the sweetener into the dry ingredients and mix them all together. Spoon the mixture onto the bottom of your pie pan and bake at 325 until it reaches a light golden brown color.

Potato Pelmeni (Delicious Vegan Dumplings)

I tried my hand at making pelmeni at the request of my boyfriend, A. He used to eat potato pelmeni regularly at one of his favorite restaurants. After doing a little research, I used elements of several different pelmeni recipes to create the following vegan dumplings. And boy they were delicious.

They were a big hit with A, our resident pelmeni connoisseur, as well as my family. The cilantro infused potatoes inside of the soft dumpling exterior make for a really excellent meal. These dumplings are especially fun to make with friends and family, or on a date as they require a lot of rolling out, filling and folding. Though it could prove tedious to make them alone, as an activity it can be really fun to form these into their adorable little dumpling shapes. Just recently, I made these with my dad and two siblings and had a blast. So put on a little Christmas music, pull out a rolling pin, and get ready to feel like the cast of a Hallmark movie as you bond with your loved ones while making dumplings.

Potato Pelmeni

Ingredients:

Dough:

3 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups warm water4 Tbs. ground flaxseeds (flaxmeal)

1 Tbs. canola oil or Earth Balance

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. honey, agave nectar, or brown rice syrup

Potato Filling:

4 large potatoes

2 to 4 Tbs. Earth Balance or canola oil

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 of a medium red onion (chopped)

1 to 2 tsp. dill

1 to 2 tsp. curry

salt and black pepper to taste

Begin steaming, boiling or baking the potatoes.

Then, make the dough by whisking together the warm water, ground flaxseeds, oil, salt and honey. Add the flour, stirring with a spoon until the dough becomes thick enough to knead. Knead briefly and then let the dough sit while you make the potato filling (ideally, the dough should rest for at least 15 minutes).

Put the cooked potatoes in a medium-sized bowl with the other ingredients and mash them until they reach a coarse consistency.

Begin boiling water in a medium sized saucepan. Now, you're ready to assemble your pelmeni. You can roll out a large piece of dough on a floured surface and cut out circles with a mason jar. 

Alternatively, you can roll out small balls of dough one at a time.

Either way, be sure to roll out the dough as thin as you can. For the next step, place about a tablespoon of the filling in the middle of each dough circle.

Fold the dough over the filling to make a half circle, sealing the edges (you may need to use a few drops of water to seal the edges if the dough is on the dry side).

Next, fold the edge of the dough upward so that your dumpling resembles a crescent moon.

And then fold the ends over each other, sealing with water if necessary.

When you have six or seven, put them into your pot of boiling water. Set a timer for three minutes. As you continue forming more dumplings, be sure to check on your cooking pelmeni regularly. As soon as they float on the surface of the water (typically after about three minutes), pull them out with a slotted spoon and place them in a colander to dry.  

Continue to form and cook your pelmeni until you've used up all your dough and potatoes. You should be able to make 55 to 65 dumplings. If you don't need that many for dinner, simply freeze the uncooked dumplings and boil them another day.

Serve with Tofutti sour cream and hot sauce. In the following picture, I served them with a sauce made out of vegan mayo, hot sauce and horseradish mustard. They're also delicious plain.

Chanukah Challah

Since Thanksgiving this year fell on the first day of Chanukah, I felt it was only fitting to make vegan challah instead of the usual rolls for Thanksgiving dinner. This recipe is adapted from a Swedish cardamom bread recipe from the Vegetarian Times. This is probably one of the most delicious breads I have ever tasted. And if you know me, you know that I love bread.
Not only is it delicious, but it's also fairly easy to make. Just be sure to plan far enough in advance to let it sit overnight in the fridge. That's important. The first time I made it, I only chilled it for about 30 minutes because I'm impatient like that, and the finished product wasn't nearly as big and beautiful as the next time I made it when I actually chilled it overnight.

So without further ado, I bring you, challah. Make some in the next few days to celebrate Chanukah! You won't be sorry.

Challah

Ingredients:

• 2 cups almond, soy or rice milk, plus more for brushing loaf top
• 2 Tbs. ground flaxseeds
• ⅓ cup agave nectar, brown rice syrup or honey
• ⅓ cup canola oil, coconut oil or melted Earth Balance
• 1 Tbs. active dry yeast
• 1 ½ tsp. salt
• 5 ¼ cups white whole wheat flour (a whole grain flour made from white wheat, as opposed to red wheat)
• Optional:
• 2 Tbs. organic sugar, for sprinkling
• Crushed rosemary

First, stir together the non-dairy milk, flaxseeds, honey, oil, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add the flour and mix well. You may need to use your hands to mix it thoroughly, but you don't need to knead it. When the dough is mixed, cover with a lid or plastic wrap and let stand 2 and a half hours at room temperature. Then chill it overnight in the refrigerator. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or coat with cooking spray). Divide the dough into two halves. Then divide your first half into three equal pieces. 

Roll each piece into a long rope on a floured surface.  

When you've made your three dough ropes, pinch the ends together and braid them. When you finish, pinch the other ends together. 

When I made the loaves pictured, I decided to add rosemary to my second loaf. If you want to get fancy with the spices, then feel free to throw in some rosemary (or other desired spice) to your remaining dough.

Repeat with your second half of dough and cover both with a towel, allowing them to rise for 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Brush the top of your braided loaves with almond milk or spray lightly with cooking spray. Then follow by sprinkling with organic sugar. In the loaves I made today, I sprinkled one with cinnamon sugar and the other with fresh rosemary from my newly acquired baby rosemary plant.

Bake 30 to 40 minutes. Enjoy!