Black Bean and Goat Cheese Pizza

Last week one day I put a post on Facebook saying that I was making a black bean and goat cheese pizza.  Having never tried it before I added the comment at the end…”How could that not be good right?”  To those of you who responded that there was no way it could be good, you’re just plain crazy.

This ended up being an absolutely delicious pizza and we all were fighting for the leftovers the next day. 
I pretty much followed the same recipe that I use when I make black bean and goat cheese quesadillas the only real change being the pizza crust instead of tortillas.

Goat Cheese and Black Bean Pizza
Preheat oven to 500F (I use a pizza stone on the bottom shelf and cook my pizzas on a cookie sheet directly on the stone.)
1 package of store bought pizza dough or your own recipe (I make a bread machine dough that we love).  Stretched as shaped on a pan.  We use a cookie sheet pan and make rectangular pizzas.
Black Bean Topping
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 lg yellow onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
24-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 cup water 
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno, chopped or sliced if desired
4 oz. or more goat cheese, crumbled
Directions
In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat until hot. Add the onion and garlic and sauté, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the beans, cumin, chili powder, oregano and 1/2 cup water and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost all the water has evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Take the pan off the heat. With the back of a fork, break up the beans to make a chunky mash. Stir in half of the cilantro and season with salt and pepper.
Spread the black bean mixture over the pizza dough and crumble the goat cheese and dab on top, sprinkle with jalapeno.
Cook until hot and bubbly and the pizza crust is browned to your liking (should be about 20 minutes but keep an eye on it.  My oven is funky at 500F.  Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Grilled Pizza for dinner…

The first time I tried grilling pizza was when we were in Toronto visiting my family.  It was something we had all wanted to try but had just never gotten around to doing it. So out I went and bought some grocery store pizza dough (divide it into 4 servings when you get it home) and some fresh and yummy toppings and into the world of pizza grilling we dove!

Mine was simply olive oil, fresh garlic, mozzarella, fresh tomato and basil…

Our biggest concern was that the dough would drip through the grill plates but it cooks up so quickly that there is no real worry to it.  You need to have your grill heated up to about 350F to crisp it quickly.

The trick, I think, to this is to have all of your toppings ready to go on and to not overload the pizza.  You do need to work fast once the bottom which becomes the top is grilled nice and crispy.  We did individual ones for ease of preparation and they worked perfect.  No problem flipping etc…

The second time we made them was here at home and I used my bread machine pizza dough recipe.  We divided this one into 4 to make 4 individual pizzas for us.  This worked perfectly as well and was a bit easier to stretch and shape then the grocery store one…

This one was topped with garlic and herbed olive oil, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, fresh basil, oregano and some homemade arugula pesto…simply delicious!

Black Bean Hummus…

I was hunting around the other day waiting to pick the girls up and I stumbled across a recipe for Black Bean Hummus.  Turns out a friend of mine has also been requesting a recipe from me for hummus.  I gave her my original one that is here, but this black bean one sounded really good to me and i couldn’t get it out of my head.  I love black beans and who doesn’t love a nice garlicky hummus???

This came together in a matter of minutes in my food processor.  I think stirring up the tahini took more time the the recipe!

Black Bean Hummus (from All Recipes)

Ingredients:

1 clove garlic
1 (15 ounce) can black beans; drain and reserve liquid
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
10 Greek olives

Instructions:

• Mince garlic in the bowl of a food processor.
• Add black beans, 2 tablespoons reserved liquid, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, tahini, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper; process until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
• Add additional seasoning and liquid to taste.
• Garnish with paprika and Greek olives.

***I calculated this for WW as 2 points for a 1/4 cup serving…that’s not including the yummy pita that you HAVE to have with it!

Homemade (quick) Refried Beans

The other day I was making tacos for dinner when I realized that I had used up the last can of refried beans.  See, I really, really like beans and on my tacos they are one of my favorite things!  I was crushed…

I didn't have time to go to the grocery store so I jumped online to see how easy they would be to make them myself.  Guess what?  If you plan ahead you can make them real easy…only problem was I had not planned ahead and had about 10 minutes to figure this out!  I had no time to soak beans (even a quick soak would take too long).  So !reached for a can of pinto beans and went to work. 
This is one of my favorite ways to eat refried beans: Whole Wheat tortilla, refried beans, jalapenos, tomatoes and fresh cilantro!

Refried Beans

Ingredients:

1 can of pinto beans, rinsed and drained (I try to find the canned beans that have the fewest ingredients in them.  A lot of beans have added sugar???)
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 small can of chopped green chilies

Directions:

• Drain and rinse pinto beans.
• Place in small saucepan over medium heat and add water.
• As the beans heat mash them with a potato masher or fork. 
• Add all spices and stir well
• Add green chilies and cook on low heat stirring frequently until they reach your desired consistency.

I really need to try this with pinto beans that have been soaked overnight but I just never seem to be able to plan that far ahead…hehehe!

****Did you know that a 1/4 cup serving of fat free refried beans only have 1/2 a WW Point????  That whole lunch above is only 1-1/2 WW Points!

Black Bean and Goat Cheese Quesadillas

My goal each and every day is to feed my family a healthy lunch and dinner.  Oh how I have been lax at meeting that daily goal!  Turning a new page and starting off on the right foot and all here is my attempt to get it all back together.  The meals that I cook have to either be crock pot, slow cooked or else pre cooked that we can heat up after, between or before whatever extra curricular event we have happening on that night.  I don’t use packaged or prepared foods at all so everything that I do is from scratch, just to make it more challenging huh?

Between karate 2 days, skating 2 or 3 days and BMX 2 or 3 days you can just imagine that it is a little hectic around here.  One thing though that we ALWAYS make sure that we do it to eat together.  There is none of this grabbing and eating on your own here.  We sit down to a family meal each and every single night.  Is it easy?  No way, but we do it.

One of my big problems though is that we get pretty bored with all of the fast things that I can make and it has been way too hot for a slow cooked or crock pot meal.  So this is what I came up with yesterday and it is going to be added into the rotation.

Black Bean and Goat Cheese Quesadillas

I was able to make the black bean mixture, cut up all of the cilantro, jalapenos and crumble the goat cheese ahead of time.  When we got home I heated the bean mixture and got the griddle going.  These were assembled, cooked and on the table in 10 minutes.  I served sautéed zucchini along side and it was really the perfect meal!

Black Bean and Goat Cheese Quesadilla (inspired by Fine Cooking)

2 Tbs. olive oil
1 lg yellow onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
24-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp oregano
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno, chopped
4 oz. fresh goat cheese, crumbled
6 flour tortillas, Burrito size (we used 2 whole ones for T and I and 1 each for the girls)

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat until hot. Add the onion and garlic and sauté, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the beans, cumin, chili powder, oregano and 1/2 cup water and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost all the water has evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Take the pan off the heat. With the back of a fork, break up the beans to make a chunky mash. Stir in half of the cilantro and season with salt and pepper.

Spread the black bean mixture over the tortilla and crumble the goat cheese, sprinkle with jalapeno and some cilantro top with another tortilla.  Cook on a heated and oiled griddle until nice and golden brown.  Repeat with the remaining ingredients and slice up and serve.

**We served these with chopped up avocado, salsa and sour cream.  This was a delicious and quick week night meal!

This would also be a great idea for an appetizer for your next party or pot luck.  Cut into smaller wedges these would be perfect!

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Wonderfully, Amazing Morels!!!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Morels!!! And I am so lucky to have an incredibly generous and busy friend like Jaden from Steamy Kitchen!!! Jaden received a box of morel mushrooms from Earthy Delights which is an absolute treasure trove of, what else – Earthy delights. You really need to check them out (they even sell fiddleheads!!!)! Seeing though as Jaden was heading out of town she offered them up to someone who was able to drive and pick them up. We decided that we would meet up for a nice lunch in Downtown Sarasota on Sunday afternoon and I would grab the morels from them there.

After a nice relaxing lunch we headed back south and home, with our box of morels. Just *giddy* we were!!!

We had already decided to have a Swiss chard and summer squash frittata with a salad for dinner and the morels fit in seamlessly. How lucky were we?

After a quick soak in some cold water, the ends cut off and butter heated in the skillet, in they went! After a quick toss around the skillet they were perfectly done and ready for us to eat. Lucky for us the girls did not like them and I sure wasn’t forcing them to eat them!

Once again thanks so much Jaden for your never-ending generosity and to Earthy Delights for providing us with that special treat!!!

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Split Pea Soup without the ham...

Don't forget the hot smoked paprika...it really adds to this soup!!!

I love pea soup. Not the traditional pea soup with the smoked ham hock thrown in. Nope I like the pure taste of the peas to come shining through.

I first tried this soup back in February when I saw it on 101 Cookbooks. I wasn't sure though if the rest of the family was going to like it. Lucky for me they did. It's become one of our cold weather staples and we usually have it about 1 every week or so. Over that time I have made just a few small changes like adding garlic and some chicken stock, otherwise this soup is delicious just the way it is!

If you like you can buy or make a nice crusty loaf of bread to add to this hearty, cold weather meal!!!

Vegetarian Split Pea Soup (Heidi of 101 Cookbooks)

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 large onions, chopped (I added 3 cloves of garlic as well)
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
2 cups dried split green peas, picked over and rinsed
5 cups water (I substitute3 cup of the water with homemade chicken stock)
juice of 1/2 lemon (reserve the zest)

a few pinches of smoked paprika
more olive oil to drizzle

Add olive oil to a big pot over med-high heat. Stir in onions and salt and cook until the onions soften, just a minute or two. Add the split peas and water. Bring to a boil, dial down the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the peas are cooked through (but still a touch al dente). Using a large cup or mug ladle half of the soup into a bowl and set aside. Using a hand blender (or regular blender) puree the soup that is still remaining in the pot. Stir the reserved (still chunky) soup back into the puree - you should have a soup that is nicely textured. If you need to thin the soup out with more water (or stock) do so a bit at a time. Stir in the lemon juice and taste. If the soup needs more salt, add more a bit at a time until the flavor of the soup really pops.

Ladle into bowls or cups, and serve each drizzled with olive oil and topped with a good pinch of smoked paprika and a touch of lemon zest.

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Farmer's Market Leftovers...and what I made!

Dinner! Grilled radicchio, sauted shitake mushrooms, sauteed dandelion greens and swiss chard

It seems like so long ago that I went to the Farmer's Market and came back with bags (earth friendly reusable - of course) of fresh veggies and boat shrimp. But it has really been less than a week. I went through the refrigerator yesterday and got out all of the food that remaining from last Wednesday's trip and knew that was about to be dinner!

Sauteed dandelion and swiss chard

Organic Shitake Mushrooms

We had some dandelion greens and swiss chard that I sauteed with olive oil and garlic, shitake mushrooms that I sauteed in butter, tomato and mozzarella (fresh from Paesano's), and a head of radicchio which T. grilled and we ate with balsamic vinegar. Mozzarella and Tomato Salad with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and fancy olives

The radicchio was my absolute favorite. I love the flavor anyway but once it was grilled it seemed not quite so bitter but still with the crunchy, sharp taste! If you haven't tried it before I would have to say it is a must try!!!

My fridge is now empty and just waiting for my next visit to the market!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Do you have friends that are vegetarians?

Do you have any friends that are vegetarians? We sure do. I found this kind of amazing but on Labor Day at our home we had about 30 people here and can you believe that we had 2 vegetarians here??? When you figure that as a percentage it is almost 10%. To me that seems like a whole lot. Does that mean that in the real world close to 10 in every 100 people are vegetarians? It certainly is starting to seem that way. Now...don't get me wrong. I could not be a vegetarian. I love meat and I also like nice leather purses, shoes etc. Anyway you get the point. But when we invite people to our home for a meal I think it is very important to be able to accommodate peoples religious and personal preferences so we always prepare a special something for them. On Labor Day Tony outdid himself. Everyone was hoping for a little taste of what they were eating!

Here's how you can duplicate this. This is not just for our vegetarian friends!

****Tony helped me out and wrote out this recipe. He is a true foodie and his recipes always sound complicated when he writes them. This one is not. Do yourself a favor and try it out. If you have any questions about it or anything that you need clarified please email me at info@nofearentertaining.com .

Boursin Cheese Stuffed Portabella Musrooms (serves 2 but can be doubled or tripled)

4 large portabella mushroom (with stems removed)
2 small blocks of flavored boursin cheese (found in your specialty cheese section)
olive oil
1 shallot (Green onion) minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup Port Wine
1/2 cup Red wine (whatever you have)
salt
pepper

Do ahead of time:
Red wine and Port reduction
over medium heat flash sear (heat quickly) shallots stirring constantly 1 minute
add garlic and saute additional minute it will toast or brown and that's a good thing
add Port wine watch for flame up (keep your head back) scrape down pan
add Red wine ( I use Cabernet but any decent red will work)
reduce to thickness that will cover the back of a spoon (syrupy)
salt and pepper to taste
You can hold his for days in the refrigerator. Congrats you just made a sauce to die for

Mushrooms
Brush all sides with olive oil
Put Boursin in a freezer bag and warm to room temp
season mushrooms with salt and pepper thoroughly
and grill over medium heat bottom side first for 3-4 minutes
flip mushrooms grill 2-3 minutes
cut the corner of Boursin bag and pipe Boursin onto mushroom caps evenly
put the Mushrooms up on the warming rack of the grill and close lid 4 minutes
Remove mushrooms and plate 2 to a plate
Warm your Port Reduction in the Microwave and drizzle over mushrooms.
Serve and wait for the pats on the back
Your vegetarian friends never eat this well at a gathering they will Thank You.

****Tony wrote this recipe and it is not nearly as complicated a it sounds. He is a real foodie and loves what he does (so does everyone else!!!). If you need any further info on this email me at info@nofearentertaining.com . It really is worth the work!!!!!

Happy Entertaining!!!!

Judy
http://www.nofearentertaining.com/