Overnight Oats

My love of oatmeal is no secret.  I stick it into anything I can--smoothies, breads, muffins, breakfast bars.  I like it in its traditional form--hot and steaming in a bowl for breakfast.  Aside from being yummy, it's just so good for you. 

Over at katheats is a post about overnight oats.  Somehow I had never heard of this before, and I had such an Ahah! moment.  I have no idea why I've never thought of this, because it's so easy, totally fits in with the desire to eat raw, and it's good!  Basically it's just soaking rolled oats in liquid and yogurt (and whatever add ins or spices you desire) overnight and having a bowl of yummy filling health ready for breakfast the next morning.  Head on over to Kath's blog for the complete instructions.

My overnight oats included:

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup lite soy milk
• 1/2 cup fat free soy yogurt
• Dash of cinnamon
• Dash of allspice
• Splash of vanilla

I topped it with:

• 1 TBSP organic honey
• 1 TBSP cashew butter (that I made myself!)

I figured they'd be good, because they're oats after all, but I didn't know how good.  The yogurt made them so creamy and so tangy.  I'm definitely doing this again.  Oatmeal for breakfast just left the realm of winter months!

Eating Healthfully when Exhaustion Wins

There are days when I'm so bone-weary that I don't have the energy to prepare and cook anything for lunch.  I think I've mentioned before that I've got stage IV endometriosis, so I'm not talking your general run of the mill tired here.  I'm talking about the kind of tired where it's an effort to move my eyes in their sockets!  It would be so easy to grab some pre-packaged convenience foods on days like that, but it's those days when it's most important to eat well.  Eating poorly only makes me more tired and sluggish, and it's obviously not at all good for my health.

Today is one of those days.  I'm clawing my way through the fog today, after a mostly sleepless night.  I walked into the kitchen and actually semi-seriously considered  eating a bag of pretzels for lunch.  It would have been so easy.  And I'm so tired.  Thankfully my good sense won out.

A meal doesn't have to be lavish, or require much preparation, or have multiple ingredients to be a healthy meal.  It can be quick and simple and relatively preparation free.  Lunch for me today was a banana with a smear of Nutella, a pear, a serving of whole grain crackers, and an ounce of Monterey Jack cheese.  No cooking.  No real prep.  Healthy.  And I can congratulate myself for nourishing my tired body instead of feeding it a bag of salt and carbs!

Quinoa Breakfast Porridge

I love quinoa.  It's one of those things I ate before I knew it was good for me.  Once upon a time, a long time ago, I spent a year living in the third world.  We didn't have a lot of food, and the food we did have was rice.  I grew rapidly sick of rice, and I couldn't eat it for a VERY long time after returning to the states.  Even now, 19 years later, while I can eat it again, I don't ever really want to eat it.  I love stir fries and other Asian dishes though, so I was thrilled when I discovered quinoa.  It makes a wonderful stand in for rice.  It's super easy to cook and so versatile.  It's good hot or cold, sweet or savory.

Quinoa also happens to be fantastic for you.  It's an ancient grain (though it's not technically a grain either), and it was a staple of the South American indigenous diet.  It was called the gold of the Incas.  Quinoa is high in protein.  Not only that, but it's a complete protein, which means it supplies all nine essential amino acids.  It's got a whole slew of health benefits.  I'll spare you the continued rhapsodizing about the wonders of quinoa, but if you'd like, you can read more about it HERE.

Anyway, this breakfast porridge was my first attempt at making quinoa as a main dish instead of a side dish and sweet instead of savory.  Not surprisingly, I loved it, and I've been eating it ever since.  You can, of course, change the liquids and the dried fruits to suit your own particular taste.

Quinoa Breakfast Porridge

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (uncooked) quinoa
• 1 cup lite apple juice
• 1 cup lite soy milk
• Splash vanilla
• Dash cinnamon
• ¼ cup dried cranberries
• ¼ cup dried blueberries

 Topping Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon maple syrup (If additional sweetener is desired.  I don't sweeten mine; I think the apple juice and dried fruit provide plenty of sweetness.)
• ¼ cup plain soy yogurt
• 1 tablespoon slivered almonds
• 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts

 Directions:

1. Rinse and drain quinoa well.
2. Add quinoa, apple juice, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla to medium sauce pan and bring to a boil.
3. Cover and reduce heat to simmer.
4. Simmer for ten minutes.
5. Stir in cranberries and blueberries, cover.
6. Continue simmering for ten more minutes, until all water is absorbed and quinoa is firm.
7. While quinoa is simmering, toast nuts in oven at 350°, shaking every two minutes until evenly golden brown.  Time will depend on your oven and on how done you like the nuts.  I leave them in for about ten minutes.
8. Spoon portion into bowl (recipe should make approximately four servings).
9. Stir in maple syrup, if desired.
10.   Top with yogurt and then nuts.

Enjoy!

Spicy Dipping Sauce

Today I set about inventing a spicy dipping sauce to go with yesterday's Black Bean Taquitos.  This way Drew and I can have ours with a little more kick while the boy still has his bland enough to suit his palate.  It came together quickly and easily, and the taquitos reheated beautifully (in the oven at 350° for about 15 minutes) for lunch.

Spicy Taquito Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of Something Creamy.  The "something creamy" is entirely up to you.  Vegan choices are pureed tofu, thick cashew cream, plain soy yogurt, Vegenaise, etc.  Non vegan choices are sour cream, plain yogurt, mayonnaise, blahblah you get the picture here
• 1 TBSP salsa of choice
• 1 canned chipotle pepper + 1 TBSP of the adobo sauce
• Dash Cayenne
• 2 to 3 TBSP water
• Splash lemon juice

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in blender and blend on high until smooth, creamy, and completely mixed.

Baked Black Bean Taquitos

Wow.

Several weeks ago, Drew took me on a date to the Chicago Diner.  I had been wanting to try it for a long time, but the non-vegetarians don't so much want to go out to eat vegetarian when that's what they get at home.  Anyway, off we went, and it was totally worth the wait.

Drew wanted to order black bean taquitos as an appetizer.  I protested, of course, because I can't stand black beans.  He ordered them anyway, and as it turns out, they were fantastic.  This is actually similar to what happened when we went with some friends to a popular pub.  The ONLY vegetarian item on the menu was a black bean burger, so I ordered it even though I knew I wouldn't like it, because I didn't have any choice.  It ended up being good.  Very very good.  I think it's time to face that fact that I've been in denial about black beans all these years and that I actually do like them.  I have no idea when or how this happened.

Today I set about attempting to create my own version of the black bean taquito.  Mine turned out remarkably similar, but they were far more healthy.  Chicago Diner's taquitos were deep fried; I'm not about to deep fry ANYTHING, no matter how good it may be.  I'm all about the health AND the taste over here, and I don't believe you have to sacrifice one for the other!  The filling is adapted from a recipe from Vegetarian Times.

I'm awfully proud of these; they turned out so yummy!

Baked Black Bean Taquitos

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced (or more if you're like me and subscribe to the "no such thing as too much garlic" school of thought!)
• 2 large leeks, finely chopped
• 1 large red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 TBSP cumin

Directions:

1.  Place beans and five cups cold water in bowl.

2.  Soak at least five hours and as long as overnight.

3.  Drain, reserving soaking liquid.

4.  Spray large stock pot with olive oil or cooking spray and heat over medium-low heat.

5.  Add leeks and bell pepper, and sprinkle with salt. Cover, and cook five minutes, stirring occasionally.

6.  Add garlic and cook one minute.

7.  Stir in cumin, and cook one minute more.

8.  Add enough water to soaking liquid to make four cups, and add liquid and beans to the leek/garlic/pepper mixture. Season with salt and pepper, cover, and simmer one hour, or until beans are soft, adding water if necessary.

9.  Drain any excess water from beans; then put beans into a bowl and mash.  I used a regular old potato masher, but I suppose you could use an immersion blender or the food processor.  Mash them up until the texture suits you.  I left mine with a few whole beans, but that had more to do with the fact that I was tired of mashing than it did anything else.

Next you have to put together your taquitos.  I always have the best of intentions when it comes to tortillas, but I never seem to quite manage to make my own.  I did, however, use authentic stone ground, preservative free corn tortillas from the Hispanic market.  That counts.  Right?
 
1.  Preheat oven to 425°.
 
2.  Wrap tortillas in damp paper towels or a damp dish cloth and microwave for a minute and a half.
 
3.  Place a spoonful of the black bean filling into the middle of the tortilla.  If you're using cheese place it down before the beans or it will melt out all over everywhere.
 

 
4.  Roll it up like a little burrito, except do NOT tuck the ends.  Leave them open.
 

5.  Place it seam side down on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with olive oil or cooking spray.

6.  Finish rolling the rest of the taquitos and placing them on the baking sheet.  Mine made 18.  You could get more or less, depending on how much filling you used in each tortilla.

7.  Spray each of them with olive oil or cooking spray and bake for eight to ten minutes.

8.  Turn over and cook for an additional eight to ten minutes or until crispy and golden brown.

I had to cook mine for about 25 minutes total, but our oven isn't really the best, so just watch them.  You'll know when they're done.

Drew commented that he would like his a bit more spicy.  Yes!  Me too!  Yet, I don't spice things up very much, because the boy won't eat anything that he even suspects has a hint of spice.  My next mission is to come up with some sort of spicy dipping sauce, in order to solve this problem.  However, if you want to add some spice directly to your black bean filling, you can add a small, chopped jalapeño with your leeks and pepper at the beginning.  You can also add a couple of dashes of Mexican chili powder with the cumin.  A pinch or two of cayenne would work, as well.  Just play around with it.

Lastly, these were too full, and some of the tortillas kind of exploded in the oven.  Lesson learned.  Make them smaller, and make more.  It didn't compromise the taste at all though.  I'm calling these a success.  Anything that the picky picky child eats is pretty much a success!  Because of the high fiber count, these are quite filling, as well.  I ate three, with a modest sized salad, and I was a bit too full.  I should have had a smaller salad or only eaten two.

Enjoy!