Black Bean, Corn, Tomato and Quinoa Salad

1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup water
2 ears of corn (leave husks on)
1 cup black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 green bell pepper (finely diced)
1 small onion (finely diced)
1/4 cup cilantro (chopped)
1-2 T olive oil
1-2 T white wine vinegar
1/2 lime
1 whole garlic clove
chili powder
cayenne pepper powder
salt and pepper

Salad:

Preheat oven to 350. Rinse corn with the husks on. Place directly on middle rack in the oven and cook for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool, husk and cut kernels from the cob into a medium bowl.

While the corn is cooking, rinse and drain the quinoa in cold water a few times. Bring 1 cup of water to boil and add the quinoa. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until done.

Add to the corn the cooked quinoa, black benas, cherry tomatoes, green bell pepper, onion and cilantro.


Dressing:

In a small bowl use a garlic press to mash the garlic, or mince it. Add the olive oil, vinegar, lime salt and pepper, chili powder and cayanne pepper (a little goes a long way). Wisk together. I usually use a jar with a lid and then just shake it. Adjust spices for taste.

Add the dressing to the salad and stir to combine.

This is best when made ahead and chilled for an hour or so. It is also great the next day as leftovers. The dressing has a great flavor and the key to this dish is using fresh corn (although it won’t stop me from using frozen in the winter). I served this last night with cold leftover chicken and it was delicious! This is a new hit! Shout out to Kevin at Closet Cooking for this one I've been using his site more and more. I'm gonna have to say it's one of my favorites!

Black Beluga Lentil Soup

1 cup black beluga lentils, picked over and rinsed
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 cup water
2 cups of a big leafy green (chard, kale, etc), rinsed well, deveined, finely chopped
spices and vinegar to taste

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan, add the lentils, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until tender. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a heavy soup pot over medium heat, then add the onion and salt and saute until tender, a couple minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, lentils, and water and continue cooking for a few more minutes, letting the soup come back up to a simmer. Stir in the chopped greens, and wait another minute. Taste and adjust the seasoning if need be. Ladle into bowls, and serve. I topped it with fresh chopped tomatoes.

Serves 3 to 4.

This recipe comes from 101 cookbooks here. That recipe calls for a saffron infused yogurt which I really want to try but didn't have saffron on hand. Next time I'll try it and update this post. This recipe is sort of a base soup recipe. It needs to have spice added to it to jazz it up. I added paprika, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper and my favorite: smoked salt. I also added a dash or two of vinegar. This is great with bread or a small sandwich.

Black Bean Cakes with Sweet Corn Vinaigrette over greens

Black Bean Cakes:

1 cup cooked black beans, rinsed and drained
1 eggs, beaten lightly
3-4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 small jalepeno, minced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

Put black beans into a large bowl.

In a medium frying pan, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Cook scallions for 2 minutes, add garlic, jalepeno, and cumin; cook for 30 seconds until fragrent; remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl.

Pour the hot mixture over the black beans. Mash the beans with a potato masher. The beans should be a mixture of completely mashed beans with a couple whole and some half whole beans. Stir in the egg.

Slowly add bread crumbs until the gooeyness of the beans and eggs mixture dries up. Don't add too much. Leave the mix somewhat sticky.

Heat the oil in a skillet. Scoop out about 1/4 cup of the mixture and place it into the skillet. You can fry 2-3 of these at a time without much of a problem. Let cook on the one side until the bottom is showing some signs of browning and the patty holds together. Flip carefully and cook the other side until it is similarly done.

Set aside in a warm oven while you finish the rest of the cakes and prepare the sauce.


Sweet Corn Vinaigrette:
1/2 cup sweet corn
2 T white wine vinegar
1/4 (approx) olive oil
pinch red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor, blend the corn until smoothish. Add vinegar, salt and pepper and red pepper flakes. Blend a few seconds more, scraping the sides down. While the food processor is blending, slowly add olive oil until the vinaigrette is emulsified and a nice texture.

Serve black bean cakes over fresh salad greens and top with vinaigrette.

Serves 2-3.

The sweet corn vinaigrette is perfect with black bean cakes. This is a nice, light supper that is satisfying but not to filling.