MoFo Day 18! Sweet potato black bean quesadilla

What do you call a quesadilla without queso?

I've been thinking about making something to this effect all week. I bought a bunch of sweet potatoes, intending to use them for soup, but I really haven't been in the mood for soup lately.

Tonight, I needed something quick to make for dinner. I was in the middle of baking cookies for the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, when I realized I needed to eat.

I always have a few cans of black beans on hand, and I happened to buy some (oh so photogenic) red chile tortillas the other day. So, naturally, I thought about the awesomeness that is sweet potatoes with black beans. I was too hungry to roast the potato properly, so I zapped it in the microwave for about 6 minutes. I peeled the skin away and smashed it up with some olive oil and chile powder. For the bean layer, I sauteed some black beans with a little olive oil, a tomato and some Frontera Chipotle Salsa. Add slices from half an avocado, and it's a surprisingly filling meal. In fact, I'm sitting here, picking at the last quarter because I'm pretty damn full.

MoFo Day 7! Hummus and Feijoada

Two things tonight to make up for all the late posts recently, also to celebrate the return of internet. First up...hummus! Like any/every vegan, I’m completely addicted to hummus. I think it’s a requirement. I could eat hummus every day, for every meal. In fact I have some weeks. I have no idea where I originally found this recipe. All I know is that there is a .jpg file on my computer that was originally marked ‘hummus’. One day, after making this recipe, I decided to look it up. Based on some of the clues in the picture, I figured out that it’s from Vive le Vegan by Dreena Burton. The first pic below is the original file I found, complete with someone’s notes. I don’t follow the notes. I like the hummus as written. I usually use 4 T. lemon juice and sometimes I add less tahini. I’ve tried a few different hummus recipes over the years, and this is my favorite I’ve made. The second picture is the hummus I made this afternoon. I usually eat it with Garden of Eatin’ Blue Corn chips or carrot sticks, but it’s great with pitas or on sandwiches or straight out of the blender. Yes, I’ve nicked my fingers on the blades on multiple occasions trying to get every creamy bit.

(This is not my picture! I found it somewhere online.)

Tonight I finished the feijoada from Urban Vegan. I started soaking the beans on Wedesday night, but didn’t get around to putting them on the stove until Saturday around 2pm. Then around 3, Fred called, asking if I wanted to go bowling. I did, so I turned off the heat, threw a lid on the pot and headed out the door. Fred and I ended up hanging out all night, and I stayed over at his house. This afternoon, when I came home, I turned on the stove as soon as I walked in the door. This is a long recipe, but there’s hardly any active prep, just soaking the beans, chopping an onion, some garlic and the tempeh bacon.

I think the recipe has potential, but I found the actual flavor somewhat lacking. It had a nice smokiness from the tempeh bacon, but I thought it needed some salt and more pepper flakes. I’d also like to try it with hot sauce and avocado, maybe more garlic too (says the garlic fiend). Now that I think of it, there’s no salt in the recipe. I’m assuming it’s because of the two packs of tempeh bacon. I think like most soups and stews, this will taste better tomorrow, once the flavors can meld a little more. It was filling, inexpensive and easy. And the brown rice gave a nice texture contrast.