Bean Burgers

Straight from Bittman:

Bean Burgers

2 cans white beans x 16oz
1 large onion
3/4 cups rolled oats

Throw those things and salt and pepper into the food processor. Taste; if it’s too dry, add water; too wet, add more rolled oats, a tablespoon at a time.

Cook with lots of olive oil with the burner on 6 with a cover on the skillet and don't try to flip them too early. The burger can be still squishy in the middle when you serve it.

Avocado
Hamburger Buns
Tomato
Cheddar

Throw those things together. Mush the avocado with the burger if the baby is finicky.

Goan Black Eyed Pea Curry

Mince 1 small yellow onion (about 1 cup) and saute in oil until browned. Add in your wet masala:

1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/4-1/2 tsp chili
1/2 tsp cumin

saute for another minute, then add 1 tomato, diced. Cook down for a minute and add in 2 cans black eyed peas, preferably Goya. Stir to mix

Add in 1 cup hot water. Bring to boil, cover, and simmer 10 minutes

Add 1 cup coconut milk. Simmer 10 more minutes

Add 1 T lemon juice and 2 T chopped cilantro.

Eat with naan or as a soup.

Pigeon Peas with Mango

Heat oil in a pot, add cumin seeds until they sputter. Throw in a can of pigeon peas, which you might be able to find in the Goya section of the supermarket.

Chop up a mango and throw that in, too. Add a lot of garam masala, turmeric, coriander, salt, garlic, and sesame seeds. Throw in a big pinch of curry leaves, or if you don't have any curry leaves, any leaf that will be a pain to dig out of the dish at the end will substitute just fine.

Cook it for a while and then pick out the curry leaves. Smash it up a bit with a spoon; the mango should be pretty well pulverized at this point. Add chopped cilantro and serve!

Taken very generally from The Times.

Potato Bean Soup

This is a quick delicious soup. We just made it from what we had lying around and it turned out so well we decided to write it down. It goes without saying that you can substitute as you see fit.

Saute a sliced leek in olive oil. Add 3 potatoes chopped, 3 carrots chopped, 3-4 cloves of garlic chopped, and 1 zucchini chopped. Saute briefly and then add stock (we used water and a bouillon cube because they don't sell stock in Europe). Add enough to cover veggies and then some. Add more later as necessary. Add two cans of beans (we did white beans and kidney beans) and 1+ can of diced tomatoes. Cook until veggies are tender. Sprinkle in some spices (I used lots of dried basil, some tumeric, and a little paprika). Using a potato masher, mash around the soup a bit so it gets a little thicker. Add a couple handfuls chopped Italian parsley. Serve with fresh grated parmesan on top.

Great with a salad, bread, and good cheese! Also a nice red wine (but that's too hard to come by in Norway)

White Bean Parmesan Dip

1 big can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
3 T olive oil
handful of fresh parsley
handful of grated parmesan
2 t fresh oregano
1 clove garlic

Combine in food processor. Service with carrots, belgian endive, and crunchy breadsticks

Garlic and Bean Soup

Start by sauteing 12 cloves garlic.

Add 10.5 cups water, 4 carrots, 6 stalks celery, 2 diced onions, and 2 cans of garbanzo beans. Cook until celery is done.

Add juice of 1 lemon, chopped cilantro. Blend well.

There were a few things that we'll do differently next time we make this soup. First off, we substituted 3 cups of stock for water because we had it lying around, which helped.

Better proportions would be 8 cups of water/stock, 5-6 carrots, 3 stalks celery, and two cans of beans. White beans might work better than garbanzos, really. And if you're in a rush, maybe do without the celery entirely, it takes forever to cook.

Squash and Black Bean Enchiladas

preheat 350

Mix together cooked brown rice, black beans, the flesh of 1 baked butternut or acorn squash, 1 onion, 1 bell pepper, 1 can green chilies diced and drained, cilantro, grated cheddar cheese. Roll into tortillas and place in a baking dish. Top with green enchilada sauce. Cover and bake for 45 minutes. Top with cheddar cheese and serve with yogurt and avocados.

Green enchilada sauce:

* 1 pound peeled (paper skin) and washed
tomatillos, cut in halves
* 2 medium white onions coarsely chopped.
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 4-6 cloves garlic, smashed or 2 -3 teaspoons garlic powder
* 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
* 1 tablespoon mild chili powder (or to taste)
* 2 cups roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped Anaheim chilies 0r 1 4oz can diced green chilies

* 3 cups mild chicken broth
* Salt and pepper to taste

Instruction:
In a medium sauce pan, place the olive oil, onions and garlic and cook until soft. Add the broth,tomatillos, cumin, chili powder and green chilies and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer and cover, continue cooking until the tomatillos are soft. Cool until room temperature. At this point, you may refrigerate sauce for later or freeze. When ready, process sauce until smooth in a blender or food processor.

White Bean Provencal Soup

In a large stock pot, saute 2 cups onions, 2 cups celery, and 6 cloves garlic in olive oil. Add 4 cups water, 29 oz chicken broth, 1/2 cup white wine (optional), 1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes, 1 lb chicken breasts, and Bean Cuisine soup mix (includes beans, spices, and red bell pepper). Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 3 hours. Shred chicken with a fork before serving. Salt to taste.