Eggplant Chip Nachos in Wasabi Sauce (Cheese-less)

When I go on vacation, I often have trouble finding something to eat at a restaurant.

Most places serve something over an abundance of pasta. I’ll eat a little pasta here and there, but not when it makes up most of my meal. I don’t eat meat when I’m out cause 95% of the time it’s not organic and shot up with god knows what. Normally I do grilled seafood, but at the place we went, it was rather expensive. So I ended up picking…

nachos!

Something I thought I’d never get.

Not a fan of the yellow mystery cheese.

But these nachos had no cheese. Instead, it had a bit of some wasabi sauce mixed in. There was so much stuff in the nachos that I dug my way around the chips (my family ate those) and still had left overs! It was so good that I had to recreate it.

Unfortunately, I do not have the money to grill me up some tuna steak, so I had to use canned tuna instead. Oh well, still tasted amazing. I also made eggplant chips instead of using tortilla chips. They came out of the oven nice and crispy, but when I mixed them in at the end, they kinda grew soft. Therefore, I advise just serving them on the side and using them as dippers if you want a “nacho” feel. Either way, it tastes amazing!

Eggplant Chip Nachos in Wasabi Sauce (Cheese-less) 

Ingredients:

1 Eggplant

salt

pepper, to taste

5 (or more) large romaine lettuce leaves

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 large heirloom tomato, finely chopped

1 tbsp jalapeño pepper, finely chopped

1 5oz can of tuna, drained

Optional: Mashed avocado and/or salsa

         Wasabi Sauce:

1 and 1/2 tbsp wasabi

1 tbsp sour cream

1 tsp horseradish

1 tsp mustard

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Directions: 

Spray baking pans with cooking oil. Cut the eggplant into thin coins, as thin as you can make them. Quarter the coined slices. Lay the slices on paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Let sit for 20 minutes. Afterwards, blot up water that forms on top of the eggplant with another paper towel. Arrange slices on baking pans and spray with cooking oil of choice. Sprinkle with pepper and bake at 375 degrees for 25-35 minutes, removing individual eggplant chips if they become crisp earlier.

Meanwhile, take several leaves of lettuce at a time, twist together, and cut into strips with kitchen shears. Spread out on serving platter. Top with chopped shallots and place in fridge.

In a small bowl, mix together wasabi ingredients. Also place in fridge.

Right before serving, add black beans, tomatoes, pepper, tuna, and wasabi sauce. Toss together. Add in eggplant chips and toss again (or just leave on the side to keep crisp). Mix in mashed avocado and/or salsa, if desired.

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Black Bean Soup

Ahhh Valentine’s Day. I feel like this holiday is becoming more of a big deal every year. Then again, maybe I was just too young to really grasp its importance. Well, importance to some people anyway. I don’t know, Valentine’s Day just never was a big thing for me. Why?

1. If someone got me a card, I’d throw it in the corner of my room for 6 months, eventually find it, feel guilty, throw it out, and feel guilty again.
2. If someone got me boxed candy, I wouldn’t eat it because I didn’t like the taste and ingredients in them.
3. If someone got me flowers, they would be dead by the next day.

But the biggest reason was because of the valentine’s cards I’d have to bring to my elementary class. I ABSOLUTELY hated this tradition. The weekend before Valentines Day, you could find me sitting at the kitchen table writing every kid’s name from my class over and over again on scrap paper for hours (no exaggeration here). You see, according to my dad, my handwriting was horrible. And so, he made my practice writing my classmates names until they were “suitable” enough to write on a card. I really started holding grudges against people with long names, such as Christopher, Marcellus, and Anna-Sophia.

Anyway, Valentine’s Day has never made it on my top 5 favorite holiday list. However, please don’t think of me as a total grinch (or what ever equals to an anti-Valentine’s Day person). I still greatly appreciate any gestures people show me. As a kind of contribution to the holiday, I decided to post this recipe. After all, everyone knows the song “beans, beans, good for the heart.” Just ignore the rest of the song (Hey, we’re all above the age of 12 here, right?)

Black Bean Soup

Ingredients: 

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup carrots, coined

1 tbsp jalapeño peppers

1 tbsp dried parsley

1 tbsp dried cilantro

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp oregano

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

3 cans black beans, rinsed and drained

3 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup red wine

3 bay leaves

salt and pepper

hot sauce

Optional: shredded cheese

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add and sauté the onion and garlic cloves for 5 minutes. Mix in the green bell pepper, carrots, and jalapeño peppers and sauté for an additional 5 minutes. Add in the parsley, cilantro, cumin, oregano, chili powder, garlic powder, cayenne, and red pepper flakes and cook for 15 more minutes. Add in beans, chicken broth, red wine, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and then let simmer, uncovered, for 25 minutes. Remove bay leaves and puree with an immersion blender. Add salt, pepper, and hot sauce to taste. Ladle into bowls and top with cheese, if desired.

Turkey Tortilla Soup

Got leftover turkey (or even chicken)? Here’s a recipe to use it all up! What I like about this is that all you have to do is throw all the ingredients in a pot and turn on the heat. Then, you can just set up little stations of cheese, tortilla crumbs, and avocados so everyone can pick and choose for themselves. A nice simple dinner for a week night 🙂

Turkey Tortilla Soup 

Ingredients: 

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups cooked organic turkey (or chicken), shredded

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup frozen corn

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

3 cups chicken broth

1 28oz can tomatoes with juice

salt and pepper to taste

Toppings:

grated cheese

tortilla chip crumbs

avocado, cut into slices

Directions:

Heat oil in pot. Sauté onion and garlic cloves for 7 minutes. Add in turkey, black beans, corn, cumin, chili powder, chicken broth, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 25 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into individual bowls and top with cheese, crumbs, and slices of avocado.

Southwestern Black Bean Avocado Salad

I feel bad. I haven’t been keeping up with my blog lately. School has just been so crazy that all I keep thinking is “Is it winter break yet?” Lucky, I had a bit of time a few nights back to fix this up. It makes a LOT (leftovers!) and is very filling. Plus, it’s filled with so many colors that it looks quite fancy without much effort. The best part? (Besides eating it, of course) It’s quick to put together. Perfect for the many busy school nights to come.

 

Southwestern Black Bean Avocado Salad

Ingredients:

1 can (15 oz) black bean, rinsed and drained

1 cup tomatoes, diced

1 cup frozen corn

1 avocado, cubed

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1 sweet pepper, chopped

2 tbsp jalapeño pepper, chopped

1/2 tbsp cilantro

1/2 tbsp parsley

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp cayenne powder

2-3 tbsp lime juice

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large serving bowl, combine and mix all ingredients together. Refrigerate at least an hour  before serving with chips or a fork.

Cuban Rice and Black Beans

I must be a very odd college student. It’s pretty safe to say that most people my age would not list beans as one of their favorite foods. All I can say is… their loss. So for dinner tonight, I actually had time to relax and make this. I’ve been meaning to try cuban rice, especially because I could add in black beans. It tasted heavenly. My dad, sister and I ate the whole pot, so next time I’m definitely doubling this baby. Enjoy!

 

Cuban Rice and Black Beans   

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup green bell pepper, chopped

1 tbsp jalapeño pepper, chopped

1/4 cup celery, chopped

1 cup uncooked arborio rice

1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 and 1/2 – 3 cups chicken broth

3 bay leafs

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 tbsp cilantro

1 tbsp vinegar

1/2 tbsp lime juice

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp hot sauce

splash of red wine

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat oil in a large pot. Add in onion, garlic cloves, bell peppers, jalapeño peppers, and celery and sauté for 5 minutes. Afterwards, add and stir in rice, beans, bay leafs, cumin, oregano, chili powder, and crushed red pepper flakes. Add in chicken broth until the rice mixture is just covered, about 2 and 1/2 cups. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, and add chicken broth as needed as the rice absorbs the liquid. After 25 minutes, add and mix in cilantro, vinegar, lime juice, garlic powder, hot sauce, red wine, and salt and pepper and cook for 5 more minutes. Take off heat and let sit for another 5 minutes before serving.