BLACK BEAN & CHEESE QUESADILLAS with AVOCADO SALSA

I have a slight obsession with black beans, as some of you may be able to tell (they have appeared on this blog many times!). The recipe below is loosely based on a Bill Granger recipe and is a favourite lunch and dinner meal of mine. These quesadillas are quite filling and are such an easy vegetarian recipe to whip up. I like to make them on mountain bread as they are lighter and lower in calories than flour tortillas. Black beans are now readily available at all major supermarkets; just make sure to read the labels and buy a brand with a low sugar content! 

INGREDIENTS

Quesadillas 

• 2 x 400g tin black beans, drained & rinsed
• 100g light tasty cheese, grated
• 1 spring onion, finely sliced
• 2 tablespoons fresh coriander, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons taco seasoning 
• 8 flour tortillas or 8 mountain wraps 
• rice bran / olive oil 

Avocado Salsa

• 1 ripe avocado, mashed 
• 1 spring onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh coriander, finely chopped
• 1 tomato, finely diced
• 100g cucumber, finely diced
• 2 tablespoons lime juice

COOKING 

1. Combine the black beans, cheese, spring onion, coriander, taco seasoning and a generous amount of ground black pepper in a large bowl and mix well. 

2. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat, adding 1 teaspoon oil. Swirl oil to coat the pan, then place 1 tortilla or mountain wrap in the oil and swirl to coat. Spoon 1/4 of the black bean mixture onto the tortilla and spread it towards the edges, then cover with another tortilla/wrap, pressing down the edges so that they stick together (or also do). After 2-3 minutes, carefully flip the quesadilla and brown the other side for the same amount of time or slightly less. When cooked place on a plate and cover to stay warm. Repeat this process until all tortillas/wraps are used, adding more oil only when needed. You may need to turn the heat down to medium-low from medium once the pan heats up, as the quesadillas will brown much quicker. 

3. Whilst the quesadillas are cooking make the avocado salsa by combining all the ingredients and adding ground black pepper and a pinch of sea salt. 

Cut the quesadillas into quarters and serve the quesadillas alongside 1/4 of the avocado salsa. 

Serves / 4 (4 quarters per person = 2 tortillas / 2 mountain wraps)
Total Preparation time / 10 minutes 
Total Cooking time / around 20 minutes 

x Emily 

SILVERBEET, PUMPKIN & BLACK BEAN STEW

This recipe was inspired from a recipe on Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow’s online website, found in the ‘Dark Leafy Greens’ post. I have been wanting to try using silverbeet for a long time as I have never cooked it myself before. I will freely admit that I watched a 20 second video on how to prepare it (gosh I love the internet, there's just everything out there that you need or have ever wondered about). It was a bit of a rainy day in Brisbane on Monday, hence the warmer meal. As regular readers of this blog and of Soulful Sandwiches may know, I have been trying and trying to get my fiancé to eat hearty meals without any meat in them. Now I’m not a vegetarian myself but sometimes my body just does not feel like meat or does not need it. This meal was one of the most filling vegetarian meals I have had in a while and I’d definitely recommend this recipe (or Gwyneth’s; she uses sweet potato, white beans and kale).

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 white onion, roughly chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tablespoons lemon pepper
• 700g pumpkin, seeds & peel removed and chopped into even cubes
• 1 x tin of 400g diced tomatoes 
• 500ml (2 cups) vegetable stock 
• 1/3 - 1/2 bunch of silver beet (2 cups tightly packed), stem removed, chopped & washed 
• 1 x 400 tin of black beans, washed & drained

COOKING 

1. Heat coconut oil in a large saucepan over medium heat for 1 minute. Next add the onion and garlic and stir until the onion is soft and the garlic is fragrant. Add the lemon pepper and pumpkin and stir well until all ingredients are combined. Pour in the tomatoes and stir frequently for 5 minutes, until the pumpkin starts to soften. 

2. Add the stock, silver beet and black beans to the pan and stir to combine. Place the lid on the pan and reduce the heat to a low simmer for around 15 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft and tender but not mushy (to make sure mushiness does not happen, check on the stew around the 10-12 minute mark and spear a fork through the biggest cube of pumpkin you can find - if the fork goes in easier the stew is done, if there is some resistance give the stew a few more minutes on the stove). 

Serves / 4

Total Preparation time / 20 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 25-30 minutes 

x Emily