Black Bean Brownies

For dessert I made a batch of my Black Bean Brownies that I found the recipe for a couple months ago and fell in love with.  Vegan and gluten free!

15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 flax eggs (3T ground flax seed meal + 6T water)

3 T. coconut oil, melted

3/4 c. cocoa powder

1/4 t. salt

1 t. vanilla extract

1/2 heaping c. raw sugar

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 c. water

12 oz bag vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly grease a 12 slot standard size muffin pan.  Prepare flax eggs by combining flax and water in food processor or blender.  Pulse a couple times and then let rest for a few minutes.  Add remaining ingredients, except chocolate chips, and puree - about 3 minutes - scraping down sides as needed.  

You want it pretty smooth.  It should be slightly less thick than chocolate frosting but nowhere close to runny.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Evenly distribute batter into muffin tins.  Sprinkle extra chocolate chips on top if wanted.  

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides.  Let cool for 30 minutes before removing from pan.  Store in airtight container in the fridge.  

Chunky Garden Vegetable Spaghetti Sauce

When we were living in Oregon, I remember, a couple times, my mom making this really yummy spaghetti sauce from scratch.  I remember it had a lot of big chunks of veggies in it and it smelled really good!  When I was thinking about what I wanted to make for Sunday dinner this week, I kept thinking, "I just want some pasta with some really good sauce."  (My recent trip to Italy has spoiled me, however, when it comes to pasta.  I don't think I'll ever be satisfied with store-bought pasta again.)

So, I asked mom if she still had the recipe and she did!  I made it last night (because we're having a party at the house tonight and didn't want everything smelling like onions and garlic) and it turned out just as great as I remember it being.  I cooked up some of my favorite gluten free pasta to go with it and steamed some zucchini as a side.  For the gluten eaters in my family I also had a loaf of french bread and made them some regular pasta as well.  This recipe is super easy to make and it's really cheap as well, if you're able to get stuff on sale at the grocery store.  I think my batch this week only cost me about $10 and it made a HUGE pot!!

Here's the recipe:

56 oz. can diced tomatoes
58 oz. can tomato sauce
3 c. chopped onion
2 c. chopped green bell pepper
5-6 c. chopped mushrooms
1 T. garlic, minced
2 T. white wine vinegar
2 t. Mrs. Dash
2-3 stems fresh basil, leaves taken off and stems discarded

Simmer all ingredients (except basil) 1+ hour.

Add basil.  Cook 30 minutes.

*Cover the sauce as it's cooking if it's getting too think.  Uncover it if it needs to thicken.

Banana Cherry Chocolate "Ice Cream"

And now for dessert, and in honor of National Ice Cream Day today and National Ice Cream Month, I tried this new "ice cream" combination.  I found this recipe from The Simple Veganista.


2 frozen bananas, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 1/2 c. cherries, pitted and frozen (divided)
splash of almond milk
1/2 c. vegan chocolate chips (I used Whole Foods' 365 brand that I love)

Place banana chunks, 1 cup cherries and milk into blender and blend until just combined.  You may need to scrape down the sides and add more milk to help the mixture move.

Add in chocolate chips and 1/2 cup cherries, pulse until just combined.  Serve immediately.

Reaction: Loved it!

Roasted Fresh Tomato Soup

Found this recipe here: Vegangela and wanted to give it a try!  There's nothing better than a good bowl of tomato soup and since the canned varieties inevitably wind up having gluten in them (for some reason I still haven't figured out) I was excited to have one now that was gluten-free.

I doubled the recipe (as I often do) so I have plenty of leftovers to either put in the freezer, or take to work for lunch during the week.  This made a BIG pot of soup!  We ended up getting 14 servings out of it, but the were large servings.  If you were just having a cup, instead of a bowl, of soup you'd be able to get a lot more.  With the ingredients I bought on sale this week at the grocery store and what I had on hand, it winded up being less than $1 a serving.  Score!

Here's the recipe:

6 pounds fresh tomatoes, halved (I used Roma tomatoes because they were on sale this week)
12 cloves of garlic (I used the already minced kind in the bottle...it was 6 tsp)
4 small yellow onions, cut in half and then sliced in large slices long-wise
1/2 c. olive oil
Salt and Pepper, to taste
6 c. vegetable broth
4 bay leaves

Preheat oven to 450.

Spread tomatoes, onions, and garlic in a baking dish.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast 30-35 minutes, or until caramelized.

Add veggies, with juices, to a large stock pot.  Add vegetable broth and bay leaves.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.

Using either an immersion blender, or regular blender, blend until smooth.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Reactions: two enthusiastic thumbs up!!