It's BEAN a long week!

I got an email today from my cooking buddy K. She was looking for some good vegetable and/or bean recipes for the summer. As I was searching through my pile 'o recipes I came across the following bean recipes that I love. Unfortunately I didn't fair so well on the vegetable recipes, but I'm still working on it. Perhaps that will be the focus of next week's cooking. These recipes are all easy to put together with relatively few ingredients. Don't get scared by the number of ingredients in the curried couscous, it's well worth it!

Mississippi Caviar

• 4 cups black eyed peas


• 1 cup julienne-cut yellow bell pepper


• 1 cup chopped tomato


• 1/2 cup bottled reduced-calorie Italian dressing


• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley


• 1/4 cup chopped red onion

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, toss gently to combine. Cover and chill 3 hours to overnight. Serve over salad greens or as a side.


White Bean, Tomato and Green Bean Salad

dressing:

• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice


• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar


• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil


• 1/4 tsp sugar


• 1/4 tsp salt


• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper


• 1 garlic clove, minced

salad:

• 5 cups cut green beans (about 1 lb)


• 1 cup finely chopped tomatoe (or cherry/grape tomatoes)


• 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill


• 1 can navy beans rinsed and drained (or any white bean)


• 1/2 cup fet cheese crumbled (if you're into that, or you can elliminate and it's still delish)

To prepare dressing, combine first 7 ingredients stir with a whisk.

Place green beans in large saucepan of boiling water; cook 5 minutes. Drain and plunge into ice cold water; drain. Place beans in a large bowl, add tomato, dill, navy beans; toss to combine. Drizzle with dressing, toss to coate. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and chill at least 1 hour.


Black Bean Quesadillas

• 1 tablespoon olive oil


• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic


• 2 cups chopped plum tomatoes


• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro


• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed


• 4 (8-inch) flour tortillas


• 3/4 cup (3 oz) shredded mexican blend cheese

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, cilantro and beans, cook 5 minutes or until liquid evaporates, stirring occassionally. Place tortillas on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Top each tortilla with 1/2 cup bean mixture and 3 tablespoon cheese. Fold tortilla in half. Lightly coat tortillas with cooking spray. Broil quesadillas for 3 minutes or until cheese melts and tortillas are golden. Cut each tortilla into 3 wedges and
serve.