4 Ingredient Easy Black Bean Brownies

 

You Will Need: 

• Box of Duncan Hines Chewy Fudge Brownie Mix Family Size for 13" x 9" pan size  (NOTE: you will not follow the directions on the brownie mix)
• 1 can black beans (drained) 
• 1 can of water (use the can you took the beans out of)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (divided in 1/2, use half for the batter mixture and half on top 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, lightly grease a 13 x 9 inch pan. Pour brownie mix into a large bowl, open can of black beans and drain, place black beans in Nutri Bullet blender cup, fill empty black bean can with water, and pour into the Nutri Bullet blender cup with the black beans, blend for about 20 seconds, shake the Nutri-Bullet blending cup, then blend again for an additional 20 seconds or so until it's liquified. Pour into bowl and combine with brownie mix, mix until liquid is absorbed, then stir in 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. Pour into the pan, top with remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips. 

Cook 38-40 minutes or until the sides of brownies start to pull away from the edges. 

Cool, cut into squares and store in the refrigerator. 

Special Note: 

These brownies don't have a typical brownie texture.....think of them as a chocolate decadent dessert instead of a brownie. These have a creamy rich texture with great flavor.... to me they are part pudding cake texture and part chewy fudge brownie. A plus is that they are more filling than a regular brownie, because of the protein in the black beans, and another plus is they have more nutrition because of the black beans too...and I did not taste the black beans in these at all. I will definitely be making these again.

Enjoy!

15 Bean and Ham Soup

 

You will need: 

• 20 oz. Bag of Hurst's HamBeens Brand Cajun 15 Bean Soup Dried Beans with Hurst's Cajun Seasoning Packet Inside (don't use the whole packet, only use a heaping teaspoon of the Cajun Seasoning Packet towards the end of cooking time)  
• Package Farmland Brand Smoked Spiral Ham Slices and Pieces In Natural Juices, Fully Cooked, (I used a 1.25 pound package)
• 1 Can of diced tomatoes (undrained) 
• 1 Yellow onion chopped
• 2 Heaping teaspoons of minced garlic (refrigerated)
• 1/4 cup Chopped green and red bell pepper (I used frozen)
• 1 tsp. Sea salt
• Sprinkle of garlic powder
• Sprinkle of pepper and salt to taste when done
• Splash of apple cider vinegar (splashed in the last 30 minutes of cooking to reduce gas)

Place beans on a dish cloth and inspect them to remove any debris from the beans, (I have on occasion found small pebbles in dried beans before, so I don't skip this step). 

Place beans in a large bowl, cover beans with water, soak overnight or 8 hours

Drain beans in a colander and place them in a large pot or dutch oven pot, cover with fresh water, add package of spiral ham slices and pieces with juices, add a teaspoon of sea salt, undrained can of diced tomatoes, chopped yellow onion, minced garlic, sprinkle of garlic powder and pepper, and the chopped green and red bell peppers. Bring to a boil and then cover pot with lid and reduce heat to medium and cook at a slow boil simmer, stirring occasionally. Cook for about 4-5 hours, adding more water as needed and turning down the heat to low after the beans get tender. About an hour before serving and when the beans are fairly tender, add 1 heaping teaspoon of the Hurst Cajun Seasoning that is included with the beans in a packet, I didn't add all of the packet because I didn't know how it tasted, and I didn't want my beans and ham to be cajun spicy, I just wanted some good flavoring. Note: I used a slightly heaping spoon full of the seasoning measured with a small spoon from my kitchen utensil drawer- instead of an actual measuring spoon, to measure out the seasoning..... that amount of seasoning was perfect, for our taste, very flavorful, it didn't need the entire package. About 30 minutes before serving add a splash of  the apple cider vinegar and more salt to taste and pepper to taste. 

Serve with sweet cornbread, we used Jiffy Brand Honey Cornbread

Servings: 6 Bowls

This makes a delicious pot of soup  that would feed a crowd or allow for a lot of leftovers. I have to say this is on our list of very favorite soups of all time! It does not taste like a cajun soup, I guess because I did not use but a heaping teaspoon of the season packet included with the beans, but it just has great flavor.  

Enjoy!

Tip: I've read recently, that anything in the ingredients that is acidic should be added to dry beans in the last 30 minutes of cooking to cut the acid, make the beans soft faster as they cook and cut gas in the beans. I suppose in this recipe that the beans would be tender quicker, if waiting to add in the undrained canned tomatoes until the last 30 minutes or so of cooking. I added my canned tomatoes at the beginning of cooking and it turned out great, but I may try adding them the last 30 minutes of cooking next time to see if there's a difference and to see if the beans get tender more quickly.  I'll update this post at a later date to tell you if there was a difference. I will say that  adding the splash of apple cider vinegar during the last 30 minutes of cooking did cut the amount of gas in the beans and make a difference in digesting the beans easier. I've also read that not adding the salt until the last part of cooking helps the beans get tender faster as well, but I just wasn't willing to take a chance on the beans  being not salted enough, so I added in some at the start of cooking and then more to taste when tender and ready to serve. 

Quick Sweet Carrots

 

You will need: 

• 1 can carrots (undrained) 
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar (more or less to taste)
• sprinkle of sea salt
• sprinkle of cinnamon

In a small pot, place undrained carrots, brown sugar and sea salt and cinnamon, add more water if needed to just cover the carrots, bring to a boil, then simmer on low for about 30 minutes or until ready to serve. 

Enjoy!

Chicken Broccoli and Cheese Quesadilla

 

You Will Need: 

• 1 chicken breast, cooked, deboned and chopped into small pieces,  (I used some rotisserie chicken that I picked up at the grocery store already cooked, but you can bake the chicken or use leftover cooked chicken you have on hand already) 
• 1 Crown of fresh broccoli, steamed until fork tender (to steam, cut off the tops from stems and place in a medium pot with about 3/4 cup of water, cover pot with lid and bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and steam for about 5 minutes, drain and let cool slightly, until it is safe to handle, then chop into small pieces).
• Package flour tortilla shells
• Bag grated cheddar cheese

For  Salsa Chili Dipping Sauce, You Will Need:

• 3 Tbsp. sour cream (plus more for to top quesadilla, if desired)
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder (or less, to taste)
• salt, pepper, garlic powder sprinkled to taste

Mix ahead of time and keep in refrigerator until ready to serve

Other Toppings You Will Need:

• A soft ripe avocado (mash the avocado to make guacamole dip, cut the avocado in half, remove the pit, scoop out the flesh into a bowl, mash the flesh with the back of a fork and mix until semi- smooth, sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste). Make the dip just before serving. 
• Sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
• honey mustard (optional dipping choice)   

 In a medium bowl, mix the cut up chicken with the chopped steamed broccoli, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, set aside. Turn stovetop heat to medium high, place tortilla in skillet, 

 Sprinkle cheese on one half of the tortilla, then add the chicken broccoli mixture over the cheese, then top again with cheese

Fold the flour tortilla in half and turn down heat to medium 

Cook until golden brown turning with a spatula as needed, to desired crispness

 Serve with dipping sauce, guacamole, sour cream or even honey mustard. My husband liked dipping his quesadilla in a mix of salsa chili dipping sauce, guacamole and sour cream.  I thought the guacamole tasted the best with it along with sour cream, but I did like the salsa chili sauce too. I thought the honey mustard was good with it also though for a different taste. These are also good with no dipping sauce.  

After making the first quesadilla, I decided to make it a little different to speed up the cooking process, so I'm sharing this way of doing it as well, you will need a large spatula for flipping it.... 

Place one tortilla in skillet, sprinkle cheese on the whole tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges. Next, add the chicken broccoli to the whole tortilla, then top with cheese, next place another tortilla on top 

Tip: You want there to be an even amount of cheese on the tortilla and enough cheese along the edges of the tortilla to hold it together, but not so much cheese that it oozes out as it cooks and comes out of the sides of the tortilla and burns on the pan. 

Tip: You are layering in this order; the tortilla, the cheese, the chicken broccoli mixture, the cheese, then lastly another tortilla.

Cook until bottom is golden brown and slightly crispy. With a large spatula flip the tortilla and cook the other side until golden brown, remove from skillet and place on a large plate....

Let cool on a plate for about a minute or two, then use a pizza cutter to cut the quesadilla into slices. 
 

Recipe makes about 4- 6 whole quesadillas, (depending on how thick you make them).

It makes 4-6 servings

Enjoy!