Maple Baked Beans with Apple Salsa

Posted on July 3, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

I think it’s high time I share my favorite baked beans recipe with you. No Southern get together seems to be complete without baked beans and everyone has a slightly different way of making them. I think that the apple salsa really takes mine to a whole new level in terms of taste as well as nutrition. I might go as far as to call these beans…healthy. {Or maybe not, there is still a good bit of sugar!} I can easily say that these are the best baked beans I’ve ever had. {Sorry Mama.} Give them a try this July 4th, and let me know if you agree!

Maple Baked Beans with Apple Salsa

3-4 slices of bacon {depending on the size of the dish you’re cooking the beans in}

The Beans
1/2 cup kidney beans
1/2 cup black beans
1/2 cup BBQ sauce

The Apple Salsa {inspired by Tupelo Honey Cafe}
1 granny smith apple
1/2 of a red pepper
1/2 of a green chili
1/4 of a sweet onion
1 tbsp honey
a dash of salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 400°F/200°C.

Put your bacon in a cold pan start heating over medium heat. You’re just doing this to render the fat, so once the white bit has become shiny and a bit translucent remove it from the heat. The bacon will cook completely in the oven, don’t worry.

In a medium bowl, combine your beans and BBQ sauce. Peel and dice your apple and add it to the bowl. Remove the seeds from the pepper and the chili. {Be careful with the chili seeds. Wash your hands with hot water and soap afterwards and avoid touching your eyes–ouch!} Dice them up and add them to the bowl. Peel and dice your onion and add it to the bowl too. Add in the bit of honey and salt and pepper and give it all a big stir.

Pour it into a baking dish. I used a 6in pie pan, but a 9×9 should be fine too {plus you’ll have room for more bacon}. Make a layer of bacon over the top and put it in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes and you’re done!

{This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. That means that if you head over to Amazon from the link and choose to buy the book, a tiny bit of the money you spent on the book will come back to me for the referral.}

Roasted Green Beans

Posted on June 20, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

Back in college, my friends and I would do what every other college kid does for spring break and go to the beach. There were a good number of us, so we rented this amazing ocean front apartment that had a pretty sick kitchen. After a couple nights of ridiculously long waits at pretty average restaurants, we decided to make use of said kitchen. Each of us made part of the meal, and while everything was delicious, the thing that stuck with me most were Jill’s green beans. “Really? Green beans?” you say. Really. While stupidly simple to make, they are simply out of this world. I bet they would be great on a grill too!

What about you? Do you like cooking on vacation? Part of traveling to me is checking out what the locals are eating. While I love going to random grocery stores and markets, when it comes to meals, we always search out a good restaurant filled with locals. However, this week The Kichtn is talking all about cooking while traveling, and I’m feeling a little inspired. Or maybe we will check this out.

Roasted Green Beans

Two handfuls of fresh green beans
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic salt

Preheat the oven on broil.

Snap the ends off the beans and remove the strings on the sides. Wash them and pat dry.

Spread the beans out on a lined baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil and garlic salt. Give it a stir to make sure that all the beans are covered with the oil and pop it in the oven for about 10-15 minutes*. About halfway through give them a stir. You’ll know they’re done when they start to crisp up.

*Time varies based on your oven. In the States, the top element in the oven seems to be very strong so it might be more like 10 minutes. Here it’s more like 20 minutes.

Cashew Pesto from Tupelo Honey Cafe

Posted on June 6, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

I was late to the pesto party. Up until 2010, I probably couldn’t have even told you that there was basil in it. {Don’t hate.} Until… one of my roommates started having it every night {well that or Kraft Mac and Cheese}. I was intrigued, and then I was hooked. While I like the pesto in a jar just fine, it’s hard for me to use up the whole jar before I start thinking that the contents are getting a bit questionable {which probably explains why she had it every night}. If you have a food processor, making it yourself could not be simpler. Plus it is so much fresher and you can easy to control the amount you’re making so you don’t end up wasting money. Not convinced you should make your own yet? It you make your own, you can use cashews. I wish I could take credit for this pesto recipe, but I can’t. It’s from the Tupelo Honey Cafe cookbook and just like the name implies it is made with cashews instead of pine nuts. I love pine nuts, but these cashews take this stuff to a new level.

Kiwi and Peach: Cashew Basil Pesto

Cashew Pesto from Tupelo Honey Cafe

{makes about 1/2 cup}

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves {pack as much in there as you can}
1/3 cup salted cashews
2 cloves of garlic
juice from 1/2 of a lemon {1 Tbsp}
pinch of salt
a few grinds of fresh ground black pepper
1/3 cup olive oil

Add all of the ingredients to your food processor and process. Technically you are supposed to drizzle the olive oil in gradually as you process, but my food processor isn’t fancy enough to have a hole into which to drizzle. I’ve never had a problem just doing it all at the same time, but if you do, try the adding it gradually method. One of our favorite dinners is whole wheat pasta {fusilli, spaghetti, it doesn’t matter} tossed in pesto with these oven roasted tomatoes. Add a healthy amount of parmesan cheese and a bit of cracked black pepper and I call that dinner.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Blue Cheese

Posted on June 5, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

I can not tell y’all how many times I’ve gone to check out at our local and the cashier will hold up the sweet potato I’m buying and ask me what the heck it is. It happens at least 50% of the time. It invariably leads to other questions which I can’t answer fully because my German is a bit limited. My fall back is always ‘Süßkartoffeln sind sehr gut für Ihre Gesundheit.” which sounds like something a third grader would say. The reason for their lack of knowledge of this magical root vegetable? Sweet potatoes, or kumara in New Zealand, have only been widely available in Germany for about 5 years, so they are relatively new to the German food market. Not everyone has caught on to and embraced the new potato in town. {Maybe they should though. I’m sure sweet potato Knödel would be infinitely better than its current form.}

However, when buying some the other day, I happened upon a little pamphlet in front of the bin from the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission describing why they were good for you {Vitamin A! Very important for this carrot hater} and how to use them, auf Deutsch of course. I actually considered taking a few with me so I could spread the public service announcement to cashiers at other stores, but I refrained. Well done North Carolina. Thanks for having my back. Just one more reason for me to love you.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce

The Fries
1 sweet potato
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt {or garlic salt}

The Sauce
4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
¼ cup sour cream
2 Tbsp cream
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp plain yogurt

Preheat your oven to 450°F/225°C.

Peel your potato and chop into slices that are approximately 4.25 inches in length and 1/3 of an inch in width and height. Just kidding. Chop them to look like fries. Put them in a medium size bowl, add the salt and olive oil, and toss to coat. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread your fries out on it. Pop them in the oven for 30 minutes. Give them a stir about half way through so they are evenly crispy.

While the fries are baking, break out the food processor. Add all of the ingredients for the sauce to the food processor and blend until its creamy and the blue cheese is in tiny chunks.

This is a great side if your making a burger or any sandwich for that matter. I also make them with wings and when I make buffalo chicken fingers {pictured} because then the sauce can serve double duty.

Homemade Spanish Rice

Posted on May 29, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

A few weeks ago, as I was planning our Cinco de Mayo festivities, I found myself nursing a serious craving for some spanish rice. Which brought on this revelation– I had never made spanish rice from scratch. What?! I know, I was shocked too. I mean, how could someone who has been cooking up ‘Mexican’ food for her Tex-Mex loving family since she was thirteen have never given homemade spanish rice a go?

Then I realized that it was because I never had to. The quick, easy, just-add-water packets of spanish rice had always been readily available. So why make it from scratch?

Now I’m making it out of necessity since they don’t have those little packets here in Deutschland. However, you should give it a go because your homemade version will have tons less sodium, more fiber, more vitamins, and hardly any preservatives. {and you’ll be really proud of yourself and everyone needs a confidence boost sometimes!}

Regardless of the reason for my inexperience {laziness}, it was high time I remedied the situation. After a little experimentation, I came up with this recipe that will be my go to from here on out. I added black beans for a bit of extra fiber {and to make whole proteins since grains and beans are complementary}, but you can leave them out if you would like.

Homemade Spanish Rice

The Rice
2/3 cup brown rice
1 1/3 cup water

The Goodies
1 tsp oilve oil
whatever veggies you have on hand
1/2 cup black beans {optional}

Some of the veggies I’ve had success with:
red pepper {half}, onion {half}, green chilli {half}, fresh kernels of corn {1/4 cup}, and tomato {half}

The Seasoning
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp chilli powder

Boil your jug and put the rice on to cook. Follow the directions on the packaging for length of time but it is usually about 25-30 minutes for brown rice. {The 10 min quick rices will work if you’re in a pinch, but you will lose most of the yummy fiber that you get from brown rice and it’s less filling.}

When the rice has about 10 minutes left, start heating a deep sauté pan on medium heat and dice up your veggies. I just used what I had on hand, but feel free to add other veggies if you’d like. Tomatoes and green chilies would be great in this too. Add a little olive oil to the pan and toss in your veggies. Rinse your beans and add them too. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When the rice is finished, pour a little more olive oil in the pan and add the rice. Stir the rice in with the veggies and black beans. Add the cumin, paprika, and chilli powder and mix well. Cook for 2-3 more minutes so all the flavors can get to know each other and you’re finished.

This is a great side for all your Tex-Mex faves like quesadillas, burritos, and enchiladas. Tonight we are having it with baked beer taquitos!