Pinto Bean and Zucchini Hummus

• 1 cup dried pinto beans
• 5 or 6 sun-dried tomatoes
• 4 or 5 whole dried red chilies
• 1 small zucchini, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 2 tablespoons whole fat yogurt
• juice from one lemon
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

Rinse the pinto beans and soak overnight in several inches of cold water with a little yogurt whey or lemon juice added. Drain the beans and add to a medium saucepan. Cover with several inches of fresh water, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour or until the beans are soft. Drain.

Meanwhile, cover the sun-dried tomatoes and dried red chilies with hot water in a small bowl and soak for 20 minutes. Drain.

Combine the sun-dried tomatoes, chilies, zucchini, garlic, tahini, yogurt and lemon juice in a small bowl. In a food processor, blend with the beans, olive oil and salt until smooth. If necessary, process the mixture in batches. Serve with flatbreads, pitas, crackers or vegetables.

Makes approximately 3 cups of hummus.

from Lisa's Kitchen: Vegetarian Recipes

NOTES: Tried 1/10: meh

What to Do with Pinto Beans

A Few Quick Serving Ideas:

Use pinto beans in chili recipes in place of kidney beans.

Blend together pinto beans with sage, oregano, garlic and black pepper for a delicious spread that can be used as a crudité dip or sandwich filling.

Layer cooked pinto beans, chopped tomatoes and onions and shredded cheese on a tortilla. Broil in the oven until hot and cheese melts. Top with chopped avocado and cilantro.

Add pinto beans to vegetable soups.

Heat pinto beans together with cooked rice. Add cooked chopped vegetables such as carrots, zucchini and tomatoes. Season to taste and enjoy this simple-to-prepare one pot meal.

from The World's Healthiest Foods

Butterscotch Pudding

• 3/4 cup heavy cream, not ultra-pasteurized
• 1 1/4 cup whole milk (or 2 cups half & half)
• 5 oz. dark brown sugar
• 1.5 oz. unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 large egg
• 1 pinch kosher salt
• 1 splash vanilla extract

In a heavy bottomed stainless steel sauce pan melt butter over low heat and add brown sugar. With a wooden spoon stir in well to incorporate. Cook for at least 10 minutes, stirring infrequently. Add salt.

Meanwhile combine dairy and warm up, but do not let boil.

Whisk egg and yolks together in mid sized bowl.

Sift cornstarch and sugar into another mid sized bowl. If it looks like you lost some cornstarch in the process, add a little more. Cornstarch absorbs moisture and loves to stick to everything! Whisk to combine these and make a "well" in the center.

When brown sugar/butter has been on the stove for a bit, add dairy and whisk to smooth out. When this mixture is hot to the touch, shut off heat.

OK. Now you are making a liaison. You need to get the eggs and cornstarch into the mixture, but evenly and delicately. The Instruction I am about to give is the best way to make any stove-top pudding, the most popular being pastry cream.

Using a ladle, lift a small amount (betw 2-4 oz) of the hot liquid and pour it directly in the middle of the cornstarch "well." Using a small whisk, whisk this mixture in tight concentric circles from the middle out. You want a smooth, loose paste. If you have not put in enough, or put in too much liquid you will get clumps. When you have your unlumpy mixture, ladle in a little more liquid and do the same again.

Now ladle, while whisking, some liquid into the beaten egg bowl. This step is not nearly as delicate a matter as the previous step. Again, you want to warm up the egg mixture, turning the bowl into warm-hot eggy liquid.

Whisk eggy liquid into cornstarchy liquid. Incorporate as much as possible. Pour this into the pot. Whisk to incorporate. If you notice a lot of any kind of lump, pass this mixture through a fine meshed sieve.

Put pot back on stove over medium heat. Whisk continuously and violently. Try to whisk at all sorts of angles so that the whisk bottom makes it into the "corners" of the pot. If you are not breaking a sweat or getting sore, you may not be whisking hard enough. Pain = Pleasure

Whisk until custard thickens and "comes to boil." I put this in quotes because once custard gets thick, these bubbles are hard to see. When it starts to get thick, stop to see if bubbles are rising to the surface. The sound they'll make is "Gloop."

Take off heat and add in vanilla extract. Taste. Does it taste like butterscotch? Does it need more vanilla extract? Salt? Not sure & don't want to ruin the whole batch finding out? Take a small amount out, put in a bowl and experiment on that.

Spoon into bowls. Chill, and unless you like custard skin, press plastic wrap right to the surface. Of course you can always eat it warm too. MMMmmmmmmmmm.

I like to garnish my butterscotch pudding with toasted pecans. But many things would be complementary. Coconut cream is nice, a la Claudia Fleming. Or praline. Whipped cream, for the added opulence, or straight out of the pot like you know you want to!

from eggbeater

Ricotta Honey Crostini

Toast some whole grain-type bread. Butter it (yes, butter) while hot. Sprinkle with cinnamon and drizzle with really good honey, then top with ricotta and drizzle with more honey. Variation: add sliced banana.

Barley Casserole

• 4-5 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/2 pound mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
• 1 cup pearl barley
• Salt
• Pepper
• 2 cups beef or chicken broth

1. Melt the butter and sauté the onions and mushrooms until soft. Add the barley and brown it lightly. Pour into a buttered casserole. Before you pour the broth over the barley, taste the broth for seasoning. If it has enough, the casserole will need not additional salt or pepper.

2. Pour 1 cup of broth over the barley in the casserole and cover. Bake in a 350° oven for 25 to 30 minutes and then uncover and add the second cup of broth. Cover and continue cooking until the liquid is absorbed and the barley is done (i.e. soft and a little chewy), about another 30 minutes.

- serves 4 -

Adapted from The James Beard Cookbook by James Beard.

Orange Syrup

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons grated orange rind
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons orange liqueur (optional)

Combine first 6 ingredients and, if desired, orange liqueur in a heavy saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until sugar dissolves.

Top fat-free yogurt with orange segments and Mixed Fruit Granola; drizzle with syrup.

From Southern Living

Gingerbread Waffles

• 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, eyeball it
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 2 tablespoons applesauce
• 2/3 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons melted butter, plus some to butter the iron
• Syrup, whipped cream or fresh fruits for topping, to pass at table

Preheat waffle iron.

In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. In a medium bowl, beat eggs and brown sugar until fluffy, then beat in pumpkin, milk, and melted butter. Stir the wet into dry until just moist. Do not overstir the waffle batter. Brush the iron with a little melted butter and cook 3 waffles. Serve with toppings of choice.

Adapted from Rachael Ray