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I have 15 POUNDS of pinto beans in my house right now. I’ll have a steady supply of bean dip in my kitchen for the next several years.
Thanks, mom and dad!
My parents like to go on long road trips around the U.S. in their Airstream trailer.
When they were traveling through New Mexico, they bought me 5 pounds of beans from Akin Farms, in a town called Estancia. Check out the website: Just Pinto Beans.
When mom and dad were in Colorado, they bought me another 10 pounds of pintos from Adobe Milling, in the town of Dove Creek. Here’s my mom’s picture:
STEP 1: COOK THE BEANS
I like to cook 3 cups of beans at a time. 3 cups dry beans yields about 9 cups (4 1/2 pints) cooked beans.
For each batch of bean dip, set aside 2 cups (1 pint) cooked beans. I like to make a triple batch of dip at one time. I freeze the remaining beans in 1 cup wide mouth jars. Load up on those jars!
- Soak the beans in a large pot of water for at least 8 hours, then rinse.
- Cook the beans in a crock pot on high for 6-8 hours with some chili powder and chopped jalapeno, garlic and onion.
- If you don’t have a crock pot, simmer the beans on the stove for a couple hours. Here is a handy bean cooking reference.
STEP 2: ASSEMBLE INGREDIENTS
For this recipe, I used my hummus recipe as a template. For me, “hummus style” means using raw garlic, tahini and fresh-squeezed citrus.
For one batch of Pinto Bean Dip…
Use 2 cups pinto beans.
Prepare:
1-2 cloves garlic…minced
1 small wedge onion…chopped
1 lime…juiced
Set aside:
1 T tahini (sesame butter)
1 t nutritional yeast
Pinch of salt
1 t cumin (absent for the picture…oops!)
1/2 t chili powder
1/2 t fajita or taco seasoning blend
1/8 t ground chipotle (very spicy!)
STEP 3: PUREE AND PORTION
Use a small food processor to puree all ingredients until smooth. Add a little water if needed to thin.
Portion the dip in 1/2 cup or 1 cup jars. A single batch will make a little more than 3 half cup servings. A triple batch yields 11 half cup servings. Refrigerate or freeze.
Without question, my all-time favorite childhood meal was my mom’s manicotti. It was one of my first meals: my mom pureed it and fed it to me when I was a baby. I grew up a typical omnivore. I loved cheese!
Unfortunately, the manicotti from my childhood features not much more than sauce and noodles with cheese (cottage), cheese (mozzarella) and more cheese (parmesan). It also has egg in it. Not vegan!
After I went vegan, I set out to veganize my mom’s manicotti. I think I did a pretty great job! This recipe is my own except please note that the Powdered Cheez Blend is not my recipe (I forgot where I got it from).
STEP 1:
Saute in 1-2 T OLIVE or COCONUT OIL:
4 chopped SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS
about 1/4 of an ONION, chopped
several cloves GARLIC, minced
about 1/3 of a bunch of SPINACH, chopped
4 SUN-DRIED TOMATOES, chopped (oil-packed or dried & re-hydrated)
2 T ITALIAN SEASONING blend
1 T DRIED PARSLEY
1/2 t FENNEL SEEDS
1/4 t CRUSHED RED PEPPER FLAKES
dash SALT
dash PEPPER
Remove from heat then add 1/2 T BALSAMIC VINEGAR and set aside.
STEP 2:
With a fork, crumble 1/2 a block (7 oz) of drained FIRM TOFU.
Heat 1/4 C of POWDERED CHEEZ BLEND (see recipe below) in 1/2 C water in a small saucepan until it thickens, then remove from the heat. Combine the tofu & this cheez sauce.
Set aside about 1/2 a package of DAIYA MOZZARELLA STYLE SHREDS.
STEP 3:
In a large bowl, combine the sauteed veggies, the tofu/cheez sauce blend, and the Daiya.
Stuff filling into 1 pkg MANICOTTI NOODLES and add stuffed noodles to a 9”x13” pan.
To ‘clean’ the bowl that had the filling mixture in it, add the sauce ingredients: 1-25.5 oz JAR SPAGHETTI SAUCE, 1-14.5 OZ CAN DICED TOMATOES, and 1/4 cup water. Add sauce over the noodles.
Bake covered at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, then 5-10 minutes uncovered. Wait 10 minutes before eating (that’s the hard part!)
POWDERED CHEEZ BLEND
Process the following in a food processor until finely ground:
3/4 C raw cashews or almonds
1/2 C rolled oats
1/4 C raw sunflower seeds
1 C nutritional yeast flakes
2 T arrowroot
2 t dry mustard
1-2 t garlic powder (I use the lesser amount of garlic & onion, and I use less salt, too)
1-2 t onion powder
2 t sea salt
1 t paprika or chili powder
Store in fridge for up to 2 months. To prepare sauce, whisk 1 part blend to 2 parts water or non-dairy milk in a saucepan, medium heat until it thickens, 2-3 minutes.








