Chipotle Black Bean Mango Salad

Lately I have been wanting Southwestern flavors non-stop, so I have been testing all kinds of new Mexican and Southwestern recipes to satisfy the craving. In my hunt I stumbled across this super tasty burrito bowl recipe from Damn Delicious. It is so tasty and a great substitute for my favorite Burrito Bowl from Chipotle, but it's a little heavy to eat as frequently as I want. I really liked the flavor combination and could seriously have eaten her burrito bowl everyday for lunch, so I have been tweaking her recipe and I finally came up with the perfect vegetarian salad I can eat for lunch everyday guilt-free. Here is my newest food obsession -

Chipotle Black Bean Mango Salad

Salad Ingredients: 

2-3 cups chopped lettuce of your choice, washed (I like red leaf or romaine)

1/2 cup black beans, rinsed

1 medium tomato, chopped

1/4 cup chopped mango

1/2 avocado, chopped

1/4 cup yellow or orange bell pepper, chopped (optional)

Cilantro for garnish, to taste (I'm a little heavy-handed with the cilantro as you can see)

Dressing Ingredients: 

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream

1/4 cup salsa of your choice (I like to use a fresh salsa)

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

1/8-1/4 tsp ground Chipotle pepper - more if you like it extra smoky (I use Penzey's) 

I'm heavy-handed with the Chipotle because I can't get enough of the smoky flavor. 

Instructions: 

In a salad bowl, layer the lettuce, black beans, tomato, mango, avocado, and bell pepper (if using). In a small bowl, stir Greek yogurt (or sour cream), salsa, lime juice, and ground Chipotle seasoning together until well blended. Pour the dressing over the layered salad, add cilantro, and toss ingredients until combined and coated with dressing. Enjoy! 

Because we all know I love my gadgetry, I just had to add a little plug for the value of a mango slicer. If you haven't invested in a mango slicer yet, you seriously should! I picked one up for $0.60 at St. Vinny's a few months ago, and we have eaten more mango in the past few months than I think I have in my whole life. It is SOOO handy; I just put it over the stem, press down, and voila - 2 perfect halves of edible mango. After it's cut, I just scoop the fruit out with a spoon, just like an avocado. Here's a photo from today (because I was, of course, making this salad for probably the sixth time in 2 weeks). 

Perfectly Sliced Mango!!

Almond Butter Blondies

As usual, I'm waiting until the last minute.. I need a quick dessert recipe for the Fathers Day lunch I'm hosting, and I want minimal ingredients. Off to Pinterst I go... I found a peanut butter brownie recipe that I thought I could modify and make work. This modified recipe is going to be a new favorite!!! We are a peanut free family, so I subbed almond butter, but any nut or seed butter will work.

This recipe is also dairy and soy free. You could sub the whole wheat flour for a gluten free flour as well.

Ingredients

1/3 cup melted coconut oil

1/2 cup raw almond butter 

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup coconut sugar

4 eggs

1/2 cup almond flour or almond meal

1/2 cup white whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup enjoy life chocolate chips

1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all liquid ingredients together in a bowl, except the melted coconut oil. 

Gradually mix in the dry ingredients.

Then add in the melted coconut oil, stirring until mixed.

Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour batter into a brownie pan.*

Bake for 30-40 minutes until toothpick in center comes out clean. 

 

*I used a greased 9x11 brownie pan, but a square 9 inch pan will work, too.  

Cold Brew Iced Coffee

OIt's officially summer in NC! No, it's not June 21st yet. But, with a forecast high temperature of 100 today, it is most definitely summer. Since it will be too hot to venture outside today, I'm stuck inside trying to come up with activities to keep two little ones occupied while I work. I need coffee! Iced, please.
There is nothing worse than pouring hot coffee over ice. You end up with warm, watery coffee. A couple of weeks ago I discovered Cold Brew coffee at Trader Joe's. This is the stuff dreams are made of. But, at $7 a bottle, I knew I needed to make my own. It's easy, and it is so much cheaper than buying it.  Since I already make my own almond milk, I had everything I need to make it.

Kitchen Items Needed:
Nut bag or cheese cloth for straining
A pitcher or bowl that holds at least 4 cups

Ingredients:
4 cups of water
1 cup of your favorite ground coffee beans

Directions: 
Combine water and coffee in a bowl or pitcher.
Let sit 12-24 hours in the fridge
Strain through nut bag to separate grounds from coffee. 
Store in fridge for up to a week.* 

*This recipe makes a strong concentrate coffee that you can mix with equal parts water or milk.

My favorite is served over ice, with unsweetened cashew milk, and liquid stevia. I've also blended these same ingredients with some dark chocolate powder to make my own healthy clean eating frappe. It is delicious!

For today, I went extra large size to survive the heat and two crazy boys!