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One afternoon, while waiting to head over to our friends’ house for bar-b-q and beer, this occurred to me as possibly a great thing to bring. After all, bar-b-q and beer pretty much demand bacon to complete the alliterative hat trick.

I’ve now made this three times, so I consider it a keeper!

I had some freshly cooked black beans (I pretty much always have freshly cooked black beans around) so I made this up:

• 16 oz (by weight) cooked and drained black beans
• 3 slices uncured bacon
• 2 Tbsp EVOO
• 8 oz (by weight) chopped onion
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp chipotle chili pepper (more – in my case – or less – to adjust heat level to your liking)
• 3 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1 fistful of fresh cilantro if you’ve got it

In a fry pan on medium heat, cook the bacon in the EVOO until it’s crispy. Remove the bacon slices and set aside.

Add the cumin, chipotle and onion; saute until soft.

Add the rice vinegar and deglaze. Add the beans and stir until mixed.

Put the bacon in a food processor, pour the bean mixture on top, add cilantro and run it until you get a good consistency.

Serve with vegetables, corn chips, whatever.

Namaste, Rick

This recipe sounds so awesome…

I had some leftover freshly cooked black beans (that I made for this brownie recipe) so I made this up:

• 2 C cooked and drained black beans (or 1 15 oz can; if you use canned be sure to rinse them well)
• 3 Tbsp EVOO
• 2 Tbsp sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin (or more, yum
• 1 Tbsp chipotle chili pepper
• 1 fistful of fresh cilantro if you’ve got it

I put it all in my food processor and ran it until I liked the consistency. Carol says “2 thumbs up”. Use it for anything you’d use chickpea hummus for…

Can’t wait to try these out…

• 1 can black beans ( rinsed + smashed )
• 3 eggs
• 3 TBS veg oil
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tsp vanilla (I used 2 tsp almond extract)
• 1 tsp instant coffee (I left this out)
• 3/4 sugar ( or substitute honey )
• 1 cup semisweet choc. chips (I used 1 C organic coconut) (Note – it was a mistake to leave out the chips – too dry – will try adding both  next time)
• 1/2 cup walnuts (I used 1/2 c raw almonds)

Put everything but chips and nuts into food processor, process until it’s batter. Add coconut and nuts, process until nuts are broken up. Pour into baking pan greased with coconut oil. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes

I bought some coconut oil from iherb.com because I couldn’t find it in my stores.

It’s a fabulous cooking fat. If you’re worried about it having saturated fat, time to do some research and update your mindset.

Ways I’ve used it so far:

• for making curries. that’s a natural.
• in scrambled eggs and frittatas.
• for making popcorn. this is awesome. get your timing right; the fat will smoke.
• for”buttering” sweet corn. this, too, is awesome.
• I tried it in home made energy bars; it didn’t seem worth  it to me.

Coconut Oil, I’m glad you’re in my life…

I conceived this recipe  yesterday and made it for the first time. Best turkey burgers ever.

• 3 whole eggs
• 5 garlic cloves, microplaned
• thumb sized chunk of fresh ginger, microplaned
• double handful of fresh mushrooms, grated. you could chop or use the food processor; the grater worked great – so to speak.
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp sesame chili oil
• salt and fresh ground black pepper

Put the above in a large bowl and whip together.  Add:

• Three lbs or so lean ground turkey

and squish together with your (clean) hands. Sure, you could use a spoon, but where’s the personal touch in that?

I measured out 1/3 lb patties (with the kitchen scale, any cook as good-looking and intelligent as you has a kitchen scale, right?) and put them on a medium heat grill for 8 minutes on one side; flipped for 6.

About 215 calories each and they taste awesome…

Recipe at The Organic Climber…