Black Bean & Bell Pepper Salsa

Past few days were very hectic, fall recess for kids, work, Navarathri festival and inviting guests and getting the house, food everything ready for some fifty something people. I didn't even open the dashboard of my space for past few days and to break the Ice thought will post something today.

I love bell pepper for their color and the nutritive value they give. So every time, I go to the farmers market to pick up my vegetables I really get mesmerized and buy couple of them and add them to every thing possible.

This salsa is so easy to put together, throw in couple of healthy ingredients give a toss and serve with some organic whole grain corn chips or some almond flour tortilla chips which I will post soon. Don't forget to top with some tomato salsa to add some more spice to this dish.



Preparation Time - 10 Minutes

Cooking Time - 20 Minutes(If you are cooking the black bean by yourself)

Serves - 4

Ingredients



Soaked & Cooked black bean - 2 Cups(salted)

Tomato - 1 big or 2 small(Chopped into small pieces)

Thawed frozen baby corn - 1 Cup

Chopped bell pepper - 1 1/2 Cups(Green, Red, Orange & Yellow chopped into small pieces)

White or Yellow Onion - 1 Small (Chopped into small pieces)

Chopped Cilantro - 1/3 Cup

Lime juice - 2 Tbsp or to taste

Red wine vinegar - 1 Tbsp

Salt - 1 Tsp or taste

Freshly ground black pepper - 1 to 2 Tsp as per taste

Extra Virgin olive oil - 1 Tbsp

Chopped Jalapeno - Remove seeds & cut into small pieces(optional)



Method



1) In a large bowl add all the ingredients and toss together and serve with some tortilla chips

 

Events

1) Sending this to Kid's Delight Party event hosted by Srivalli.

2) Also sending this to MLLA-40 edition hosted by Veggie Platter an event started by Susan.



3) This mexican appetizer goes to Sizzling Tastebuds: A-100 day Global Food Festival an event hosted by Kalyani.

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Almond Flour Crackers

 If you are craving for some quick salty crackers to munch on, try this simple and easy to make and healthy crackers. These crackers are gluten free and grain free, high in protein and low carbohydrates. They make a great snack with cream cheese or peanut butter sandwiched between them.



Preparation Time - 10 Minutes

Cooking Time - 10 - 12 Minutes



Ingredients



Almond Flour - 1 Cup

Powdered Chia - 1 Tbsp

Salt - 1/2 Tsp

Red Chili Powder - 1/2 Tsp or to your taste

Sesame Seeds - 1 Tbsp

Sesame Oil - 2 Tsp

Water - 1/4 Cup (This varies based on the consistency of the almond flour)



Method



1) Preheat oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit.



2) Combine almond flour, powdered chia, salt, red chili powder, sesame seeds, sesame oil. Now add water little by little and make a stiff dough.



3) Make two equal parts of the dough and place them between parchment paper and using a rolling pin make a thin flat layer. Using a pizza cutter, cut into desired shapes. Using a fork slightly make small holes.

Making the holes, will make it crispy.



4) Bake in a baking tray for 10-12 minutes till crispy and slightly browned.



5) Cool them completely and enjoy.



Notes - Stores good at room temperature for at least a week. You can make the crackers without adding

powdered chia as well and in the picture below I made it without them.

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No Bake Cashew Bar(Grain Free & Sugar Free)

I love all kinds of bars, baked, no bake. The best thing about these bars are you can put in any number of things, without any rules, bake them or refrigerate them. Cut them into bite size pieces and have one whenever you crave for anything sweet. This is a very easy to do recipe and very healthy too, with protein rich cashew and omega-3 and omega-6 rich chia and sweetened with the no cavity causing xylitol.



This bar recipe, I saw in a book in Barnes and Noble long time back. I don't even remember the book name and I modified it a lot based on what I had in hand. This is a very versatile recipe and you can substitute this with any nuts or nut butter you have in hand.



Preparation Time - 10 Minutes

Cooking Time - 2 Minutes

Serves - Makes around 2 dozen bars



Ingredients



Raw Cashews - 2 Cups



Powdered Chia - (1/2 Cup -2 Tbsp)



Grated Coconut - 1/2 Cup



Cashew Butter - 1/2 Cup



Coconut Oil or Clarified Butter(Ghee) - 1/4 Cup (Either one of them will work, if you don't like the flavor of coconut oil, substitute with Clarified butter)



Xylitol - 2 Tbsp or to taste



Toasted Sesame seeds - 2 Tbsp



Toasted Chia Seed - 2 Tbsp



Salt - 1/4 Tsp



Vanilla extract - 1/2 Tsp



Method



1) Take the cashews and make a coarse meal by placing that in a food processor.



2) To this add the powdered chia, grated coconut, cashew butter, xylitol,, salt and process for a few seconds.



3) Melt the oil/ghee(clarified butter - cassein free) till it is all liquid and switch off.



4) Grease a baking pan with few drops of oil/ghee and transfer the remaining ghee transfer it to the proccessed cashew, xylitol mixture. Add the toasted chia seeds, sesame seeds and you should be able to able to make a dough out of this mixture.



5) Using your hands take this dough and press evenly and firmly in the pan and refrigerate for 2  to 3 hours.



6) Once the bars harden, slice them and serve and remaining store them in the refrigerator. Keeps good in a refrigerator for atleast a week.

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