I am day 4 into Veganuary (http://www.veganuary.com/) which means for the month of January I am eating no animal products or foods produced with animal products in them. I initially thought this would be quite a challenge with work and being busy, however I've been surprised at how simple it really has been. It's also made me be a lot more creative with my food than I normally am. I've been eating a much wider variety of food and am feeling fantastic for it. Preparation has been my friend, cooking extra for dinner to have the next day and always having suitable snacks on hand to stop those 3pm sugar demons...
A book that has helped me so far is Chloe Coscarelli's cookbook (Chloe's Kitchen). This book was a firm favourite of mine before Veganuary and I highly recommend it to anyone. It has some seriously delicious recipes in it - including today's recipe. Her website is http://www.chefchloe.com/
Baby Black Bean Cakes
Makes 16 bean patties
Ingredients:
4 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
400g cooked black beans, rinsed (or 1 can low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed well) - it also helps if you premash them a little
1 small carrot, peeled and finely diced
1/2 cup polenta (aka cornmeal)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 tbs chilli powder
1 tsp himalayan salt
1/2 cup fresh coriander, chopped
1/4 cup water
In a large frypan heat 2 tbs olive oil over medium heat and cook the onions until they are caramelised. Transfer the onions to a large bowl and set frypan aside for later.
Add the beans, carrots, polenta, breadcrumbs, chilli powder, salt, coriander and water to the bowl of onions. Using your hands, mash the mixture together. If it is too dry to bind, add 1 tbs of water at a time to the mixture until it binds. Mould the mixture into patties about 5cm wide. Heat the remaining oil in the frypan over medium high heat and cook the patties for 3 minutes each side, until they are browned and crisp on the outside. Add more oil to the skillet to stop burning if required. Drain cooked patties on paper towels. Serve with a spoonful of pineapple salsa on top.
Pineapple Salsa
1 cup diced pineapple
1/4 cup fresh coriander, finely chopped
2 tbs red onion, finely chopped
1 tbs agave syrup -if needed for sweetness
Combine all ingredients together in a bowl.