Tag: fast

Black Bean Burgers

Big shoutout to my friend Ellen for this recipe. This past July, the lease on my apartment ended a week before my new lease started, so I crashed at my friends Kenny and Ellen’s place. While couch sleeping isn’t necessarily the most comfy, we had the best time cooking yummy things and watching movies together. Ellen is a vegetarian, so one of the recipes we made was homemade black bean burgers. And they were SO good and also way easier than I was expecting??

They were so easy and delicious that I’ve already made them twice at my new place with my housemates Carissa and Sam (our house has 2 kitchens, so even though there are 6 of us, I share my kitchen with two other people). The first round of black bean burgers was definitely not as strong, but I got the hang of the proportions of ingredients and the second round was delicious. We baked some tater tots and sliced up a cucumber to round out our dinner and it was perfect.

Absolutely 10/10 recommend making your own black bean burgers! Perfect for meatless Monday, bean lovers everywhere, or just anyone looking for an easy and delicious dinner option.

Black Bean Burgers

Cook time: 35 minuts

Makes: 7 hamburger sized burgers

Ingredients

  • 2 16 oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 red onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • Spices to taste (I used salt, cumin, paprika, and chili powder, about a teaspoon or so of each)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4-1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • Burger buns, lettuce, condiments for serving

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, lightly mash the black beans with a fork (leaving some beans wholes, some in chunks)
  2. Add the red onion, garlic, and spices of choice (should smell fragrant and well seasoned)
  3. Beat the 2 eggs and mix into bean mixture
  4. Add the breadcrumbs and mix with your hands until the mixture comes together, and stays in a patty form without falling apart
  5. Add oil to a large pan, and cook burgers over medium heat, about 10 minutes on each side. They should be brown and crispy on the edges, and cooked through the middle
  6. Serve with your favorite toppings and condiments!

Easy Pesto Pasta

I had every intention of getting a couple posts up this week, and I even had them all written! All I had to do was click publish. But then I got incredibly sick on Sunday night… and it lasted until this morning. AND I had a physics exam on Thursday. So obviously no posts made it up. But I still really wanted to share this easy pasta recipe, so here it is 🙂

Now that it’s warming up, I am SO excited to eat pesto all the time. I love pesto. And while it’s super easy to make, I am incredibly bad at keeping fresh herbs alive. Maybe this will be the summer I finally try to do it? But for now we’re sticking to the jarred stuff.

Thankfully, ALDI has really delicious jarred pesto, so I picked some up on my most recent grocery run. And I think last week I made pesto pasta 3 times. Excessive? Perhaps, but it’s delicious and it couldn’t be easier. I did a couple different variations throughout the week, but today I’m sharing the simplest version. Feel free to doctor it up as you see fit! Add whatever vegetables you have on hand (give em a quick sauté first, I love bell peppers, mushrooms, or zucchini), meat like chicken or sausage, or as much parmesan or mozzarella cheese as you see fit.

Also, I’m gonna be quite honest with you, I made this dish in the microwave because I had gotten home from night class and really didn’t feel like cooking. So absolutely no shame if you do the same 🙂

Easy Pesto Pasta

Serves: 1

Cook time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup of pasta, cooked (I had leftover from earlier in the week)
  • 1/2-3/4 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
  • 1-2 tablespoons pesto
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Instructions

  1. In a pan over medium low heat, toss the pasta and pesto and heat until warmed through.
  2. Alternatively: in a microwave safe bowl, add the pasta and the pesto and microwave until hot, about 1 minute.
  3. Add the quartered tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and enjoy!

Banana Bread

On Monday I was REALLY craving banana bread (especially because I had some rather brown bananas). So even though I got home at 11 pm, I texted my mom and asked for her recipe and proceeded to bake banana bread until midnight. College, right?

And let me just tell you, my mom has the BEST banana bread recipe. She actually has 2, a coconut lime one and a plain one. I went for plain since I have neither limes nor coconut. But it is so good. It’s soft and moist and cinnamony and it tastes like home. And since I used brown sugar instead of white, it developed this amazing caramelized flavor.

This banana bread is great right out of the oven, warmed in a toaster oven with some butter, or (my favorite) toasted up with some peanut butter for the perfect breakfast or snack.

So let those bananas get nice and brown and whip up a batch of my mom’s banana bread! So easy and so delicious 🙂

Banana Bread

Cook time: 1 hour

Makes: 1 loaf

Ingredients

  • 4 mashed bananas
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup applesauce (or shortening or vegetable oil)
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon

instructions

  1. Cream together applesauce (or shortening/oil), egg, sugar, and vanilla.
  2. Add bananas.
  3. Mix remaining dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture
  4. Bake in greased loaf pan at 350°F for 1 hour or until done

Ground Beef Stir Fry

For some reason, lately I’ve really been craving stir fry and fried rice. So this weekend, after doing a little bit of research into how I could make a sauce for it, I threw together what I had in the fridge and made this delicious ground beef stir fry.

It really couldn’t be easier. I sauteed some ground beef with garlic and ginger, added some frozen broccoli and some diced bell pepper, poured my sauce in, and served it with rice. And I made sure to make extra rice so I can make fried rice on Thursday 😉

A couple quick notes– I used 80/20 ground beef so I didn’t need to add oil to the pan. But if you use something leaner you’ll want to add a little bit of vegetable oil to the pan so it isn’t too dry. I also used grated fresh ginger (which you can keep in the freezer to make it last longer!), but if you don’t have any, you can just use about a teaspoon of ground ginger. Same goes for the garlic!

So I ate this with rice, but you could totally do it with noodles if you have them! Just toss them in the pan once they’re cooked so they can get nice and coated in the sauce.

Also feel free to use any vegetables you may have! This would be super good with a frozen veggie mix, or just any frozen or fresh veggies like green beans, peppers, broccoli, corn, or squash.

2 servings means perfect for meal prep!

Ground Beef Stir Fry

Serves: 2

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound ground beef
  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (or 1 teaspoon ground ginger)
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • About 1 cup frozen broccoli
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons Sriracha (or less)
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 cup cooked white rice for serving

Instructions

  1. In a sauce pan over medium heat, cook the ground beef with the ginger and garlic until brown and cooked through.
  2. While the beef is cooking, prepare the sauce by whisking together the soy sauce, brown sugar, Sriracha, and cornstarch.
  3. Once the meat is cooked through, add the vegetables and cook until tender but not too soft. 3-5 minutes.
  4. Add the prepared sauce and cook until it begins to thicken,
  5. Serve over rice!

Chicken Parm Pasta

I made this recipe for dinner last weekend and it was a total improvisation. I wanted something that wouldn’t take long to make on Sunday night, and we were a bit lacking in the produce department, so this is what happened. And guys it was so good. And made enough for leftovers for dinner a couple days later!

I know the one picture I got isn’t super great, but I promise this is worth it. A perfect and easy weeknight meal with just a few pantry/freezer staples 🙂

Chicken Parm Pasta

Cook time: 20 minutes

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

  • 4 ounces of pasta (I used angel hair, but any shape works)
  • 1 chicken breast
  • Olive oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 1 teaspoon basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • About 1 cup of canned crushed tomatoes (I keep leftovers crushed tomatoes in a tupperware in the fridge/freezer)
  • Balsamic vinegar
  • Parmesan cheese

Instructions

  1. Boil water and cook pasta until tender, according to package directions
  2. Cut the chicken breast into cubes, about one inch.
  3. In a saucepan over medium heat and in about 1 tablespoon of olive oil, cook the chicken until cooked through, about 7-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Add the minced garlic and cook about 2 minutes. Then add the crushed tomatoes, the basil, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Add a splash of balsamic vinegar and cook about 5-7 minutes.
  6. Finish with parmesan cheese and serve over the pasta

Tuna and White Bean Pasta

I made this pasta for dinner on Tuesday night and let me just tell you, it was delicious. Plenty of protein, a little spice, and so quick and easy (ready in 15 minutes!!). Which was especially good because I was a little hangry when I got home that night after my club meeting (big apologies to my roommate <3)

This pasta was another round of improvising with what I had: a can of tuna, a can of Cannelini beans, crushed tomatoes, and pasta. This would be just as delicious if you added more veggies to it too! Just cook with the tuna and beans before you add the tomatoes 🙂

A short post today, but leave any requests or suggestions below! I’m always looking for new recipes to try.

Tuna and White Bean Pasta

Serves: 2-3

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 pound of pasta (I made this with farfalle, but any short pasta will work great)
  • 1 can of white albacore tuna
  • 1 can of Cannelini beans
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Red pepper flakes
  • About half a cup of crushed tomatoes
  • Olive oil
  • Balsamic vinegar
  • Parmesan cheese

Instructions

  1. Bring a pot of water up to a boil and cook the pasta according to package directions
  2. Add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a sauce or frying pan over medium heat. Add the tuna and break up into small chunks.
  3. Add the can of beans as well as the garlic, and the salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste.
  4. Cook until warm, about 5-7 minutes.
  5. Add the crushed tomatoes, and about 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, and cook until bubbling, about 7-8 minutes.
  6. Serve sauce over pasta with parmesan cheese!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Spread

I’m a big fan of breakfasts and snacks that are fast and easy. Especially during the week when it’s so hard to get out of bed. So today I’m sharing a recipe that doubles as a simple breakfast, and a delicious and filling snack!

Anyone who knows me knows I love peanut butter. A lot. And one of my favorite snacks is just some apple slices and peanut butter. But awhile ago I was on the hunt for a snack that would be a bit more filling, and after looking at some different protein bar and ball recipes I came up with this!

It’s so easy, and it’s only two ingredients! This spread is delicious on an apple, eaten with a banana, or even on its own. Sometimes I even mix some dark chocolate chips in for a tasty (but healthy) after dinner treat.

Feel free to use any nut butter you like, and you can even add other mix ins! Whole nuts for some crunch, dried fruit for some sweetness, or even some peanut M&Ms (my favorite :))

Let me know below what some of your favorite snacks are! I’m thinking of doing a post of my go-to’s.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Spread

Cook time: 2 minutes

Serves: 1

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup of rolled oats
  • 2 tablespoons of peanut butter (or other nut butter of choice)
  • 1-2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips or other mix-ins of choice (optional)

Instructions

  1. In a small bowl, mix together rolled oats and nut butter until oats moistened and a paste-like texture forms. Add more nut butter if necessary
  2. Stir in desired mix-ins
  3. Serve atop a halved apple, with a banana, or on its own!

Sautéed Green Beans

I’ve definitely posted about sautéing veggies multiple times on the blog, so I figured today I’d finally share exactly how I sauté my veggies. This is how I cook veggies every time, and it has never steered me wrong. Plus it’s the best way to revitalize frozen vegetables (because let’s be real, steaming them isn’t always the tastiest).

Today I’m sharing my green bean recipe, mainly because that’s the only cooked vegetable my roommate will eat (plus I do love them). But this recipe will work for anything! I love sautéing asparagus, peppers with onions, broccoli, zucchini, and even black beans. It’s the easiest and the best, so I hope you’ll try it too 🙂

Sautéed Green Beans

Serves: 3-4

Cook time: 12 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 bag of frozen green beans (or any other fresh or frozen vegetable)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Instructions

  1. In a sauce pan over medium high heat, add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
  2. Add your vegetables and season (a lot!)
  3. Cook about 10 minutes until tender but not mushy

Quick and Easy Tacos

I’ve already written about breakfast tacos on the blog, and today I’m sharing my regular taco recipe. It couldn’t be easier; mostly because I just use the seasoning packets from the grocery store 😉

I know that the best homemade tacos are made with all the important spices: cumin, pepper, chilis, garlic, etc. But we’re poor college kids, we don’t want to have to buy all these different (expensive) spices that we won’t use that often. So I always just buy a taco seasoning pack (think Old El Paso), because they’re so cheap and so easy.

Along with meat for my tacos, I love black beans, tomatoes, avocado, and cheese. But you could also add lettuce, onions, peppers, rice, sour cream. Whatever you have in your fridge works! Don’t have tortillas or taco shells? Make some rice and make it a bowl to have some homemade (super cheap) Chipotle or make taco salads for lunch during the week. It couldn’t be easier and tastier. We love easy meal prep.

So here’s the quick and easy taco recipe that I make all the time. Again, feel free to add or take away anything based on what you have!

Quick and Easy Tacos

Cook time: about 15 minutes

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

  • 1 pound of ground meat (beef or turkey)
  • One taco seasoning packet
  • Small tortillas (corn or flour)
  • 1 can of black beans
  • 1/2 an avocado, sliced
  • 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
  • Cheese, shredded, (cheddar or jack cheeses are best)

Instructions

  1. In a pan on medium heat, cook the ground beef until brown
  2. At the same time, in 1 tablespoon of oil on medium heat, cook the black beans until thick and warmed through.
  3. Add seasoning pack and follow instructions (usually, add water) and cook meat until thick.
  4. Top tortillas with meat, cheese, and all other toppings of choice and enjoy

Pulled Pork Pasta

I very loosely consider myself the queen of leftovers. I really enjoying having a bit of a “Chopped” competition with myself to see what I can come up with based on the leftovers in the fridge.

Last week I had about two servings of pulled pork left in the freezer, onions and garlic, and leftover pasta and crushed tomatoes (from my tuna and asparagus pasta). So I worked with what I had and made the BEST pasta sauce I’ve made in awhile. There’s not much more to say other than that haha so here it is, my pulled pork pasta sauce:

Pulled Pork Pasta

Cook time: 25 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients

  • 2 servings of pulled pork (make sure you have some grease)
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1/3 large can of crushed tomatoes
  • Red pepper flakes
  • Basil
  • About 8 ounces of pasta, cooked
  • Cheese, shredded (mozzarella, parmesan, etc.)

Instructions

  1. In about 2 tablespoons of grease from the pulled pork, sauté the onions and garlic on medium heat, seasoning with salt and pepper, until translucent about 7 minutes.
  2. Add the pulled pork and cook for about 7 minutes until warmed through.
  3. Add the tomatoes and season with red pepper flakes and basil to taste, and cook for about 10 minutes until steaming and thick.
  4. Add the pasta to the pan and cook until pasta is warmed through and everything has combined (get those flavors melding!)
  5. Top with cheese and serve!
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