We have a friend who is an awesome garlic and honey farmer. She surprised me the other day and dropped off these lovely garlic scapes!!!
I was sooo excited. I couldn’t wait to use them, except we’ve been sooo busy rushing out of the house for sports, they had to sit for few days. This meal, as crazy as our life has been, was super easy to make. If you aren’t lucky enough to have been given garlic scapes, you can find them right now at the farmer’s market,in your CSA basket, supermarket (our market has them right now), or substitute with fresh chopped garlic or garlic chives (or both!).
At this point you might be saying to yourself-hey now, what the heck is a garlic scape?! Well, a scrape is what farmers call the green goodness that grows out the top of the bulb. In springtime, these naturally want to flower. To grow good garlic, you want to prevent this from happening, or the plant will put too much love and energy into creating seeds. These green tops taste like a mild garlic. They can be transformed into pesto, recipe coming soon, or added into any dish you’d like a garlic flavor. Alternatively, you can grow garlic chives.
Garlic Chives
These are a perennial (return every year) and are very easy to grow, much like traditional chives. You want to prevent these from flowering/going to seed-or you’ll have garlic chives everywhere in the garden.
We served these beans on top of lime scented brown rice (see note below). For left overs, I ate them on top of grilled portobellos with some steamed kale-yum yum in my tum! You could also eat these in burrito or taco form, add broth to this and create a soup, or eat on top of a salad. The possibilities are endless!!!
This recipe uses no added oils or salt. When you have fresh ingredients, the flavors add so much, you don’t need to add anything. We water saute most of our veggies. This allows their flavors to come out without adding in extra fat.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of chopped red onion (1 large onion)
- 1 pint of tomatoes or a 15 oz jar of stewed tomatoes and juice
- 2 tsp cumin
- dash cayenne (about 2 shakes of the bottle)
- 1 1/2 limes, zest and juice (2 full if making the rice)
- 3 cups of beans (this is 1 1/2 cans of beans; if you want to add more beans, add more salsa to provide more juice)
- 1 1/2 cup of chopped green pepper (1 large pepper)
- 1/2 cup of garlic scapes or garlic chives (or 1 1/2 tbsp of fresh chopped garlic)
- 1/2 cup of salsa or more canned tomatoes
- Toppings: fresh avocado, cilantro/parsley, garlic or regular chives, siracha
- Add in some fresh greens if you’d like at the end of the cooking process
*Note: we only add a dash of cayenne because we don’t want to make it too spicy for the kiddos. If you like it hot, add more to taste.
Instructions:
- Place onions in a pan and add just enough water to saute them without letting them burn, about 2 tbsp.
- Cook onions until translucent, and their sugars start to come out (a little browning), and season with a little fresh ground pepper.
- Add cumin, cayenne, tomatoes, lime zest/juice, and black beans. Cook about 5 minutes until heated.
- Add in peppers, garlic scapes/chives/chopped garlic, and salsa if needed. Cook until peppers have slightly softened, but before they loose their nice green color. Add the salsa is if you want a little more juice to go with your beans & stir in some fresh greens if you’d like at the end of the cooking process.
- Serve on top of some brown rice. Top with fresh avocado, cilantro/parsley, garlic or regular chives, siracha, or anything your heart desires!
*Lime Scented Brown Rice
We made lime scented rice to serve with these beans. To make: bring 2 cups water to boil, add in 1 cup of brown rice, simmer on low until water is absorbed (about 40 min using a conventional pot). If using a pressure cooker, add water and rice together and bring to pressure. Reduce heat to low and cook for 12 minutes. Add in zest and juice of 1/2 lime (or whole lime, depending on preference), salt and pepper to taste. Cilantro is great in this too. If you like it, add in 1-2 tbsp of fresh cilantro or parsley.
Nutritional Benefits:
- High in protein: great for healing and repairing tissues
- High in potassium: important for kidney function, helps to lower blood pressure, allows for good nerve conduction, lowers cholesterol
- Low in sodium: good for heart health, while every food contains a little natural sodium, we didn’t add any to this meal. Our canned tomatoes do contain a little salt to be able to preserve them, but our freshly made beans have no added salt
- Peppers: packed with Vitamin C; antioxidant and anti-inflammatory that boosts immune health
- Beans: full of protein, potassium, fiber, no fat
- Garlic: boosts circulation, improves immune health
- Plant-based/vegan recipe: no cholesterol, great for heart health, diabetes, and decreasing inflammation
- Gluten Free: helps decrease inflammation
- 114% of Vitamin C, 27% iron,11% of Calcium, 9% of Vitamin A, and 845 mg pf potassium
- 2 cups of chopped red onion (1 large onion)
- 1 pint of tomatoes or a 15 oz jar of stewed tomatoes and juice
- 2 tsp cumin
- dash cayenne (about 2 shakes of the bottle)
- 1½ limes, zest and juice (2 full if making the rice)
- 3 cups of beans (this is 1½ cans of beans; if you want to add more beans, add more salsa to provide more juice)
- 1½ cup of chopped green pepper (1 large pepper)
- ½ cup of garlic scapes or garlic chives (or 1½ tbsp of fresh chopped garlic)
- ½ cup of salsa or more canned tomatoes
- Toppings: fresh avocado, cilantro/parsley, garlic or regular chives, siracha
- Add in some fresh greens if you'd like at the end of the cooking process
- *Note: we only add a dash of cayenne because we don't want to make it too spicy for the kiddos. If you like it hot, add more to taste.
- Place onions in a pan and add just enough water to saute them without letting them burn, about 2 tbsp.
- Cook onions until translucent, and their sugars start to come out (a little browning), and season with a little fresh ground pepper.
- Add cumin, cayenne, tomatoes, lime zest/juice, and black beans. Cook about 5 minutes until heated.
- Add in peppers, garlic scapes/chives/chopped garlic, and salsa if needed. Cook until peppers have slightly softened, but before they loose their nice green color. Add the salsa is if you want a little more juice to go with your beans. Stir in some fresh greens if you'd like at the end of the cooking processServe on top of some brown rice. Top with fresh avocado, cilantro/parsley, garlic or regular chives, siracha, or anything your heart desires!
- We made lime scented rice to serve with these beans. To make: bring 2 cups water to boil, add in 1 cup of brown rice, simmer on low until water is absorbed (about 40 min using a conventional pot). If using a pressure cooker, add water and rice together and bring to pressure. Reduce heat to low and cook for 12 minutes. Add in zest and juice of ½ lime (or whole lime, depending on preference), salt and pepper to taste. Cilantro is great in this too. If you like it, add in 1-2 tbsp of fresh cilantro or parsley.
